JANUARY
"Now For the Next Step,"
by C.E. Ruthenberg. [Jan. 1919] Text
of a direct mail piece sent out to subscribers of the Socialist
News [Cleveland] by Local Cuyahoga County, Socialist Party
over the signature of Sec. C.E. Ruthenberg. Ruthenberg seeks
to bolster the subscription roll of the newspaper in order to
fund its expansion. The capitalist press was poisoning the minds
of the workers, both with regard to the Russian Revolution and
as to the nature of the American workers' movement itself, Ruthenberg
states. "There will never be any hope for us unless we can
build up newspapers pledged to the interests of the workers which
will present the truth about the workers' cause and offset the
lies of the capitalist press."
"The Situation in Ohio,"
by Eugene V. Debs. [Jan. 8, 1919] This
article was written for The Ohio Socialist by Gene Debs, essentially
the Socialist orator's hometown newspaper during from the tail
end of 1918 into early 1919 during the legal persecution of Debs
for his Canton speech. Prohibited from public speaking outside
of the court's jurisdiction, Debs concentrated his efforts on
rousing the Ohio Socialist movement. Debs portrayed the situation
in the heavily industrialized state of Ohio as "extremely
favorable" and noted that he was in the process of speaking
to a series of large and enthusiastic crowds. " Let me ...
bid you take advantage of the present favorable situation and
combine all your energies to organize thoroughly the class-conscious
forces of labor for the mighty task which now confronts it,"
Debs urged. Debs also noted the release from prison of leading
Ohio Socialists Charles Baker, C.E. Ruthenberg, and Alfred Wagenknecht,
"These comrades have been consecrated behind prison bars
and will now rise to their full stature in the service of the
revolutionary movement," Debs prophetically noted.
"International Socialist
Delegates," by Louis C. Fraina [Jan. 11, 1919] This editorial by Louis Fraina
in The Revolutionary Age sharply criticizes the National
Executive Committee of the Socialist Party for arbitrarily appointing
Algernon Lee, James Oneal, and John M. Work as delegation to
a forthcoming international convention called by Camille Huysmans,
while it was Morris Hillquit, Victor Berger, and Lee who had
been elected delegates to an altogether different international
gathering by party referendum a year previously. "The constitution
of the Socialist Party provides for the election of delegates
to International Socialist Conventions, it provides several ways
in which they may be elected, but it does not provide that the
National Executive Committee shall appoint delegates. The appointment
of the present men in contrary to the constitution, it is arbitrary
and it is illegal," Fraina charges. He notes that the NEC
had been previously approached by various units of the party
to call an Emergency National Convention in order to give the
membership an opportunity of "expressing their will on all
the matters arising out of the present crisis through which the
world is passing," including the question of international
affiliation and the selection of international delegates.
"Summary Results of Voting
for Candidates to Membership in the Executive Committee and for
Secretary of the Russian Socialist Federation." [Jan. 15,
1919] Extract
of an interesting (albeit highly esoteric) document seized by
the Bureau of Investigation during the Palmer Raids of Jan. 1920
-- the tally sheet for the Russian Socialist Federation's election
which closed Jan. 15, 1919. Candidates were nominated by the
4th Convention of the RSF (Sept. 28-Oct. 2, 1918) and the EC
was elected by referendum vote of the rank and file. The race
to replace Detroit resident V. Rich as Secretary of the RSF was
not close, with Oscar Tyverovsky netting 627 votes to a combined
624 for his two opponents. The two top vote-getters in the contest
for the 14 CEC slots were individuals whose names have not thus
far been remembered by history -- Babich and Bogopolsky; Communist
Party of America founder, New York DO, and Central Caucus chief
George Ashkenuzi finished a respectable 3rd on the 24 name list.
Two big names are missing: Russian Socialist Federation Translator-Secretary
Alexander Stoklitsky was elected by the 4th Convention itself,
as was Nicholas Hourwich (Nikolai Gurvich), elected editor of
the Federation's organ, Novyi Mir. [Note finally that
ASHKENUZI is the correct Library of Congress transliteration
of that particular surname, as opposed to the 6 or so various
other ways that the name has been spelled in the literature;
ditto TYVEROVSKY, using terminal -Y instead of terminal -II.]
"The Necessity of an Emergency
Convention," by Louis C. Fraina [Jan. 18, 1919] Left Wing theoretician Louis Fraina
argues that during the recently complete world war, "contradictory
elements" had been forced to make alliances; now that the
war was over, "the real alignment of the conflicting forces
of the world" began to emerge, the struggle between capitalism
and socialism. In the revolutionary movements of Russia and Germany,
the struggle between socialism and capitalism, had actually taken
the form of a "fight between Socialists and Socialists,"
Fraina states -- with the same group of Majority Socialists that
had rallied to their national flags during the world war continuing
to lend every assistance to the bourgeoisie in the repression
of these new revolutionary movements. The socialist movement
was thus split into two camps -- on the one hand, the movement
headed by Camille Huysmans, who had recently issued a call for
a Congress in Europe, to which the Socialist Party's NEC had
named delegates; on the other hand, the Third International called
for by the Bolsheviks in Russia, the Spartacus Group in Germany,
and their allies. "Socialists are fighting and dying in
Europe that Socialism may triumph, mankind is trembling on the
brink of worldwide Social Revolution. The action which the American
movement takes now will commit it to the policy of Socialism
or the policy of counterrevolution," Fraina declares. He
states that "on such a momentous matter it is vitally necessary
that the whole American Socialist movement decides on what policy
to pursue and the only effective method of so deciding is the
convocation of an Emergency National Convention." He calls
for the NEC of the Socialist Party of America to immediately
call such a convention and to recall its delegates to the Huysmans-called
European Socialist Congress.
"A New Appeal," by John
Reed [January 18, 1919] Substantial
essay by famed journalist John Reed about the state of the Socialist
Party and the task of the revolutionary socialist movement in
America. Reed sees a dichotomy in the ranks of the SPA -- "American"
members of the petty bourgeoisie and intellectuals and "Foreign-born"
workers and intellectuals. He states that due to its vast size
and seemingly limitless resources and fluidity of social boundaries
"the American worker has always believed, consciously or
unconsciously, that he can become a millionaire or an eminent
statesman," no matter how far detached from reality is this
premise. The American worker also views his world politically
rather than economically, Reed says, having a healthy disgust
for the "dirty" politicians of both the Republican
and Democratic parties but viewing Socialism as an alien system
"worked out in foreign countries, not born of his own particular
needs and opposed to 'democracy' and 'fair play,' which is the
way he has been taught to characterize the institutions of this
country." The task of the Left Wing is not to pander for
support of American workers at the ballot box, but rather to
go to the workers, listen to their needs, and implement a practical
program which not only meets those needs but raises the workers'
thinking beyond these immediate wishes -- to "make them
want the whole Revolution." It is not the ballot box but
"revolutionary direct mass action" in the workplace
that will bring about the Social Revolution, Reed states. He
concludes that "the workers must be told that they have
the force, if they will only organize it and express it;
that if together they are able to stop work, no power in the
universe can prevent them from doing what they want to do - if
only they know what they want to do! And it is our business to
formulate what they want to do."
"The Background of Bolshevism,"
by John Reed [Jan. 25, 1919] On Jan. 15, 1919, over 2 months after conclusion
of the World War, Dr. Morris Zucker was convicted of 4 counts
of violating the Espionage Act for comments made in a speech
protesting soldier attacks on Socialist meetings. In this article
in The Revolutionary Age, John Reed addresses the question
of factuality and viability of each of Zucker's "criminal"
assertions: (1) "America is becoming today what Russia used
to be in the old, old days...." (2) "Here in America
they may tear the red flag from our hands, but they only implant
it more firmly in our hearts...." (3)"While I confess,
my friends, I claimed exemption in America, if I were in Germany
or Russia I would only be too proud to fight in the first trench
lines..." (i.e., in a Revolutionary Army). (4) "Yes,
it is might that we are after...." (5) "Next Thanksgiving
Day we will celebrated the fact that the United States recognizes
the red flag as the flag of democracy...." With regard to
the controversial statement that "it is might we are after,"
Reed declares: "When the official organs of justice themselves
disregard the law, what is there left but 'might'? When the political
ballot is canceled by the money power which corrupts or nullifies
the men we elect to represent and govern us, what is there left
but to oppose it with some other kind of power? When, in this
'land of the free,' men are sent to prison of 10 and 20 years
for political offenses --punishments unparalleled in the Empire
of the Russian Tsar -- when conscientious objectors are tortured
more fiendishly, and military offenders broken more brutally,
than ever under the autocracy of the German Kaiser, what are
we to do but resist?" Reed only disagrees with Zucker's
assertion that a revolution was proximate.
"The Bolshevists: Grave-Diggers
of Capitalism," by C.E. Ruthenberg. [Jan. 29, 1919] Ruthenberg, Secretary of Local Cuyahoga Country
[Cleveland], first published this article in the Jan. 29, 1919,
issue of The Ohio Socialist, the official organ of the
Socialist Party of Ohio. Ruthenberg poses the question whether
the Russian Bolsheviks actually represented "something new"
-- "anarchy, ...rioting and bloodshed, wholesale murder
and destruction.... the collapse of orderly society..."
(as depicted in the pages of the capitalist press) -- or whether
it represented instead the consistent application of the established
principles of Marxian Socialism. After outlining the basic tenets
of Marxism, Ruthenberg argues in favor of the latter proposition,
of course, stating that Bolsehevism is "Marxian Socialism
in action. It is the workers on the road to victory and a better
world." Ruthenberg later served as the first Executive Secretary
of the Communist Party of America.
"A View of the Trial,"
by Adolph Germer [Jan. 22, 1919] National Executive
Secretary of the Socialist Party Adolph Germer (in the past a
miner and United Mine Workers Union official, in the future one
of the key participants in the 1919 Socialist-Communist split)
briefly summarizes the results of the Trial of the Five Socialists,
in which he was a leading defendant. The Guilty verdict was "disappointing
though not in the least surprising," Germer states, as the
jury pool was carefully screened by the prosecution against those
with any knowledge of the labor movement and in favor of those
"who are instinctively hostile to us." The trial was
not of the individuals named as defendants, Germer says, but
rather of the Socialist Party and its principles. Germer is unrepentant,
declaring "I have nothing to regret and nothing for which
to apologize. If the democracy of which we heard so much and
for which we were told we entered this war can be had only through
prison cells, I am willing to take my place with countless others
who have been denied their liberties because of a conviction."
FEBRUARY
"Problems of American Socialism,"
by Louis C. Fraina [Feb. 1919] Lengthy theoretical article by one of the leading
lights of the early American Communist movement, Louis Fraina.
America had become the greatest capitalist power, in Fraina's
view, with tremendous natural wealth within its borders, twice
the financial wealth of its nearest competitor, Great Britain,
geographic proximity that would allow it to make a play on the
wealth of Central and South America, a large navy and the proven
capacity to rapidly generate a large standing army. In short,
Fraina declares, "American Capitalism has all the physical
reserves for aggression and is becoming the gendarme of the world."
It was therefore pivotal to the world socialist movement to challenge
and defeat American capitalism. This task was not being accomplished,
however, due in large measure to the petty bourgeois spirit which
animated both the Socialist Party and the Socialist Labor Party.
These organizations were both slaves to "the illusions of
democracy," failed to aggressively participate in the industrial
class struggle, failed to deliver aggressive support of the epochal
Russian Revolution, and were trapped in petty bourgeois parliamentarism
and anemic daily routine. Instead, it was the task of the Left
Wing to revitalize the Socialist Party for the final struggle
with capitalism and imperialism. "The revolutionary crisis
in Europe is spreading, becoming contagious. It is admitted that
if Germany becomes definitely Bolshevik, all Europe will become
Bolshevik. And then? Inevitably, this will develop revolutionary
currents in the United States, will develop other revolutions,
will accelerate and energize the proletarian struggle. The United
States will then become the center of reaction; and imperative
will become our own revolutionary struggle." The victory
of socialism in America is ultimately essential for the victory
of socialism on world basis, in Fraina's view: "it is necessary
that we prepare ideologically and theoretically for the final
revolutionary struggle in our own country -- which may come in
6 months, or in 6 years, but which will come; prepare for that
final struggle which alone can make the world safe for Socialism."
Fraina urges that a revitalized Socialist Party take advantage
of the future strike wave by promoting revolutionary industrial
unionism, in contrast to the "reactionary trade unionism
and laborism" of the Right Wing of the Socialist Party.
"The problem of unionism, of revolutionary industrial unionism,
is fundamental" since "the construction of an industrial
state, the abolition of the political state, contains within
itself the norms of the new proletarian state and the dictatorship
of the proletariat," Fraina states. "The fatal defect
of our party is that there is no discussion of fundamentals,
no controversy on tactics," Fraina asserts, adding, "Let
us integrate the revolutionary elements in the party, an organization
for the revolutionary conquest of the party by the party!"
"The Day of the People,'
by Eugene V. Debs [Feb. 1919] "From the crown of my head to the soles of
my feet I am Bolshevik, and proud of it," famously declares
Socialist Party leader Gene Debs in this article from Ludwig
Lore's quarterly magazine, The Class Struggle. Debs salutes
the Left Wing Socialist leaders of Germany, Karl Liebknecht and
Rosa Luxemburg, in their struggle against "Ebert and Scheidemann
and their crowd of white-livered reactionaries," acting
in concert with German reaction against the revolutionary movement
in that country. Now "the battle is raging in Germany as
in Russia, and the near future will determine whether revolution
has for once been really triumphant or whether sudden reaction
has again won the day." says Debs. "Scheidemann and
his breed do not believe that the day of the people has arrived.
According to them the war and the revolution have brought the
day of the bourgeoisie," Debs notes, arguing that instead,
"The people are ready for their day.... Who are the people?
The people are the working class, the lower class, the robbed,
the oppressed, the impoverished, the great majority of the earth.
They and those who sympathize with them are the people..."
Debs declares that "in Russia and Germany our valiant comrades
are leading the proletarian revolution, which knows no race,
no color, no sex, and no boundary lines. They are setting the
heroic example for worldwide emulation. Let us, like them, scorn
and repudiate the cowardly compromisers within our own ranks,
challenge and defy the robber-class power, and fight it out on
that line to victory or death!"
"What Is the 'Left Wing'
Movement and Its Purpose?" by Edward Lindgren [Feb. 1919] Lindgren,
one of the organizers of the Left Wing section of the Socialist
Party in New York City, outlines a brief history of the faction
in this article published in Louis Fraina and Ludwig Lore's theoretical
journal, The Class Struggle. Lindgren contends that while
factions had long existed inside the SPA, firm dividing lines
were not drawn up until 1912, when the Right Wing won firm control
of the party apparatus and launched a purge around the "sabotage"
clause of the party constitution. The test of the 1914 war and
failure of the party leadership to act in a principled manner
led to an alienation of the rank and file membership of the party,
which demanded and received an Emergency Convention in 1917 to
declare its antimilitarist principles in no uncertain terms.
The violent splits of the socialist movement in Germany (majority
socialists/Spartacists) and Russia (Mensheviks/Bolsheviks) made
the situation in the American party clear to "almost anyone
who understands the theory of the class struggle." The "Left
Wing" group was thus "the logical outcome of a dissatisfied
membership -- a membership that has been taught by the revolutionary
activities of the European movements 'to compromise is to lose,'"
says Lindgren. Includes a "Tentative Program" and "Immediate
Demands" of the Left Wing section.
Manifesto of the Left Wing Section
of the Socialist Party of America: As Modified by Local Cuyahoga
County, Socialist Party [Feb. 1919]. The Manifesto of the Left Wing Section is the
fundamental theoretical document of the American Communist movement,
an analysis and program that was systematically promoted by an
organized faction within the Socialist Party of America intent
on moving that party's orientation from the electoral to the
revolutionary socialist path. The original document was collective
work written in early February 1919, attributed by the historian
Theodore Draper to the pens of Bertram Wolfe and John Reed, then
extensively revised by Louis C. Fraina. Whatever its origin,
this document was further extensively revised before being published
in the pages of The Ohio Socialist on Feb. 26, 1919. Whether
these changes were rendered by C.E. Ruthenberg, Alfred Wagenknecht,
or some other figure in the Cleveland Socialist Party organization
remains unknown -- although Ruthenberg would certainly seem the
most likely candidate. The version reprinted here compares the
text of the "official" New York variation with the
revisions made in the document as published in Ohio.
"The Chicago Socialist Trial,"
by J. Louis Engdahl .
A contemporary account of the Dec.
1918-Feb. 1919 Trial of the 5 Chicago Socialists written by one
of the defendants. J. Louis Engdahl was the editor of "The
American Socialist," the official monthly periodical of
the Socialist Party of America. He was convicted along with his
comrades of violating the infamous Espionage Act and was sentenced
to a term of 20 years imprisonment at Leavenworth Penitentiary.
This material was first published in the 1919-20 edition of "The
American Labor Year-Book," published by the Rand School
of Social Science.
"The Socialist Party on Trial,"
by William Bross Lloyd [February 1919] An
extensive report of the trial of Beger, Germer, Kruse, Engdahl,
and Tucker by the financial angel of the Left Wing, published
in the pages of The Liberator. The trial of the five began
in Chicago on December 9, 1918, before Judge Kennesaw Mountain
Landis for conspiracy under the so-called Espionage Law, which
Lloyd characterizes as a "clumsily subtle way of lending
to the Administration the aid of the courts in enforcing the
official war morality.... Criminality under this law consists
of any attempt to impugn the idealistic advertisement under which
the war is being imposed. And conspiracy is a joint attempt."
Lloyd provides brief character-sketches of the five principle
defendants, as well as the judge and the chief accusers, District
Attorney Clyne and Assistant District Attorney Fleming. He characterizes
the trial as "twenty days of irritating stupidity"
wrought by the prosecution, notes that the focus of the attack
was on William Kruse, who as head of the Young People's Socialist
League was cast as the leading figure in a conspiracy to subvert
conscripton (despite Kruse's personal decision to register for
the draft), and comments extensively on the testimony of defense
witness Carl Haessler, a Socialist already convicted and imprisoned
under the so-called Espionage Act whom the prosecution approached
in an attempt to construct its case against Victor Berger. When
the prosecution was rebuffed, retaliatory action was taken against
Haessler's wife, who lost her job as an Illinois teacher.
"The Yipsels and the Socialist
Sedition Case: Part 1 -- The Prosecution's Case, by William F.
Kruse. [Feb. 1919] One of the
biggest show-trials conducted by the Wilson Administration against
its radical opponents was the Trial of the Five Socialists --
a group of defendants which included former Congressman and NEC
member Victor L. Berger, Socialist Party National Executive Secretary
Adolph Germer, Secretary of the Young People's Socialist League
William F. Kruse, Editor of the SPA's official publications J.
Louis Engdahl, and former head of the SPA's Literature Department
Irwin St. John Tucker. The five were indicted for alleged violation
of the so-called "Espionage Act" on Feb. 2, 1918, and
were finally brought before Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis for
trial beginning on Dec. 9, 1918 -- nearly a month after conclusion
of the war. This article on the presecutorial hijinks behind
the trial was written by defendant Bill Kruse for the monthly
magazine of the YPSL. This first installment of a three part
series was published in the Feb. 1919 issue of The Young Socialists'
Magazine.
"Declaration to the Members
of the Socialist Party of America of the Communist Propaganda
League: With comments by Alexander Stoklitsky, Feb. 6, 1919."
While the nascent
Left Wing of the Socialist Party of America in the years 1915
and 1916 was grouped around an organization called the Socialist
Propaganda League, the Left-Right conflict was submerged under
a panoply of greater issues during the years of American participation
in the European war. On Nov. 7, 1918, with the war coming to
a merciful close, the Left Wing's struggle against the Regular
wing of the Socialist Party erupted anew, starting with the formation
of a group based in Chicago called the Communist Propaganda League
(CPL). According to this statement of the CPL, the organization
was launched by bringing together members of the "Bolshevist
Federation of the American Socialist Party" (i.e., the Russian
Federation and the various Federations comprised of nationalities
of the former Russian empire) as well as "several important
active members of the local Socialist movement who thoroughly
agree to the program and principles of the Russian Bolsheviks."
The group is said to have been formed to discuss the current
situation facing the Socialist Party and "to determine the
methods and means of directing our American Socialist Party to
the truly revolutionary way." According to the program of
the CPL (included here), the Socialist Party "all in all
does not take into consideration to a sufficient degree the importance
of mass demonstrations of the proletariat, which are the only
means of leading us to the revolution," but instead lent
its support to the "pure parliamentary system." A key
element of the CPL program declared that "Socialistic propaganda
must be exclusively the revolutionary class struggle of the proletariat"
and demanded an end to "the use of small bourgeois reforms
as a basis for the activities of the Socialist Party." A
professional, paid National Executive Committee at the head of
the party, close party control over all officers and other officials,
and a centralized party press and lecture bureau were also significant
demands of the Communist Propaganda League. Nominal Secretary
of the CPL was Isaac Ferguson, although it appears that mail
was actually sent to the office of Alexander Stoklitsky, Translator-Secretary
of the Russian Socialist Federation, at party headquarters in
Chicago.
"Report of the Delegate of
the Lithuanian Socialist Federation to the Conference of the
Russian Immigrant Revolutionary Socialist Federations,"
by I.J. Kravcevic [held Feb. 9, 1919] Due to the high survival rate of periodicals and
documents of the Anglophonic Left Wing movement of 1919 (and
the ability of scholars to make use of them), we know a great
deal more about the ideas and actions of the small band of English-speakers
in New York than we do about a larger parallel movement in the
ranks of the Socialist Party among those who spoke Russian, Lithuanian,
Yiddish, Latvian, Croatian, Ukrainian, Finnish, Polish, or any
other of about a half dozen languages. This translated document
from the Lithuanian press helps enrich our understanding. On
Feb. 9, 1919, a conference was held in New York City by delegates
of the "Revolutionary Socialist Federations of the Socialist
Party of America." It is not at this time known who planned
this gathering or when the call for it went out -- planning certainly
predated the first session of the Left Wing Section of Greater
New York, which held its organizational meeting on Feb. 2, 1919.
The Conference of "Russian Immigrant Revolutionary Socialist
Federations" included delegates from the Russian, Latvian,
Ukrainian, and Estonian language sections of the Socialist Party,
this report by Lithuanian delegate I.J. Kravcevic notes. Radical
discontent with "opportunist" policies of the Socialist
Party leadership had been brewing, and the decision was made
"there is need for organized and disciplined revolutionary
action within the party now" -- a formal organization of
revolutionary socialists within the SPA. "We have to combine
all of these federations and separate groups within the party
into a Left Wing of the SP, to start and organize a bitter fight
with the opportunists within the party in order to establish
a program of the principles that would fit the present revolutionary
movement of the working class," Kravcevic noted, adding
that "in order to discourage the opportunists from distorting
these principles, there should be a party discipline and those
not complying with it should be ejected from the party without
further ado." Additional goals of the gathering were to
make contact with the Russian Soviet government and to establish
an information bureau on its behalf to make the real situation
in Russia known to Americans.
"The End of War," by
C.E. Ruthenberg. [Feb. 12, 1919]
This article by the Secretary of Local Cuyahoga County, Socialist
Party was published in the official organ of the Socialist Party
of Ohio. In it Ruthenberg addresses the proposed League of Nations
-- specifically its claim that it will be an institution able
to abolish future wars. While acknowledging the desire of the
capitalist class to avert destructive wars and the revolutions
which they may well precipitate, Ruthenberg states that the division
of the non-industrial world into "mandatories" would
do nothing to alleviate the "inexorable conditions of capitalist
production" that causes capitalist powers to compete for
foreign markets. "In spite of all the machinery of arbitration
and conciliation" the capitalist countries would be driven
"to an appeal to arms in the struggle for survival,"
Ruthenberg says. He contrasts this with a system in which the
full product is appropriated by the workers producing it, which
would have no innate dynamic to secure foreign markets, with
its products either consumed, traded to other countries for necessary
products produced elsewhere, or production contracted through
the reduction of working hours.
"Report on IWW or Bolsheviki
Activities in the District of Massachusetts to William E. Allen,
Acting Chief of the Bureau of Investigation in Washington,"
by Boston BoI Informant J.S. Peterson [Feb. 13, 1919] This document summarizes Bureau
of Investigation reports on "recent developments in the
IWW situation in this district" -- actually the doings of
the revolutionary Socialist movement rather than syndicalist
unionists. Individuals reported upon hailing from the Boston
area included Louis C. Fraina, Eadmonn MacAlpine, Ludwig Lore,
Gregory Weinstein, Nick Hourwich, Santeri Nuorteva, and Peter
P. Cosgrove. Publications briefly mentioned include The Revolutionary
Age (English), Il Pensiero (Italian), A Luz
(Portuguese), Atbalss (Latvian), and Raivaaja (Finnish).
Additional coverage is given for the Eastern, Southeastern, and
Western regions of Massachusetts. Informant Peterson indicates
that the "deportation of leaders may not solve the whole
problem of industrial unrest," instead advocating a betterment
of working conditions, housing, and recreational opportunities
for the workers. Peterson states that he "has felt very
keenly, on attending the various meetings in which the audience
was largely foreign born, that to these people the radical meetings,
instituted by the local socialists, and charging no admission,
were a real enjoyment, purely from the opportunity it gave them
on their free day to mingle with their own kind and enjoy the
program. It seemed, therefore, that if the trouble had been taken
on the part of the community, or some local organization, other
than the radical elements, to provide such an afternoon, that
the audience might have been as receptive to more healthy doctrines
than those promulgated at these meetings."
"Speech to the Court at the
Time of Sentencing," by J. Louis Engdahl [Feb. 20, 1919]
Socialist editor
John Louis Engdahl was one of five top leaders of the Socialist
Party tried by the federal government for alleged violation of
the so-called Espionage Act during the first part of 1919 --
the other defendants including National Executive Secretary Adolph
Germer, former and future Socialist Congressman Victor Berger,
youth section leader William F. Kruse, and Literature Department
head Irwin Tucker. All five of the accused were found guilty
and sentenced to 20 years in Federal prison by hangin' Judge
Kennesaw Mountain Landis -- verdicts which were eventually reversed
on appeal due to judicial prejudice. This is Engdahl's speech
to the court at the time of his sentencing, as published in a
pamphlet issued by the SPA. "I have noting to retract, at
this crucial moment in my life. No valid argument presents itself
why I should change any statement I have made, either through
the printed or the spoken word," Engdahl declared. His view
of the European conflagration in which Woodrow Wilson had embroiled
America remained unchanged: "It was a capitalist war. It
was born of the imperialistic ambitions of money-mad nations
in the grip of the profit system. No nation can join in the struggle
to create a free world until it has liberated itself from the
social system that breeds both wealth and want, war, and woe."
Engdahl saw the nationalist hysteria associated with American
entry into the war as the direct cause of the repression: "For
the time being extreme intolerance has usurped the places"
of American constitutional guarantees of liberty, he declared.
Engdahl depicted the Socialist movement as the vanguard of the
3rd American revolution -- the first two being independence from
English monarchy and the defeat of the Southern "black slaveocracy."
The legal structure of decaying capitalism was no more capable
of rendering sound judgment on the adherents of the new day than
the defenders of British despotism or of American chattel slavery
had been in their own, Engdahl declared, adding of the prosecution
in his case, "Coercion, intimidation, misrepresentation,
and falsification -- all that, and more, is expected as a matter
of course. Our trial, therefore, was no disappointment. No ends
were too mean, no act too low, if it only lead to a conviction."
"The Michigan Convention,"
by W.E. Reynolds [event of Feb. 24, 1919] This news report by CLP charter member W.E. Reynolds
from the pages of the Left Wing weekly, The Ohio Socialist,
sheds light on the unique and turbulent history on the Socialist
Party of Michigan. On Feb. 24, 1919, 51 delegates gathered in
Grand Rapids for the state convention of the Socialist Party
of Michigan, Reynolds notes. The convention was a "harmonious
gathering of boosters, the utopian element being either absent
or without spokesmen," Reynolds indicates. Michigan State
Secretary Bloomenberg resigned and was replaced by former State
Secretary John Keracher (future founder and leader of the Proletarian
Party). "A platform was adopted without any immediate demands
and calling for the abolition of the wages system," Reynolds
notes, and an amendment to the national SPA constitution calling
for an end to such social reform planks on the national level
proposed. "The convention adopted a part of the Left Wing
program in its centering the attention of the abolition of capitalism
instead of working for petty reform -- but it did not adopt the
Left Wing program of urging economic organization amongst the
workers," Reynolds observes.
MARCH
"After the War - What?"
by C.E. Ruthenberg [serialized Dec. 1918-March 1919] Serialized over a 3 month period,
this article represents the longest single work written by Cleveland
Left Wing Socialist leader C.E. Ruthenberg -- rightfully remembered
by history as a skilled organizational administrator rather than
a theoretician. Written originally for the Ohio Socialist
(complete runs of which have not survived), this work was preserved
en toto as a reprint in the Buffalo, NY New Age. Ruthenberg
argues that "the halo of capitalism has been smashed by
the war" and the de facto socialist organization of key
industries by government due to wartime expedience had shattered
the myth of the economic structure's permanence and unchangeability.
A widespread demand had emerged for a fundamental retooling of
American economic society in the immediate postwar period --
a program of the working class opposed by a capitalist class
which sought a restoration of the economy to the status quo ante
bellum. Ruthenberg outlines at length the instability, inefficiency,
and injustice of the old capitalist form of organization and
contrasts the efficiency of wartime collectivism, to which Ruthenberg
proposes the addition of democratic social control. Ruthenberg
declares that the government's action during the war with regard
to the transportation and communications industries had demonstrated
the correctness of the Left Wing Socialist declaration that "When
we get ready to take over the industries, we'll just take them"
-- this was exactly what the government had done during wartime,
according to Ruthenberg, albeit temporarily. Whether the former
owners of industry were compensated with Liberty bonds to be
taxed out of existence in 10 years or industry to be expropriated
without compensation was a matter of little import to Ruthenberg.
He asserts: "Industry must no longer be conducted as a private
business for profit, but must become a coordinated, collective
process for the purpose of supplying human needs and comforts.
Such a transformation can only be accomplished by taking the
ownership of the national resources and means of production and
distribution out of the hands of the present owners and vesting
the ownership in the people collectively." Ruthenberg soft-pedals
his belief in the ultimate necessity of revolution as opposed
to parliamentarism to achieve the fundamental reorganization
of the economy, only noting in his final installment that "the
idea that Socialism would be established through a series of
legislative acts extending possibly over a decade or two, has
been shown to be an illusion. Socialism will not be legislated
into existence but will be established by a mass movement of
the workers in the industries. The legislative acts will merely
give the accomplished fact the stamp of approval as the will
of the majority. The struggle of the working class will henceforth
be a political struggle for control of the state because it must
gain control of the government before it can hope to establish
democracy in industry."
"Yipsels and the Socialist
Sedition Trial," by Harry L. Gannes [March 1919] New Editor in Chief of The
Young Socialists' Magazine continues the story of the "Trial
of the 5 Chicago Socialists" (Berger, Germer, Engdahl, Kruse,
and Tucker) begun in the previous issue of the magazine. The
18 year old Gannes provides a number of tidbits, fine detail,
about the defense's argument in the trial, cross-examination,
final arguments in the case, instructions to the jury, and the
verdict and the reaction of the assembled Socialists thereto.
Despite failing to prove the substance of its case, Kruse indicates
that the government was able to sell a specious conspiracy argument,
resulting in a guilty verdict against all five defendants after
only four hours of deliberation. Gannes depicts the trial as
a "baptism of fire" for the relatively new national
Young People's Socialist League organization which it managed
to withstand well, its witnesses performing ably without flinching
or compromising.
"Is the 'Left Wing' Right?
A Letter to the Editor of The New York Call, March 4,
1919," by Cameron King. The 1919 faction fight within the Socialist Party
in general, and the Socialist Party of Greater New York in particular,
was wound up in matters of personality, position, and power.
This is a rare serious critique of the ideology of the opposite
camp by one of the leaders of the New York Socialist Party establishment.
King is critical of the contention in the Left Wing manifesto
that the Socialist Party should eliminate reform planks from
its platform limit itself to agitation for a complete revolutionary
overturn of capitalism. He argues that the transition to Socialism
will almost certainly be a long and protracted process, with
initial victories in cities and several industrial states prior
to the achievement of control of Congress and the Presidency
by the Socialist Party. In the interval, the Socialist Party
must actively improve the lot of the working class, or face defeat
at the polls amidst charges of betrayal. Further, King cites
a recent pamphlet by Lenin to validate his assertion that there
is a roll for the political action of the central state in the
administration and control of industry and distribution even
after the revolutionary turnover of state power. The "Left
Wing" doctrine on political action is inadequate and must
be rejected because it does not recognize this essential policy
of the pre-revolutionary socialist movement and the post-revolutionary
state, King argues.
"Manifesto of the Workers',
Soldiers', Sailors' and Farmers' Council of Buffalo and Erie
County." [adopted March 4, 1919] On March 4, 1919, a short-lived Soviet called
the "Workers', Soldiers', Sailors', and Farmer's Council"
was established in Buffalo, New York, producing this manifesto
on behalf of 35,000 unemployed workers of the area. A set of
"immediate demands" are put forward, including institution
of the 4-hour workday; the abolition of the collection of rent,
taxes, and interest from unemployed workers; and the provision
of office space and meeting halls for use of the Soviet. These
were presented as transitional to "the ultimate aim"
-- "the only solution to prevent a nationwide revolution
is to make provision for plans to socialize all industries of
America." A nationwide call was to be issued to all workers
to organize on the same plan as the Buffalo Soviet. A total of
38,000 copies of this document were produced and distributed.
"A Proletarian Dictatorship
vs. Parliamentarism," by Alexander Bilan [March 5, 1919]
Article from the
pages of The Ohio Socialist by future founding member
of the National Executive Committee of the Communist Labor Party
Alexander Bilan. Bilan states that "It is a mistake to believe
that parliamentarism is a synonym for democracy. On the contrary,
we find that where the parliamentary majority rules it is not
democratic, and where it is approaching democracy parliamentary
government becomes a weak institution." Victories of working
class candidates in capitalist parliamentary elections do not
lead to true democracy, Bilan observes, but rather to a powerless
life in the margins. "As long as the working class representatives
are few in number they are merely disturbers of the peace of
the gay bourgeois company, to whom nobody is willing to listen
unless compelled to. If the bourgeois have enough confidence
in their strength and the support of the troublemakers is weak,
they simply throw them out of the parliamentary body," he
notes. If, on the other hand, working class representatives are
elected in sufficient number, their votes can become decisive
for certain reform legislation, although the question of their
limits in participation soon arises. "The working class
is denied the possibility of gaining a majority of the seats
in parliament as long as the constitutions drawn by the ruling
class exist," Bilan states. "Where free press, free
speech, and freedom of assemblage exist, parliamentarism has
played its part, just the same as has the capitalist system on
the economic field. The best agitation and propaganda forces
of the working class have to be employed outside of parliament
in great mass meetings.... It is necessary that the rising power,
the working class, organize as a class politically, but with
the firm conviction that parliaments represent the dictatorship
of the capitalist class, which must be replaced by the dictatorship
of the working class. This dictatorship of the proletariat arouses
the ire of the capitalist class because it abolishes all privileges
and puts everybody in one class," Bilan concludes.
"Letter to Eugene V. Debs
in Terre Haute from Ludwig Lore in New York City, March 5, 1919."
Letter from Ludwig
Lore, first among equals on the editorial board of The Class
Struggle, to his new, albeit nominal, co-editor Gene Debs.
Lores asks whether Debs might be able to contribute and article
"on some American topic" for the forthcoming issue.
"I suggest an American subject because I sometimes fear
that The Class Struggle is rather in danger of treating too exclusively
with the revolutions of Russia and Germany, without sufficient
application to conditions at home," Lore says. Lore offers
his opinion on the burgeoning Left Wing movement in the Socialist
Party: "You know, of course, that 'Left Wing' organizations
are springing up everywhere in the party. Although I am in full
agreement, as you know, with the fundamental principles that
prompt these organizations, I personally feel that at this time
they constitute a grave danger, not only to the party, but tot
he very cause for which they are being created. So far as I have
been able to discover, the membership of our party is radically
inclined and will support the revolutionary position. But the
propagation by organizations such as these within the party must
inevitably, I feel, bring about a split in the movement. A split
that will, moreover, not strengthen, but weaken revolutionary
socialism in America by driving the rank and file into the arms
of Right Wing leaders as a protest against the methods of the
more radical minority." The Socialist Publication Society
was to hold a meeting in a few days to determine its formal position
towards the Left Wing movement. Later, when the feared split
of the Socialist Party became a reality, Lore turned over The
Class Struggle to the fledgling Communist Labor Party, which
retained him on the Editorial Board for what proved to be one
final issue.
"The Growth of the Left Wing,"
by Maximilian Cohen [March 8, 1919] A fascinating brief recounting of the history
of the Left Wing Section of Local New York by the organized faction's
Secretary, Max Cohen, who was present at the creation. Cohen
notes that there had long been a Left-Right division in the Socialist
Party of New York, dating back to the days before the world war.
The betrayal of International Socialism by the Social Democratic
parties of the Second International on the one hand, and the
victory of the Bolshevik Revolution on the other, had energized
and accelerated the pre-existing division. The support of the
New York Socialist Aldermen for the Liberty Loan spurred the
struggle between the Left and Right in the New York SPA, and
trench lines were dug over efforts of the Left to discipline
or formally criticize Conrgressman London for his war position.
When a joint meeting of New York City Committees called to address
the Aldermanic situation was sabotaged by Julius Gerber, as chairman
of the meeting, a walkout ensured. "These delegates and
comrades crowded in the corridor and forced Comrade [George]
Goebel to give them a meeting room, a thing which he at first
refused to do. There the Left Wing Section had its birth as an
organization," Cohen states. A 14 member committee was elected
to draft a temporary manifesto and program. An all-day convention
was called for Feb. 15, 1919, and it was on that day that the
Left Wing Section was formally launched, with the Manifesto and
Program revised for publication, organizational rules adopted,
officers elected, and The Revolutionary Age certified
as the official organ of the group.
"Jobless Face Shotguns in
Hands of Police: Meeting of Unemployed in Niagara Square is Ruthlessly
Suppressed: Soldiers', Sailors', Workers' and Farmers' Council
Denied Right of Assemblage -- Many Thousands of Hungry Toilers
Throng Streets Converging on McKinley Monument." [events
of March 6-10, 1919] The
confrontation between the civic authorities of Buffalo, New York
and the short-lived Buffalo Soviet proved to be a one-sided affair,
as is documented in this article from The New Age, weekly
organ of Local Buffalo, Socialist Party. A demonstration was
called by the Workers' Council for March 10, 1919, to be held
at the McKinley Monument in Niagara Square, downtown. The gathering
was announced in advance in a letter to Mayor George S. Buck
(reproduced here), and a request for facilities for a meeting
of the demonstrators was made; Local Buffalo, Socialist Party
was called into action to facilitate the demonstration on behalf
of the Soviet's organizing committee. However, no such accommodation
was made and the meeting of the Buffalo Soviet was banned by
the city council and Mayor Buck, and a cordon of shotgun-bearing
policemen were dispatched to prevent the planned meeting. Although
thousands of workers milled in the streets surrounding the plaza
in response to the distribution of 38,000 leaflets announcing
the meeting (an unlikely estimate of 40,000 is reported here),
police prevented a concentration at the plaza with little trouble
or opposition.
"A Left Wing -- And Why:
A Statement of Cause and Effect," by N.S. Reichenthal [March
12, 1919] A lengthy and intelligent
letter to the editor of the New York Call seeking a measured
and open-minded approach to the emerging Left Wing Section of
the Socialist Party. Reichenthal states that he is neither with
the Left Wing and the "state within a state" in the
Socialist Party nor a blind, epithet-spewing "loyalist."
To these latter, "all those who are crudely attempting to
change or modify party policy and tactics are rank disrupters,
anarchists, or syndicalists" to be purged -- a mentality
which Reichenthal believes is akin to the anti-liberal patriotic
frenzy of the war years or the sectarian Socialist Labor Party
regime in the factional war of 1899-1900: "Therefore, comrades,
let's stop talking nonsense and imitating DeLeon and our own
dear Security League. Let's discuss principles and tactics, not
personalities and hare-brained metaphysics." Reichenthal
states that the platform of the Socialist Party from 1900 to
the one adopted in 1917 became steadily more "practical,"
to the point where "all reference to internationalism, to
the party itself being the 'Left Wing' of the international proletariat
striving to overthrow the capitalist state, is entirely eliminated."
Combined with opportunistic local platforms and less-than-stellar
performance in office by elected Socialist officials has been
"disappointing and very disheartening, and seem to justify
the conclusions arrived at by some that mere parliamentary action
as encouraged and practiced by the Socialist Party is a snare
and a delusion." On the trade union front "we became
mere apologists for Gompers' unionism, and our policy compelled
us to keep silent or defend many rotten deeds on the part of
certain unions and their officials," resulting in the factional
war of 1912-13 and the departure of thousands of supporters of
the IWW and revolutionary industrial unionism. The Left Wing
Section emerged as a direct response -- cause and effect -- to
these factors. Reichenthal states that he has changed his own
mind on these things since "we live in the midst of the
revolution. Only action, revolutionary action, counts" and
"the Russian Bolsheviki have demonstrated what a resolute,
though 'ignorant,' proletariat and peasantry can do." Reichenthal
calls for an honest discussion of the merits of the argument
of the Left Wing Section rather than mechanically resorting to
"parliamentary tricks" or "reorganization"
to stifle dissent in the manner of Daniel DeLeon.
"Left Wing Are Distruptionists,"
by Joseph Gollomb. [March 12, 1919] Text of a long letter to the Editor of The
New York Call, in which SPA member Joseph Gollomb attacts
the ideology and tactics of the Left Wing Section and its leaders
in the struggle for control of the party apparatus in New York
City. Gollomb charges that the so-called "Left Wing Section"
is an internal enemy of the Socialist Party, "the spirit
and purpose of old Michael Bakunin." These "anarchists,
IWWs, and SLPs" have flocked into the SPA "not out
of conversion, but with blackjacks behind their backs. They have
organized a body within the party, with delegates from different
branches, Central Committees, Executive Committees, State Committees,
a National Committee, constitution, and membership cards, part
for part with the organization of the party proper, with mandates
on their members to be carried out at the meetings of the party."
Gollomb cites concrete examples of Left Wing tactics at SP branch
meetings, with specific charges directed at Nicholas Hourwich
and Jim Larkin. Gollomb advises immediate action to stop the
seizure of the party by an organized minority.
"'Parliamentarism' and 'Political
Action,'" by Jay Lovestone and William Weinstone. [March
17, 1919] Former
City College of New York Young People's Socialist League leaders
Jay Lovestone and William Weinstone co-authored this lengthy
letter to the New York Call in response to New York Socialist
leader Cameron King's critique of the Left Wing Manifesto published
earlier in those pages. Lovestone and Weinstone conceive of the
radical movement as being divided between "moderates"
and "socialists." The pair conclude that "the
moderate contends that the industries can be socialized by means
of the present bourgeois state... Our conception of socialist
political control is, to quote Marx, 'a transition period, in
which the state cannot be anything else but a dictatorship of
the proletariat.' We hold with the Communist Manifesto
that 'the proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest,
by degrees, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all
instruments of production in the hands of this state -- i.e.,
of the proletariat organized as the ruling class.'... It is not
by attempting to solve the insolvable, capitalism's contradictions,
but by 'teaching, propagating, and agitating exclusively for
the overthrow of capitalism and the necessity of instituting
of the proletarian dictatorship' that socialism can be attained!"
"'Wants a Conference,"
by J. Codkind [March 18, 1919] Letter to the Editor of The New Yok Call in
reply to the long March 12 letter of Joseph Gollomb. Codkind,
a Left Wing member of New York City's 17th Assembly District
Branch states that Gollomb is a purveyor of inaccuracies, indicating
that attendance at business meetings of the the 17th AD Branch
had increased rather than decreased over 1918 and that no business
had been conducted by the Left Wing in the wee hours. Codkind
states: "Undoubtedly, there have been unfair tactics employed.
In my opinion, this is much more prevalent among the Right Wingers
than the Lefts, but both sides are equally guilty. Why people
on both sides - undoubtedly honest and sincere in their convictions
- should descent to the use of these methods is more than I can
understand... Let us stop calling each other names. Let us act
like real men, and not like kids. Let us face the absolute fact
- that both sides are honest and sincere. Let us try to calm
ourselves; and let both sides elect or select about five delegates
to hold a conference through which our differences may be settled
without a party split." Codkind suggests that the delegates
to such a conference might be chosen by the factional caucuses
of the Central Committee of Local New York.
Letter to Morris Hillquit in Upstate
New York from Adolph Germer in Chicago, March 22, 1919. Historians of American Communism
running the gamut from Theodore Draper to William Z. Foster have
depicted Morris Hillquit as the master puppeteer behind the expulsions,
suspensions, and split of the Socialist Party in 1919. As this
letter from SPA National Executive Secretary Adolph Germer indicates,
Hillquit was actually out of the loop during the critical months
of 1919 -- at a sanitarium at Saranac Lake, New York, recovering
from a bout of tuberculosis. Rather than the far-seeing General
calling all the shots, Hillquit was resting and recuperating,
receiving periodic updates of information by mail. In this letter,
Germer notes that since the imprisoned Eugene Debs was $1400
in debt, the Socialist Party would be retaining him on the payroll
at the rate of $50 a week, with periodic articles promised and
some small chance of eventual repayment. Germer also expresses
surprise at Kate O'Hare's decision to accept nomination for International
Secretary and run against Hillquit in the 1919 SPA election,
a reversal of her expressed opinion of a fortnight earlier. Germer
also updated Hillquit on the plans of the Left Wing section,
noting that based on information received from New York party
leader Julius Gerber, "they are making a well organized
campaign to capture the district. What is true of District 1
is true of every other district. The impossiblists are determined
to capture the party. If they cannot do it by capturing the National
Executive Committee, they intend to do it in convention. As usual,
they have no sense of responsibility and are of the opinion that
the all important thing is to 'propagate,' regardless of consequences."
"A Basis for Discussion:
A Letter to the Editor of The New York Call by 13 Members of
the Socialist Party, March 23, 1919." With the internecine war heating up in the ranks
of the Socialist Party, an effort was made by some members associated
with the "Center-Left" to work out the programmatic
differences between the Regulars and the insurgent Left Wing
in an orderly manner. This open letter to the daily New York
Call lists 9 assertions of principle around which a newly
radicalized party might unite. The letter declared for a uniform
declaration of principles, agitation for socialism only and elimination
of reform planks from the platform, new party literature, propaganda
for industrial unionism, and enforcement of party discipline
upon elected Socialist officials. Particularly interesting is
the ideological range of the signers of the statement, including
founding members of the Communist Labor Party (Moses Oppenheimer,
Albert Pauly), future members of the Workers Party of America
(Scott Nearing, Ludwig Lore, Benjamin Glassberg), and a couple
of names associated with the Anti-Left Wing movement (David Berenberg,
editor of the New York Socialist, and Walter Cook, Secretary
of the Socialist Party of New York who presided over the SEC
that purged Left Wing Locals and Branches later in 1919).
"Letter to S.J. Rutgers in
Moscow from unknown New York correspondent 'F.' with note from
Ludwig Martens in New York, March 21 & 24, 1919." This is a fascinating handwritten
archival document rescued from illegibility, written by an adherent
of the Left Wing Section with a name initial "F." (not
Fraina) to Seybold Rutgers, in Moscow for the founding of the
Communist International. "F." notes that the Socialist
Propaganda League had been terminated, replaced by an organized
Left Wing Section, which would be transmitting credentials to
Rutgers to serve as its delegate to the founding convention.
"F." notes that he had asked the "International
Relations Committee of the Left Wing Section" for a brief
outline history, which is included here in full. This history
notes that the Manifesto of the Left Wing had its roots in a
February 15, 1919, convention in New York City. A postscript
is added by Ludwig Martens noting "Since my appointment
with all my heart and soul I am in the work. Doubtless we shall
have results very soon." Martens adds that "We need
all information in regard to your needs in machinery, supplies,
etc. I think we will have the best chances in the world to create
here a great organization which will be of greatest use for economical
development of Russia."
"Minutes of the State Executive
Committee, Socialist Party of New York, Meeting of March 26,
1919." These
minutes are most important for what is not included -- nary a
word on the Left Wing Section or any hint the split which was
to rupture the New York organization in a matter of months. Sitting
on the outgoing SEC was Alexander Trachtenberg, later one of
the principles of the CP-affiliated International Publishers.
A list of nominees for the 9 member SEC appears; included among
the long list are a number of future Left Wing luminaries: Joseph
Brodsky, Louis Boudin, Benjamin Gitlow, Ludwig Lore, Scott Nearing,
A. Pauly, and Alexander Trachtenberg. The majority of the new
SEC fell into the hands of the SP Regulars, however, with drastic
consequences for the Left Wing movement in the state.
"Proposal Ambiguous and Incomplete,"
by Algernon Lee. [March 29, 1919] Letter to the Editor of the New York Call by
Lee, a founding member of the Socialist Party of America and
leading figure of the New York constructive socialist faction.
Lee takes issue with a proposal made by 13 members of the New
York Left Wing for a reasoned settlement of party differences
rather than proceeding down the path of mudslinging and factional
trench warfare. Lee accuses the 13 of having advanced a "creed"
and a "statement of ready-made conclusions," of being
"ambiguous and incomplete" in their demand to eliminate
all social reform planks from the party platform, and of sidestepping
the fundamental questions of whether America would face a revolutionary
crisis in the near future and whether a majority of the populus
would support the program of a revolutionized Socialist Party
in the crisis. If the crisis were instead to be fought between
a revolutionary minority and a reactionary minority, Lee states
that there was no consideration of which side was apt to win,
and based upon that likelihood, whether the revolutionary crisis
was to be sought or avoided by the party.
"Toledo Crowd Compels Release
of Socialist Speakers: Audience Aroused Because Denied Freedom
of Speech Disarm Policeman and Marches on Police Station."
[events of March 30, 1919] News
report of a little-known event of the turbulent year 1919 --
a near-riot in Toledo, Ohio, caused when the mayor arbitrarily
decided to deny Eugene Debs uses of a city auditorium which had
been rented out to a local union and transferred to the use of
the Socialist Party. Even though Debs was ill in Akron and unable
to make the trip, the facility was locked up by the city administration.
A great mass of people, unable to attend an indoor rally at which
state organizer Charles Baker was to speak, moved to a city park
nearby -- where they were met by virtually the entire Toledo
police department, who began arresting one person after another
as they mounted the McKinley Monument and began to speak. The
crowd swelled to as many as 10,000 people and grew more and more
restive as the Socialists decided to take a stand for free speech
by sending an endless list of speakers to the front, thus filling
the jail and force the issues. Over 70 people were arrested and
police control of the vast throng was slipping. To avert a riot,
the city administration negotiated with Socialist leaders, who
insisted upon the release of all those arrested in exchange for
their work to pacify the mob. The mayor made this concession
and the mood of the crowd was turned from anger to jubilation
at the free speech victory won.
"Sidelights on Toledo Free
Speech Fight," by Thomas Devine [events of March 30, 1919]
Valuable participant's
memoir of the March 30, 1919 Debs Rally Gone Awry in Toledo,
Ohio. City Councilman Devine provides a colorful description
of the events of the afternoon and evening, which was apparently
triggered when the police interpreted a ban on Debs' use of a
city auditorium as a ban on the constitutional right of Toledo
Socialists to assemble and speak. When a Socialist soldier named
Frank Serafin was roughly arrested by the police, the mood of
the crowd turned hostile. Devine and Secretary of Local Toledo,
Socialist Party, Frank Toohey were the two individuals with whom
the city negotiated at the 11th hour to avert the riot which
they nearly created. Devine characterizes the crowd as both orderly
and disciplined and blames the trouble on Mayor Schreiber's poor
decision to ban the Socialists as well as the local police for
their unconstitutional behavior and excessive tactics. The jubilee
in the streets with the freed soldier Frank Serafin hoisted aloft
as a hero of liberty is characterized by Devine as the end to
"a perfect day." A letter from the mayor to the Toledo
Safety Director is appended in which Schreiber in which he states
that "The order issued from the executive department closed
Memorial Hall to Eugene V. Debs, but that was the full extent
of the order" and that police had overstepped their authority
by attempting to ban the further outdoor meeting of the Socialists,
noting the "right of free speech is a fundamental right,
clearly guaranteed by the constitution of the United States,
and one to be jealously guarded. It prevails everywhere, both
in public and in private places."
"An Evening's Experience,"
by Max Schonberg. [March 31, 1919] An interesting and rather illuminating first-hand
report of hardball tactics employed at a March meeting of the
3rd-5th-10th AD Branch of Local New York, with "Big Jim"
Larkin in the chair. Schonberg is sharply critical of Larkin's
"shameful tirade of cheap, personal abuse" directed
towards Joseph Gollomb, who had the floor representing a contrary
position for 10 or 15 minutes. Larkin is also criticized for
failing to follow correct rules of parliamentary procedure and
for speaking against a motion made by 15 or so regular members
against the Left Wing leadership of the branch, during the course
of which "he began a vicious attack of bitter invective
and vituperation upon each of the individuals whose names were
appended to it." Later, Larkin is said to have rushed down
from the platform with the intent of beating up Gollumb.
"Party Tactics," by
Morris Zucker. [March 31, 1919] Letter to the Editor of the New York Call from
Zucker, a prominent member of the Left Wing Section. Zucker is
encouraged at what he sees as "almost unanimous acclaim"
of the Left Wing Manifesto by the rank and file of the Socialist
Party. He sees, however, a "Centrist element" which
adheres to the Left Wing program but who "are opposed to
the tactics of the Left Wing within the party as likely to cause
a split in the organization." Loyalty to principle must
take precedence over loyalty to the SP organization, Zucker contends,
and a split on programmatic lines appears inevitable: "if,
after making every honest and honorable effort, the Socialist
Party does not, in substance, accept the program of the Left
Wing, then it becomes the solemn duty of the Left Wing to organize
a new party upon the basis of its principles and program. The
party is merely an instrument for the accomplishment of a certain
end, and not an end in itself." Zucker challenges the Right
and Center factions to call a general party meeting of the various
locals of Greater New York to debate the question, "Resolved:
That the Socialist Party shall endorse and adopt the manifesto
of the Left Wing as an expression of its principles and policies."
APRIL
"Resolution Passed by the
3rd Congress of the Ukrainian Federation of the Socialist Party
of America: New York, NY -- April 1919." This unanimous resolution of the
April 1919 convention of the Ukrainian Federation of the Socialist
Party proclaims that the Federation has "denounced in the
past, we denounce now, and shall continue to denounce in the
future, all groups and all parties which defend the old and corrupt
social order." Expressing pride in the Bolshevik revolution,
the Federation insists "we unreservedly adhere to the Ukrainian
(and international) Communist-Bolshevik Party. We shall continue
to support it as the sole representative of revolutionary aspirations,
as the only party competent to free the workers of all lands
and all races from the heavy yoke of capitalism, as the only
party which, upon the ruins of existing society, will be able
to upbuild the new order, the resplendent and just order of Communism...
We hold ourselves ready to fight in person as soon as we shall
have overcome the obstacles put in our way by our powerful enemies.
All hail to the universal revolution!"
"Letter to the Left Wing
Section of Greater New York from Amy Colyer, Assistant Secretary
pro tempore of Local Boston, Socialist Party regarding The
Revolutionary Age, April 1, 1919." Esoteric letter from a responsible
authority of Local Boston, Socialist Party -- publishers of the
main organ of the Left Wing Section, The Revolutionary Age
-- to the Left Wing Section of New York, which sought the move
of the publication to that more important center. Colyer relates
the results of a resolution passed the previous evening by Local
Boston which stated "Local Boston intends to keep The Revolutionary
Age in Boston, until a National Convention of Left Wing organizations
shall be held. Organizations taking part in said convention should
agree with the tactics of Bolshevik Russia and the Left Wing
Manifesto as published in the March 22 [1919] issue of The Revolutionary
Age. Delegates in said Convention should have voting power in
proportion to membership represented. Local Boston intends to
turn over the paper to the executive body elected by such Convention."
(The publication was in fact moved to New York City after the
June Conference of the Left Wing, where it was merged with John
Reed and Ben Gitlow's New York Communist, effective with
the issue of July 5, 1919.)
"Open Letter to Louis C.
Fraina in Boston from Adolph Germer in Chicago, published April
2, 1919." Testy
reply of Socialist Party Executive Secretary Adolph Germer to
comments levied against him by Louis Fraina in the March 8, 1919
issue of The Revolutionary Age. Germer declares that "It
is a thousand times easier to circulate a falsehood, and create
distrust, than it is to instill confidence in the honesty and
integrity of those who have been selected, wisely or unwisely,
to administer the affairs of the Socialist Party. It seems to
be human nature to believe that persons in official party positions
always have 'ulterior motives.' There are also persons who regard
it as a greater duty to carry on an internal quarrel, regardless
of the consequences to the movement, than to enlist new converts
to our cause." He outlines his personal opposition to an
Emergency National Convention of the SPA in 1919, citing factors
of cost and a previously planned platform and nominating convention
in 1920. Germer states that Fraina's assertion that Germer had
administratively disqualified the referendum motion of Local
Queens County, NY to hold a 1919 convention was erroneous. He
also indicates that the Socialist Party's effort to reach out
to other organizations to generate mass pressure upon the Wilson
regime to "regain victims for the wartime victims"
(a United Front action, it should be noted) was a higher priority
than holding a national convention to take a stand on international
issues. Germer further indicates that the call for the convention
is rather a matter of factional power-politics, writing "One
of the champions of the convention idea put it very bluntly the
other day when he said: 'We want to see who is boss in the party.'
Others have expressed it more tactfully."
"A Reply to Algernon Lee:
Letter to the Editor of the New York Call," by Moses
Oppenheimer [April 3, 1919] Veteran Socialist Moses Oppenheimer responds to
Algernon Lee's critique of the "Basis for Discussion"
Letter to the New York Call, of which Oppenheimer was
a signatory. He declares that "under the opportunist leadership
of men like Hillquit, Berger, Ghent, and Robert Hunter, the struggle
for [ameliorative] reforms has gradually overshadowed and supplanted
the demand for the abolition of wage slavery. More and more it
has resulted in petty tactics for vote catching. Berger's Old
Age Pension bill was a glaring exhibit of opportunist incapacity."
Oppenheimer argues that the worship of the ballot by the SP "opportunists"
ignores the fact that half of the working class in America is
disfranchised through lack of citizenship. "This lame policy
of the opportunists follows logically from their desire to be
considered safe and sane and respectable," Oppenheimer declares,
adding "The old roar of opportunism led us nowhere, except
to barren failure.... The time for picayune politics is irrevocably
gone."
"Socialist Party Tactics
and Policies: A Speech at Hunt's Point Palace, Bronx, NY -- April
4, 1919," by Louis Waldman New York Assemblyman Louis Waldman, a staunch
adherent of the SP Regular faction, shared a platform in the
Bronx with Left Winger Benjamin Gitlow at a meeting called to
moot the factional controversy in the party. A stenographer was
present to preserve these speeches -- Waldman's later being reprinted
a month later in the factional newspaper the New York Socialist,
edited by David Berenberg. Waldman presents a well-ordered summary
of the Party Regulars' view of the controversy. Waldman denies
he is a "Right Winger," adding "To my knowledge
there is no such thing. I am aware of the fact that there is
a group who organized and call themselves the 'Left Wing.' There
is the Socialist Party and this so-called 'Left Wing.'"
He ironically asks of his factional opponents: "You say
the Socialist Party did not captivate the imagination of the
workers because it was not revolutionary enough. Very well; what
was the remedy? If we are weak because we have not been revolutionary
enough, why is it that the SLP, claiming to be the 100% revolutionary
article, has not only failed to captivate the imagination of
the working class, but has gone down to ruin?" Waldman adds
only 3 million of 18 million industrial wage-workers are unionized
and asks "if the only reason the some 15 million workers
are not organized is because the AF of L is not revolutionary,
what about the Industrial Workers of the World? Why has it not
crystallized this industrial revolutionary movement? The IWW
had since 1905 to do it. Heaven knows they were not short on
revolutionary phrases, if that is what the American working class
wants." Waldman states that there is no revolution in sight
and that only by fighting for immediate demands to correct the
most grievous deficiencies of capitalism can the workers be won
to the socialist movement. "I want to tell you cynical comrades
we live in a time when we have not got the courage to face reality
and our own convictions. We live in a time when we are afraid
to listen to the truth. We deliver revolutionary speeches in
a time when we cannot train ourselves in revolutionary action....
That is what the party is suffering from." He advises that
"if our platform is not revolutionary enough, if our resolutions
are not revolutionary enough, the thing to do is not to destroy
the party, but to change them, as party members, within the party,
and not as an outside organization foisting its will on the party."
"Enemy Outside, Not Inside:
A Letter to the Editor of the New York Call, April 7,
1919," by William M. Feigenbaum Socialist Party journalist William Feigenbaum
writes to editor of the New York SP daily announcing that he
had now taken a position in the "Left Wing" controversy
that was sweeping the party -- in support of the "Regular"
faction. Feigenbaum sarcastically remarks of the "Left Wing"
that "most of them are such veterans in the movement, with
such a record of fully six months each...that they must of necessity
know all about us. They know that we are hidebound, reactionary,
bourgeois, and no good generally. How do they know it? From our
actions? Our thoughts? Our records? No. There is a better test.
We are old-fashioned enough to care for the party that has meant
so much to us. That is inexcusable to them. We have the illusive
fetish of 'unity' and they (or many of them) in their superior
way, will have us understand that there is something better than
unity. And that is, jamming down an artificial 'program' at all
costs -- even at the cost of wrecking the movement, if they can
accomplish it in no other way." Feigenbaum asserts that
the Socialist Party will stand upon the principles of class struggle
and anti-militarism, but sees the Left Wing as comprised of newcomers
who do not know the temper of the Socialist Party and who are
intent on provoking a needless split. "Is this difference
of opinion a sufficient basis for the wild accusations and countercharges
that we are treated with today? I think not. And the vast majority
of the comrades think not. The enemy is outside. Not inside,"
Feigenbaum states.
"Socialists of Buffalo as
One Man Swing Over to Left: The Largest Meeting of Party Members
Ever Held Endorses Program Promulgated by Left Wing of Local
New York." [event of April 13, 1919] This article from Buffalo Socialist Party weekly
The New Age chronicles the move of the Buffalo party into
the ranks of the fledgling Left Wing movement at a meeting held
April 13, 1919. A special meeting held to consider the Left Wing
program of Local New York, which was approved by a unanimous
vote according to the article. The resolution sought the elimination
of social reform agenda, declaring instead that "the party
must teach, propagate, and agitate exclusively for the overthrown
of capitalism, and the establishment of Socialism through a proletarian
dictatorship." Demands were made for a party-owned press,
repudiation of the Berne international in favor of a new international
incorporating the Bolshekiks of Russia and the Spartacans of
Germany, and for the immediate convocation of an Emergency National
Convention of the Socialist Party.
"New York State Committee,
Socialist Party Holds Annual Meeting: Walter Cook Elected State
Secretary -- Locals Affiliating with Left Wing Have Charters
Revoked -- Asks National Convention." [held April 13, 1919]
Account of the
seminal April 1919 annual meeting of the New York State Committee,
which effectively made affiliation with the Left Wing Section
a party crime meriting expulsion. The key resolution was proposed
by David P. Berenberg of Local Queens County, calling for the
State Executive Committee to revoke the charter of any local
affiliating with the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
or permitting any of its affiliated branches to do likewise.
Berenberg's proposal spurred hours of heated debate, with the
Party Regular faction winning the test of strength with the Left
Wingers by a vote of 24-17, with 2 abstentions. The meeting also
elected Walter Cook of the Bronx as State Secretary and a new
State Executive Committee, consisting of Theresa Malkiel of New
York; Simon Berlin, New York; Herbert Merrill, Schenectady; Nicholas
Aleinikoff, New York; Esther Friedman, Bronx; James Sheehan,
Albany; F.A. Ariand, Albany; Jacob Hillquit, New York; and Julius
Gerber, New York. A group of resolutions on contemporary issues,
reprinted here, were also passed.
"New York State Committee,
Socialist Party Resolution on the Left Wing Section, Adopted
April 13, 1919." On
April 13, 1919, the State Committee of the Socialist Party of
New York gathered in Albany for its annual meeting. A resolution
was proposed by David Berenberg of Local Kings County which denounced
and effectively banned the Left Wing Section as an organization
"in violation of the spirit of the constitution." The
New York State Executive Committee was instructed by Berenberg's
resolution to "revoke the charter of any local that affiliates
with any such organization or that permits its sub-divisions
or members to be so affiliated." A heated debate followed
which continued until 4:30 pm, with the final tally showing 24
in favor, 17 opposed, and 2 abstaining. This decision paved the
way for a factional civil war in the Socialist Party of New York,
which erupted immediately.
"BoI Agent Account of a Mass
Meeting of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party: Minneapolis,
MN," by Frank O. Pelto [April 13, 1919] This document chronicles the debut
meeting of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party in Minneapolis
on April 13, 1919. On the motion of Latvian socialist Charles
Dirba (later Executive Secretary of the Communist Party of America),
a committee was elected to arrange a mass meeting in honor of
May Day 1919, "and if possible a demonstration." World
war veterans in the party were to be appealed to to march in
uniform in the parade in an effort to preempt police repression
of the march. Next on the agenda at this meeting of about 75
Twin Cities Socialists was consideration of a Left Wing Manifesto,
called the "Resolution of the Left Wing of the Twin Cities"
(reproduced in full here). This resolution made the following
"General" demands: (1) Revolution, nor Reform; (2)
Revolutionary Mass Action, not mere Parliamentarism. (3) No Compromise
in or out of the Party; (4) Dictatorship of the Proletariat,
not Constituent Assemblies or Coalition Government; and (5) International
Working Class Solidarity and Struggle Against the Capitalist
Class at All Times, not limited by any nationalistic considerations.
The resolution was passed and then Dirba addressed the gathering
on the subject of the difference between "the so-called
Left Wing Movement and the so-called Reform Socialists."
According to Pelto, "another speaker took the floor who
put a little dissension in the ranks by stating that the Left
Wing Movement was drifting away from the principles upon which
Socialism was built." Dirba answered by matching Marx quotation
with Marx quotation. A.L. Sugarman was then given the floor,
and he characterized Dirba's opponent as a "2-by-4 Non-Partisan
Leaguer," provoking hostile comment and leading to the meeting
adjourning in a state of disorder.
"Revolutionary Romanticists:
Letter to the Editor of the New York Call," by Ralph
Korngold [April 14, 1919] This
letter to the New York Call by well-known SPA Regular
Ralph Korngold attacks "certain literary gentlemen in New
York, Boston, and elsewhere" for their impatient desire
to immediately conduct a revolution in America: "They want
it right away. They are tired of voting. They are tired of teaching
the masses how to vote. They sneer at ballot box victories, laugh
at ballot box defeats, speak with disdain of 'parliamentarianism'
and parliamentary methods. They find education too slow a process,
so they propose as a substitute Billy Sunday's method -- hysteria."
Korngold likens these individuals to "impatient children,"
anxious to abandon one game for another. "The IWW was their
plaything but yesterday; today it is the Soviet; tomorrow 'mass
action,'" Korngold declares, adding "When you point
out to them that the Socialist Labor Party, which has just received
Lenin's approval, has had a more radical program, and has had
even less success, they brush the fact aside with contempt. What
care they for facts? Let us have the tom-toms, and hysteria,
and barricades in the streets." At root, Korngold says,
is the "anarchistic contempt of majority rule" because
"they know they are the minority and have not the patience
to await the test of discussion and time."
Letter from Adolph Germer in Chicago
to Morris Hillquit at Saranac Lake, NY, April 17, 1919. A very important letter from the National Executive
Secretary to NEC member and leading party luminary, Morris Hillquit,
then recuperating from tuberculosis at a sanitarium at Saranac
Lake, New York. Germer acknowledges Hillquit's critiicism of
the party leadership and states the primary difficulty is one
of lack of communication with party members, which the SP's Bulletin
and The Eye Opener and first class mail stopped by Chicago
postal authorities while the press of the Left Wing Section seemingly
has free access to the mails. Germer states that most of the
party's growth is in the language federations, particularly the
Russian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian, while "we are not reaching
the American worker who, after all, is needed to achieve the
revolution." Germer notes a new form of campaigning for
referendum seconds and remarks on the first example of bloc voting
for a slate of candidates, in this case 16 ballots from a Russian
Branch of Local Willimatic, Connecticut. He notes that a motion
has been made for a meeting of the NEC May 24 and states the
"very important matter" of establishing "the organization
to hold title of property for the property" remains. It
is clear throughout that ideas and information with regard to
the 1919 faction fight are flowing from Germer in Chicago to
Hillquit in New York, not vice versa, contrary to the theme of
the secondary literature of the 1919 faction fight.
"Socialist Tactics?"
by John Reed [April 19, 1919] In the debut issue of The New York Communist,
Left Wing Socialist John Reed editorializes about the fact
that Secretary of Local New York Julius Gerber had spoken against
the Left Wing Section by reading from an original copy of the
Left Wing City Committee's meeting minutes. While "the Left
Wing is not a secret organization" and the minutes would
be subsequently published, Reed notes, "the important point
is that an official of the Socialist Party reads from copies
of minutes that he had no title to possess, to one of the highest
delegate bodies of our organization. It was obvious to everyone
present that he had not come by his copy openly, yet he was allowed
to proceed without anyone making a protest." Reed sees as
hypocritical the fact that the Socialist Party protests against
government and private labor espionage, but " sits open-eared
and prepares to act on the information" when its own officials
practice similar espionage. "Are these the methods the Right
Wing intends to use inn the future? Does the membership of the
party support these methods?" Reed asks.
"The Party Situation in New
York," by John Reed [April 19, 1919] The April 13, 1919, annual session of the New
York State Committee effectively banned the Left Wing Section
in the party, instructing the State Executive Committee to revoke
the charters of all locals and branches supporting the Left Wing
manifesto. This article by John Reed provides other details about
the factional civil war in the Socialist Party of New York. First
and foremost, Reed notes that membership access to the party
was being restricted by the Party Regulars: "In the past
the party has been very lax regarding the admission of new members,
practically anyone who signed an application blank being admitted
without question. This fact has often been pointed out by many
of those members who now constitute the Left Wing, but without
result. But those who suggested a change in the method of admitting
new members had no idea of handing the control of the growth
of the party in this city over to a few handpicked individuals."
The filtering of Left Wingers at the time of their attempted
entry of the party is "a direct attempt by those at present
in control to perpetuate themselves," Reed believes, and
he charges that hundreds of applications have been held up for
factional reasons. A historically valuable first-hand account
of the "inquisition" of the "amateur Overman Committee"
to which new applicants in New York were forced to submit in
the spring of 1919 is provided in full. Reed also charges that
the Regulars engaged in other unscrupulous tactics in the factional
fight, including failure to allocate the requisite number of
seats on the City Central Committee to branches believed to be
dominated by Left Wing sentiment; gerrymandering party districts
to minimize Left Wing power; and banning of mention of Left Wing
meetings or advertising of the Left Wing press from the dominant
Socialist Party publications of New York City -- The Call
and The Jewish Daily Forward.
"One Reason for an Organization
Within an Organization: A circular letter to factional allies
from Julius Gerber in New York, April 19, 1919." With the decision made for factional
war to the knives in the Socialist Party at New York by decision
of the State Executive Committee at its seminal meeting of April
13, 1919, the Regular faction of the Socialist Party commenced
to organize itself. The primary leader of this faction was Julius
Gerber, Secretary of the Socialist Party of New York County,
who sent this organizational letter to a limited number of factional
allies on April 19. In Gerber's view, "The reason the Left
Wing has grown and is making converts is because they have an
organization that does nothing else. They have their organs that
give their side. They act as a group while we have neither organization,
nor press (The Call should not be used for factional purposes)
and our comrades act as individuals. Result is chaos on our side,
organization, discipline, and success on their side." Gerber
indicates that "The situation in the party is rather critical
at this time, and it is almost too late now to stem the tide,"
noting that "the so-called Left Wing is determined to either
capture or split the party." Gerber believes that "A
split in the party will at this time do irreparable injury to
our party and to the Cause, while the control of the party by
these irresponsible people will make the party an outlaw organization,
and break up the organization." He calls for an organizational
meeting on the night of April 21 at the home of the Rand School
of Social Science, in advance of the critical meeting of the
Central Committee of Local New York. "At this meeting the
die will be cast as far as Local New York is concerned. We ought
to decide beforehand. We ought to know what we are to do,"
Gerber declares.
"Minutes of the Left Wing
Section of Greater New York: First General Membership Meeting
-- April 20, 1919." Minutes
of what seems to be the first general membership meeting of the
Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party in New York City, Chaired
by Ben Gitlow. The minutes state that the organization originated
with a bolting minority delegation at a City Central Committee
meeting, which had grown to an organization of 4,000 in Greater
New York, of whom "about 800" were in attendance at
this meeting at the Manhattan Lyceum. The group heard a resolution
sent in by Ludwig Martens of the Russian Soviet Government Bureau
"extending his allegiance and support to the Left Wing movement."
Resolutions were adopted calling for a strike on May Day, supporting
the Lawrence Strike, and calling for establishment of a working
class organization to fight for the freedom of Political Prisoners.
A resolution was adopted supporting the candidacy of Max Cohen
for Secretary of Local New York (running against Julius Gerber)
and for three Left Wing candidates running for the NEC of the
Socialist Party in the electoral district -- Louis Fraina, Nicholas
Hourwich, and Edward Lindgren. The action of the New York City
Committee of the Left Wing establishing the New York Communist
was approved and a "Red Week" of fundraising to support
that paper and the other recognized publication of the Left Wing
Section, the Yiddish-language Der Kampf, was approved.
There was a discussion about the State Executive Committee's
dissolution and reorganization of the 17th Assembly District
branch, and a committee of 7 was elected to cooperate with the
10 Left Wing members of the branch's Executive Committee ousted
in the fight.
"State Committee Proposition:
Letter to the Editor of the New York Call," by L.
Basky [pub. April 23, 1919] Left Wing Hungarian Socialist Federation member
L. Basky writes to the New York Call about the April 13,
1919, ruling of the New York State Committee finding the Left
Wing Section to violate "the spirit of the constitution"
and instruct its Executive Committee on that basis to revoke
the charter of any local that affiliates with the Left Wing Section
or which permits its subdivisions or members to be affiliated.
Basky calls for the decision of the 24 members of the State Committee
majority to be put to a referendum vote of the Socialist Party
of New York. "The Left Wing is not a counter-organization
to the Socialist Party," Basky states, but rather a reflection
of the sentiment "that it was high time to set the party
abreast of the revolutionary events" and "to make it
a useful instrument in the darkest and bitterest and most critical
hours of the class struggle instead of making it what the Social
Democratic Party of Germany turned out to be -- the last fortress
of the dying capitalist system." Changing the party's course
required organization and a program, Basky notes. This program
is reducible to a set of concrete propositions, he feels: "To
abolish all reform planks in the Socialists' party platform;
to strictly adhere to an uncompromising class struggle, the last
phase of which will be the dictatorship of the proletariat; to
propagate revolutionary industrial unionism; to have the party
own all its official papers and institutions; to repudiate the
Berne Congress and to elect delegates to an international congress
proposed by the Communist Party of Russia." He calls for
an electoral test to determine whether these values reflect majority
opinion in the Socialist Party. However, "The fight is on,"
Basky notes, adding "I welcome the attack of the State Committee.
We at least know some of those we would have to face in the critical
hour. Might as well fight it out now, whether they or the Left
Wing represents the party. Let us find out right now who is with
us and who is against us."
"The Pink Terror, Part 1:
The Rape of the 17th Assembly District Branch," by John
Reed [events of April 17-23, 1919] With the April 13 decision of the New York State
Executive Committee behind them, the Regular faction set about
purging the Socialist Party of New York of Left Wing Locals and
Branches. First on the list was the 17th Assembly District Branch
of Manhattan -- the largest branch of Local New York, with about
400 members in good standing. Prompting action was an April 10
branch meeting which voted to recall the branches officials,
have extended discussion of party principles, and elect new officers
-- a motion which Reed states was approved by a vote of 27 to
7 (although Reed later notes that the branch's quorum was 46).
Some of these recalled officials appeared before the Executive
Committee of Local New York and requested the branch to be reorganized
-- Left Wing EC member Julius Codkind being "beaten up"
and expelled from the meeting in the process. The 17th AD hall
was padlocked by order of the Executive Committee of Local New
York prior to the weekly meeting of April 17, and on the next
day branch members received a letter from the Socialist Party
of New York County announcing the reorganization of the 17th
AD branch at a special purging meeting held that same evening.
Some 150 members showed up at this meeting and were forced to
turn in their party cards. Each was questioned whether they were
"a member of the Left Wing." Reed states that only
30 of those present were invited into the reorganized branch.
This small group received a letter inviting them to another special
meeting to reorganize the 17th AD branch, to be held April 20,
with admission by presentation of the notification letter only.
This meeting was guarded by 2 NYC policemen, Reed says, who made
sure the banned Left Wingers were physically excluded from the
meeting. Reed states that the episode concluded on April 23,
when a moving van swept up to 17th AD branch headquarters and
removed the furniture, also under police protection.
"The Situation in Local New
York," by David P. Berenberg [event of April 22, 1919] Participant's account of the April
22 meeting of the Central Committee of Local New York. The first
test of strength came with the election of the chairman, with
Regular U. Solomon defeating Left Winger Max Cohen, 39 to 19.
A protest was of the credentials of the delegates from the 17th
Assembly District branch, the subject of a recall on the one
hand and a branch reorganization on the other. A protracted debate
of over an hour was conducted on the matter, the delegates of
the 17th AD ultimately retaining their seats. Once it was clear
that the majority was lost, the Left Wing proceeded to engage
in dilatory tactics, says Berenberg, raising repeated points
of order, challenging decisions of the chair, and demanding or
fighting roll call votes in order to disrupt the meeting. "The
hall was crowded with visitors -- mostly young boys and girls
whose membership in the party is from a month to about a year,"
Berenberg states, and the Left Wing played to the crowd in an
attempt to an environment in which no business could take place.
"A motion was made and seconded and carried that the Central
Committee adjourn subject to the call of the Executive Committee,
and that the Executive Committee of Local New York be instructed
to reorganize Local New York, and put it on a working basis before
it calls the next meeting of the Central Committee. This motion
was carried by a vote of 71 to 36, whereupon the meeting was
adjourned," Berenberg writes, adding that the pandemonium
generated by Left Wing committeemen and supporters attracted
the attention of the police, who subsequently cleared the room.
"An Answer to Moses Oppenheimer:
Letter to the Editor of the New York Call," by Israel
Amter [April 25, 1919] In
this letter to the New York Call, Left Winger Israel Amter
takes on Centrist Moses Oppenheimer and his associates for bolting
a recent meeting of Local Bronx, Socialist Party. "These
comrades seem unable to grasp the first elements of democracy,"
Amter declares, adding "They complain that the meeting elected
Dr. [Julius] Hammer to the chair for three consecutive sittings.
It would appear obvious to anybody but a Right Winger that his
constant re-election was due to the confidence of the assemblage
in Dr. Hammer and to the democratic notion of majority rule."
Amter complains that after three meetings of Local Bronx held
to discuss tactics and the Left Wing Manifesto, Oppenheimer and
his comrades were intent upon "dilly-dallying" and
"preventing the assemblage from determining its own will"
by sending the matter to a handpicked committee of 15 for further
discussion. Amter indicates that the Left Wing Manifesto is "merely
a basis upon which we can get together for revolutionary action"
and adds that "no claim is made that it is a perfect document."
Amter thunders that the Left Wing "shall not rest till the
Socialist Party of America not only stands for, but lives up
to, the revolutionary ideas that it originally propagated. We
shall not rest till all the compromisers, surrenderers, and traitors
have been swept out of the party. And do not forget that there
are many more of this class in the party than left it in the
wake of those arch-revolutionists, Russell, Spargo, Walling &
Co."
"The Pink Terror, Part 2:
The Pillage of the 18th-20th Assembly District Branch,"
by John Reed [event of April 25, 1919] Having purged and reorganized the 17th AD Branch,
the reorganizers in New York set their sites on the 18th-20th
AD Branch, located in Harlem. The branch's meeting of April 25
was characterized by Reed as "orderly," and it elected
6 new delegates to the Central Committee of Local New York. Reed
states that the "Right Wing" declined to run for these
positions, that 8 candidates were nominated and 6 affiliates
of the Left Wing Section were elected. "The unanimous action
of the Right Wingers showed that there was some sort of scheme
on foot, so after the meeting the Propaganda Committee proceeded
to copy the records of the branch, for fear that Alderman Calman
and his moving van might swoop down and carry them off,"
Reed notes. This foreboding proved well placed, he adds, as the
very next day the Financial Secretary's desk was broken into
and party records were removed. The branch's facility was then
padlocked. A meeting of the (Left Wing) branch was held on Sunday,
April 27, at which it was decided to allow the Executive Committee
of Local New York "to remove the furniture or take any other
illegal action they pleased," but that under no circumstance
would the Executive Committee's authority to reorganize the branch
be recognized. "By the time this paper is off the press,
we expect to hear that the 18th-20th AD has been thoroughly "reorganized,"
and that the great majority of the rank and file has joined the
Party Bread Line," Reed concludes.
"The Pink Terror, Part 3:
Frightfulness in the 2nd and 6th AD Branches," by John Reed
[events of April 25, 1919] Friday,
April 25, 1919, was the meeting night for the Socialist Party's
2nd AD and 6th Assembly District Branches, located in Manhattan.
At the 2nd AD Branch the Left Wing faction elected the chairman
for the evening, a certain Comrade Marks, which steered the course
to the debate. The April 17 reorganization of the 17th AD Branch
seems to have been the topic of extended and bitter debate, while
the report of the Central Committee -- detailing the need for
the purge -- was deferred to the next meeting. "there was
terror in the ranks of the Right Wing Buccaneers. Here was another
branch gone Left Wing -- another branch which must be reorganized
and the high cost of furniture moving still on the increase,"
Reed mockingly declares. The situation at the meeting of the
6th AD Branch was altogether different. There the Regular faction
elected the chairman for the evening, and those assembled heard
reports on the reorganization of the 17th AD Branch and the meeting
of the city Central Committee that reflected the Regular faction's
views, delivered by a certain Comrade Beckeman. A motion was
made and seconded not to concur with the State Committee's April
13 decision to expel branches and members affiliated with the
Left Wing Section. According to read, the chairman called only
those supporting the Regular faction in engineering a one-sided
debate, which apparently scuttled the motion. Thereafter, by
a 60-40 vote, the State Committee's purge was endorsed. "The
entire Left Wing membership of the 6th AD was thus completely
wiped out of existence and the branch 'made safe for democracy,'"
Reed declares.
"Introductory Editorial of
The Socialist," by David P. Berenberg [April 29,
1919] Rand School
instructor David Berenberg announces the launch of a new publication,
issued in response to the New York Communist issued by
John Reed, Benjamin Gitlow, and the Left Wing Section of Local
Greater New York. Berenberg declares that "A crisis has
arisen in the Socialist Party. An enemy has appeared within our
ranks. At a time when unity of purpose and unity of action are
prime necessities, this enemy has raised the black banner of
anarchy among us. It is to meet this enemy that The Socialist
is published." Berenberg asserts that the Left Wing Section
had revived "the insolence of DeLeonism" and "has
arrogated to itself all the revolutionary phrases, all the revolutionary
aims, and all the revolutionary ideals of the socialist movement.
It has concocted a manifesto which it now seeks to force upon
the party without giving the membership a chance to think it
over, to discuss it fully, to work the thing out in all its far-reaching
implications." "This organization has embarked on a
policy of rule or ruin," Berenberg declares and adds that
it "must be fought to a standstill for the good of the proletariat!"
MAY
"Debs Goes to Prison,"
by David Karsner. [May 1919]. Text of a pamphlet privately published in New
York in May 1919, probably compiling material previously published
in pages of The New York Call. Author David Karsner was
the editor of the Call's Sunday supplement and a biographer
of Debs. He travelled to Terre Haute to make the trip with Debs
to Cleveland and thenceforth to prison in Moundsville, WV. Karsner
was one of four friends of Debs making the journey with the Socialist
writer and orator to the prison gates -- along with J. Louis
Engdahl (who published a similar memoir), Alfred Wagenknecht,
and Debs' brother-in-law, Arthur Bauer. Includes a number of
direct quotations of Debs and other interesting and historically
valuable observations about the trip.
"Debs in Prison: The Story
of Convict No. 2253, Eugene Victor Debs," by J. Louis Engdahl.
[May 1919]. First
section of a pamphlet published by the National Office of the
Socialist Party in May 1919, almost certainly reprinting material
which first appeared in the pages of The American Socialist,
which Engdahl edited. This is one of two first-hand accounts
of the transfer of Eugene Debs from custody in Cleveland, Ohio,
to prison in Moundsville, WV, a cloak-and-dagger operation involving
a high-speed automobile chase and multiple train transfers as
the authorities sought to elude Socialist protesters. Includes
a number of direct quotations from Debs' last day of freedom,
including his last message, "Tell my comrades that I entered
the prison doors a flaming revolutionist, my head erect, my spirit
untamed, and my soul unconquered."
"Left, Right, and Center,"
by Dennis E. Batt [May 1919] Michigan Left Wing leader Dennis Batt analyses
the ideological schism in the ranks of the Socialist Party of
America. He frankly attempts to view the American party in the
light of European experience and in that means to "profit
by the events which have taken place" and "understand
which groups in our own movement represent counterrevolutionary
tendencies." The "Right" Batt sees as exemplified
by Victor Berger, Seymour Stedman, and National Secretary Adolph
Germer -- reformists with the sole aim "to make the conditions
of the workers' slavery a little more endurable." This they
have attempted by building a "great vote-catching political
machine" and "consciously and deliberately obscured
the class character of the socialist movement" by forging
alliances with the petty bourgeoisie. The "Center,"
on the other hand, is held to be "an even greater problem
than the Right," according to Batt. He states that the Centrist
socialists accept a part of the program of the revolutionary
wing, but possess a "natural tendency to compromise"
and attempt to build "harmony and unity" with the socialist
Right. This forced compromise of "fundamental principles"
represents a grave danger to the socialist movement, in Batt's
view. The Left Wing of the Socialist Party was experiencing great
growth; whatever its limitations, "the trend is in the right
direction and unless we allow enthusiasm to get the best of our
heads we will succeed in placing the Socialist Party upon a sound
basis," Batt predicts. The greatest error of the emerging
Left is a tendency to predicate its program "upon the idea
that the revolution is just around the corner" -- an event
for which Batt sees no evidence in current American capitalism.
He advocates the establishment of study groups by every Socialist
Party Local to assimilate the enthusiastic new members into the
socialist movement.
"Manifesto and Program of
the Left Wing Section Socialist Party, Local Greater New York.
[pamphlet version, circa May 1919] The
main programatic document of the Left Wing Section, Socialist
Party, was the "Left Wing Manifesto," authored in January
or early February by Louis C. Fraina, Bertram Wolfe, and others.
The text of the document evolved slightly over time, eventually
taking final shape as the content of this pamphlet issued by
Local Greater New York. This is the full text of the Left Wing
Manifesto and Program as published in the May 1919 pamphlet.
"May Day 1919: A Challenge
and a Greeting," by Rose Pastor Stokes [May 1, 1919] Facing an onslaught of prosecutions
by the Wilson administration for alleged violations of the so-called
Espionage Act, the Socialist Party launched a counterattack on
May Day 1919, holding hundreds of May Day meetings across the
country to build membership in the party and support for its
objectives. This speech by Rose Pastor Stokes was part of the
centrally prepared program for these meetings, published in a
pamphlet by the SPA's Department of Organization and Propaganda
and dramatically read to meetings by local party members along
with shorter statements by other prominent party defendants.
Stokes lauds the day as sweet-scented, declaring that "from
far lands in the old world is borne to us the new odor of the
flowers of our long-awaited Springtime -- the Springtime of Humanity."
"We have allowed the Church, State, Press, Bourse, to drug,
suppress, confuse, and swindle us," states Stokes. However,
the artificially-divided working class was gaining class consciousness,
and Stokes militantly declares "soon we shall have done
toiling and starving, fighting and dying for you. Against your
industrial chaos we shall oppose our industrial order; against
your social rottenness we shall oppose our social sanity; against
your war-breeding imperialism we shall oppose the fraternal interdependence
of our Socialist Republics; against your Dictatorship of the
Bourgeoisie we shall oppose our Dictatorship of the Proletariat."
"1919 May Day Speech,"
by Kate Richards O'Hare [May 1, 1919] Facing an onslaught of prosecutions by the Wilson
administration for alleged violations of the so-called Espionage
Act, the Socialist Party launched a counterattack on May Day
1919, holding hundreds of May Day meetings across the country
to build membership in the party and support for its objectives.
This speech by Kate Richards O'Hare (not included in the book
of O'Hare's writings published by Philip S. Foner and Sally Miller)
attempts to advance the idea that the American working class
had the power within itself to end the imprisonment of conscientious
and political objectors if only it would "DEMAND" the
same: "There is a vast difference between petitioning or
begging and demanding. Our old Colonial forefathers went to the
King on bended knees with a petition, and every time they went
on bended knees they were kicked out. Workers who have petitioned
and begged have not fared any better. There is power in workers
that are organized, and organized workers can DEMAND, have the
power to DEMAND. When once organized workers learn how to demand,
there is nothing they want that they cannot have." Also
includes an interesting discussion of the evolution of the main
slogans of the American bourgeoisie: from "He kept us out
of war" to "War to make the world safe for Democracy"
to "Americanism" to the bogey of "Bolshevism."
O'Hare states that "whether or not blood is spilled"
in the achievement of Socialism "depends upon the tyrants
of today."
"1919 May Day Speech,"
by Eugene V. Debs [May 1, 1919] Facing an onslaught of prosecutions by the Wilson
administration for alleged violations of the so-called Espionage
Act, the Socialist Party launched a counterattack on May Day
1919, holding hundreds of May Day meetings across the country
to build membership in the party and support for its objectives.
This speech by Eugene Debs was the keynote speech in the centrally
prepared program for these meetings. The speech was published
in a pamphlet by the SPA's Department of Organization and Propaganda
and was dramatically read to meetings by local party members.
Debs acknowleges here that the doors of federal prison "yawn
wide for me and my comrades" but he firmly asserts that
prison holds no terror for him, that rather his only concern
is "to preserve to the last the integrity of my own soul,
and my loyalty to the only cause that is worth living for, fighting
for, dying for." Debs likes the state oppression and bile
spewed towards the Socialist opposition to three previous movements:
the early ministry to the poor and downtrodden by the "Bolshevik"
Jesus Christ, the American revolution (during which Washington,
Jefferson, Henry, and Sam Adams were vilified), and the movement
against chattel slavery led by Lincoln and Wendell Phillips.
In all of these cases, the vilification proved fleeting, and
the movement for liberation proved powerful and lasting. So to
with the Socialist movement, Debs implies. "Great movements
are shaking the foundations of all the countries of the world,"
Debs states, noting a process of radicalization in England, Italy,
France, Hungary, and across Central Europe. The Bolshevik Revolution
is the beacon for this vital movement, Debs asserts, noting "What
they are calling 'Dictatorship of the Proletariat' simply means
'no work, no vote.' Unless one serves society he cannot enjoy
the protection and comfort of society. Let us as workingmen establish
the absolute rule that since Labor creates all wealth, all good
things of right belong to those whose labor has produced them."
"First Authentic News of
Cleveland May Day Demonstration," by Hortense Wagenknecht
[event of May 1, 1919] Valuable
first-hand account of the May Day 1919 Cleveland Riot -- the
result of an unprovoked attack by Cleveland police and ultra-nationalist
"patriots" against a peaceful procession and assembly
of thousands of working class Clevelanders held under the auspices
of the Socialist Party. Hortense Wagenknecht -- at the time the
temporary State Secretary of the Socialist Party of Cleveland
-- contends that the police attack was made against the assembly
of supporters gathered in the Cleveland town square, rather than
the more committed (and potentially more aggressive) marchers.
"No more than 200 of the marchers in the parade ever entered
the Square," Wagenknecht states. Mounted police and army
trucks drove straight into the crowd, swinging drawn clubs. Fist-fights
erupted and gang violence was practiced by the forces of so-called
"law and order" against the demonstrators. "Those
who attacked the marchers in every instance we can learn of,
were not the bystanders, but police, detectives, APLs, soldiers,
sailors, and hoodlums, who were selected for the work beforehand.
These last were in the main youths from the ages of about 14
to 25 years, and many were drunk. Soldiers stood about in groups
in many sections, pointing out to these ruffians who were willing
to do their bidding, any who appeared to be 'Reds' or who had
on red ties or badges. These were torn from the persons wearing
them, and if protest was made by the wearer, the soldiers rushed
to the spot and a free-for-all fight ensued. Hundreds of men
were without hats and collars, and showed the marks of having
their ties removed by these defenders of DEMOCRACY. Streets and
sidewalks were strewn with bits of red cloth, with here and there
spatterings of blood." Two were killed and hundreds hurt
in the riot.
"Who is Splitting the Party?
An Editorial in the New York Communist," by John
Reed [May 1, 1919] In
this editorial published in the New York Communist, editor
John Reed asserts that the revolutionary Socialist Left Wing
of the SPA had long endured the epithets of the ruling faction
of the party. Now, however, the Left Wing represented the majority
perspective among the rank and file of the organization and would
no longer be cowed. "We have no intention of being forced
out of the party by the Right Wing. We have no intention of 'splitting
the party;' not because we are afraid of a split -- for on a
question of principle it is better to split and keep on splitting
rather than compromise with reaction -- but because we intend
to capture the party machinery and mold the American movement
into an effective weapon with which to fight the battles of the
working class," Reed insists. In answer to the legitimate
attempt of the Left Wing to win control of the party, the Right
Wing in control of the Executive Committee of Local New York
makes use of "brutal strong-arm tactics," according
to Reed. "Who is splitting the party," asks Reed: "we,
the Left Wing, who have announced our open intention of capturing
the party by means of the majority vote of the delegates of the
rank and file in Party Convention assembled? Or the Right Wing
in New York, which is disrupting branch after branch, disenfranchising
hundreds of comrades, by illegal action of the Executive Committee?
The Executive Committee has indefinitely suspended the meetings
of the Central Committee, a superior body, because the branches
were electing a majority of Left wing delegates to that body.
And behind closed doors the Executive Committee functions, hurling
bulls of excommunication against all branches in which a Left
Wing majority appears."
"Berenberg Resolution is
Socialist Espionage Act: Letter to the Editor of the New York
Call," by Charles W. Gasser [May 2, 1919] This brief letter to the New
York Call by a New York Left Winger sharply criticizes David
Berenberg's resolution to the New York State Committee (passed
24-17) which banned the Left Wing Section and began a purge of
the Socialist Party of New York. Berenberg's resolution is nothing
more than a Socialist Espionage Law, Gasser insists. The founding
member of the Socialist Party continues: "If the constitution
(either state or national) of the Socialist Party has been violated,
why the Berenberg resolution? Why a referendum? Any one voting
aye on the resolution adds to the constitution the power to expel
any member or local advocating anything disagreeable to those
in control. If the present constitution is being violated, said
resolution is unnecessary."
"Fight Capitalism: Letter
to the Editor of the New York Call," by J. Lederer
[May 2, 1919] J.
Lederer, a 30 year veteran of the socialist movement in America,
writes to the New York Call with a sanguine view of the factional
war within the Socialist Party. Between the Left and Right Wings
of the Party "there is hardly any difference as to fundamentals,"
notes Lederer, "but as to tactics, or the question 'How
to get there' in the quickest and surest possible manner, that
was always, more or less, the bone of contention." Lederer
remarks that "the old SLP split up on this question, and
it seems to me that the present Left Wingers are almost identical
with the old SLP, and if DeLeon were alive today he certainly
would be a very happy man. After all, the time has come to admit
that DeLeon was a master mind, and if not for some petty unfortunate
personal and temperamental qualities he would have remained a
great leader in the American socialist movement. But he made
very much the same mistake as most of the present Left Wingers
and some of the Right Wingers are doing today. Intolerance was
his mistake, and above all I implore all comrades to learn to
look upon each other with kindness and with tolerance."
Lederer pleads that members of both factions should "remember
there is nothing perfect in this world, and even the sun has
its spots, and the Socialist Party, no doubt, has its faults,
and always will have some, but be fair, be reasonable, and use
common sense and comradeship in your discussions."
"The Left Wing Manifesto,"
by David P. Berenberg [May 2, 1919 and subsequent]. David Berenberg, an instructor
at the Rand School of Social Science, was one of the leaders
of the anti-Left Wing movement in the Socialist Party of New
York. He started a weekly newspaper in response to John Reed's
New York Communist called the New York Socialist.
(Reed later returned the favor by issuing a parody issue of the
New York Socialist and sneaking a stack into the Rand
School bookstore for distribution!) t was in the pages of the
NY Socialist that this lengthy analytical critique of
the "Manifesto and Program of the Left Wing Section"
was published in serial form. Berenberg's critique was doubtlessly
influential among party regulars in the hothouse that was Socialist
Party politics in New York city during the spring and summer
of 1919.
"The Emergency Convention:
An Editorial in the New York Communist," by John
Reed [May 8, 1919] John
Reed acknowledges the launch of the "organ of the reactionary
machine in Local New York," David Berenberg's The Socialist,
and observes that this publication had urged sympathetic members
to support the call for an Emergency National Convention of the
Socialist Party. "The change of heart which The Socialist
note would seem to indicate would therefore be welcome if it
was inspired by honest conviction," says Reed, but he notes
the change of position on the convention "indicates that
the "leaders" are up to their old game -- apparently
accepting the will of the membership while relying upon their
control of the party machinery to carry out their own purposes."
The situation is clear to Reed: "The attempts in New York
to disfranchise the Left Wing through 'reorganization' schemes,
and the New York State Committee resolution calling for the expulsion
of Left Wing branches and locals, through which it is hoped to
suspend the revolutionary section of the membership while the
voting for delegates to the convention is taking place are a
part of the general plan to control the coming convention."
"Circular Letter to the Members
of Local New York, SPA, from the Executive Committee of Local
New York, SPA." [May 8, 1919] This is an official communication from the Executive
Committee of Local New York about the purge it was engaged in
against branches and individuals endorsing the manifesto of the
Left Wing Section. "Your Executive Committee is compelled
to take unusual and vigorous measures to combat the disruptive
efforts of an internal faction, which seeks to dominate the party
by undemocratic and unsocialistic methods," the circular
letter declared, adding "The so-called 'Left Wing Section'
has a definite organization, with white membership cards, with
branches within the party branches (wherever it has been able
to form such), with a Central Committee, officers, treasury,
and press, parallel with and in opposition to those of the party."
This constituted a "party within the party," the communication
of the Executive Committee declared. Such a situation was deemed
a menace, for "openly ridiculing all ideas of democracy,
they have sought to impose their will upon the party by the systematic
use of machine methods utterly inconsistent with majority rule
or party unity and self-discipline." The Left Wing Section
was said to make use of dilatory tactics and rowdyism to disrupt
meetings and to make use of factional discipline and unit voting
to win majorities in ill-attended branch meetings. The situation
necessitating the reorganization of the 17th Assembly District
Branch is discussed in detail. While the assertion is made that
there was "no intention on the part of the Executive Committee
to censor opinions or to prevent free discussion of party questions,"
a decision had been made to cancel the scheduled May 13 meeting
of the city Central Committee and to reorganize the whole of
Local New York. "This committee will begin with such branches
as are affiliated with the "Left Wing Section." No
one will be excluded because of his opinions, but no one can
retain a double membership, in the party and in the so-called
'Left Wing Section,'" the communique ominously declares.
"The Executive Committee's
Statement: A Response to the Communique Issued by the EC of Local
New York, Socialist Party," by Maximilian Cohen [May 8,
1919] Lengthy
reply by Left Wing leader Max Cohen to the May 8 circular letter
of the Executive Committee of Local New York which vilified the
Left Wing Section and announced a party purge in the form of
"reorganizations." Cohen states that the Executive
Committee, headed by Julius Gerber, "is absolutely without
any authority to reorganize any branches in New York, until the
referendum issued by the State Committee has been passed."
He indicates that the rush to suspend various Left Wing branches
is little more than an effort to manipulate the result of this
pending referendum. The assertion that the city Central Committee
had ceded its authority to its Executive Committee and instructed
that body to reorganize Local New York is called by Cohen "a
deliberate lie," complete with falsified meeting minutes
published in David Berenberg's organ, The Socialist. Cohen
gives his first-hand account of the pivotal April 22 meeting
of the Central Committee of Local New York, and the heated debate
there over the reorganization of the 17th AD Branch -- the largest
single branch of Local New York. The so-called "Right Wing's"
position that adequate opportunity existed for alteration of
party policies within the structure of the party organization
is dismissed by Cohen as the illusory promises of a political
machine intent on holding power: "They do not wish to revise
the party's policies and tactics if they can help it; certainly
they are not for the abolition of social reform planks; they
are not for repudiating the Second International, they are not
for affiliating with the Third International, called by the Communist
Party of Russia (Bolsheviki). They are not for making revolutionary
industrial unionism a part of its general propaganda." To
the claim of the Regular faction that the Left Wing had formed
"an organization within the organization," Cohen responds
not with a denial but with an accusation that the Regulars had
themselves formed "an organization outside of the organization,"
consisting of quasi-party institutions such as the New York
Call and the Rand School of Social Science over which the
rank and file had no control, these being controlled and carefully
guarded by the SPA's ruling clique. Cohen calls for the recall
of the Executive Committee of Local New York and Secretary Gerber
and for a "no" vote on the pending party referendum
to expel the Left Wing Section.
"Division That Weakens: Letter
to the Editor of the New York Call," by Charles Hardy
[May 9, 1919] This
letter to the editor of the New York Call is presented as a bit
of a horror story, the tale of a paper member of the 3rd Assembly
District Branch, Bronx, attending a meeting of his organization
and being met with a $100 assessment towards new headquarters,
which Hardy states he was able "through hard bargaining"
to reduce to $25. Hardy states that he read the Left Wing Manifesto
and found it uninspiring; for example, it endorsed industrial
unionism as if that were a major step forward, even though this
was "something that the Socialist Party has done long before
they dreamed of it; but that is only a display of ignorance on
their part, and we can readily forgive them since they are so
short a time in the Socialist Party." Local Bronx subsequently
held a general membership meeting on the Left Wing Manifesto
which was addressed by Ben Gitlow for the Left, Moses Oppenheimer
for the Center, and Louis Waldman for the Right. "The only
one who spoke on the subject properly was Waldman, for he has
spoken on the issue and left out personalities. He has shown
conclusively that we are being separated by a little egotistic
group of men who are carried away with the enthusiasm of what
is happening in Europe, overlooking the present economic conditions
and the psychology of the workers in America," Hardy says.
At two further meetings of Local Bronx, "the behavior of
the Left Wingers was uncouth and disgusting," says Hardy.
"They came to the meetings organized and prepared to cram
into the throats of those assembled their manifesto at any price
and without discussion." Chairman of the 3 meetings was
Julius Hammer, a man who "disregarded all parliamentary
ruling procedures," in Hardy's opinion. Hardy asserts that
the Left Wing's "slogan that dooms them to fail" is:
"We have organized within the party to capture the party,
and if we cannot capture it, we will smash it." Hardy declares
that the forthcoming Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party "shall provide the necessary equipment for the party
that will prevent a few disrupters in the future from organizing
within the party, which naturally leads to a division that weakens
our forces and defeats our purpose when facing our real enemies
-- the capitalist class."
"The Cleveland May Day Demonstration,"
by C.E. Ruthenberg [May 10, 1919]. A disturbing tale of the crude and premeditated
exercise of force and violence by a coordinated circle of conspirators
against a law-abiding citizenry. On May 1, 1919, the Socialist
Party of Ohio sponsored a massive May Day parade, in which a
goodly number of unions and thousands of individuals participated.
Despite disruptions by right wing provocateurs, including one
wildly brandishing a handgun, the carefully-planned assembly
was completely peaceable. This calm was shattered by the premeditated
action of the Cleveland police department and their conservative
vigilante allies, who violently attacked the marchers, crushing
them with horses and beating them with clubs. In the melee which
followed, two marchers were murdered by the police and scores
arrested, and the headquarters of the Socilaist Party of Ohio
was vandalized under the winking eyes of the Cleveland constabulary.
C.E. Ruthenberg, Secretary of Local Cuyahoga County, Socialist
Party, was charged with "causing a disturbance" in
connection with this violent episode of state savagery, which
he ably chronicles here.
"Minutes of the Borough Committee
of Local Kings Co., New York, SPA, Meeting of May 11, 1919."
May 1919 was a
month of heated factional activity in the Socialist Party of
New York. These minutes of the Borough Committee of Local Kings
County detail the form that the struggle took in a meeting attended
by over 800 members of the party, including such prominent Left
Wingers as Edward Lindgren, Will Weinstone, Morris Zucker, and
Bert Wolfe; and such prominent Regulars as William Feigenbaum,
David Berenberg, and Abraham Shiplacoff. Lengthy and heated debate
over adoption of the Left Wing Manifesto resulted in time running
out, a hasty adoption of a motion by Weinstone pledging financial
and moral support "to the Left Wing propaganda and organization"
and resolving "that all delegates, committees, and officials
of Local Kings adhere strictly to this manifesto and program."
But the time for rental of the hall was exhausted, "a general
confusion and obstruction on the part of some members,"
and "the meeting had to be disbanded without finishing the
order of business before the house."
"Dr. Aronson's Plea for Unity:
Letter to the Editor of the New York Call," by M.
Aronson [May 12, 1919] A
desperate plea for reason from the New York Socialist Party factional
war of April-May 1919. The Centrist Aronson enumerates the transgressions
of "the administration of Local New York," headed by
Julius Gerber, which had taken steps to make the non-factional
New York Call into a factional organ; bypassed democratic
proposals to resolve the conflict, such as a New York city convention,
in favor of the methods of power politics; acted in caucus to
use the State Committee to adopt "the most monstrous proposition
of excluding from the party whole locals, branches, and groups
containing any member or members having views not in accordance
with the fanatical pharisees of the Right Wingers;" and
seized the records and assets and reorganized the dissident 17th
AD Branch without legal authority. "Still not satisfied,
the administration announced from the headquarters that it is
going to apply the same measures to all the branches not liked
at. No more waiting for the report of the elected committee of
7, no more waiting for the results of the referendum concerning
the Albany State Committee resolution, no more discussion. The
iron is hot; we are in power; might is right; arbitrary rule
is our life! Justice, solidarity, brotherly comradeship to the
wind -- imagination, idealistic phrases!" Aronson writes.
"Why all this terrific prosecution in the midst of our ranks?
The so-called Left Wing printed a leaflet, a manifesto."
Although he does not associate himself with this manifesto, neither
is it a crime against the party, Aronson notes. Neither the dues
collected by the Left Wing Section nor the membership cards "foolishly"
issued by them constitute insurmountable barriers to party unity,
in Aronson's view. "The world is aflame, capitalism is working
with great intensity to create the real iron heel, the hopes
of world peace and abolition of war are getting more and more
illusory...; militarism to be adopted by the most civilized nations.
Hunger and death, epidemic and desolation, prevail in most of
the European countries, and in the United States the profiteers
only are prosperous..." Yet, in this critical moment, the
American Socialist movement was tearing itself apart. "Comrades,
it is not too late yet. Drop this rubbish; let us be all united.
We are so few and the enemies are so many. Amicable discussions
and decisions. No disruptions, no closing up of branches, no
State Resolutions! Forget and forgive... In unity there is strength,"
Aronson implores.
"A Statement," by Max
S. Hayes [May 17, 1919] Published
statement by long time Socialist stalwart Max Hayes explaining
the thinking behind his decision to resign from the Socialist
Party on May 7, 1919. Hayes lists three principle reasons for
his decision: 1. A disagreement with the strongly anti-militarist
St. Louis Resolution of 1917; 2. A fundamental disagreement with
the Left Wing platform, a document which Hayes states was "foisted
upon Local Cleveland largely by an element who were in the party
organization less than 3 months and many of whom are not voters
and who are admittedly anarchistic in their tactics"; and
3. A disagreement with the "foolish tactics" displayed
at the May 1, 1919 parade in Cleveland, an event which culminated
in a riot ending in 2 deaths and the ransacking of Socialist
offices in the city by Right Wing mobs. "The SP officials
seem to have deliberately invited trouble that might have been
avoided by the use of ordinary tact," Hayes states, noting
that civil liberties had been curtailed by the local regime in
response to the troubles. "I am not an apostate and have
not recanted my principles and ideals. The Socialist Party, and
certainly not the Left Wingers, control no patent or copyright
on socialism, which philosophy I shall continue to advocate most
sincerely," Hayes declares. Includes a short biography of
Max S. Hayes.
"Chicago Turns to the Left!"
by I.E. Ferguson [events of May 17-18, 1919] Participant's account of the Socialist
Party convention of Local Cook Co., Illinois by a prominent leader
of the Left Wing Section. "This convention meant a decisive
conquest of a local party unit of over 6,500 members," Ferguson
trumpets, noting that the convention was held on "the basis
of what is perhaps the most carefully and completely elaborated
statement, in terms of platform and resolutions, of the Left
Wing movement in this country." At the convention Left Wing
candidates had received between 400 and nearly 450 votes to well
under 200 for supporters of the Regular faction. The Left Wing
triumph had led to a bolt of about 10% of the delegates, led
by "Napoleon" Seymour Stedman. "This handful of
delegates, who had been insistent for half a year that somebody
was trying to split the party, when faced with the realization
that the party was reorganized right under their eyes, without
a murmur about a secession, decided to prove there was a desire
to split the party by trying a little splitting on their own
account," Ferguson ironically notes. "If anything further
is heard of party-splitting in Chicago, Stedman and his dozen
or so of official lieutenants will stand convicted of a pre-calculated
design toward that end; at least, the deliberate raising of the
vanity of personal opinion, or lack of basis for intelligent
opinion, above the level of devotion to the socialist movement,"
Ferguson declares.
"Socialist Party in Swing
to the Left," by Robert M. Buck [events of May 17-18, 1919]
This short news
snippet from the Labor Party of Cook County's official organ
documents the heated proceedings at the recently completed convention
of the Socialist Party of Cook County. The gathering had been
dominated by a Left Wing majority, Buck states, with "William
Bross Lloyd, multimillionaire" presiding and "Isaac
E. Ferguson, lawyer" steering "the radical element
to their triumph." The gathering had nearly erupted in a
riot the first day of the gathering, Buck observes, "but
the Sunday gathering was peaceful and orderly, after the withdrawal
of the moderate delegates, led by Seymour Stedman." "There
was talk of a dual organization during the heat of the conflict,
but so far as could be learned no definite steps have yet been
taken," Buck notes.
"The Socialist Task and Outlook,"
by Morris Hillquit [published May 21, 1919]. One of the seminal documents of
the 1919 internal political struggle in the Socialist Party of
America, first published prominently on the back page of the
New York Call on May 21, 1919, This, Morris Hillquit's
so-called "Clear the Decks" article, has been (wrongly)
characterized by historian Theodore Draper as a directive for
a party purge. Hillquit, one of the leading figures of the SPA
and an individual with an enormous amount of personal influence
within the organization, weighed in on the faction fight between
the "Left Wing" and their opponents here, stating that
a split of the SPA was inevitable owing to the establishment
of the "Left Wing" as a "schizmatic and disintegrating"
movement within the party. Instead of conversion of their opponents,
this group refused cooperation in favor fo an effort to "capture"
the party organization in a sort of "burlesque on the Russian
Revolution," Hillquit stated. As a result, it would be "better
a hundred times to have two numerically small socialist organizations,
each homogeneous and harmonious within itself, than to have one
big party torn by dissensions and squabbles, an impotent colossus
on feet of clay." Hillquit called for the Left Wing to split
"honestly, freely, and without rancor."
"Minutes of the State Executive
Committee of the Socialist Party of New York, Special Meeting
of May 21, 1919." Special
meeting of the New York SEC called for the purpose of canvassing
the vote on pending party referenda. State Secretary Walter Cook
submitted a number of samples of ballots submitted by Ukrainian
and Russian party branches for the inspection of the committee
indicative of ballot box stuffing. Vote were cast, according
to Cook, "entirely out of proportion to the dues stamps
purchased by such locals during the last three months, but also
showing that the individual ballots on their very face were either
signed by one or a group of persons, or marked by the same person.
The same mark appears on about fifty ballots in ink from one
language local, while the signatures were mostly in pencil."
In another case, ballots were submitted by a Russian language
branch without an electoral meeting of that unit having been
held. "In view of the above it was decided that the Secretary
should correspond with the different locals having language branches,
demanding a tabulation of the vote on the national referendums
by branches, English as well as foreign languages; and also arrange
to have all locals turn into the State Office the individual
ballots from all their branches," the minutes indicate.
In addition, "a statement should accompany same, explaining
that the tabulation so filed was but tentative and that a final
tabulation would be filed later, as soon as all the facts in
connection with the irregularity of the vote on both referendums
have been gathered together."
"Minutes of a Special Meeting
of the Workmen's Cooperative Publishing Association: New York
City -- May 22, 1919." The Workmen's Cooperative Publishing Association
was the legally mandated corporate ownership entity behind the
New York Call, the daily organ of the Socialist Party
of Greater New York. These are the minutes of a special meeting
called by the association to determine the paper's line in the
increasingly turbulent factional war that was splitting the Socialist
Party of the state. The gathering voted in favor of a recommendation
by the paper's Board of Management "That The Call take
a definite stand against the organization within the organization,
such as the 'Left Wing' Section," by a vote of 29-17. The
decision followed the State Committee of New York's decision
to "practically outlaw" the Left Wing Section at its
meeting held the previous day. The formerly non-factional Call
was thus drawn into the ideological war as an explicit vehicle
of the Regular tendency; thereafter, debate was tilted in favor
of that faction at the expense of the Left Wing Section. The
paper was wedded to the Regular SPA and inevitably followed the
fortunes of that organization as imploded amidst a vast party
purge, splits of entire federations, and defections of a mass
of disillusioned rank and filers.
"Letter to the National Executive
Committee of the Socialist Party of America preferring charges
against Alfred Wagenknecht from Victor L. Berger, Member of the
NEC, May 22, 1919." With
this letter, Socialist NEC member Victor Berger officially prefers
charges against his fellow NEC member, Left Wing leader Alfred
Wagenknecht, for "willfully and maliciously using the position
to which he was appointed in order to promote the organization
and propaganda work of our party -- for the satisfaction of his
own petty and contemptible personal hatred and for the purpose
of injuring and sabotaging the good name" of Berger himself.
Berger also additionally charges Wagenknecht with "willfully
and maliciously sabotaging the Socialist Party in behalf of the
so-called 'Left Wing' and of using his position as National Organizer
perfidiously for that purpose." He calls for an investigation
of Wagenknecht by the NEC and his removal if he is found guilty
of said charges.
"Report to the NEC,"
by Adolph Germer [May 24, 1919]. The "nationality card" is played here
for the first time by the National Executive Secretary of the
Socialist Party of America, Adolph Germer. In the face of the
overwhelming defeat of the old and familiar faces in the 1919
elections for the SPA's National Executive Committee, and with
barely a month left in the lame duck outgoing NEC's constitution
term of office, Secretary Germer sounds the alarm, noting that
over half of the party's paid membership is affiliated with foreign
language federations for the first time and declaring this "an
abnormal and unhealthy condition." Germer further cries
fraud on the part of the language groups, citing a 70% rate of
growth in five carefully selected Slavic and Baltic language
federations between dues stamp sales in April 1919 relative to
December 1918. Germer charges that the members of the five mentioned
federations (Russian, Ukraianian, South Slavic, Lithuanian, and
Latvian) "do not vote, but are voted by the 'leaders' --
voted en bloc, with mathematical uniformity -- and all
one way." Germer states that the question of whether the
Socialist Party is to become the tail of its constituent language
federations "must be frankly faced and wisely solved"
by the outgoing NEC.
"Clearing the Decks: An Editorial
in the New York Communist, May 24, 1919." Editorial reply to Morris Hillquit's
"The Socialist Task and Outlook" from pages of the
New York Communist, edited by John Reed. The "clever
politician" Hillquit is said to have "emerged from
his long retirement" to issue this "semi-official declaration"
in the New York Call. "Now as ever, Hillquit is attempting
to carry water on both shoulders; he flirts with the revolutionary
sentiment that is now dominant in the movement; he coquettes
with Proletarian Dictatorship in Russia and Hungary, while spurning
it nearer to home; he implies a mild reproof to the majority
socialists of Germany; he mentions the St. Louis platform and
immediately sheers away, fearful of this test if applied to the
'leaders' of the party," the editorial states. In the postwar
world, Hillquit is said to have seen the United States the strongest
capitalist country in the world, with its liberal regime having
become reactionary and the reformist protest movement having
collapsed. To Hillquit, "it appears that the failure of
peace, the governmental persecution and repression, the obscurantism
of the capitalist press, terrorism, unemployment, and intensified
exploitation will soon awaken the American workers;" he
sees the Socialist Party's task as propaganda and organization,
awaiting an awakening of the American working class, the editorial
indicates. After years of advocating "unity," Hillquit
and the SP leadership are said to have moved to advocacy of a
split: "After months of agitation the Left Wing has broken
down the opposition and succeeded in having a referendum taken
on the necessity for a National Emergency Convention. The present
attitude of the rank and file forecasts that such a convention
will be another St. Louis, and Comrade Hillquit and the other
'leaders' doubt whether they can weather another storm. The only
thing left is to split the party before the convention."
According to the editorial, the Regulars were engaged in a conscious
attempt to "disfranchise the revolutionary section of the
membership, expel its spokesmen" and thereby make the party
safe for its "official junta." But the Left Wing was
in the driver's seat: "we refuse to split the party, that
is not our purpose. We will capture the party and if the Right
Wing wants to split, it must do the splitting, it must break
away from the party. The rank and file is behind our position,
we are the party, and when the time comes for clearing the decks
we will handle the mop."
"Discussing Hillquit's Article:
Letter to the Editor of the New York Call," by John
J. Kallen [May 26, 1919] This
rather temperate letter by a supporter of the Left Wing Section
to the editor of the New York Call demonstrates that within
the radical wing of the Socialist Party there were those who
sought to avoid the catastrophe of an acrimonious split. With
Hillquit's modest conclusion in his (wildly misinterpreted) "The
Socialist Task and Outlook," that "there had better
be a divided socialist house instead of one squabbling movement,"
Kallen thoroughly agrees. "But, if Comrade Hillquit truly
expresses the opinions of the vast majority of 'non-Lefts,' I
see no necessity for such a split," Kallen declares, noting
that the Left Wing did monolithically seek the abolition of all
social reform planks from the party platform. "Have we not
here a basis for discussion and reconciliation? Had the 'leaders'
been willing to permit honest discussion in the first place,
no 'reconciliation' would now be necessary," Kallen asserts.
Kallen tweaks Hillquit for inconsistency, noting that "If
on Comrade Hillquit's own testimony, the American 'revolt' is
near, why not be consistent and prepare for it with the thing
he scorns as utopian and anti-socialistic? Why not, if 'revolt'
and awakening from hypnosis is near, prepare for the one method
of steering it on the highways of socialism: namely, the 'dictatorship
of the American proletariat,"'the institution of the 'Soviet'?
Were the "revolt" very distant, no revision of party
tactics would be necessary. But Comrade Hillquit thinks differently,
but fails to see the necessity of preparedness."
"Michigan Charter Voided
by NEC: Socialist Committee Charges Members Have Violate National
Constitution." (New York Call) [event of May 26,
1919] This unsigned
news account from the pages of the New York Call notes
the May 26th decision of the Socialist Party's National Executive
Committee to expel the entire membership of the state of Michigan
from the party in a single stroke by revoking the charter granted
by the NEC to the State Committee. Reporter preferring charges
was Executive Secretary Adolph Germer, who asserted this provision
of the Michigan state constitution to be in violation with the
national constitution: "Any member local, or branch of a
local, advocating legislative reform or supporting organizations
for the purpose of advocating such reforms, shall be expelled
from the Socialist Party. The State Executive Committee is authorized
to revoke the charter of any local that does not conform to this
amendment." Although balloting on this provision had not
yet been completed, Germer asserted, and the NEC found by a 7-3
vote, that the mere submission of this provision to referendum
constituted a violation of Art. 2, Section 5 of the national
constitution of the SPA. "The majority [Regulars] holds
that the minority [Left Wing] is willing to connive at the breaking
of the constitution in order to control the party and deliver
it to the Left Wing. It also holds that the Michigan situation
is only one phase of a systematic campaign for this purpose that
will probably come up in other sessions," the article asserts.
"Indicting the Left Wing:
A Speech to the NEC," by James Oneal [circa May 27, 1919].
On May 28, 1919,
the lame duck National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party
of America unilaterally suspended the entire memberships of seven
constituent language federations, consisting of over 20,000 dues-paying
rank-and-filers. This is the lengthy speech of NEC member James
Oneal of New York to the gathering -- which included Translator-Secretaries
of the affected federations and Left Wing NEC members Alfred
Wagenknecht and L.E. Katterfeld. Oneal provides a brief history
of previous "Left Wing" movements within the Socialist
Party (all of which came to grief, often with leading participants
jumping to the other side of the barricades). Oneal also sharply
criticizes the current "Left Wing" Section for a lack
of patience, a dictatorial attitude and an unwillingness to adhere
to the spirit of the Socialist Party, a failure to follow the
constitution of the party, and a pattern of destructive behavior.
Oneal cites several articles of the SPA constitution in making
his case -- none of which seem particularly germane to the actual
factional situation existing in the party. The constitutionality
of NEC action to put aside election results and to suspend entire
federations is discussed not at all, it should be noted. Regardless,
this is one of the most intelligent and extensive discussions
of the thinking by a NEC member with regard to the insurgent
Left Wing Section. The speech was taken stenographically at the
meeting and reproduced in the pages of the factional weekly The
New York Socialist at the behest of members of the NEC.
"NEC Suspends Defiant Groups
of Foreign Born: Seven Language Federations Cut Off from Party
Affiliation for Violation." (New York Call) [May
28, 1919] This
unsigned news account from the pages of the New York Call
notes the May 28th decision of the Socialist Party's National
Executive Committee to unilaterally suspend 7 Language Federations
of the Socialist Party -- the Russian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Ukrainian,
Hungarian, Polish, and South Slavic -- for their endorsement
of the Left Wing manifesto. There was no constitutional authority
for such an action. The motion was carried by a vote of 7 to
2, with NEC members Ludwig Katterfeld and Alfred Wagenknecht
voting in the minority. "Charges against offending federations
included 11 counts, including frequent violations of the national
constitution," according to the news report. Joseph Stilson
of the Lithuanian Federation handled the defense for the language
groups, the debate over which occupied most of two full days,
May 27-28, 1919. The resolution adopted read in part "That
for violations of the party constitution the National Executive
Committee, fully conscious of its grave responsibility, herewith
suspends the federations, together with such privileges as affiliation
with the party gives them; that this decision, with the documentary
evidence upon which it is based, be transmitted to special national
convention, and that Secretaries of the federations affected
be accorded full opportunity to present their case to the convention;
that those members of federations who are not in agreement with
defiant policies of their federations be welcomed as members
of party by locals and branches of the several states."
"Jersey Socialist Convention
Names Farr for Governor; Harwood Offers Resignation: Resolution
Introduced to Condemn Expulsion of Slavic Language Federations
-- New International of Left Wing European Parties Endorsed."
[May 30, 1919] This
is a news account of the 19th Annual Convention of the Socialist
Party of New Jersey, held May 30, 1919 in Newark. The convention
was characterized by State Secretary Fred Harwood as a Left Wing
gathering, moderated by organizational influences. Harwood resigned
the post of State Secretary at the convention due to an excessive
workload, and the body elected Walter Gabriel of Newark as his
successor. A resolution condemning the action of the NEC of the
Socialist Party for expelling the state organization of Michigan
and suspending 7 language federations for having endorsed the
Left Wing manifesto was deferred in view of the lack of definitive
information on the situation. A resolution proposing the election
of the state committee by lower party bodies rather than by at
large balloting of the membership was passed and referred to
the State Committee for study. Another resolution proposed "the
formation of shop committees, organization by industries, and
election of industrial councils to prepare for taking over the
large enterprises now in capitalist hands," according to
this news report. The body seems to have walked a fine line between
the factions, formally approving the principles of the Left Wing
manifesto but condemning "a white card and separatist organization"
within the Socialist Party.
"Clear the Decks! An Editorial
in The Revolutionary Age, May 31, 1919." by Louis
C. Fraina Left
Wing leader Louis Fraina offers his perspective on the party
controversy and Morris Hillquit's seminal article, "The
Socialist Task and Outlook." Fraina observes that "Branch
after branch of Local New York, affiliated with the Left Wing,
has been expelled; and now the National Executive Committee,
in session in Chicago, expels the whole Socialist Party of the
state of Michigan, with threats of other expulsions." He
states that these actions are "partly a criminal attempt
to steal votes from Left Wing candidates, in order that the moderates
may be 'elected'" as well as "a desperate attempt to
'isolate' the fires of revolutionary socialism." Fraina
alleges that these actions are part of an orchestrated plot which
is "formulated by that master strategist of the moderates,
Morris Hillquit." Fraina accuses Hillquit of cleverly appropriating
revolutionary socialist language -- but with an ulterior motive,
for "every statement has a reservation." Fraina calls
this "a sinister maneuver to mobilize indefinite revolutionary
sentiment in the party for the moderate representatives"
of the party leadership. Fraina accuses the SP leadership of
hypocrisy: "They stigmatized the Left Wing as a secessionist
movement, as working to split the party; but now, realizing that
the Left Wing is conquering the party for revolutionary socialism,
for the Bolshevik-Spartacan International, the moderates are
adopting the policy they malignantly ascribed to the Left Wing
-- split the party!" Fraina states that the Left Wing is
perfectly willing for the SP Regulars to secede and join the
ranks of the Labor Party; this, however, is not the intention
of the waning leadership, as "they wish to retain control
of the party, even if it is necessary to expel the bulk of the
membership." These individuals are characterized by Fraina
as "social-gangsters and traitors to socialism," practitioners
of the same tactics as those used by the Ebert-Scheidemann pro-war
socialists in Germany. "Clear the decks! Clear them -- Clean,"
Fraina implores organized the Left Wing of the Socialist Party.
JUNE
"Scuttling the Ship: A Statement
of the Seven Suspended Language Federations, June 2, 1919."
This is the joint
protest statement of the 7 affected Language Federations of the
SPA (Russian, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian, South
Slavic, and Latvian) in response to the May 27 action of the
party's National Executive Committee to unilaterally suspend
the entire memberships of these organizations. The "autocratic
7" members of the National Executive Committee who approved
this action on "over 30,000 dues payers" are rebuked
for failing to provide notification, time for preparation, or
a trial. In addition, the NEC bloc of 7 suspended the party elections
and expelled the Michigan organization of nearly 6,000 without
trial, locked up the party headquarters in the hands of a private
holding company outside of party control, and arbitrarily threw
the Translator-Secretaries of the affected federations out of
party headquarters without allowing time for them to locate new
quarters. "In short, this group of seven National Committeemen,
drunk with power they assumed, feeling aggrieved because these
federations dared to criticize the National Executive Committee,
made themselves guilty of an act which will discredit them forever
in the International Socialist movement," the joint statement
charged.
"Letter from Adolph Germer
in Chicago to Morris Hillquit at Saranac Lake, New York, June
2, 1919." Very illuminating
letter from the National Executive Secretary of the Socialist
Party to leading luminary Hillquit, then convalescing from tuberculosis
at a sanitarium in upstate New York. Far from being the puppeteer
behind the seminal June 24-30 plenum of the SPA's governing National
Executive Committee, the disabled and out-of-the-loop Hillquit
is here informed of the results after the fact. Germer sees Russian
Federation Translator-Secretary Alexander Stoklitsky as the chief
mover behind the Left Wing movement within the federations, with
Joseph Stilson of the Lithuanian Federation his chief accomplice.
"I had a private talk with the Translator-Secretary of the
South Slavic Federation [George Selakovich] and I concluded from
what he said that he regretted having become involved in this
controversy," Germer notes, adding "the others, I believe,
were drawn into it without fully realizing what the result would
be." Alfred Wagenknecht of Ohio is portrayed as the chief
protagonist for the Left Wing among the Anglophonic element.
"Circular Letter to Michigan
Locals and Branches of the Socialist Party of America from Adolph
Germer, Executive Secretary. [June 3, 1919] With this letter, Executive Secretary
of the Socialist Party Adolph Germer notified the primary party
organizations of state of Michigan of their having been expelled
from the SPA by the governing National Executive Committee on
May 24 for actions measures adopted at the state party convention.
"The National Office will proceed at once with the reorganization,
so that you will have representation at the National Convention
of the Socialist Party to be held in Chicago on August 30th,"
Germer coyly notes. "At once call a special meeting of your
Local or Branch...and inform us, without delay, whether you repudiate
the section of the Michigan constitution above referred to and
accept the present National Platform and Constitution as your
guide until it is changed in the regular way," Germer demands.
"Keep in mind that whenever a movement like ours grows and
is on the verge of triumph, discordant elements creep into it
and play into the hands of the enemy. This has happened time
and time again. We have weathered it all. There is nothing surprising
or disheartening about it," Germer notes.
"The National Executive Committee
Acts," by David P. Berenberg [June 4, 1919]. Unsigned editorial in the New
York Socialist, presumably penned by editor David P. Berenberg,
reporting the decision of the National Executive Committee of
the Socialist Party to revoke the charter of the organization
of the Socialist Party of Michigan, thus effectively expelling
the state from the party. This decision was made on Saturday,
May 24, 1919, by a 7-3 vote, ostensibly on the grounds that the
insertion of a plank in the state constitution instructing the
Michigan State Committee to revoke the state charter of any local
or branch "advocating reforms" put the entire state
organization in violation of the national constitution of the
Socialist Party. Michigan was a hotbed of the Left Wing section,
and the purge of the Michigan organization was the first of a
number of countermeasures taken by the NEC in response to the
growing Left Wing movement in the party.
"The National Committee Meeting,"
by James Oneal. [June 4, 1919] The
Socialist Party's most aggressive anti-Communist member of the
NEC explains the actions of that body at its seminal May 24-30
plenary session, a riotous meeting which saw the expulsion of
the entire Socialist Party of Michigan and the suspension of
the party's Russian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Polish, Lithuanian,
Latvian, and South Slavic Language Federations -- a majority
of the members of the entire organization. "Filled with
an emotional ecstacy over the Russian revolution," these
groups had formed a coalition intent on establishing "a
dictatorship within the party," says Oneal. Citing examples,
Oneal notes that election fraud in the 1919 SPA election was
rife and the NEC justified in terminating the election and taking
action against the Left Wing. "What is facing the Socialist
Party is an anarcho-syndicalist revival that should play into
the hands of capitalist reaction and give our enemies an opportunity
to outlaw any socialist movement. Where the 'Left Wing' has developed
it has driven out many members through sheer disgust," Oneal
observes.
"Call for a National Conference
of the Left Wing." [Published June 4, 1919] This is the call for the holding
of a National Conference of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist
Party, issued jointly by Local Boston, Socialist Party (Louis
C. Fraina, Sec.); Local Cleveland, Socialist Party (C.E. Ruthenberg,
Sec.); and the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party of New
York City (Maximilian Cohen, Sec.). The call indicated that all
locals (or minority groups of locals, should a local refuse to
participate) should elect 1 delegate for every 500 members, with
no group to elect more than four delegates. Acceptance of the
Manifesto of the Left Wing of the Socialist Party of Greater
New York was provisionally to be the acid test for participaton.
The meeting was to discuss the crisis in the Socialist Party
and to agree upon action thereon, to discuss ways and means to
prevent the SPA from affiliating with any international organization
other than the "Bolshevik-Spartacan Communist International,"
to establish some sort of "national council or bureau"
to receive and disseminate information. A declaration of principles
was also to be drafted -- although the actual meeting did not
accomplish this latter task. Maximilian Cohen handled the formal
correspondence related to this meeting, which was held in New
York City.
"Debs on Prisons and Prisoners,"
by David Karsner [event of June 7, 1919] New York Call journalist and future Debs biographer
David Karsner provides an account of his 4th and final visit
to the imprisoned Socialist leader at Moundsville penitentiary
in West Virginia. The genial warden, Joseph Z. Terrell, accompanied
Karsner to meet Debs in his room inside the prison's two story
hospital building, exchanging heartfelt pleasantries and sheepishly
accepting a fistful of cigars from the generous Hoosier. Debs
was wearing his own clothing, rather than prison garb and had
a small shelf of neatly arranged books and a bouquet of flowers
next to his writing table, while a magazine picture of Jesus
Christ was tacked next to his bed. Debs seems to have transformed
imprisonment into a practical test and ultimate confirmation
of his socialist faith. His perspective of his fellow convicts
glows in a quasi-religious light. As for the guilty among him,
Debs declares to Karsner: "What sinless, spotless saint
among us may pronounce them wicked and sentence them to hell?
The very lowest and most degenerate of criminals is not one whit
worse than I. The difference between us is against me, not him.
All of my life I have been the favored one, the creature of fortune.
We both did the best we could and the worst we knew how, and
I am the beneficiary of society, of which he is the victim."
The zeal and passion of a religious martyr burns within Debs.
"I belong in this prison," he says. "I belong
where men are made to suffer for the errors of society. I have
talked about this thing and these social conditions all of my
life, and now I am glad to have the opportunity to live out in
practice the words I have spoken so many, many times. I belong
to this stratum of society. The roots of the social system are
here. They are nowhere else. These men - and I know many of them
by their first names now - were workmen. For the most part they
have been used and exploited. When they had nothing more to give,
when they had given their all, when they strove to make the very
best of a bad bargain and erred, society put them out of sight."
Debs asks Karsner to convey to his comrades that he is "all
right here" and living an active and fulfilling life in
service to his fellows. Includes photo of the Moundsville prison
hospital in which Debs lived and worked.
"Forty Thousand Expelled
by Seven," by L.E. Katterfeld, Alfred Wagenknecht, and Louis
C. Fraina [published June 7, 1919] An
"official" Left Wing perspective of the May 24-30,
1919 plenum of the Socialist Party's National Executive Committee
-- written by the two "minority" members of the NEC
along with Left Wing leader Louis Fraina. The decisions and motivations
of the "Willful Seven" are outlined, including the
expulsion of the Michigan state party without trial, the arbitrary
suspension of seven language federations in an effort to control
the tenor and outcome of the forthcoming Emergency Convention,
the locking up of party assets in a factional "holding company"
not subject to party recall, and the unconstitutional abrogation
of the SPA's 1919 referendum vote for officials. The statement
indicates that "the 'moderates' on the National Executive
Committee show no realization of the problems of the International
Revolution. They do not see the need of reconstructing the Party
policy in accord with the experience gained by our comrades in
Europe, or, at any rate, do not act toward that end." Party
members are called to stay in the party and to "build, build,
build," since the "sabotage" of the "Willful
Seven" is intended to cause the Left Wing to desert the
party.
"The Counterrevolution in
the Party: Report of the NEC Sessions in Chicago," by I.E.
Ferguson [June 7, 1919] The definitive
account of the seminal May 24-30 plenum of the Socialist Party's
National Executive Committee which expelled the Socialist Party
of Michigan and suspended the entire memberships of the Russian,
Ukrainian, Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, Hungarian, and South
Slavic Socialist Federations. Ferguson, one of the principles
of the Left Wing movement, is scathing in his review of the machinations
of the outgoing NEC. Ferguson sees the NEC as an accumulation
of frigtened and vindictive officeholders, spurred into frenzied
and thoroughly unconstitutional action by the sudden realization
that the reins of control of the party were slipping from the
hands of the Right and into the hands of the Left Wing movement.
The list of objectively illegal actions is impressive: Michigan
expelled befor e a pending referendum confimed the action of
its state convention, the Hungarian and South Slavic Federations
suspended based on the signature of a single official (the Translator-Secretary
of each) on a document protesting the action of the NEC. At root
is a transparent effort to control the forthcoming Emergency
National Convention of the Party by expelling political opponents,
Ferguson indicates, the dirtiest of power politics.
"Italian Federation Endorses
NEC Action: Resolution on the Expulsions and Suspensions of the
Left Wing Section, June 8, 1919." At its June 8, 1919, meeting the Executive Committee
of the Italian Federation passed a
resolution on the crisis in the Socialist Party, which was already marked by the
suspension of the entire state organization of Michigan and the
suspension of seven of the Slavic, Baltic, and Finnish federations
of the party. While on the one hand the suspensions and expulsion
were seen as justifiable for fairly clear violations of the party
constitution, the actions of the NEC were called "too drastic
and very unwise" since they were taken by a retiring NEC
which was itiself called to stand down by the very same constitution.
"In justice to all concerned and to show that the Socialist
Party plays fair at all times and in all things it could, we
believe, have found a less drastic way of disciplining these
organizations and put the whole matter before the coming national
convention for final solution," the resolution stated. The
resolution was mailed out to the members of the NEC and the parties
concerned by John LaDuca, the Translator-Secretary of the Italian
Federation.
"Letter to Adolph Germer
in Chicago, from Ludwig Katterfeld in Dighton, Kansas."
[June 10, 1919] In
this brief communication, Socialist Party NEC member L.E. Katterfeld
requests Executive Secretary Adolph Germer -- a factional foe
-- to poll the newly elected members of the NEC with a view to
their holding an organizational meeting on July 1, 1919, the
first day of their term of office under the party constitution.
"I urge a meeting of the new NEC at this earliest possible
date so that without loss of time we may call a halt to the party
wrecking activities of the expiring committee," Katterfeld
notes in the comment section attached to his motion. Knowing
full well that Germer would be unlikely to circulate this motion
to a group of individuals whose election had been recently abrogated
by the seated NEC, Katterfeld asks for Germer's immediate notification
if he did not poll the members of the newly elected committee.
"Speech at a Mass Meeting:
Madison Square Garden -- June 10, 1919," by Dennis Batt
The Lusk Committee
of the New York legislature was immediately active in building
a case against radical political and labor organizations with
a nexus in that state. Surveillance was conducted at public meetings
-- including stenographic reports of speeches, such as this one
by Left Wing leader Dennis Batt, made at a mass meeting held
at Madison Square Garden (probably held in protest of military
intervention in Soviet Russia). Batt brings down the house when
he exclaims: "We cannot expect, and neither do we expect,
anything but a fight, and a very nasty fight from the capitalist
class. We do not expect anything from them, except their iron
heel, if they will give it to use, because we know...that there
is only one thing that the capitalist class of this or any other
country understands, there is just one argument that they can
listen to -- and that is power. You can appeal to them and to
their sense of justice. You can argue about right and wrong,
but until such time as the working class of America has generated
the force to overcome the position, until such time we will have
to put up with such outrages as the raid upon the Bureau of the
Soviet government, as the imprisonment of Eugene Victor Debs."
"The Enemy Within,"
by Abraham Tuvim [June 11, 1919]. The bitterness of the faction fight between the
Left Wing section and the Socialist Party regulars in New York
state is made clear in this article from the New York Socialist
by adherent of the SP Right Abraham Tuvim. Tuvim details the
actions of a June 2 meeting of the New York City Committee in
repudiating the New York Call as a Socialist newspaper
and deciding to move forward to the holding of a New York "City
Convention" in contradiction of the instruction of the New
York State Executive Committee on the matter. The meeting, which
included at least two non-members of the SPA, according to Tuvim,
voted 12 to 3 in favor of repudiation, leaving the question of
recognition of the New York Communist as an official organ to
the forthcoming City Convention. Tuvim calls the Left Wing Section
a "counterrevolutionary and disruptive group" bent
on "destroying our Party and its institutions" and
states that "there must be no quarter" in the fight
between Socialist Party loyalists and the insurgent Left Wing
faction.
"Why the Foreign Language
Federations Were Suspended," by David P. Berenberg [June
11, 1919]. While
accompanied by brief editorial comment in support of the decision,
this article presents the full text of the landmark resolution
of the Socialist Party's National Executive Committee to suspend
seven of the organization's Language Federations for a list of
specific alleged violations of the party's constitution. Includes
footnotes containing the complete text of each cited constitutional
section so that the reader may better determine the merit or
lack thereof of each particular charge levied by the NEC.
"Foreign Federations,"
by David P. Berenberg [June 11, 1919]. Unsigned editorial in the New York Socialist,
presumably penned by editor David P. Berenberg, attempting to
justify the action of the Socialist Party's National Executive
Committee decision to summarily suspend the entire memberships
of seven language federations from the party ultimately due to
the endorsement of the Left Wing Manifesto by leading officials
or sections of each. "These federations are made up of people
who have had no experience whatsoever in political life at home.
Being composed of a disfranchised group, and exercising no suffrage
here, they naturally feel that the ballot is a useless scrap
of paper, and that nothing can be accomplished by political action,"
Berenberg states, adding that such individuals provided a fertile
field for syndicalist and anarchist propaganda. The suspension
of the seven federations was a strong measure necessary for the
preservation of the party, according to Berenberg, who adds that
the party would have the capacity to ratify or overturn this
decision at its forthcoming Emergency National Convention.
"Immediate Demands,"
by Louis Waldman [June 14, 1919]. Prominant New York Socialist Louis Waldman (later
one of the "5 Expelled Assemblymen of 1920") takes
on the Left Wing's call for the elimination of immediate demands
from the platform of the Socialist Party. Waldman notes that
only nine months previously, at the NY Socialist Party State
Convention, such Left Wingers as Bertram Wolfe, John Reed, and
Eadmonn MacAlpine had voted in favor of immediate demands as
part of that state's platform; now, despite no changes on the
domestic or international front to merit such a shift, immediate
demands were bitterly oppsed. Waldman asserts that the antipathy
of the Left Wing to immediate demands was misplaced, and that
partial victories in the struggle for the improvement of the
lives of the workers -- when the ultimate goal of complete emancipation
through Socialism is maintained -- actually served to increase
the class struggle and by implication the class-consciousness
of the workers. Waldman dismissed the charge that immediate demands
were inherently conservative, noting that the construction of
revolutionary industrial unions by the most revolutionary segment
of the union movement, the IWW, made extensive use of small actions
for limited demands as part of their program of organizational
development.
"Stevenson's 'Personally
Conducted' Raid: An Editorial in the New York Call, June
15, 1919." This
editorial from the New York City Socialist Party daily declares
that "responsibility for the raid on the Soviet Bureau rests
squarely on the shoulders of just one man" -- Archibald
Stevenson. "He headed the band of private detectives and
state constabulary that invaded the Soviet office. They all took
orders from him directly. Every detail of the raid was under
his specific direction," the editorialist asserts. Stevenson
is revealed as a zealous member of the Union League Club in New
York, which had moved that group to action pushing for a broad
investigation of radicalism in the state. Stevenson had been
appointed chairman of a special committee of that club established
for that purpose and had parlayed this position into fame through
testimony before the Overman Committee of the United States Senate
and a decisive place in the Lusk Committee established by the
New York legislature to investigate radicalism in the state.
Stevenson had gained a measure of infamy (and a rebuke from Secretary
of War Newton Baker) by reading into the testimony a list of
60 names of individuals which he, in his own judgment, proclaimed
to be "pro-German," "even though he knew this
act would damage them, no matter how false the allegation."
The editorialist declares that "What is needed today is
not so much a public investigation of the Soviet Bureau -- it
has never shunned legitimate investigation -- but a thoroughgoing
probe of Archibald E. Stevenson and his underground activities."
"Letter to Ludwig Katterfeld
in Dighton, KS from Adolph Germer in Chicago." [June 17,
1919] Socialist
Party Executive Secretary Adolph Germer responds in no uncertain
terms to Ludwig Katterfeld's attempt to convene a meeting of
the disputed "new" National Executive Committee of
the SPA: "With reference to your motion to call a meeting
of the new National Executive Committee on July 1st [1919], let
me say that I cannot submit this constitutionally or otherwise.
Even if the election had not been attended by the worst kind
of corruption and fraud, the new National Executive Committee
would have no authority to make any motions until July 1st. Of
course, I am not at all surprised that you would submit such
a motion and when you did so, you knew that it was entirely out
of order and that I had no right to send it out by wire or by
mail. It is further evidence that you have no respect for the
party laws - at the same time charging others with violating
the constitution. Your motion is indeed suggestive but it will
be well for you to know that your game with miscarry. There will
be no meeting of what you may consider the 'new' National Executive
Committee at party headquarters on July 1st."
"Letter to the Editor of
the New York Call," by Irvin D. Cline [June 17, 1919]
This letter to
the New York Socialist Party daily expresses strong indignation
over the National Executive Committee's decision to expel the
Michigan state organization and to suspend 7 language federations
from the party, while the New York State Executive Committee
took parallel action against Locals Buffalo, Rochester, Bronx,
Kings, and Queens. "Just think of it! One-half of the membership
of our party thrown out or suspended because they dared think
otherwise than the officialdom of the party!" Cline declares.
The debate over the philosophy and tactics advocated by the Left
Wing was a manifestation of an international controversy, Cline
observes, and the matter "should be thrashed out by the
coming National Emergency Convention and its recommendation submitted
to a referendum vote of the membership." However, the Regular
faction of the party had chosen to intervene. "The rank
and file has been for a long time more radical than its leaders,"
Cline notes. "The Left Wing crystallized this sentiment
into an organization for the purpose of making a more efficient
effort to bring about a change. The rank and file began to flock
towards them. The politicians in our party, those holding office
and those aspiring to hold office, those employed by the party
or the party-endorsed institutions, began to see their grip on
the party machinery slipping and have resorted to drastic and
in some cases questionable tactics far worse than those of which
the Left Wing are alleged to be guilty." Cline states that
he is not one of those affiliated with the Left Wing. "I
agree with them in many things. In some I disagree. But I believe
that it is unjust, undemocratic, unfair, and unsocialistic for
one side which controls the machinery of the party to throw out
the other side before the entire matter has been thoroughly discussed
and the membership of the party given an opportunity to vote."
"'The Willful Group of Seven,'"
by David P. Berenberg [June 18, 1919]. Unsigned front page commentary from the New
York Socialist, presumably penned by editor David P. Berenberg.
Here Berenberg responds to an article in The Communist by
L.E. Katterfeld and Alfred Wagenknecht concerning the hearing
of the seven federations prior to their suspension by the National
Executive Committee. Berenberg contends the hearing was fair,
conducted over a two day period, with Translator-Secretary Joseph
Stilson of the Lithuanian Federation answering the charges seriatim
on behalf of the other federations, who advised him and contributed
to his arguments. Berenberg also defends the decision of the
National Committee to place the Chicago headquarters of the Socialist
Party in the hands of a nine member private holding company to
place this asset out of reach of the Left Wing Section in any
subsequent "capture" of the organization. Berenberg
denies that there is any sort of "tidal wave" of the
rank and file membership of the Socialist Party on behalf of
the ideas of the Left Wing Section and describes an alleged model
by which a Local of 1,000 members is captured by a small handful
of "fanatics" through insuation and disruptionist tactics.
"Socialist Party members might as well recognized that there
can be no compromise with these factionalists," Berenberg
states, noting "if the Left Wing is successful it will drag
the Socialist Party underground where it will disappear."
"Present Party Officialdom
Overwhelmingly Repudiated by National Referendum. (A Tabulation
of the 1919 Socialist Party Election)." [June 18, 1919]
In the spring of 1919, the Socialist
Party of America conducted a referendum vote to elect new officers
for the organization, in accord with the constitution fo the
group. The term of office of the outgoing National Executive
Committee, International Delegates, and International Secretary
was set to expire on June 30, 1919. The Left Wing Section organized
to elect its slate to the open positions and thus shift the line
of the Socialist Party from the "constructive socialist"
Center-Right that had historically dominated the party's high
offices to the "revolutionary socialist" left. When
the results of the election began coming in, National Executive
Secretary Adolph Germer and the outgoing NEC quickly cried fraud,
arbitrarily invalidated the vote, and instructed State Secretaries
not to tabulate the results. A series of suspensions and expulsions
of ideological opponents followed. Knowing full well that they
had swept the elections, the Left Wing Section through its Cleveland
organ The Ohio Socialist independently polled the various
State Secretaries as to the vote in their state and published
the results. While the State Secretaries of the large states
of Illinois and New York refused to comply with the request of
the Left Wing Section, enough states did send in thier tallies
for a very telling summary to be published. This document lists
the vote for International Delegates and International Secretary
by individual states, showing a massive defeat for the candidates
loyal to the outgoing NEC. Numbers have been retabulated by computer
for publication here, correcting a substantial published undercount
of the vote for Morris Hillquit for International Secretary.
"The Crisis Within the Party,"
by Jack Carney [June 19, 1919] Carney, the Editor of Truth, a radical
weekly from Duluth, Minnesota, believes he has isolated a problem
in the Socialist Party -- lawyers and intellectuals. "Seymour
Stedman, John M. Work, Victor L. Berger, and a few more of the
NEC seem to think that it is their special duty to lead the rank
and file. Now that the rank and file are alive to their policy
of opportunism, they are in danger of being ousted at the coming
election of a new NEC. Therefore in order to ensure their re-election,
they expel all those that are in any way opposed to their opportunistic
tactics," Carney declares. "The Social Revolution will
never be achieved by simply electing a mayor in Dubbtown,"
Carney asserts. "The revolution will be a success when we
have the workers organized and conscious of their strength to
run industry. Therefore it naturally follows that the workers
must work to set themselves free. That means that there is no
room in our movement for lawyers, intellectuals (?), and other
unnecessary beings that capitalism has created." Carney's
opinion on the worthiness to the movement of the intellectuals
Karl Marx and Frederich Engels or the lawyer Vladimir Ul'ianov
is not recorded. "If the Left Wing wins out, then there
is no room for Stedman, Hillquit, Berger, and their hangers-on,"
Carney declares. "Let us not be sentimental about this matter,
but act like men and women and for the sake of the revolution
let us act straight. The surgeon who shoves in the knife and
digs down deep, soon heals the wounds."
"Circular Letter to the National
Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of America from Adolph
Germer, Executive Secretary." [June 21, 1919] This short letter from the Executive
Secretary of the Socialist Party of America to the sitting members
of the National Executive Committee (whose terms were constitutionally
set to expire on June 30, 1919) passes along the content of a
telegram from Left Wing NEC members Ludwig Katterfeld and Alfred
Wagenknecht to the Socialist Party of Massachusetts charging
the NEC with "flagrant procedure and violation of the party
constitution" in excluding "40,000 members of our party."
The aid of the Massachusetts party is solicited. Secretary Germer
adds the remark that "in all the propaganda sent out by
Katterfeld, Wagenknecht, and Fraina" the claim is made that
"nearly 40,000 members were expelled." Germer states
that "according to our records" the action recently
taken by the NEC "involves around 27,000."
"Minutes of the New York
State Executive Committee, SPA: New York City -- June 21, 1919."
Official published
record of the June meeting of the governing body of the Socialist
Party of New York. The minutes make clear that the split of the
Socialist Party in New York state was already an accomplished
fact: the Central Committee of Local Bronx "decided to notify
all branches that they must withdraw all delegates to the Central
Committee who are members of the 'Left Wing,' and all branches
affiliated with the 'Left Wing' section must withdraw or stand
suspended." State Secretary Cook stated that he had attended
a meeting of Local Queens "at which Organizer Paul was very
bitter in his denunciation against the State Executive Committee.
Paul did not submit a single letter of the State Executive Committee
to the party meeting." The State Executive Committee, summarily
and without charges, hearing, or trial, "empowered"
State Secretary Cook "to use all efforts to reorganize Local
Queens." Similarly, minutes of Local Buffalo had been received
by Cook indicating the adoption of the Left Wing manifesto, which
was met by immediate passage of a resolution "that the State
Secretary be instructed to proceed to reorganize Local Buffalo
as soon as possible." Cook was also instructed to reorganize
Locals Utica and Rochester, the minutes note. Some 16 branches
of Local Kings County had been reorganized, according to Cook,
in addition to Local Bronx. National Secretary Adolph Germer
had been informed of these reorganizations and asked to contact
branches affiliated with non-English federations still not suspended,
"particularly those of the German and Finnish, that they
must affiliate with the locals recognized by the State Committee,
and that they must withdraw their delegates and recognition from
the 'Left Wing' locals, and should they fail to do so, these
branches be suspended from their respective federations."
"Rand School, IWW Headquarters,
and Communist Victims of Raids: Lusk Raiders Seize Letters and
Documents of Local IWW: Search Warrant is Served on Rebel Worker
- Union's Central Body Named: Trooper Draws Gun on Man Who Tries
to Escape from Meeting Hall." [June 22, 1919] Unsigned news report from the
Socialist daily The New York Call detailing the June 21
Lusk Committee raids on the New York headquarters of the IWW
and The New York Communist. Primary attention is paid
to the IWW raid, which was conducted by 20 state and local law
enforcement officers, armed with a search warrant. The raiding
party took assorted documents, providing a receipt to the IWW
for materials taken. In the course of the raid, an IWW member
attempted to escape through a back window, which was stymied
by an officer drawing a gun.
"Frameup of Radicals Laid
to Lusk Probers by Resigning Aide: Official Translator Quits
Post, Asserting Committee Does Not Seek Truth But Tries to Influence
and Arouse Public Opinion -- British Secret Service Chief Examined
Papers, Is Charge." [June 22, 1919] This article will be of interest to specialists
in espionage and counter-intelligence -- a news report from the
Socialist Party's New York Call reprinting the press release
of Feliciu Vexler, a Romanian-born linguist who abruptly resigned
his post as a translator for Lusk Committee over what he characterized
the "methods of the former Tsars of Russia" being pursued
by the committee in their self-proclaimed attempt to "bust
up the whole Socialist and radical gang." Vexler charges
that British intelligence was working hand in glove with Archibald
Stevenson, the driving force of the raid on the Russian Soviet
Government Bureau. According to the news report, members of the
raiding crew told Vexler frankly that "their purpose in
making the raids was not to find the truth, but to 'frame up'
a case against all radical groups in New York through the public
press, and to show as plausibly as possible that a coordinated
movement for the 'overthrow of the government' of the United
States exists." Includes Vexler's complete press release
and an account of a brief interview conducted with Vexler personally,
during which Vexler stated "it appeared to me to be an attempt
to 'frame up' certain persons for public obloquy.... Stevenson
told me it was his purpose to link together all the various radical
movements in an attempt to show that a widespread conspiracy
existed by which it was intended to overthrow the government."
"St. Louis and the Left Wing:
Statement of Local St. Louis," W.M. Brandt, Secretary. [June
23, 1919] The
Left Wing controversy took a rather different form in St. Louis,
being fought out at two meetings of the General Committee [City
Central Committee] held on June 16 and 23, 1919. This lengthy
discussion of the Left Wing controversy was approved by the gathering
and sent out to the Socialist press for publication. The statement
declares that during the tumultuous years of the war there was
not talk of "Left" and "Right" Wings of the
Socialist Party -- that the entire organization had acted as
one against the European war and for the cause of international
Socialism, suffering as one grave persecution and draconian punishment
for its principled stand. Only three months after the armistice,
in February 1919, did this split develop. "What has the
Socialist Party of the United States done to necessitate or justify
such deplorable effects? Where and when has the Socialist Party
become so hopelessly reactionary or 'right wingish' to necessitate
or justify the creation of an underground organization in the
party?" Local St. Louis asks. Michigan's actions clearly
lay outside of the constitution and rules of the Socialist Party,
the statement declared, and the only conscientious way to deal
with the allegations against the language federations and the
action of the NEC against them would be to let the forthcoming
Emergency National Convention of the party, with national representation,
sort the matter out. In short: "We cannot see any good reason
for the so-called 'Left Wing' movement in our Socialist Party.
To charge our national officers with being Scheidemann-Socialists
and 'Right Wingers' is ridiculous. The only class that can gain
by the Left Wing disturbance is the capitalist class that is
organizing a nationwide campaign for the disruption and destruction
of the Socialist Party."
"Minutes of the National
Left Wing Conference: New York City," by Fannie Horowitz
[events of June 21-24, 1919] These rather skeletal minutes only hint at the
great controversy that gripped the June National Conference of
the Left Wing in New York City, but still managed to provide
a rough outline of the factional conflict. Division first took
place over the question as to whether the various language federations
would be allowed their own voting delegates, in addition to those
federationists already elected through regular channels. The
federation delegates were seated with voice and vote, yet remained
in the minority at the Conference. A "National Council of
the Left Wing" was elected, none of the 9 members elected
being a Federationist. This body replaced an "Emergency
National Council" elected earlier that same day, which had
included no fewer than 2 Federation representatives. The evening
of the second day the main bone of contention became clear --
the tactical question of whether the organized Left Wing Section
should continue its fight to enforce its victory in the abrogated
1919 party elections by fighting out the matter at the forthcoming
Emergency National Convention of the party (reporter in support
of this idea being would-be Executive Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht);
or whether the Left Wing should immediately declare itself "the
Communist Party of America" and endorse the already existing
Michigan call for a September 1, 1919, founding convention to
formalize the organization (reporter being Nick Hourwich). A
resolution proclaiming the establishment of the Communist Party
of America was hastily drawn up by C.E. Ruthenberg and Hourwich.
After lengthy discussion, this resolution was defeated and the
the tactic of continuing the fight within the Socialist Party
thus endorsed. Contrary to popular belief, the Federationists
and Michiganders did not immediately bolt the conference over
the issue, however; nor, truth be told, did they technically
bolt the convention at all. Participation continued briefly,
with Michigan partisan Dennis Batt resigned from the Manifesto
Committee on the afternoon of the third day. Only at a later
session that night did the Federationists Hourwich and Alex Stoklitsky
resign their committee posts and was an announcement read indicating
that 31 Federationist delegates had "decided to withhold
their activities from the Conference until such time as they
see fit to resume them." The Federationists remained present
throughout -- perhaps in an effort to ensure their travel expenses
would be covered, perhaps in hopes that the tactical decision
causing the split would be reconsidered. It was only at the end
of the session held the 4th day that Latvian Federationist John
Anderson [Kristap Beika] resigned from the Organization Committee.
At the conclusion of the Conference, a formal split was looming
rather than an accomplished fact.
"'Report of the National
Left Wing Conference (Extracts): New York -- June 21-24, 1919."
The unity of the Left Wing Section
of the Socialist Party was shattered by the coup of the outgoing
NEC of the Socialist Party in the late spring and summer of 1919,
suspending and expellling tens of thousands of party members.
These members thrown outside the organization were less inclined
to remain steadfast to a strategy of winning over the organization
through normal internal processes of party decision-making, instead
seeking immediate establishment of a new Communist Party. This
material, published in the August 2, 1919 issue of the organ
of the Left Wing Section, The Revolutionary Age, provides
a range of perspectives on the situation facing the left wing
from the time of relative unity of purpose. Includes the speeches
of Louis C. Fraina, Dennis Batt (Michigan Party), I.E. Ferguson
(Sec. of National Left Wing Council), John Ballam (Massachusetts
Party), Alexander Stoklitsky (Russian Federation), and Harry
Hiltzik (Jewish Left Wing Federation). Most interesting of the
group are the perspectives of Ballam and Ferguson, who at this
time were still staunch advocates of conducting the fight within
the SPA. These two later became founding members of the Communist
Party of America.
"Manifesto of the Left Wing
National Conference: Issued on Authority of the Conference by
the Left Wing National Council." [adopted June 21-24, 1919]
This lengthy document
is the second of two "Left Wing Manifestos" -- not
to be confused with the earlier and better known "Manifesto
of the Left Wing Section of Greater New York." This second
manifesto was issued on behalf of the June 1919 National Conference
of the Left Wing, held in New York City, and it attempts to provide
a theoretical analysis of the situation facing the Revolutionary
Socialist movement in America in the midst of the rapidly changing
events of the summer of 1919. It was this explicit document --
not the earlier manifesto -- that was published in the pages
of The Revolutionary Age and which was cited as the basis of
the prosecution of the editors and leaders of the Left Wing for
purported violation of the so-called New York "Criminal
Anarchy" law. The manifesto posits a dichotomy between "dominant
Moderate Socialism" and "revolutionary Socialism."
As for the former, "Moderate Socialism is compromising,
vacillating, treacherous, because the social elements it depends
upon -- the petite bourgeoisie and the aristocracy of labor --
are not a fundamental factor in society; they vacillate between
the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, their social instability
produces political instability; and, moreover, they have been
seduced by Imperialism and are now united with Imperialism."
By way of contrast, "Revolutionary Socialism does not propose
to 'capture' the bourgeois parliamentary state, but to conquer
and destroy it. Revolutionary Socialism, accordingly, repudiates
the policy of introducing Socialism by means of legislative measures
on the basis of the bourgeois state.... As long as the bourgeois
parliamentary state prevails, the capitalist class can baffle
the will of the proletariat, since all the political power, the
army and the police, industry and the press, are in the hands
of the capitalists, whose economic power gives them complete
domination. The revolutionary proletariat must expropriate all
these by the conquest of the power of the state, by annihilating
the political power of the bourgeoisie, before it can begin the
task of introducing Socialism."
"The National Left Wing Conference,"
by Louis C. Fraina. [events of June 21-24, 1919] Originally an unsigned report from the pages of
The Revolutionay Age, attributed to Fraina based upon
his editorship and content. This article details the First (and
only) National Conference of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist
Party, held in New York City from June 21-24, 1919. The session
was attended over 90 delegates hailing from about 20 different
states. The opening address was given by Fraina, who said that
"the proletarian revolution in action has modified the old
tactical concepts of Socialism; and the inspiration of the Bolshevik
conquests, joining with the original minority Socialism in the
Socialist Party, has produced the Left Wing." Includes a
discussion of major issues at the Conference, first and foremost
the question of whether to proceed immediately to the formation
of a Communist Party or to continue the struggle for control
of the Socialist Party's Emergency National Convention in the
face of mounting expulsions, reorganizations, and suspensions.
Interesting mention of a dismissed alternative in which the Central
Committees of the Language Federations would have each been entitled
to a seat on the governing National Council of the Left Wing.
Defeated on the question of immediate formation of a party and
a federative National Council, 31 delegates of the Federations
and Michigan caucused and declined further participation from
the third day, thus moving towards a factionalized movement in
September.
"Letter to Marion Sproule,
State Secretary of the Socialist Party of Massachusetts from
Adolph Germer, Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of
America." [June 25, 1919] In this letter to the State Secretary of the Socialist
Party of Massachusetts, SP Executive Secretary Adolph Germer
passes along news of the expulsion of the Massachusetts Party
by the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party in
a vote of 8 to 1. "I am sure the revocation of the charter
was not unexpected in view of the action taken by your recent
State Convention, which constitutes a repudiation of the Socialist
Party platform and a violation of the sections above cited,"
Germer tells the Left Wing State Secretary, Ms. Sproule. "The
revocation of the charter cancels the election of delegates to
the Special National Convention to be held in Chicago, August
30th, 1919," Germer notes as a casual aside. The voiding
of a large Left Wing delegate slate was, of course, the entire
reason for the NEC's rush to draconian action, Germer's crocodile
tears about regretting the necessity of the action notwithstanding.
"British Provost Marshal
Aided Lusk Probers with Documents: Nathan, Who Took Leading Part
in Raid, Just a 'Junior' Officer: Head of Organization Says He
Furnished Record of Martens but Didn't 'Butt In.'" [June
25, 1919] This
article from the New York Call follows up on linguist
Feliciu Vexler's charge that British intelligence was working
with Archibald Stevenson and the Lusk Committee in their raid
on the Russian Soviet Government Bureau and their attempt to
link various liberal and radical persons and institutions in
a grand conspiracy plot. The Call reporter went to the
office of the British consulate attempting to find a certain
"Nathan" on the staff, purported to be the head of
British intelligence in America. The reporter ironically interviewed
Norman Thwaites, who was ironically William Wiseman's chief intelligence
officer in the US. Despite two other employees playing dumb to
the reporter, Thwaites obligingly acknowledged that there was
a "junior" of unspecified duties on his staff by the
name of Nathan -- actually his top assistant specializing in
gathering data on nationalist and radical movements and individuals,
Robert Nathan. Thwaites told the reporter he "wasn't sure
of Nathan's initials, but thought they were J.R." -- and
stated that Nathan had "taken some records concerning L.C.A.K.
Martens to the raiders" following the seizure of documents
from the RSGB. Thwaites is quoted as saying "this office
had nothing whatever to do with the Lusk Committee" and
that "this office would not think of butting into such an
affair as this. Even if we had been invited to participate --
though, since this is not our business, I don't see why we should
have been -- I should have absolutely refused to take part."
"Another Victory for Uncompromising
Socialism: New National Executive Committee of Left Wing Socialists."
[June 25, 1919] The results of
the SPA vote for National Executive Members in the party's five
electoral districts (arbitrarily voided by the outgoing NEC)
were also independently gathered, tabulated, and published by
the Left Wing Section in their weekly publication The Ohio
Socialist. These results showed a strong Left Wing majority
in the candidates who should have been elected: "These tabulations
show that Fraina, Hourwich, and Lindgren were elected upon the
new National Executive Committee from the First District; Ruthenberg,
Prevey, and Harwood from the Second District; Keracher, Batt,
and Lloyd from the Third District; Nagle, Millis, and Hogan from
the Fourth District; Katterfeld, Wicks, and Herman from the Fifth
District." Of these, only the 3rd district candidates plus
Harwood in the Second District and Herman in the Fifth, were
Left Wing Candidates. Had the election not been invalidated,
this evidence demonstrates fairly conclusively that the Left
Wing Section would have "captured" the party via the
democratic will of the membership in the Spring 1919 election.
"Duncan Brands Hanson as
Liar and Impostor: Strikebreaking Mayor Stripped of Patriotic
Veneer by Seattle Union Leader." [event of June 25, 1919]
This is a New
York Call report of a public speech by Seattle trade unionist
James Duncan, who takes aim at the city's self-promoting king
of the red baiters, former Mayor Ole Hanson. Hanson is called
a "liar" for pretending to have broken the Seattle
general strike of 1919, which was called off by the unions themselves.
Duncan lets fly in front of a delighted standing room only crowd
in New York City: "Ole Hanson is a liar. Ole Hanson is an
imposter parading as a patriot. Ole Hanson had nothing to do
with the calling off of the strike. If he says so, he is imposing
himself upon the good nature of the people. Ole Hanson is the
biggest four-flushing politician. He's about as big a liar as
ever came down the pike." Duncan also sticks up for Bolshevik
Russia in his speech, saying: "America and Russia have something
in common. They were both born out of revolution. We can look
each other in the eye. American workers should wish the Russian
workers well and should aid them as well as they know how...
We don't say that we want Bolshevism in America, but if the workers
want Bolshevism in Russia, it's their right, and their privilege.
And we should say: 'Hands off and give them a chance.'"
"Imprisoned Member Protests
NEC Action: Herman Characterizes Expulsion of Michigan State
Organization and Suspension of Language Federations as Undemocratic,
Unparliamentary, and Unsocialistic," by Emil Herman [June
26, 1919] Alfred
Wagenknecht and Ludwig Katterfeld were not the only members of
the Socialist Party's 15 member National Executive Committee
who objected to the NEC's draconian action taken in June of 1919
suspending 7 of the SPA's language federations and expelling
the Michigan state organization. This letter from imprisoned
NEC member Emil Herman of Washington reveals that Herman shared
the misgivings of the two Communist Labor Party founders. Herman
expressly records his "no" vote against these actions
and writes: "The NEC has at all its meetings seen fit to
consider as 'present' all its members who are by action of the
government prevented from personally attending. As an expression
of sentiment and comradely sympathy I, as one so detained, appreciate
this graceful tribute very sincerely. But when, as appears from
the minutes of the recent NEC meeting, this imaginary 'presence'
is made use of in an attempt to constitute a quorum when no quorum
exists, in order to make wholesale expulsions from the party
and to deprive the membership of expression through the referendum,
I am constrained to protest, and this most vigorously, such an
undemocratic, unparliamentary, and unsocialistic procedure. Surely
as Socialists we cannot afford to stoop to the use of such petty,
political trickery, nor should we wish to do so."
"Letter to the New York
Call ... including Full Text of Letter to NY State Secretary
Walter Cook, dated June 12, 1919," by Nicholas Aleinikoff
[June 27, 1919] Perhaps
the most vocal supporter of the besieged Left Wing section of
the Socialist Party sitting on the New York State Executive Committee
was Nicholas Aleinikoff. Aleinikoff was sharply critical of the
perceived unconstitutional behavior of the SEC and State Secretary
Walter Cook in their draconian reorganizations of locals endorsing
the Left Wing manifesto. On June 12, Aleinikoff addressed a letter
to Cook formally objecting to the decisions taken by the SEC
at its May 21 meeting against Locals Kings, Queens, and Bronx.
Aleinikoff states that these actions were "taken in clear
violation of the provisions of the state constitution" as
"there was no evidence before the committee that any of
the locals above mentioned had willfully adopted and adhered
to a constitution or platform in violation of the national or
state constitutions of the Socialist Party." Cook did not
transmit Aleinkoff's objections to the full state committee however,
basing his action upon a constitutional provision banning appeals
by SEC members to the full State Committee (a decision formally
approved by the SEC at its June 21 session). The actions of the
SEC and Cook are said to have been based upon vagaries of matters
having merely "come to their attention" rather than
upon formal investigation, preference and defense of charges,
and decision based upon these hearings. Aleinikoff appeals to
The Call to publish his communication as the only means possible
for him to communicate with the rest of the New York State Committee,
given the obstruction of State Secretary Cook.
"Answers Aleinikoff: Letter
to the Editor of the New York Call," by Walter M.
Cook [June 28, 1919] New
York Socialist Party State Secretary Walter Cook is quick to
answer the charges of State Executive Committee member Nicholas
Aleinikoff that the SEC had engaged in unconstitutional practices
in its May 21 move against Locals Kings, Queens, and Bronx. "Comrade
Aleinikoff claims the SEC did not have "evidence" before
it when taking action. A sub-committee was appointed to secure
that evidence and no one ever before denied that these locals
have not adopted the Left Wing manifesto as their official platform
and affiliated themselves with that organization," writes
Cook. "Certainly the body which has the power to issue a
charter has also the power to revoke same for good and sufficient
reasons," Cook adds. "Had Comrade Aleinikoff (and others
of a similar mind) lived up to the duties of the office he held
in the Socialist Party, and had studied the state and national
constitutions, as faithfully to defend them against the avowed
purpose of the party's internal enemies to "split"
off from what a few individuals styled the Right, as he is now
doing in playing for time with them, he would hardly have left
the Socialist Party as he has done," Cook concludes.
"Left Wingers Capture the
Ohio Socialist Convention: Resolve to Rule or Wreck National
Party -- 'Communist Party' to Be Formed," by Joseph W. Sharts
[events of June 27-29, 1919] On June 27-28, 1919, the Socialist Party of Ohio
held its state convention in Cincinnati. The gathering was attended
by about 55 delegates -- the big majority of which were supporters
of the Left Wing movement in the Socialist Party. This news account
by SP Regular Joseph Sharts notes that the convention, after
3 hours of debate, voted 47-7 in favor of a pre-prepared state
program presented by C.E. Ruthenberg of Cleveland which "declared
unequivocally for the 'Left Wing,' viz. for limiting political
action, relegating it to a mere auxiliary and subordinate position
under industrial action, cutting out all agitation for immediate
palliative measures, such as municipal ownership, and insisting
upon the abolition of the entire capitalist system through the
dictatorship of the proletariat." The day following the
convention was held the Ohio state picnic of the Socialist Party,
which was addressed by Ruthenberg, Charles Baker, Margaret Prevey,
and John Keracher of Detroit.
JULY
"Testing the Water,"
a cartoon by Art Young [July 1919]. ***PDF GRAPHIC FILE (460
k.) This cartoon
by Art Young appeared in the July 1919 issue of Max Eastman's
monthly,The Liberator. Untitled in the original, the drawing
features a geriatric "U.S. Socialist Party" sitting
beneath the tree of "petit-bourgeois respectability"
dipping his toe in the "Communist International" pond.
"The Parting of the Ways,"
by Dennis Batt [July 1919] Fundamental
splits of Socialist parties are inevitable, writes Michigan Left
Wing Section leader Dennis Batt in this article from The Proletarian:
in some countries this takes place before the revolution
and in others during the revolution itself. The reason, Batt
indicates, is that at some point in the process "the understanding
minority becomes the majority, and is in a position to take control
of the organization, a split is imminent; for the petty bourgeois-minded
conservatives within the ranks of the Socialist movement can
not, and will not, accept a real Socialist position. Rather than
do so they would wreck the organization." The Socialist
Party of America was at this juncture currently, he writes. Instead
of performing what Batt believed to be the fundamental task of
a Socialist party -- "training and organizing the working
class for the conquest of political power" -- the SPA had
filled its platform with "all kinds of nonsensical reforms,
old age pensions, government ownership, penal reforms, etc.,
etc., ad naseum." This had the effect of attracting non-Socialist
elements to the party, individuals who had proven their instability
and disloyalty in times of crisis. The NEC of the Socialist Party
is singled out for its hypocrisy in allowing its petty bourgeois
allies to flirt with the Non-Partisan League, in clear violation
of the SP loyalty pledge, while at the same time expelling adherents
of the Left Wing Section for purported violation of the same
pledge. The "National Office clique" falsely claimed
to be constructive, actually constructing nothing, and have "even
been unable to develop a press fit to read," Batt bitterly
complains. This series of failures resulted in the repudiation
of the "reactionaries in office" in the 1919 Party
election, an event which prompted the NEC to show "their
true colors -- a genuine black streaked with yellow" by
invalidating the vote and proceeding to suspend and expel their
opponents. "We congratulate them upon their maintaining
control at the expense of wrecking the organization. They have
expelled or suspended nearly 40,000 members and will expel that
many more in order to remain in the saddle of power," Batt
declares, adding "the split in America has come."
"The Left Wing and the Truth,"
by Adolph Germer [July 2, 1919]. The National Executive Secretary makes a spirited
defense of the decision of the party's governing National Executive
Committee to expel the state organization of Michigan for violation
of the constitution of the Socialist Party. Germer quotes the
newly revised constitution of Michigan and its mandate that "any
member, local, or branch of a local, advocating legislative reforms
or supporting organizations formed for the purpose of advocating
such reforms, shall be expelled from the Socialist Party"
and notes the patent contradiction of this clause with the national
constitution of the SPA. Germer notes that neither of the two
Left Wing partisans on the NEC --- Alfred Wagenknecht and Ludwig
Katterfeld -- disputed the fundamental validity of this charge
and details how the Michigan State Secretary, John Keracher,
rushed to the May 1919 meeting of the NEC in Chicago and then
refused to answer questions that might have put the position
of Michigan in a more favorable light. Germer further quotes
correspondence from a Detroit Jewish branch suspended by the
Michigan Executive Committee to confirm the reality of the Michigan
position in actual practice
"Minor Ordered Released by
US Army Officer: All Charges Against Him Understood to Have Been
Dropped -- May Return to Paris." (New York Call)
[July 7, 1919] After
over a month in detention to answer charges leveled by the British
that he had spread radical propaganda among British and American
troops, this article announces journalist Robert Minor's release
by army officials "after word had been passed from officialdom
believed close to the Peace Commission.... Lincoln Steffens,
who assisted in the report handed the American peace commission
on Russia, learned of Minor's arrest and sought the aid of Colonel
House, the President's confidential adviser, to secure Minor's
liberty.... The father of Robert Minor, Judge Minor of Texas,
also appealed to the government, and after a month's confinement
the journalist was finally set at liberty." The account
states that "no official announcement has been made concerning
Minor's release, but it is understood that all charges against
him have been dropped and that he will immediately return to
Paris."
"Minnesota Socialists Expel
Van Lear for War Stand: State Referendum by 1,500 to 800 Also
Reads His Local Out of the Party." (New York Call) [July
8, 1919] This
news report details the expulsion from the Socialist Party of
former Minneapolis mayoral candidate Thomas Van Lear by referendum
vote of the Socialist Party of Minnesota by a margin of approximately
1,500 to 800. The charges for the expulsion of Van Lear were
his pro-war activities and his repudiation of the majority report
of the St. Louis Convention and for having joined the American
Alliance for Labor and Democracy, the article notes. State Secretary
Charles Dirba (later a top leader of the Communist Party of America)
is said to have declared the vote to be both a repudiation of
Van Lear's policies and an approval of the policies of those
he termed "the educators."
"Minutes of the Meeting of
the New York State Executive Committee, Socialist Party of America,
Sunday, July 13, 1919." In
the summer of 1919, the State Executive Committee of the Socialist
Party of New York conducted a series of charter revocations of
many of the state's local and county organizations which supported
the program of the Left Wing Section or refused to terminate
participation of members of locals affiliated with suspended
language federations. Thes revocations were followed by immediate
"reorganizations" of locals hostile to the Left Wing
Section and loyal to the SPA's Old Guard. These minutes of the
July 13 meeting of the SEC in Albany detail the repressive measures
taken against to following groups: Local Kings County, Local
Queens County, Local Utica, Local Syracuse, Local Rochester.
In a related matter, tension ran hot over an editorial run by
Ludwig Lore in the New Yorker Volkszeitung represented
as urging Socialists in Kings and Queens Counties not to recognize
the actions of the State Executive Committee in reorganizing
those organizations, but rather to remain loyal to the deposed
organizations. An interest esoteric tidbit: a proposal to hold
an emergency New York State Convention -- presumably a tactic
that would have benefited the Left Wing Section -- failed on
a tie 12 to 12 vote of the State Executive Committee, with future
member of the Communist Party Alexander Trachtenberg voting in
the negative. In his vote, which effectively defeated the proposal,
Tractenberg joined such Old Guard stalwarts as Julius Gerber,
Bertha Mailly, Benjamin Orr, Barney Berlin, Morris Hillquit,
and Louis Waldman. Had Trachtenberg voted the other way, the
crushing polices of the New York SEC would have been fought out
and decided on the convention floor.
"'Left Wing' Convention is
as Secret as Paris Conference: Next Move of Faction Will be Attempt
to Capture Socialist Party's Emergency Convention in August,
says James Oneal," by James Oneal [July 15, 1919] The Socialist Party regulars kept
a close eye on the development of the Left Wing Section throughout
the summer of 1919. This report on the Left Wing National Conference
held in New York City from June 21-24, 1919 pays close attention
to internal divisions within the "Left Wing" camp.
The anglophonic element of the Left wing Section "were up
against the same proposition" previously faced by the Socialist
Party, in Oneal's view -- an attempt by the foreign language
federations to achieve double representation on the governing
Left Wing National Council and to thus control the organization.
Oneal notes that the Left Wing had altered its program at the
gathering, but had no specific details about the changes rendered.
As early as this date, six weeks before the Emergency National
Convention of the SPA, Oneal offers political analysis that is
eerily prescient: "...[U]unless the Socialist Party is willing
to submit to the dictatorship of the 'Left Wing,' the latter
is prepared to organize its motley elements into another political
party. The split, in other words, is here and the 'lefts' have
made doubly sure of it. It is just as well that they have, as
one year of a Communist Party that talks of the 'conquest of
the bourgeois state by the revolutionary mass action of the proletariat'
cannot live in this country as a political organization of the
working class. It will be driven underground. It cannot remain
on the ballot in any state as soon as this program becomes generally
known. It must become a secret society." Oneal adds that
the heterogeneous Left Wing was held together only by "common
hatred of the Socialist Party." As soon as the Emergency
Convention was concluded, "they will be thrown upon their
own resources and they can be relied upon to tear each other
to pieces," Oneal predicted.
"Ruthenberg is Jailed Under
New Ohio Law: Socialist Locked Up on Charge of "Criminal
Syndicalism" -- Called War "Mass Murder." (New
York Call) [July 18, 1919] In the evening of July 18, Cleveland Socialist
leader C.E. Ruthenberg was addressing a local crowd, making his
first speech of the 1919 mayoral campaign. About 30 minutes into
his speech he was interrupted by a squad of policemen headed
by Chief of Police Smith, who placed Ruthenberg under arrest
for allegedly violating the new Ohio Criminal Syndicalism Law.
Six others were also held "for investigation by Federal
authorities" as a result of the operation, which was aided
by the Right Wing "Loyal American League." At issue
was Ruthenberg's statement that World War I had been a period
of "mass murder." "If it is possible for the government
to take over the steamships and railroads, telephone and telegraph
lines and other public utilities in time of war in order to make
mass murder more efficient, why is it not possible for these
same industries to be publicly controlled for the common good
of all in times of peace?" candidate Ruthenberg had asked.
A further reminder that American civil liberties were not granted
on a platter by forefathers in powdered wigs and defended by
uniformed soldiers of the standing army abroad, but rather were
fought and won over time by frequently unpopular (and sometimes
despised) political radicals who had to courage to hold forth
unpopular truths in the face of massive pressure by the armed
state and its conservative vigilante allies, a vengeful judiciary,
and an apathetic citizenry.
"'Long Live the Soviet Republic!"
An Editorial in The Milwaukee Leader -- July 19, 1919.
The Socialist
Party daily The Milwaukee Leader and its founder and editor,
Victor L. Berger, have been regarded as hailing from the SPA's
Right Wing, generally by those who have never seen the paper
or read Berger. In reality, Berger and Hillquit composed a SPA
Center -- anti-militarist in sentiment, analytically Marxist,
internationalist in perspective (the true SPA Right Wing departed
en masse in the aftermath of the St. Louis Emergency Convention
of 1917). Although not written by Berger, who was in the midst
of legal proceedings for purported violation of the so-called
Espionage Act, this editorial in Berger's paper emphasizes once
again that whatever the ideological and personal differences
were between the dissident Left Wing Section and the establishment
SPA Center, political perspective on the nature of the Bolshevik
Revolution and the role of American Socialists with regard to
that revolution was emphatically NOT part of the equation. In
1919, all factions of the Socialist Party of America were in
solid support of Lenin and Trotsky and their cause. This
editorial accuses President Wilson of practicing "the opposite
of what he preaches" by rendering aid to the interventionists
in Soviet Russia. "It is because Soviet Russia is a Socialist
nation.... Should the Socialist government of Russia be allowed
to succeed and become permanent, its good example to the workers
of the other countries would be such that these workers would
establish Socialism in their countries, too. Therefore, the Soviet
government of Russia must be destroyed..."
"Call for a National Convention
for the Purpose of Organizing a Communist Party in America."
[July 19, 1919] This
is the text of the extensive "Federations-Michigan Convention
Call" for the formation of an American Communist Party.
The call states that "the National Executive Committee of
the Socialist Party of America has evidenced by its expulsion
of nearly half of the membership that they will not hesitate
at wrecking the organization in order to maintain their control."
These suspensions and expulsions had made it "manifestly
impossible to longer delay the calling of a convention to organize
a new party," notes the call, but unfortunately "the
majority of the delegates to the Left Wing Conference in New
York meekly neglected to sever their connections with the reactionary
National Executive Committee," instead continuing to "mark
time as Centrists in the wake of the Right." No other course
was possible than the immediate formation of a Communist Party
in Chicago at a convention to begin Sept. 1, 1919. A set of organizational
principles and an organizational program are provided. The call
specifies that convention representation is to be on the basis
of one delegate for each organization, and one additional delegate
for every 500 members or major fraction thereof.
"On the Party Horizon,"
by Alexander Stoklitsky [July 19, 1919] Translator-Secretary of the Russian Federation
Alexander Stoklitsky takes aim at the "Centrists" who
continue to follow the strategy of "capturing the Socialist
Party for revolutionary socialism." Stoklitsky mocks: "Every
bridge leading to the old, rotten structure of opportunism must
be destroyed.... The capture of the old party for 'revolutionary
socialism' is but a declaration of war upon windmills by the
Don Quixotes of the Center." Stoklitsky asks, "Why
capture the old party? Is the name of the Socialist Party so
dear to the working class? No. The name of the Socialist Party
is no longer dear to the proletariat. Years of reformatory and
treacherous activity have covered it with mud and slime."
Further, the SPA's structure and apparatus is unsuited for the
revolutionary movement and its literature "only fit to be
destroyed." Stoklitsky declares that "BECAUSE THE SPLIT
IN THE PARTY IS AN ACTUAL FACT IT BECOMES OUR SACRED DUTY TO
CONSTRUCT A COMMUNIST PARTY." Stoklitsky offers an analysis
that would be dominant in the CPA over the next three years,
declaring the American Socialist movement had, in parallel of
the Socialist movement of Europe, split into three tendencies:
Right, Center, and Left. However, Stoklitsky equates the dominant
SPA Party Regular tendency of Hillquit and Berger (anti-militarist,
Marxist opponents of the national regime) with the pro-war, government
Majority Socialists of Germany, calling them "Right."
Similarly, the revolutionary socialists continuing their effort
to win control of the Socialist Party in hopes of converting
it to a revolutionary socialist are rather speciously equated
with the Independent Socialists in Germany as "wishy-washy
Centrists" who are pursuing a "pitiful" strategy.
"Down with the Socialist Party! Down with the wavering Center!
Long live the militant Communist Party of America!" Stoklitsky
declares.
"Adolph the Truth Seeker,"
by John Keracher [July 19, 1919] In contrast to the barrage of ultra-Left hostility
vented by Alexander Stoklitsky in the same issue of the official
organ of the faction of the Federation-Michigan alliance, Michigan
leader John Keracher is surprisingly temperate in his criticism
of SPA Executive Secretary Adolph Germer and his cohorts. Germer
is said to be a man of honest opinions and sincere convictions
-- albeit one willing to engage in a campaign of half-truths
and distortions to bolster his cause. The central fact of the
crisis in the Socialist Party in the Summer of 1919 was this,
Keracher believes: "the membership has voted the old gang
out of office, and they prefer to split the party rather than
give up their control!" Everything else is a pretext to
justify this naked grab for power, Keracher believes. The issue
behind the suspension of the Jewish Branches of Local Detroit
had been misrepresented in the SP party press by Germer, Keracher
indicates. The SPA's NEC had taken draconian actiona against
Michigan with factional purpose; queries made by Michigan State
Secretary Keracher had been answered dishonestly. The Emergency
Convention in Michigan which had followed the NEC's revocation
of the Michigan charter had been legally called, contrary to
the assertions of Germer. In the final analysis, all of the NEC's
arguments are nothing more than "quibbling," in Keracher's
estimation: "This split, which they deliberately precipitated,
was inevitable due to the development going on within the party.
What difference does it make if the division takes the form of
expulsion or withdrawal? Those who desire to participate in real
socialist propaganda will send delegates to Chicago on September
1st [1919] to organize the Communist Party of America."
"Socialist Party of St. Louis
Makes Appeal for Unity in Organization: Party War Record Does
Not Justify 'Wing' Row, is Plea." [July 19, 1919] A lengthy and thoughtful summary
of the case against the factional war launched by the Socialist
Party's insurgent Left Wing made by Local St. Louis, an organization
comprised of SPA Regulars. "While the world war was on we
never heard of a Left Wing nor of a Right Wing," the statement
declares, as during the days of discouragement of 1914-16, the
Socialist Party "remained true to the Red Banner of Internationalism,"
while after American entry into the conflict in 1917 the party
went further and issued a "revolutionary declaration"
against the conflict. The SPA had suffered for its principled
anti-militarist stand: papers had been suppressed, the National
Office had been raided, and leaders and rank and filers alike
had been hauled before the courts by the Woodrow Wilson regime.
There was simply no claim to be made against the party for failure
to stand true to its values during the war, the St. Louis appeal
notes. Furthermore, the party had loyally supported the Russian
Revolution from its earliest phase in March 1917 until the present
day. "Mass meetings were held, demonstrations in behalf
of Soviet Russia were arranged, our Socialist press gave all
possible support to counteract the sinister work of the American
capitalist press," Local St. Louis notes. The party's position
had been taken actively to the American people. "The capitalist
class failed to break up our Socialist Party by attacking it
from the outside and by vicious persecution. Attempts will now
be made to try the destructive work from the inside. There are
many ways of procedure, which are best known to the secret agents
and agents provocateurs. It is unfortunate that at this most
critical time, when the Socialist Party ought to show a united
and solid front to resist the offensive of destruction launched
by our common enemy, our organization should be checked and hindered
in its work by a so-called Left Wing movement, and that a 'White
Card' underground organization should be formed in the party.
We can see neither rhyme nor reason in such a sideshow movement,"
Local St. Louis declares.
"Statement on the Situation
of the Socialist Party in Philadelphia," by Charles Sehl
[July 20, 1919] Brief
account of the Left-Right factional war which took place in the
Socialist Party of Pennsylvania by a SPA Regular active in reorganized
Local Philadelphia. Spurred by advice personally delivered by
NEC Regulars James Oneal and George Goebel, a July 13 informal
conference on the party situation had been followed by an immediate
secret "executive session" of the State Executive Committee.
The Pennsylvania SEC had determined to follow the path taken
by the SEC of New York State, ordering State Secretary Birch
Wilson to travel to Philadelphia and to arbitrarily revoke the
charter of Local Philadelphia, the majority of which had endorsed
the Left Wing manifesto. Local Philadelphia had refused to recognized
the authority of the State Secretary in this matter, and Wilson
had immediately moved to reorganize a rump of 300 "loyal"
members of the party as a new Local Philadelphia. Those joining
Wilson's new (truly white card) local had to sign the following
loyalty oath, not provided for in the state party's constitution:
"I, the undersigned, declare that while a member of the
Socialist Party I shall be guided by the National and State Platforms
of the Socialist Party. I do not belong to any organization within
or without the party which has a platform or constitution in
violation of the National constitution or the State constitution
of the Socialist Party. I am not and have not been a member of
the so-called Left Wing." The reorganization of the organization
was approved by a rushed telegram vote of a non-quorum of the
State Executive Committee. Thus was New York's Tammany-style
power politics made "legal" in Pennsylvania. The Emergency
National Convention of the Socialist Party was less than 6 weeks
away.
"'Local Cleveland's Referendum,"
by James Oneal [July 22, 1919] Immediately after the Socialist Party's NEC abrogated
the 1919 election, expelled Michigan, and suspended the entire
memberships of 7 of the party's language federations, the Left
Wing Section sprang into action, with Local Cleveland, Ohio putting
forward a party referendum aimed at overturning the NEC's actions
within 24 hours. This article by NEC member and arch-anti-Left
Winger James Oneal challenges the competence of those supporting
such an effort, asking, "have any of these members seen
the evidence upon which alone the suspensions were made? Have
they seen the mass of evidence regarding election frauds? Not
at all. Here are questions that involve the violation of the
party constitution and party principles. A general vote of the
members cannot decide whether the evidence was sufficient to
warrant our actions." Oneal calls for the matter to be decided
not via referendum but at the forthcoming Emergency National
Convention (a gathering that clearly would be stacked in favor
of the party administration, not accidentally). Oneal characterizes
the Left Wing Section as a rival political organization, banned
by party statute, rather than as an organized faction within
the SP. He mockingly refers to the Left Wing Section a "self-constituted
'dictatorship of the proletariat'" and encourages locals
to throw their request for seconds to their referendum "into
the wastebasket."
"Statement of Socialist Party
of Philadelphia." [published July 22, 1919] The details of the 1919 factional
struggle within the Socialist Party of America are well-known
for the party's main cities -- Chicago and New York. Details
of the fight are less clear outside of those two main centers.
This letter to the Milwaukee Leader details the battle in Philadelphia
through the eyes of the faction loyal to the party NEC. The troubles
began, it is stated, after the signing of the Armistice [Nov.
11, 1918], at which time " a small element which is un-Socialistic,
and which quietly crept into the party, began to assert itself."
First the Executive Committee was removed by a "small meeting
of the County Committee," and new party members were admitted
"wholesale" -- thus bolstering the support of the insurgent
Left Wing. This Left Wing drove "faithful" members
of the SP from meetings, not fearing to resort to "rowdyism"
to disgust and frighten off the "decent people, whose object
was to serve Socialism, and who had no time to mix in street
gutter politics and squabble." In control of the apparatus,
the Left Wing revealed their intent to "sell out the party
to a mongrel combination of anti-Socialist and anarchistic ideas
and practices such as would put the party out of business."
At a special meeting held July 9, 1919, the minority faction
loyal to the SP NEC demanded the exclusion of members suspended
by the national party from participating in local business. Defeated
in a vote, the Right Wing bolted, moving to another hall and
declaring themselves to be the official "Local Philadelphia,"
electing officers and passing resolutions.
"Legislation Against Anarchy,"
by Zechariah Chafee, Jr. [July 23, 1919] Zechariah Chafee, Jr., an Assistant Professor
at Harvard Law School and member of the Rhode Island bar, reviews
the current spate of anti-radical legislation that was sweeping
the country, concentrating his attention on the Overman bill
pending in the United States Senate. Chafee argues that existing
normal law already sufficiently covers the crimes of assassination,
destruction of property, and incitement to revolution and he
asks whether "in the haste and excitement of the moment
our legislators may not be going much too far." "As
far as state prosecutions are concerned, there has been very
little need of specific legislation against anarchy and criminal
syndicalism. Actual violence against the government, life, and
property is punishable everywhere. Those who plan or counsel
such violence are liable even if they do not actively participate,"
Chafee declares. Furthermore, "no Congressional legislation
is needed to make criminal any scheme to overthrow the United
States government by bombs or any other means," Chafee indicates.
The article is lengthy and includes numerous citations of law,
including a footnote detailing specific measures covering the
entire gamut of related crimes for four key locales: New York,
the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, and Washington state.
Chafee makes a civil libertarian argument that the current campaign
to enact criminal syndicalism, criminal anarchism, and red flag
legislation only has the effect of making opinion and thought
illegal and violating the constitutional rights of press, assembly,
and association rather than protecting society against actual
criminal deeds. In contrast to this anti-libertarian trend, Chafee
states that "normal criminal law is willing to run risks
for the sake of open discussion, believing that truth will prevail
over falsehood if both are given a fair field, and that argument
and counter-argument are the best method which man has devised
for ascertaining the right course of action for individuals or
a nation. It holds that error is its own cure in the end, and
the worse the error, the sooner it will be rejected." Chafee
concludes with a very detailed critique of the excesses of the
Overman bill currently being touted in the Senate.
"People Ready for Socialism;
Party Starting Work -- Germer." [July 24, 1919]. As the faction fight heated up
in the summer of 1919, National Executive Secretary Adolph Germer
travelled from Chicago to New York City for consultations with
leaders of his faction. This article contains the content of
an interview which Germer granted to the New York Socialist Party
daily, the New York Call. Germer held a "rosy"
view of the SP's immediate future: "The situation as it
existed last winter was wonderfully promising. If we had been
able to remain united, nothing would have been too much to hope
for. The time is ripe, and rotten ripe, for our propaganda. But
the internal discussions and wranglings have sterilized our efforts
to a very large extent." Germer added that "There are
thousands of old-time Comrades who had relapsed into inactivity,
and who are only awaiting some stirring event to recall them
to life. The time has come now. When the party gets rid of its
internal disorders, when the decks are cleared, when we point
our craft at the goal, we will be ready for work, and they will
come back to us." Germer exuded confidence as to the future
result of the forthcoming Emergency Convention of the party:
"The national convention that will meet on August 30 will
take a strong stand, a resolute stand. Then, all those who do
not care to remain with us can go their way. We will go our way,
as we have always gone."
"Fred C. Ellis Plunges 5
Stories; Hits Walk: Cartoonist Escapes with Minor Fractures When
Painters' Swing Rope Breaks," by Robert M. Buck [event of
July 24, 1919] A
short anecdotal sidebar to the tumultuous history of 1919, this
news story documents the near-fatal fall of Fred C. Ellis, one
of the great political cartoonists of his generation. Ellis,
a regular contributor to The Liberator and The New
Majority, was working at his craft putting up an outdoor
advertising sign on the side of a 6 story building in Chicago's
North Side, when one of the ropes holding the scaffold from which
he was working frayed and broke, sending Ellis crashing feet-first
to the sidewalk 60 feet below. Miraculously, Ellis escaped with
fractures to both feet, his right hand, and his back -- another
sign painter had been killed in a similar accident nearby just
a few days previously when he fell through the roof of a car.
"I knew I was due for a drop," said Ellis, "I
was too far over to grab the guide line -- so I just set myself
for the spill. I figured if I could keep my head up I would have
a chance. It seemed like I was standing in the air while I was
dropping to the sidewalk. I remember seeing the fellows come
over and scoop me off the sidewalk -- then I lost consciousness."
Includes a photograph of a youthful Fred Ellis.
"The National Left Wing,"
by Isaac E. Ferguson [published July 25, 1919] An open letter from the Secretary of the National
Council of the Left Wing Section, established by the June 1919
National Conference of the Left Wing held in New York. Ferguson
announces that the National Council is to conduct "the work
of publicity and preparation on a national scale" for the
August 30 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party,
to be held in Chicago. "The Left Wing triumph in the party
elections makes emphatically clear what the membership wants....
It must not be annulled by the brazen dictation of a repudiated
National Executive Committee which insists upon ruling the party
in spite of the ending of its term on July 1st." The dual
strategy of the National Council that was to lead to the division
of the Communist movement into two rival parties is already in
evidence; Ferguson states "The Left Wing must control the
regular party Emergency Convention, with the delegates instructed
by the membership to undo the manipulations of the old NEC to
join the party unreservedly with the Communist International,
and to adopt a program of revolutionary socialism for all party
activities. Or, if three-fourths of the party shall be expelled
or suspended by August 30th, as appears now to be a definite
possibility, or if the Emergency Convention shall be sidetracked
by the rump NEC, the Left Wing delegates from all over the country
must be brought together to organize an American Party of Communism."
Ferguson pleads for donations to the National Council and notes
that 25¢ Special Propaganda Stamps are for sale.
"One Lie Nailed," by
Ludwig E. Katterfeld [July 26, 1919] Left Wing Section partisan Ludwig Katterfeld goes
on the offensive in response to a charge by NEC member James
Oneal that the outgoing National Executive Committee was not
repudiated by the referendum of 1919 -- the results of which
were suppressed by the self-same outgoing NEC. Katterfeld asserts
that in reality, the 20,764 votes independently tabulated by
The Ohio Socialist from 26 reporting states represented
nearly "TWICE AS MANY" votes as the same states produced
in the previous year's national election. Oneal is further tweaked
for having received a mere 1,726 votes in those same 26 states,
as compared to the tally of 16.074 racked up by the leading vote-getter
in the race, John Reed. Katterfeld pulls no punches in making
his charge: "In view of these facts, what becomes of Oneal's
assertions and allegations? I commend these figures to our would-be
"historian" James Oneal. Was he ignorant of these facts,
or did he deliberately lie in his efforts to defend the defeated
and discredited party officialdom and to prejudice the membership
against the Left Wing and Revolutionary Socialism?"
"Report to the Incoming National
Executive Committee of the Socialist Party on the Party Press
and Publishing, Lyceum Bureau, and Party School," by L.E.
Katterfeld [July 27, 1919] There
is a tendency to see the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
as intent upon seizing the Socialist Party and utterly deconstructing
its form and substance. This report of Ludwig Katterfeld to the
sole physical meeting of the "new" NEC elected by the
abrogated party election of 1919 offers a tantalizing glimpse
of what seems to have far more constrained initial objective
of the faction. Rather than construction of vanguard revolutionary
organization, Katterfeld posits a modest restructuring of the
Socialist Party along its traditional lines. Katterfeld advocates
a systematically planned party-owned press based on regional
territories instead of the current "anarchistic" system
of competing private newspapers. Katterfeld postulates the division
of the country into geographic districts, each served by a weekly
paper which was to be developed to the point of daily frequency.
These territorial papers were to cooperate in the costly task
of news-gathering. An extremely low-cost national propaganda
paper was to be published by the party itself in addition to
a periodic paper to the national membership. The SPA was also
to seek negotiations with Charles H. Kerr & Co. with a view
to bringing that Marxist publishing house under party auspices
and was to further study the economics of owning its own physical
plant (unlike Kerr & Co., which jobbed out its press work).
The Party was also to once again take over the routing of national
speakers, replacing the current system based upon individuals
negotiating their own lecture tours. Finally, Katterfeld advocates
the immediate establishment of a party-owned training school
to immediately set about training hundreds of young party members
as speakers and efficient local secretaries. "In the past
these duties have fallen largely upon those who received special
training in a capitalist environment before they become Socialists.
Practiceless lawyers, pulpitless preachers, and busted businessmen
have almost had a monopoly of these positions and thereby influenced
our movement our of all proportion to their number. The way to
overcome this condition is to train up our own young people,
working men and women who were Socialists first," Katterfeld
asserts.
"The New NEC Meets: Report
of the Meeting of the National Executive Committee, Socialist
Party -- Chicago, July 26-27, 1919," by Louis C. Fraina
The constitution
of the Socialist Party of America called for a new term of office
of its governing National Executive Committee to begin July 1,
1919. The outgoing NEC had refused to tabulate the votes reported
by SPA State Secretaries, however, and had instead began a mass
campaign of suspensions and expulsions of their Left Wing opponents.
A substantial, albeit partial, tabulation was compiled by the
Left Wing and published in the June 18, 1919, edition of The
Ohio Socialist, and a group of ostensible winners named based
upon these returns. Ostensible winner of the balloting for Executive
Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht called the "new" NEC together
for its first physical meeting in Chicago, where it met July
26-27, 1919. This is the report of the gathering published by
new NEC member Louis Fraina, who was a participant. The session
was chaired by L.E. Katterfeld and Alfred Wagenknecht served
as Secretary. A committee was appointed to tabulate the vote
of the 1919 NEC referendum, reporting back that the quorum of
8 of the 15 had been "duly elected with a vote so large
as to dispose of the lying charge of fraud." A demand was
issued to Executive Secretary demanding that he turn over the
headquarters building to the new NEC and appear at its sessions;
this he refused. Germer's position was declared vacant and Wagenknecht
elected as the temporary Executive Secretary, pending the convention.
The outgoing NEC was reversed and the Massachusetts and Michigan
state organizations reinstated, as were the 7 suspended Language
Federations. State Secretaries were urged to withhold convention
funds and refrain from purchasing dues stamps from Germer's National
Office. Interestingly, Harry Wicks seems to have broken discipline
with his Michigan comrades for the first time at this moment
by attending this NEC session -- Dennis Batt and John Keracher
of the Michigan organization were also elected to the new NEC,
but boycotted the July session, as did Russian Federation leader
Nicholas Hourwich. Wicks' participation was important in that
only 8 of 15 NEC members-elect were in attendance -- the participation
of each vital for the gathering's ability to be represented as
being attended by "a majority and a quorum of the whole
committee."
"Letter to Adolph Germer,
Executive Secretary SPA, in Chicago from Fred Krafft, Member
NEC SPA, in Ridgefield, NJ, July 29, 1919." This brief note from Socialist
Party National Executive Committee member Fred Krafft to Executive
Secretary Adolph Germer illuminates the politics behind the scenes
leading to the suspension of the entire Socialist Party of Ohio
by the outgoing NEC (which was to have retired according to the
party constitution as of July 1, 1919). Krafft writes: "You
ask me to wait a few days with the motion which I made to revoke
the charter of Ohio. Let me say that I regret very much not to
have made this motion several weeks ago, and especially so since
reading the action of the 'new' NEC. These fellows mean business
and they proceed regardless of what we think about their actions,
and it is high time to disregard their opinions in whatever we
do, or contemplate to do. If the NEC deserves any censure in
the entire controversy, it is because of its misplaced tolerance
and hesitancy."
"Letter to Adolph Germer
in Chicago from Alfred Wagenknecht in Chicago, July 29, 1919."
The constitution
of the Socialist Party of America called for a new term of office
of its governing National Executive Committee to begin July 1,
1919. The outgoing NEC had refused to tabulate the votes reported
by SPA State Secretaries, however, and had instead began a mass
campaign of suspensions and expulsions of their Left Wing opponents.
A substantial, albeit partial, tabulation was compiled by the
Left Wing and published in the June 18, 1919, edition of The
Ohio Socialist, and a group of ostensible winners named based
upon these returns. Ostensible winner of the balloting for Executive
Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht called the "new" NEC together
for its first physical meeting in Chicago, where it met July
26-27, 1919. The group passed the resolution transmitted to the
SPA's National Office here: ""That the office of the
National Executive Secretary be declared vacant inasmuch as the
present incumbent refuses to perform his duties as National Secretary
by refusing to tabulate the vote in referendums expressing the
will of the membership and further refuses to recognize the regularly
elected National Executive Committee." This communication
was signed by Alfred Wagenknecht as "Executive Secretary,
Pro Tem."
"Circular to All Locals,
Branches, and Young People's Socialist Leagues from Alfred Wagenknecht,
July 29, 1919." Official
communique of the New National Executive Committee and Executive
Secretary pro tem Alfred Wagenknecht mailed to all units of the
Socialist Party of America and its youth section. The circular
notes that "the national constitution ended the term of
the old National Executive Committee on July 1st [1919]"
and announces that "the new National Executive Committee
met in Chicago on July 26 and 27, reversed the actions of the
old committee in its attempt to wreck the party, reinstated all
expelled state organizations and suspended federations -- more
than 35,000 members in all -- and renewed the call for an Emergency
National Convention, to be held August 30th." While the
circular states that " the new National Executive Committee
will take charge of this convention," it is not clear that
Wagenknecht & Co. did any more than arrange to rent a room
downstairs from the main convention in Machinists' Hall -- preparations
remained firmly in the grasp of standing Executive Secretary
Adolph Germer and his allies. Mileage money is promised by the
new NEC to convention delegates and the circular solicits contributions
and loans from party units to the new NEC.
"The Split in the Socialist
Party," by Joseph B. Stilson [July 30, 1919] The Translator-Secretary of the Lithuanian Socialist
Federation, one of the leading players in the 1919 crisis in
the SPA, provides a lengthy perspective on the history of the
party split. One of the definitive views of the thinking of non-Anglo
members of the Left Wing Section, Stilson (arguably) dates the
origin of the conflict to the 1916 Presidential candidacy of
Allan Benson, a referendum-nominated SP candidate who dodged
all mention of the class struggle, in marked contrast to the
fire-and-brimstone rhetoric of perennial party nominee Gene Debs.
Stilson saw the war as an important turning point in the radicalization
of the SP rank and file, one that tipped the majority of the
party against its centrist office holders. Faced with electoral
defeat in the party election of 1919, the SP leadership began
acting in a manner befitting of Tammany Hall, expelling and suspending
its opponents without trial, backed by the flimsiest of excuses,
hypocritically framed. "That these politicians knew that
the Left Wing had been in existence for over two years was frankly
admitted by [NEC member George] Goebel, who said that he kept
on his files a copy of each manifesto, program, and paper of
the Left wingers. It was evident therefore that the Left Wing
was tolerated as long as it did not threaten the control of the
reactionary machine... Only when the Left Wing touched the nest
of the Opportunists did it become a 'violation of the party Constitution,'"
Stilson asserts.
"Excerpt of Testimony Before
Executive Session of the Lusk Committee of the New York Legislature
by Archibald E. Stevenson, Associate Counsel, New York City --
July 31, 1919." Archibald
Stevenson was the chief researcher of the radical movement employed
by the Lusk Committee of the New York legislature in 1919-20
(and author of the committee's massive 4 volume final report).
This brief passage of his testimony before a closed session of
the committee goes far to explain the aggressive repression delivered
by the committee upon the Socialist Party and its affiliated
institution, the Rand School of Social Science. When asked whether
the SP had split into "two so-called wings," Stevenson
responds: "In the last 6 or 8 months the Socialist Party
has been split on a question of tactics. The more conservative
of the present membership of the Socialist Party remaining in
what is termed the Right Wing of that party, and the more impatient
or virulent organizing what is now known as the Left Wing Section
of the Socialist Party. The only difference between these two
sections that is apparent from a study of the controversy is
that the members of the Left Wing are more outspoken in their
desire for immediate and direct action methods for obtaining
socialism. It must be borne in mind, however, that both Right
and Left Wings took this revolutionary stand, and consequently
it should be understood that the Right Wingers are not the conservative
evolutionary Socialist who were either expelled or resigned from
the Socialist Party at the time of the St. Louis Convention [April
7-14, 1917]."
AUGUST
"Aping Our Elders,"
by Oliver Carlson [Aug. 1919] The newly-elected 3rd National Secretary of the
Young People's Socialist League here criticizes the tendency
for the YPSL to mindlessly divide itself into "Right,"
"Center," "Left," and "Communist"
factions. He finds that the fissure in the Socialist Party, which
was "at first about Tactics" had "passed entirely
out of sight by this time, so that the issue now is one of 'for
or against the NEC.'" The real cause of the fight was lost,
and it was unreasonable to expect young people, who had not studied
socialism for any significant length of time, to make a decision
on the matter. "What we must do is that which our League
is organized for: To Train Ourselves in the Principles of International
Socialism. We cannot hope to grasp the situation in a moment.
We cannot become able fighters for the Cause in a day or week
or month. Ours is not a creed or dogma which one can embrace
at a moment's notice. Ours is a complete philosophy which we
must learn." Carlson (later an important youth leader in
the American Communist movement) concludes that "We must
meet the new issues with a clear vision. We must take a stand
for revolutionary socialism. But above all we must become free
so that as an organization we can develop ourselves mentally
to a level where we will not be followers, where we will not
be led this way or that way, but as young men and women who UNDERSTAND
Socialism we will decide for ourselves what our attitude is going
to be."
"Left or Right?" by
Ludwig Lore [August 1919] In
this lead article from Ludwig Lore's theoretical quarterly, The
Class Struggle, editor Lore states that it is "hardly
accurate" to refer to the current controversy in the Socialist
Party as a battle between "Left" and "Right,"
since "the small group of bona-fide social-patriots that
our movement harbored have either left it voluntary or been expelled"
already. The "political sins" of the so-called "Right
Wing" in the current controversy were those "of omission
rather than commission" -- failing to crystallize vast anti-war
sentiment in America at the time of American entry into the War
into a mass movement for economic and political liberation; failure
to enforce party discipline on Congressman Meyer London on anti-war
measures in Congress; failure to greet the Russian revolution
with public demonstration and public declaration of allegiance."
The policy of the NEC Regulars was in actual fact "the typical
'Centrist' position," Lore declares. The controversy in
the SP itself is international in nature, between one set of
views represented by State Socialism and gradual growth of socialism
through "democratic cooperation" with capitalism and
the other by the physical wresting of power from the capitalists
by the class-conscious working class and the establishment of
the "dictatorship of the proletariat." "Between
these two points of view there can be no compromise. Between
them the Socialist must choose -- and his choice must determine,
once and for all, his course of action," Lore declares.
"The National Convention,"
by Ludwig Lore [Aug. 1919] With
the Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party due
to start at the end of the month, Ludwig Lore holds little hope
for a successful victory for an insurgent Left Wing in this editorial
in his theoretical quarterly, The Class Struggle. When
the Left Wing first demanded an Emergency National Convention,
"it still seemed possible to follow the example of our Italian
and Norwegian comrades in this country" in realigning the
standing Socialist Party, as the majority of the rank and file
was clearly in support of the revolutionary movement in Europe
and "ready to support a radical departure from the methods
that have hitherto prevailed in the American Socialist Party."
However, the outgoing National Executive Committee had read the
same tea leaves and taken action, expelling entire state organizations
for their Left Wing views (OH, MA, MI, PA [?]), suspended entire
language federations, pursued a selected purge in New York, and
allowed the tiny organizations of the "reorganized"
states the same massive delegate allotment to which they had
been entitled based upon their pre-purge membership. Lore's assessment
is sanguine: "Under these circumstance the outcome of the
convention can hardly be doubtful. Packed as it will be by representatives
from 'reorganized' states and locals who will be little more
than mouthpieces of the powers that be in the Socialist Party,
we doubt whether even the strong revolutionary element that will
come from the West and from some states in the East will be numerically
sufficiently strong to win out over their Right Wing opponents."
"The parting of the ways has come," Lore declares,
as "the brutal violation of the party autocracy of all who
differed with them has left no other choice."
"Why the New Party?"
by Oakley C. Johnson [Aug. 2, 1919] Elected State Secretary of the expelled Socialist
Party of Michigan emphasizes the depth of the split that had
developed within the Left Wing movement between the Majority
"Left Wing" still working to win control of the Socialist
Party and the Minority Federation-Michigan group intent on the
immediate formation of a distinct Communist Party of America
at the Sept. 1 convention which it had called in Chicago. Johnson
writes that "these would-be revolutionists shout "All
power to the Left Wing!" What a miserable paraphrase of
the Russian slogan 'All power to the Soviets!' The comrades now
organizing the Communist Party prefer to be something more than
a mere 'wing.' At a time such as the present, when the most momentous
turning point in the world's history is before us, we cannot
dilly dally along as a mere faction within a party. We cannot
longer handicap ourselves in such a way, but must build up NOW
an organization which shall function efficiently as 'the most
advanced and resolute section of the working class parties...'"
Johnson lists a series of criticisms of the tactics of the Majority:
(1) capture of the SPA by the Left would be practically impossible
due to expulsions and suspensions made by the outgoing NEC; (2)
even if possible, capture of the SPA was inadvisable due to the
party's "reactionary" reputation; (3) there was no
need to remain in the SPA to reach the rank and file, which had
already heard the Left Wing's message; (4) the psychological
moment for action had arrived, and a delay of 2 or 3 months would
"vitally affect the progress of socialism for the next decade."
In contrast, "What is needed is a revolutionary party, small
if need be, but united upon Marxian principles, thus forming
a nucleus around which the working class can unite. It is impossible
efficiently to unite conflicting programs, to harmonize unharmonious
principles. The only party that can function in a social crisis
is one absolutely united on principle and method."
"Minutes of the National
Council of the Left Wing Section: New York City -- August 4,
1919." The
7 member executive of the June 1919 National Conference of the
Left Wing, the National Council, was initially intended to conduct
its affairs by mail through use of executive motions. However,
the proximity of a quorum of the group to New York City led to
the convocation of several physical meetings. This document offers
the minutes of the last of these physical sessions, held August
4, 1919. Three anti-Federationist New York members (Ben Gitlow,
Jim Larkin, Max Cohen) dominated the proceedings, with Secretary
I.E. Ferguson in a consistent minority position given the absence
of his co-thinkers C.E. Ruthenberg, John Ballam, and Bert Wolfe.
A motion by Larkin to publicly respond to the "untruthful
statements" made by the Russian Socialist Federation against
Ludwig Martens' Soviet Russian Government Bureau was passed 3-1.
Ferguson was challenged by Larkin and ex-officio member Eadmonn
MacAlpine over statements he purportedly made to a gathering
of the Jewish Socialist Federation, in which Ferguson seems to
have depicted the August 30 Emergency National Convention as
no more than a tributary leading to the actual convention, to
be held Sept. 1 to establish a Communist Party. A motion by Larkin
to terminate the National Council for Ferguson having thus abrogated
its mission died by a 2-2 vote, Cohen joining Ferguson in favor
of continuing the institution. A motion providing that Gitlow
and Larkin be provided with space in The Revolutionary Age
to air their factional position was approved.
"Executive Motions of the
Left Wing National Council: August 5, 1919." A day after having been raked
over the coals by Jim Larkin and Ben Gitlow for his attempt to
patch up the split in the Left Wing movement by supporting the
Sept. 1 Communist Convention, Secretary of the Left Wing National
Council Isaac Ferguson put forward three executive motions to
the entire body: (1) Ending physical meetings of the National
Council in New York by setting August 29 in Chicago as the date
of the next gathering; (2) Constituting Ferguson, C.E. Ruthenberg,
and Max Cohen a committee of 3 with the authority to assist in
organization of a Sept. 1 convention to form a Communist Party;
and (3) Ending all further appropriation of funds by the Left
Wing National Council outside of payment of expenses already
incurred until the time of the August 29 physical meeting. "The
time has come for the majority of the Council to assert itself
decisively against the dilatory tactics of a minority which insists
on bringing within the Council meetings a rehash of every little
New York squabble between the Federation politicians and those
who are characterized by the Federationists as the Left Wing
politicians. We must complete the convention arrangements at
once," Ferguson declares. Ferguson is particularly bitter
about the insistence of National Council members Larkin and Gitlow
and their associate John Reed to "intrude controversy about
the Martens office into the work of the National Left Wing Council."
While acknowledging that a statement made by the Russian Socialist
Federation against the Martens bureau is "scandalous,"
Ferguson asks whether the National Council must "abandon
ourselves to the sport of Larkin in hunting down the lies of
the Russian Federation." Ferguson declares: " If there
is anything in this Martens issue, and this I think has been
grotesquely exaggerated, it certainly is no legitimate affair
of the National Council. Let anyone search the record of the
Left Wing Conference to show how it comes within our mandate,
and he will find absolutely nothing."
"Circular Letter 'To All
Members of the Socialist Party' from Executive Secretary Adolph
Germer, Aug. 8, 1919." Reply of National Secretary Germer to the provisional
National Executive Committee who were denied their seats on the
NEC when the outgoing NEC abrogated the 1919 party elections.
Self-proclaimed "Executive Secretary pro tem" Alfred
Wagenknecht and his cohorts are charged with being "professional
schemers" engaged in a "frame-up to wreck the party
by trying to force action in an irregular way before the Special
National Convention." As for Wagenknecht, he is said to
have had "a professional training in stirring up party controversies.
His reputation dates back to his scholarship under the famous
Dr. [Hermon] Titus of Seattle, and there is nothing new or surprising
in the part played by him now." Wagenknecht & Co. are
charged with sabotaging the party by calling for a withholding
of dues payments and convention assessments from the current
National Office. Germer declares: "The convention will clear
the decks. The membership will then learn who it is that is wrecking
the party. Don't let professional troublemakers and political
schemers capture you with appealing phrases that they hypocritically
use... Never was there such an opportunity to carry on our revolutionary
propaganda. The country is seething with unrest. Dissatisfaction
with the present economic order is prevalent everywhere. Our
opportunity in this crisis is thrown to the winds by political
intriguers, who put their personal ambitions above the party's
interest. Any one, or any group, that will split us into "wings"
or factions, when hundreds of our comrades are in prison, hundreds
more on the way, commits little short of treason to the Socialist
Party and to the case of working class internationalism, and
merit our scorn and contempt. They serve no one but the capitalists."
"Letter to Adolph Germer
in Chicago from Morris Hillquit at Saranac Lake, New York, August
9, 1919." This
short and relatively mundane letter reveals that Socialist Party
Executive Secretary Adolph Germer was in contact with staunch
SP Regulars and attorneys Morris Hillquit and Seymour Stedman
about technical issues surrounding the forthcoming Emergency
National Convention in Chicago. Hillquit believes that Stedman
does not follow the idea of the temporary and permanent convention.
Hillquit writes: "A Credential Committee will of course
have to be elected, but elected by whom? Not by the persons who
happen to present themselves with alleged credentials, for such
persons are not delegates until they have been seated preliminarily
or permanently. It is quite likely that at our emergency convention
double delegations will appear from several states or localities,
each contesting the credentials of the rival delegations. Shall
they all be permitted to take a part in the election of the Credentials
Committee?" It is the task of the Executive Secretary to
compile a preliminary listing of all unchallenged delegates,
Hillquit notes, and it is these unchallenged delegates who shall
constitute the temporary convention and elect the Credentials
Committee that will settle issues of contested mandates. Hillquit's
letter is factual, legalistic, and utterly devoid of factional
plotting. He closes with a note that "I have not been able
to do much work of late, but expect to take up the drafting of
a tentative platform within a week or so."
"The Conference of Russian
Branches of the American Socialist Party in Chicago: Organization,
Representation, and Activities," by Jacob Spolansky [events
of March 24 to Aug. 9, 1919] This Bureau of Investigation intelligence report
by Special Agent Jacob Spolansky reviews the history of the awkwardly
named creation of Alexander Stoklitsky, the "Conference
of the Russian Branches of the American Socialist Party in Chicago
who share the Program of the Communist Party" The Chicago
Conference of Russian Branches was dominated by the Russian language
branches, which contributed 36 of the 49 delegates, joined by
9 Latvian, 3 Ukrainian, and 1 Lithuanian delegate. The Chicago
Conference of Russian Branches elected delegates to the Chicago
Communist Propaganda League, which Spolansky states will join
with various English comrades and "pave their way for a
Communist Party of America." A constitution for the Chicago
Conference of Russian Branches was adopted at a meeting held
April 16, 1919. Elected Secretary of the organization was the
Russian Federationist Berezhovsky. The meeting of May 21 elected
4 delegates to the June National Conference of the Left Wing
(Alexander Stoklitsky, Joseph Stilson, Dr. Kopnagel, and William
Bross Lloyd). Spolansky states that at the June 5 meeting "various
committees to cover various propaganda lines were elected and
instructions were given to those committees to pave the way for
a Communist Party in America." "The following several
meetings were organization meetings of the now existing Communist
Party of America," writes Spolansky in this report,
several weeks before the "founding convention" of the
CPA on September 1 [emphasis mine, --T.D.]. Spolansky
provides a list of 24 Russian branches from around the country
"who have adopted the program of the Communist Party."
"Letter of John Reed, et
al. in New York to C.E. Ruthenberg in Cleveland, August 11, 1919."
Archival letter attributed to
the typewriter of John Reed attempting to bring Left Wing National
Council member C.E. Ruthenberg of Cleveland up to speed as to
the rapid developments of August 1919. Reed and his associates
are extremely hostile to I.E. Ferguson, Secretary of the National
Council, stating that Ferguson had "consistently sabotaged
the position taken by the majority at the Conference, and who
on several occasions stated that unless some basis for compromise
with the Federations could be found, he would resign from the
Council and accept the minority position." Thereafter Ferguson
and Revolutionary Age editor Louis Fraina "entered into
unauthorized negotiations with the Federation politicians"
leading to the "surrender" to the Federations, who
had structured the method of electing delegates in a manner designed
to assure effective control of the new organization. Ruthenberg
had been "manipulated by the tricky attorney [Ferguson]
whose object has been from the first to surrender to the Federation-Michigan
minority," Reed and his partners claimed, noting that one
August 5 executive motion of Ferguson to end all physical meetings
of the National Council had overridden the decision the previous
day to bring out of town members of the National Council together
to hash out their differences in person, while another naming
a Conventon Committee of three had the effect of expelling Gitlow
and Larkin from decision-making authority, resulting in complete
victory for the Federations' convention scheme.
"Minutes of Executive Motions
of the Left Wing National Council: August 5-12, 1919." Text of the various motions of
the Left Wing National Council made by mail during the first
half of August and the results of the balloting on the same.
The minority faction consisting of Ben Gitlow and Jim Larkin
declined to vote on any measure, indicative of a termination
of their activity with the National Council -- a position reflected
by Larkin's Aug. 4 motion to declare the work of the National
Council terminated due to Secretary Ferguson's support of a Sept.
1 Communist Convention. Ferguson's 3 propositions made Aug. 5
-- including naming a convention committee to help arrange the
Sept. 1 Convention -- were unanimously approved by the 5 other
members of the National Council. An Aug. 9 motion by Max Cohen
to accept the resignations of Gitlow, John Reed, and Eadmonn
MacAlpine from The Revolutionary Age was approved by a
majority of 4 (Ruthenberg not voting), and an Aug. 12 motion
by Cohen to remove Reed and Gitlow from their positions in charge
of the Left Wing National Conference's labor paper, The Voice
of Labor, was approved by an identical vote.
"Letter to Alfred Wagenknecht
in Cleveland from Julius Gerber in New York City, August 12,
1919." A
blistering response by the Secretary of the Socialist Party of
New York County to Alfred Wagenknecht's first circular letter
to all branches, locals, and YPSL groups in the name of the "New
National Executive Committee" -- those who would have emerged
victorious if the 1919 party referendum had not been abrogated
by the outgoing party NEC. Gerber states that both Wagenknecht
and his associate Ludwig Katterfeld had been present at the meeting
of the NEC at which an Emergency National Convention was scheduled
for August 30, 1919. "If you and the people behind you,
including your so-called NEC, do not trust the rank and file
of the party, and are afraid that you will not be able to control
the Emergency Convention...then why should the rank and file
trust or have confidence in you or the people back of you?"
asks Gerber. Wagenknecht is accused of (1) holding multiple paid
positions in the Socialist Party simultaneously, national and
state; (2) having created the Organization and Propaganda Department
and occupied the position of director of that department in the
National Office as a pretext for obtaining the party's mailing
list; (3) having obtained this mailing list without authorization,
and used it for the purpose of splitting the party; (4) having
planned to split the SPA at least as far back as January 1919;
(5) forfeited any claim to moral or financial support by practicing
ballot box stuffing and manipulation of membership lists. Wagenknecht's
comrades are accused of having misrepresented themselves (Edward
Lindgren), lied and taken actions in contradiction to the instructions
of their state committee (Fred Harwood), or called for the improper
channeling of party funds (I.E. Ferguson). The Socialist Party
of New York County would send delegates to the Chicago convention
who "will do all in their power to clean the party and the
Socialist movement of the United States of all self-seekers,
all those who are in the movement for what personal gain or glory
they can get out of it, and of all those who were or are in our
party not to help build a working class political organization
to educate and organize the workers of the country for their
emancipation, but to obstruct the growth of such organization,
and who, when they could not rule, are now trying to ruin the
party," Gerber warns.
"National Council and NEC:
An Open Letter to A. Wagenknecht in Cleveland from Louis C. Fraina
in Boston, Aug. 13, 1919." An open letter published in the pages of The
Revolutionary Age by its editor, Louis C. Fraina, addressed
to the insurgent Temporary National Executive Secretary of the
Socialist Party, Alfred Wagenknecht. Fraina resigns his place
as a member of the newly elected (unofficial) National Executive
Committee of the Socialist Party and is harshly critical of the
failure of Wagenknecht and his compatriots to alter their strategy
of fighting for control of the Aug. 30 Emergency National Convention
of the SPA. Fraina charges that original plan implied that "the
new NEC would assume complete control of the Convention"
-- a gathering "other than the convention of the old NEC."
Instead, "your decision, as Temporary Secretary of the new
NEC, to old 'our' convention in the same hall as [SPA Executive
Secretary] Germer's breaks the plan completely. Any Left Wing
delegates who now go to the Emergency Convention are going to
the convention of Germer & Co., packed by the moderates in
order to secure control for counterrevolutionary socialism."
With the Socialist Party of Ohio expelled from the SPA by the
outgoing NEC, Wagenknecht would not even have access to the convention
floor, Fraina stated. The solution was for the NEC to resign
and endorse the call for a Sept. 1 convention to establish a
Communist Party of America, in Fraina's view.
"Letter of John Reed and
Ben Gitlow in New York to the Labor Committee of the Left Wing
National Conference, August 13, 1919." Letter written by Reed with Gitlow sent out to
the other 7 members of the Labor Committee established by the
June 1919 National Conference of the Left Wing. Reed outlines
the factional politics in the National Council of the Left Wing,
pitting Secretary Isaac Ferguson, Revolutionary Age editor
Louis Fraina, and their allies on the Council (John Ballam, Max
Cohen, and Bertram Wolfe) against the National Council minority
of Gitlow and Jim Larkin, along with their allies Reed and Eadmonn
MacAlpine. At root is a battle over the strategy to be followed
-- continued struggle within the Socialist Party for control
of the August Emergency National Convention vs. the immediate
formation of a Communist Party in accordance with a Joint Call
which virtually guaranteed dominance of the Russian Federations
due to the method of delegate selection prescribed. Reed and
Gitlow feel the minority of the National Council had been unjustly
excluded from participation and the labor publication approved
by the National Conference, The Voice of Labor, had been
abandoned. "We believe that if anything comes out of Chicago,
it will be a Party or organization formed at the National Emergency
Convention, or from the delegates to that Convention; and not
to the Communist Party crazy-quilt gathering," Reed and
Gitlow state.
"Letter from James P. Cannon
in Kansas City, MO to John Reed and Ben Gitlow in New York, August
16, 1919." The reply of National
Conference of the Left Wing Section Labor Committee member Jim
Cannon to the letter of John Reed and Ben Gitlow of August 13
to the committee. Cannon offers his "complete endorsement"
of the decision of Reed and Gitlow to begin producing The
Voice of Labor despite the efforts of the majority of the
National Council to halt the launch of the publication, calling
the first issue of the publication "the biggest thing, in
my opinion, that has come out of the national conference."
Cannon states that the stands of Reed, Gitlow, and Larkin "in
the whole controversy with the Federations...are so much in accord
with my own opinion -- and with that of the great majority of
the membership, without a doubt -- as to entitle you to the gratitude
of those who look upon the socialist movement as an instrument
for revolutionary propaganda to the working masses and not as
a football of power-seeking bosses and fixers." Cannon writes
that the decision of the majority of the National Council to
endorse immediate formation of a Communist Party of America according
to the terms of the Federation-Michigan alliance will be repudiated
since it surrenders control of the Left Wing to "those who
cannot lead an American movement anywhere but into the ditch."
"Letter from Samuel F. Hankin
in Chicago to Benjamin Gitlow in New York, Aug. 18, 1919."
Communication
from Chicago Left Wing leader Samuel Hankin to New York leader
Ben Gitlow. Hankin assures Gitlow that the Chicago movement remains
true to the previous strategy of continuing the struggle inside
the Socialist Party, rather than throwing support over to the
convention of the Communist Party of America. Hankin sarcastically
notes that "We have been fortunate enough to have amongst
us the 'brains' and 'big men' of the already officialled 'Communist'
Party, and we know the kind of a revolutionary party they will
organize." Hankin seeks information about the financial
situation of the Left Wing Section and its organ, The Revolutionary
Age, as well as details of the political dance between "the
Lefts" and the "Communists." Hankin also notes
the recent failure of Louis Fraina to speak in Chicago as scheduled:
"One reason is because we did not allow a traitor to the
Left Wing speak from a Left Wing platform, and the second reason
is because when he heard that we would not allow him to speak,
he sent in his declination as a speaker for the evening."
"Letter from Stankowitz in
Pittsburgh to John Reed and Ben Gitlow in New York, August 19,
1919." The reply of National
Conference of the Left Wing Section Labor Committee member Stankowitz,
an immigrant industrial worker from Pittsburgh, to the letter
of John Reed and Ben Gitlow of August 13 to the committee. Stankowitz,
expressing himself as well as he is able in broken English, takes
a middle position between the Federations wanting immediate formation
of a Communist Party and the position of Reed, Gitlow, and Larkin.
"Comrades that are trying to unite [the] minority
and the majority of the Left Wing may be wrong, because we instructed
them to issue a call to the Emergency National Convention [of
the Socialist Party], and then form the Communist Party on the
floor of the Convention if it was captured, etc., but they may
be right, because the more one studies this fight within the
Party, the more he learns that we never will have a [chance]
to capture it for everything is on the side of [the] 'Centrists'
and 'Rights.'" On the other hand, "I don't blame you
comrades for taking the stand you took, for you are trying to
satisfy the will of [the] delegates that expressed their will
to fight in [the] Party." Stankowitz is a great supporter
of Reed and Gitlow's The Voice of Labor, calling it the
"best labor paper that has ever been put before the working
class in America" and noting that he had almost sold his
initial order of 500 copies. "Whatever happens, our future
propaganda should be in factories, mines, mills, etc., and if
the Communist Party does not unite with radical Industrial Unions,
she will be a failure," Stankowitz concludes.
"Letter from L.E. Katterfeld
in Dighton, KS, to John Reed in New York City, Aug. 19, 1919."
An important letter
detailing the thinking of the future Communist Labor Party element
of the Left Wing Section heading into the August Emergency National
Convention of the SPA. Katterfeld tells Reed that while the Left
Wing National Council now felt the fight to win control of the
Socialist Party was "futile," the struggle should be
continued nonetheless. "Even if we were sure to lose there
we should make an honest effort because that is the ONLY way
that we can demonstrate to the great mass of the membership of
the Party who ARE revolutionary that they can not realize their
aspirations within the Socialist Party. If we split off before
then there will be tens of thousands that should be with us but
that will not follow us out," Katterfeld argues. Reed is
to make sure that all elected New York Left Wingers attend the
convention to challenge the right of the New York regulars' machine
(the "Gerberites") to represent the "reorganized"
locals. Katterfeld pegs the odds of success of seating every
elected New York Left Wing delegate at 10-to-1, and that the
Left still has a "very good chance to win" at Chicago.
"Circular Letter from Alfred
Wagenknecht in Cleveland to 'All National Convention Delegates,'
August 19, 1919." With the
Emergency National Convention fast approaching, National Executive
Sectretary pro tem Alfred Wagenknecht sent this circular letter
to elected delegates in an attempt to organize the Left Wing
Section for action against the Center-Right alliance loyal to
National Executive Secretary Adolph Germer and the outgoing NEC
of the party. For this purpose offices were rented at Machinists'
Hall in Chicago -- site of the August 30 convention -- and a
caucus meeting was called for August 29, 1919, at 8 pm. This
meeting was organized "so that all delegates that denounce
the acts of the former National Executive Committee and who are
in sympathy with the principles for which nearly half the party
membership was suspended and expelled, may discuss the necessary
steps to take" at the Emergency Convention, Wagenknecht
indicated.
"Excerpt of a Letter from
Victor L. Berger in Milwaukee to Morris Hillquit at Saranac Lake,
NY, August 20, 1919." Two
of the biggest bogeymen lurking in the CP's mythology of the
1919 Socialist Party split were Morris Hillquit and Victor L.
Berger, held to be the grand chessmasters who manipulated lesser
players. This perspective is not in accord with objective reality.
This is a valuable glimpse behind the scenes, correspondence
from Wisconsin publisher and party leader Berger to the ailing
HIllquit, recovering from tuberculosis at a sanitarium in upstate
New York, written a mere 10 days before the start of the decisive
Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party. Berger
blames the moderate wing of the party for the current discord:
"We have always played too much with the revolutionary phrase.
In this game of would-be radical phrases, the one who can play
the game the hardest will naturally win. And the emptier the
barrel the louder the sound. I am sick and tired of the business.
If there is to be a revolution some day, I and my crowd will
surely be there. But that continuous threat of a 'revolution'
reminds me of a man who is continuously brandishing a revolver
which is not loaded." Berger notes the difference between
the young communist Marx and the mature socialist and remarks
to Hillquit that "those who believe in communism, not in
socialism, should be kind enough to start an organization of
their own, which, by the way, the consistent fellows among them
have already done." Berger wishes the Russian Bolsheviki
well but does not believe that their experience is tranferable
to America. He believes neither in dictatorship, the Bolshevik
concept of an Internationall, nor the Berne International --
"cowed by the war patriots and completely dominated by English
Laborites," whom he characterizes as "weak sisters"
and "dull." As for the SPA Emergency Convention: "What
the outcome of our convention in Chicago will be, I don't know
and don't care -- because Wisconsin is in a good position to
go it alone for awhile, and to for a new center for crystallization."
"Open Letter 'To All Party
Members' from Alfred Wagenknecht, Socialist Party Executive Secretary
pro tempore." [pub. Aug. 20, 1919] The Executive Secretary of the dissident Left
Wing Section claiming victory in the 1919 SP election published
this communique "to all party members" in the pages
of the friendly Socialist press. Wagenknecht points out the constitutional
July 1, 1919, date of termination for the outgoing NEC and reemphasizes
that State Secretaries should not transmit special convention
assessment funds to the outgoing NEC and its Executive Secretary,
Adolph Germer, but should rather send these monies with the delegates
themselves to the convention. For example, Wagenknecht notes,
the outgoing NEC was even then in the midst of expelling the
state organization of Ohio from the Socialist Party, adding that
"had Ohio sent the proceeds from the sale of convention
assessment stamps to Adolph Germer, it would have lost this money,
for it would never have been paid to the Ohio delegates to defray
their fare to the convention." Furthermore, the Left Wing
had no denial to make with regards to the allegation that it
made use of bloc voting, emphasizing that such tactics were not
fraudulent and additionally had been the very mechanism by which
Adolph Germer had been elected as Executive Secretary in the
previous election. Germer "did not protest at that time
because he won by it. He protests now because he and his fellow
moderates lost by it," Wagenknecht states. Wagenknecht charges
that the call of the outgoing NEC to "wait for the convention"
to decide the party controversy is brazenly hypocritical, noting
that although the Left Wing is supposed to wait, "in the
meantime...the former National Executive Committee plus Germer,
DO NOT WAIT until the national convention before carrying out
their plans. They 'expel' right and left in an effort to make
the national convention 'sure' for them."
"Former National Executive
Committee Thinks It Rules by Divine Right: Sits Like a King Upon
the Throne and Calmly Votes to Expel Ohio," by Elmer T.
Allison [Aug. 20, 1919] Opinion
piece from the pages of the Ohio Socialist attributed
to co-editor Elmer Allison on the pending expulsion of the Socialist
Party of Ohio from the Socialist Party of America. The Ohio party
was charged with three transgressions, Allison notes, including
recognizing suspended language federations as part of the organization,
failing to send funds collected from sale of special convention
assessment stamps directly to the National Office, and deciding
in convention to affiliate with the Left Wing Section. "All
of the above alleged "crimes" are acts of the recent
state convention of the Ohio party. These acts have not yet been
ratified by the state membership, and will not become acts of
the state party until so ratified. Balloting upon these acts
does not close until the last of August," Allison notes.
Nevertheless, the outgoing NEC, who according to the SPA Constitution
Article 3, Section 3, had their term terminate effective July
1, 1919, was rushing to expel the Socialist Party of Ohio ahead
of the forthcoming Emergency National Convention. Regardless,
the state's 16 delegates would be sent to Chicago to "pick
up the pieces" of the party shattered by the suspension
and expulsion happy former NEC, Allison notes.
"Communique to the NEC of
the Socialist Party of America Announcing the Result of Committee
Motion No. 56 from Executive Secretary Adolph Germer, Aug. 20,
1919." Executive
Secretary of the outgoing NEC Adolph Germer announces the result
of NEC member Fred Krafft's August 13 motion to expel the Socialist
Party of Ohio from the Socialist Party of America (this immediately
ahead of the August 30 Emergency National Convention of the SPA).
The motion passed by a tally of 8 to 1, with committeeman Wagenknecht
refusing to vote and 5 others not submitting ballots. Those voting
for the Krafft motion included Victor Berger, Dan Hogan, Morris
Hillquit, Krafft, James Oneal, Abraham Shiplacoff, Seymour Stedman,
and John Work. Includes the verbatim explanations made by Berger,
Hillquit, Krafft, Oneal, Stedman, and Wagenknecht appended at
the time of the submission of their ballots.
"A Message from Convict No.
9653," by Joseph W. Sharts [Aug. 21, 1919] In August 1920, State Secretary
of the Socialist Party of Ohio, Alfred Wagenknecht, dispatched
Marguerite Prevey of Akron and Joseph Sharts of Dayton to Atlanta
Federal Penitentiary to obtain imprisoned Socialist leader Gene
Debs' signature on legal documents seeking his release on a writ
of habeas corpus on the basis of his punitive transfer from Moundsville
(WV) Federal Penitentiary to Atlanta. At his first meeting with
the committee (including Debs' Atlanta lawyer) he hesitated,
asking for time to think about the proposal. The next day, Debs
again balked, asking for 30 more days to further consider the
matter. With regards to the Left/Right factional war in the Socialist
Party, Sharts quotes Debs as saying that "he had implicit
faith in the intelligence of the rank and file of the movement
and their ability to come to a common understanding without any
compromise of revolutionary principles; and that their present
differences can be reconciled." Debs finds fault with the
position of both sides in the factional war, with Sharts indicating
that Debs felt that "One side in the present controversy
has overemphasized industrial action at the expense of political
action. But the other side has overemphasized political action
to the exclusion of industrial action and has temporized too
much with craft unionism." The principle of state autonomy
was supported by Debs as a possible means of determining whether
each state adopted or failed to adopt a program including "immediate
demands."
"Letter to Patrick S. Nagle
in Kingfisher, OK from Adolph Germer in Chicago, Aug. 21, 1919."
This letter from
Socialist Party Executive Secretary Adolph Germer to his factional
ally Patrick Nagel in Oklahoma demonstrates that there was very
little mystery with regards to the probable strategy of the Left
Wing Section at the forthcoming SPA Emergency National Convention
in Chicago. "The 'Left Wingers' have rented halls in the
same building, but on the first floor. Our convention is on the
second floor. I don't know just what their program is, but I
am inclined to think that they are going to survey the line-up
of delegates and if they find themselves in the minority, which
according to present calculations they will, they are going to
withdraw to their hall and then decide what course to follow,"
Germer writes. "They have rented the downstairs hall for
three days. In those three days they are going to try to influence
as many delegates as they can reach to leave the Socialist Party
convention and go with them to the Communists," he accurately
predicted, although not envisioning that the Communist Party
convention would block unity with the Socialist Party Left Wing
group.
"Germer's Grand March,"
by Jack Carney [Aug. 22, 1919] In the last weeks before the Socialist Party's
1919 Emergency National Convention in Chicago both sides in the
impending battle jockeyed for position, the outgoing NEC attempting
to reorganize summarily various state organizations and the Left
Wing attempting to elect solid delegate slates of their own.
This article from the Left Wing Duluth, MN weekly Truth
by editor Jack Carney details the attendance of meetings in Minnesota
by the Executive Secretary of the Regulars, Adolph Germer. On
Sunday, August 17, Carney states that a "secret meeting"
of the State Executive Board was held with Germer in attendance,
at which "all referendums of the party that have just been
voted upon were declared illegal" -- including a referendum
which recalled the State Executive Board and elected a solid
Left Wing slate for Minnesota to the SP Convention. A follow
up official meeting of the SEB on August 18 was "disbanded"
by State Secretary Charles Dirba, who "was wise to their
game," Carney states. "Germer endeavored to use strong
arm tactics, but he was unable to do so because there were other
comrades present that would have been able to settle matters
somewhat unevenly," Carney adds. An appeal was issued for
Left Wingers to attend an emergency Minnesota state convention
to be held August 24 in Minneapolis, at which "the rank
and file of the party must decide what it is going to do."
Carney includes a complete vote count for the recently concluded
Minnesota convention delegate election, showing a smashing victory
for the candidates of the Left Wing, by an average margin of
about 5 to 1.
"Report on the Minnesota
Organization to the National Executive Committee of the Socialist
Party of America from Adolph Germer, Executive Secretary, Aug.
22, 1919." Executive
Secretary of the outgoing NEC of the Socialist Party relates
his recent trip to Minneapolis at the behest of the Regulars
on the State Executive Board of the Socialist Party of Minnesota.
Germer states that on the evening of August 17 a "membership
meeting" was held, at which "a number of the 'Left
Wingers' were present and indulged in their usual tirade and
misstatements, but the vast majority of the meeting was with
us." The next evening, the State Executive Committee met
and State Secretary Charles Dirba announced the result of a number
of recently concluded party referenda in the state, including
one which recalled the entire State Executive Board in question.
The recalled committee refused to recognize the legality of this
vote, however, citing the fact that Dirba allowed members of
language federations suspended by the National Executive Committee
of the SPA to vote. The recalled SEB and Germer thereupon bolted
to meet in another office, at which they declared the position
of State Secretary vacant and named S. Friedman as temporary
State Secretary of Minnesota.
"The Left Wing Answers,"
by I.E. Ferguson [Aug. 22, 1919] National Left Wing Section leader I.E. Ferguson
takes on 7 commonly leveled charges against adherents of the
Left Wing. He states that the Left Wing does not seek to destroy
Socialist Party unity -- rather that the organization has long
existed on the basis of a "false unity." Rather the
Left Wing seeks to build unity on a new set of principles. Thus,
the Left Wing does not, as charged, play into the hands of the
capitalists, but rather threatens the capitalists by building
a united and focused revolutionary organization. With regard
to the purported affection for revolutionary phrases, Ferguson
replies that there is nothing wrong with this, that the phrase
sometimes leads to action: "It is when the revolutionary
phrases seize the mind of the masses and become translated into
revolutionary action that the proletariat wins its triumphs."
The charge that American workers are not ready for revolution
is dismissed as a salve for the "nervous fears of the timid
and cautious." The important thing, Ferguson declares, is
that America needs a revolution and that objective conditions
for this social revolution were ripening. The charge that the
Left Wing advocated the use of violence is dismissed as a false
argument; violence in the labor movement was the product either
of " capitalistic provocation or by individual act unrelated
to the organization propaganda or tactics." The allegation
that the Left Wing had no constructive program was parried with
the assertion that the "catalog of occupational and administrative
reforms" of the reformist Socialists was "constructive
of nothing, unless it be a more efficient Capitalism, a better-ordered
slavery of the wage-worker." On the other hand, "The
Left Wing declares that the first constructive step is the establishment
of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Only after this step
can there be proletarian democracy and socialization of industry,"
according to Ferguson. Finally, to the charge that the Left Wing
was an emotional response to the Russian Revolution, Ferguson
answers that while "there is a large element of emotionalism"
in the response to the Russian Revolution, "such emotionalism
is the very life of our movement. It must be tempered and tested.
But without it we would not be a movement of flesh and blood,
but a sectarian creed of abstract dogma."
"The Martens Affair: Report
of CEC Representative Gurin to the 5th Regular Convention of
the Federation of Russian Branches, Communist Party of America:
Detroit, MI -- Aug. 22, 1919." The published historiographical literature indicates
there was bad blood between the Russian Socialist Federation
headed by Translator-Secretary Alexander Stoklitsky and Secretary
Oscar Tyverovsky and the Soviet Russian Government Bureau in
New York headed by Ludwig Martens. Little background has been
provided, a crude grasp to expropriate Soviet funds has been
intimated. This report by Russian Federation CEC member Gurin
to the 5th Convention of the RF presents the full tale of the
battle between the Russian Federation and the Martens Bureau
for the first time. Rather than a grab for cash, the antagonism
between Martens and the RF is depicted as the by-product of a
struggle to submit the one-man managed RSGB to workers' control,
the members of the RF seen as expatriate but fully vested
members of the Russian working class abroad. Free of any external
supervision and inspection, Martens had made a series of "errors,"
Gurin states. Particularly galling was the fact that for every
staff position at the RSGB, "Martens has appointed either
a Right Wing Socialist or an impartial person. You will find
there an anti-Bolshevist Nuorteva, Lomonosov, and Mensheviki
-- old man [Isaac] Hourwich [father of Novyi Mir editor
Nicholas, incidentally], who sheds tears at the thought of the
dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, and the well known [Morris]
Hillquit." Gurin continues by noting "We are not against
the inviting of bourgeois experts to these jobs. But at the very
moment when any blind man could see that any day there might
be a break in the Socialist Party, filling vacancies in the local
Soviet mission by Right Wing Socialists would mean that the sympathy
of the Soviet Bureau was with the Right Wing Socialists in their
struggle with the Left. Just think! The representatives of Revolutionary
Socialism in the US supports the Right Socialists in their struggle
with the Revolutionary Socialists!" After a stream of orators
spoke on the question, almost universally expressing condemnation
of Martens for failing to submit to workers' control of the activities
of his bureau, Martens had been given the last word in the debate,
not subject to ordinary time limit. "Comrade Martens in
his reply continued to state that he could not fulfill the demands
of control over his activity... His opinion was that he as a
representative of Soviet Russia had a right to present any demands
to the Federation and the Federation must execute them."
Martens asked the RF to renounce its demands for supervisory
control over the activities of the RSGB. In the reply to debate,
reporting CEC member Gurin unleashed a withering barrage at Martens:
Martens had thrown representatives of the RF out of his office,
had threatened to have his opponents blacklisted in Soviet Russia,
had broken his promises, and had refused to submit to the reasonable
authority of the Russian revolutionary socialist movement in
America. A resolution was moved declaring that "all the
activities of Comrade Martens as a local representative of the
Russian worker-peasant government, as well as the activity of
the Bureau and its clerks, must be under the complete control
of the local Bolshevik (Communist) organizations." This
resolution was approved in a massive landslide by the RF, 127
in favor, 8 opposed, and 15 abstaining.
"Call for a Convention for
the Purpose of Establishing the Communist Party of America,"
signed by I.E. Ferguson and Dennis Batt. [Aug. 23, 1919] The National Council of the Left
Wing Section of the Socialist Party of America, established in
the summer of 1919 as a central organization for the organized
Left Wing movement in the SPA, found itself deeply divided over
tactics. One group -- predominantly anglophonic and tending to
be individuals not yet suspended or expelled from the party by
Executive Secretary Adolph Germer and the outgoing NEC -- sought
to stay in the SPA through the Chicago Convention, attempting
to win control of the party or winning as many party members
to the cause as possible if the effort should prove a losing
proposition. The other group -- consisting in large measure of
the members of the 7 suspended Language Federations and the suspended
state party of Michigan -- sought an immediate break with the
SPA and formation of a new Communist Party. Ultimately, those
favoring immediate action won the day on the Left Wing National
Council, and this convention call for the formation of the Communist
Party of America was issued and published in the press. The rapid
pace of events is emphasized by the fact that this call, which
outlined an organizational perspective and defined the basis
for participation in the Founding Convention of the CPA, was
published in the Revolutionary Age barely a week before
the start of the Chicago convention.
"The Left Wing Unites,"
by Louis C. Fraina [Aug. 23, 1919] In this unsigned editorial from Revolutionary
Age, Louis Fraina makes known the decision of a big majority
of the Left Wing National Council to join the "Federation
of Russian Federations" in calling a Sept. 1, 1919 convention
to establish a Communist Party of America. In joining in the
issuance of the call for the new party, Fraina states that the
"split of the real Communist elements of the Left Wing"
was effectively liquidated. "The agreement on a joint call
for a convention to organize a Communist Party on September 1
unites the Communist elements in the Left Wing, gives each the
opportunity of casting off their non-Communist adherents, and
uniting all the Communists irresistibly for the conquest of power
in the new party," Fraina asserts. This move towards immediate
unity was made necessary by the failure of the Left Wing-dominated
"new NEC" of the Socialist Party to issue a call for
convention under their own auspices; thus, those Socialists coming
to Chicago on August 30 would be attending a convention which
had been called and effectively packed by the outgoing NEC, with
certain defeat in the offing. Only 2 bitter anti-Federationists
on the National Council (Jim Larkin and Ben Gitlow) out of the
total of 7 remained committed to the old tactic of attempting
to win at the Socialist Party Convention and refused to join
in issuing the call. "Some of the problems in dispute are
still unsolved, but they will be solved at the Communist Party
Convention," Fraina notes, adding that "It is indisputable
that the old party is not in accord with revolutionary Socialism.
Deprived of the stimulus of the Left Wing agitation in the party,
it must more and more rely upon counterrevolutionary moderates,
more and more become a Labor Party in fact if not in name."
Fraina declares that "the controversy within the Left Wing
must now end; the few comrades on both sides who are disgruntled
with the decision to unite are acting against the Communist Party."
"Ohio State Organization
Expelled from Party." (NY Call) [Aug. 25, 1919] Short news tidbit buried on page
7 of the New York Call making note of the seemingly trivial
detail that the National Executive Committee of the Socialist
Party, slated to leave office on June 30, 1919, had expelled
the entire Socialist Party of Ohio "for repeated and flagrant
violations of the state and national platforms and constitutions
of the party." This action conveniently took place about
1 week before the gathering of the SPA's Emergency National Convention
in Chicago. "Under the guidance of a small, compact, and
well-oiled political machine, headed by two individuals named
Ruthenberg and Wagenknecht, the party has been repeatedly sabotaged
and its work crippled. The violations have become so intolerable
that, upon request of a large number of loyal Socialists of the
Buckeye state, the charter of the state organization has been
revoked and the Socialists who are loyal to the organization
are reorganizing upon the basis of the Socialist platform and
constitution," the unsigned article notes.
"Notification to the Socialist
Party of America of Changes to the State Executive Board of the
Socialist Party of Minnesota by Charles Dirba, Secretary."
[Aug. 25, 1919] On
Sunday, August 24, 1919, an Emergency Convention of the Socialiist
Party of Minnesota was held in Minneapolis at which it was decided
to make the recent referendum vote recalling the State Executive
Board (Regular faction) effective immediately. A new 7 member
Left Wing SEB was elected including future Communist Party stalwart
Clarence Hathaway. "Please take immediate notice of this,"
Left Wing State Secretary Charles Dirba writes.
Bylaws of the Federation of Russian
Branches of the Communist Party of America [convention of August
20-28, 1919].
This is the complete
text of the constitution approved by the Federation in August
1919 at its 5th Convention in Detroit. This document sheds light
upon the organizational structure of the Russian Federation,
one of the most important institutions in the Communist Party
of America.
"The Communist Party of America,"
by Nicholas I. Hourwich [Gurvich], Aug. 26, 1919. This is the report delivered to the Federation
of Russian Branches in August 1919 at its 5th Convention in Detroit.
The son of a long-time Socialist Labor Party member, Isaac Hourwich,
Nicholas Hourwich was formerly on the 3 member Editorial Board
of the Russian Federation's newspaper, Novyi Mir, and
was named responsible Editor by the 5th Convention. He was active
in the Left Wing Movement and a founder and leading figure in
the Communist Party of America from 1919.
"The Socialist Party Convention:
An Editorial in the New York Call," by James Oneal
[Aug. 27, 1919] Editorial
from the New York Call by one of the primary leaders of
the SPA's Regular faction in the 1919 factional war. "It
is certain that the convention will simply be a formal recognition
of a schism within the organization which has been developed
by skilled propagandists," Oneal confidently predicts. "Just
as at the beginning of the war a hysterical type developed and
separated from the movement, so the end of the war brings with
it a similar type determined on the same course," Oneal
declares, emphasizing that this dissident Left Wing is "by
no means harmonious" and is rent with internal divisions
of its own. "A temporary truce has been formed upon the
basis of organizing a party of their own without any further
activity within the Socialist Party. This will again throw them
together, and in the absence of the one tie that held the groups
together, a common antagonism to the Socialist Party, it is fairly
certain that they will not maintain unity for any long period.
The reason for this is the multiplicity of views they must try
to reconcile, and these views diverge so much that permanent
reconciliation is practically hopeless," Oneal presciently
asserts. Oneal foresees the party "adjusting itself"
with respect to program and policies, due to changing conditions
"in keeping with a militant, fighting organization of the
working class."
"New Jersey Delegates to
the Convention." [Aug. 1919] Short list of the candidates for delegate to the
Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party of America
hailing from the state of New Jersey, including the vote count
for each. A delegation (with the exception of Krafft) committed
to radical reorientation of the party but opposing the tactics
of the organized Left Wing Section was the result of the vote,
the veracity of which was never challenged by the Regular faction
(although leading vote-getter Fred Harwood was challenged at
the convention for having sat with the "new" NEC at
its sole physical gathering, July 26-27, 1919). Elected as delegates
were: Valentine Bausch, Stephen Bircher, Fred Harwood, Frank
Hubschmidt, Frederick Krafft, Henry Petzold, Patrick L. Quinlan,
Rose Weiss, and Louis F. Wolff. A number of these ultimately
bolted the SPA convention to the founding convention of the Communist
Labor Party, while Fred Harwood, after being seated late in the
SPA's proceedings, threw up his hands and went home in disgust,
quitting the radical movement.
"Report to the National Executive
Committee, Socialist Party of America," by Adolph Germer
[August 27, 1919] Extensive
"State of the Party" report by Executive Secretary
Adolph Germer of the Socialist Party to the members of the outgoing
NEC on the eve of the 1919 Emergency National Convention. Germer
provides state-by-state assessments for Michigan, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, and Ohio -- the critical regions of conflict between
the Regular and the Left Wing factions. Germer recounts developments
in the struggle of the provisional NEC to obtain control of party
headquarters from Germer. He notes that the Left Wing had rented
a hall and committee room in the same building being used by
the SPA for its Emergency National Convention for three days,
Sept. 1-3. "The reasons for renting a hall and rooms in
the same building in which the National Convention is held, of
course, are obvious and need no comment," Germer states.
Germer makes specific recommendations about the party constitution,
conventions, international relations, dues, and the place of
the language federations. With regard to the latter, Germer indicates
that "One of two things should be done, either the language
federations should be made autonomous bodies and have a working
relation with the Socialist Party, or the federations as such
should be abolished and the propaganda and organization work
should be conducted by language organizers employed directly
by the party and under the control of the party." Germer
provides a summary of financial affairs which shows the party
over $20,000 in debt -- mostly owed for the recent purchase of
party headquarters and to the party's women's propaganda fund,
which had been raided to balance the budget. Of particular value
is a state-by-state summary of actually paid dues by month for
the period January to July 1919. These statistics indicate that
with all the suspensions, expulsions, and a dues strike by the
Left Wing, between April and July paid membership in the SPA
had plummeted from well over 100,000 to just under 40,000.
"Party Delegates Ready to
Meet Big Problems at National Convention," by Herman Michelson
[Aug. 29, 1919] Initial
coverage of the forthcoming Emergency National Convention of
the Socialist Party of America by the correspondent of the New
York Call. Michelson covers the report of Executive Secretary
Adolph Germer to the outgoing National Executive Committee in
Chicago on the eve of the convention. Starting 1919 with a paid
membership of over 109,500, the Socialist Party had lost nearly
70,000 members through suspensions, expulsions, and disorganization
accompanying the factional war. Germer portrayed the catastrophic
decline in the most neutral light possible, stating that the
reduced figure "cannot be taken as a legitimate showing,
due to the internal controversy." Michelson likewise gave
the Regular faction every benefit of the doubt, noting that while
"the membership has been cut down almost two-thirds; the
National Office is practically without funds; the forces of reaction
are ever welding their ranks closer in their united assault on
the party," nevertheless "the spirit manifest here
tonight, on the eve of the convention, is one of energy, enthusiasm,
and hopeful, vigorous work to rebuild a still greater party in
1920 than the one which polled nearly 1 million votes in 1912."
Michelson contributes the information that the Regular faction
had commenced the convention's work in advance of the opening
of the actual gathering, observing that "in a dozen rooms
at headquarters committees are at work preparing resolutions,
reports, platforms, and a manifesto of the party's position"
and adding that "all this will speed up the work of the
convention tremendously."
"Introductory Remarks to
the 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party
of America: Chicago, IL -- August 30, 1919," by Adolph Germer
The 1919 Emergency
National Convention was a landmark in the history of American
radicalism -- the event at which the split of the Socialist Party
of America into "Socialist" and "Communist"
organizations was finalized. The convention proved to be a one-sided
battle, with the Regular faction in control of the National Executive
Committee and key State Executive Committees and able by means
of wholesale suspensions and expulsions to dominate the delegate
roster and to further perpetuate itself by means of delegate
challenges and tight control of the body's Credentials Committee.
Here, for the first time, are the remarks made by Executive Secretary
Adolph Germer, field general of the Regular faction, at the opening
of the convention. "Tremendous changes in thought"
had taken place in the 5 years since the outbreak of World War
I, Germer states -- changes which had augmented the preexisting
factional divisions of the party. The situation had made the
convocation of a gathering to set party policy and program in
the new world situation and to thus "unite the working classes
of this country, that we might follow the splendid example set
by our comrades in Russia," Germer states. Germer hastily
adds that this is not to say that Russian tactics are to be emulated
in the greatly different American political and economic conditions
-- "our methods will have to be somewhat different in accomplishing
our goal," Germer indicates. Germer declares that disagreement
over tactics is only part of the ongoing factional controversy
in the SPA, adding that this situation is not discouraging to
him: "I always believed that this factional division leads
to healthy methods, provided it is not carried to the extent
where the organization is torn into parts and shreds, and leaves
us an easy prey to our common enemy." Unfortunately, Germer
continues, "personal slanders and conspiracies against individuals
that have been engaged in for no other reason than to break down
the confidence of the membership" in the party's elected
leadership. These Left Wing critics offer "no specific statements,
but general gossip, rumor, suggestion, innuendo," says Germer,
adding that he welcomes an open investigation by the convention
of the activities of its National Executive Committee in the
previous months.
"Keynote Address to the Emergency
National Convention of the Socialist Party of America: Chicago,
IL -- August 30, 1919," by Seymour Stedman The first order of business of
the seminal 1919 Emergency National Convention was the election
of a chairman of the day, a post handily won by Regular Seymour
Stedman over Left Winger Joseph Coldwell of Rhode Island, by
a vote of 88-37. Upon his election, Stedman delivered the traditional
keynote address to the gathering. Stedman recounts the history
of the previous 5 years, in which the workers of Europe, "many
of them drilled in economics by Marx and Engels." went to
war against one another. The Socialist Party of America stood
out by way of contrast, Stedman indicates, adopting the St. Louis
Resolution against the war and standing true to its principles
despite the "attacks of the mob on the streets, or rage
from the [judicial] bench." Rather than be erased by the
initial repression, despite losses of numerous locals in small
town America, the membership of the Socialist Party soon began
to grow. "This served to provoke more desperate measures
against us," says Stedman. "Our National Office was
raided again and again. Small papers of the workers were suppressed;
foreign language papers were suppressed. The privilege of the
mails was denied to our leading dailies. Our members were arrested,
jailed, convicted and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment.
The liberties which we were supposed to enjoy were throttled,
and constitutional guarantees we found to be merely academic
declarations." Stedman's tone is measured, mentioning the
Left Wing insurgency almost as an aside, accusing this group
of "misjudging entirely the psychology" of the American
working class movement. This group "commenced an agitation
in the party; not solely to bring before our national convention
their propositions, but to declare that they alone held the secret
of success and to impose it upon the party; and upon refusal
of the membership to accept their proposition to launch a new
political party. With many of them this has been carried our
in the formation of the Communist Party." The split of the
SPA is thus judged by Stedman to be an accomplished fact from
the opening gavel of the 1919 convention.
"Socialists Open Convention
After 'Lefts' Are Ousted: Police and Department of Justice Take
Notes as Party's Proceedings are Opened in Chicago -- Important
Committee is Selected," by Herman Michelson [Aug. 30, 1919]
Coverage of the
first day of activity at the Emergency National Convention of
the Socialist Party of America by the correspondent of the New
York Call. After witnessing a single day of activity on the
convention floor, electing a chairman of the day, listening to
opening remarks from Seymour Stedman and Executive Secretary
Adolph Germer, and naming a Credentials Committee, reporter Michelson
seems ready to declare victory and go home. He optimistically
declares: "Very little remains of the Left Wing as a rival
or even a disrupting force in the party. It is practically certain
there will be no Left Wing convention. The convention will adopt
a stand, expressed in a manifesto that is expected to satisfy
all those in the Left Wing who are contending for what they believe
to be revolutionary principles. The others probably will be gathered
back into the folds of the various "progressive" wings
of the old parties, from which they emerged to play a brief role
as ultra-revolutionists." Michelson relates the tale of
"clearing the hall" in advance of the convention's
opening as follows: "John Reed, prominent in the councils
of the Left, tried to brush past Julius Gerber of New York, who
was aiding in the seating arrangements. Gerber demanded that
Reed get an admission card, and they got into a brief tussle,
in which several other Left Wingers thought they would aid Reed.
This was the only disorder that occurred, despite the lurid stories
sent out by the press associations. Gerber, seeing that an attempt
was being made to rush the convention, determined to clear the
hall. A squad of policemen had been detailed to the convention
by headquarters, and he asked them to get everybody out, which
they did, without difficulty or violence."
"'Left Wing' Attempt to Capture
Convention Hall Proves Failure." (NY Call) [Aug.
30, 1919] This
unsigned account of the first day of the convention of the Socialist
Party of America (possibly contributed by Call editorial
page editor James Oneal) offers an alternative account of the
legendary "clearing the hall" incident. Rather than
threatened fisticuffs between Reed and Gerber at the door, this
rather less colorful version has the convention hall successfully
infiltrated by "John Reed and a picked company of free-lances."
The article states that "some 50 men and women occupied
Machinists' Hall auditorium, disporting themselves in the delegates'
seats without benefit of credentials. When, half an hour later,
Adolph Germer, National Secretary of the Socialist Party, and
his staff arrived to open the convention, they were confronted
with the choice of either surrendering the hall to the Lefts
or of insisting on their right to the auditorium." The onus
of having to call in the armed forces of reaction to clear the
hall is shifted from Executive Secretary Germer in this version
of events, which maintains that "Germer felt that the problem
rested with the management of the hall, and the management, recognizing
the Socialist Party as entitled to what they had contracted for,
asked the intruders to get out. The Lefts refused, whereupon
the management obliged the Lefts by letting them pose as they
planned and called in two corpulent policemen. With smiles of
triumph wreathing their faces, the Lefts then went into caucus
to capitalize their martyrdom." Text of a printed statement
from the Left Wing subsequently distributed to convention delegates
is included. The article baits a number of the Left Wing leaders
for their fashion sense and social origins, including as targets
of ridicule "John Reed, always picturesque in his Norfolk-cut
suit and hatless; Rose Pastor Stokes, in neat tailor-made blue;
Maximilian Cohen, crisp and cool in his Palm Beach suit of light
tan; Louis C. Fraina, with his neatly trimmed Van Dyke beard;
Max Eastman, sunburned and debonair in blue serge -- these
are the leaders in this offshoot of the 'revolutionary proletariat'
as against the 'bourgeois' Socialist Party."
"Debate on Seating the Minnesota
Delegation at the Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party of America: Chicago, IL -- August 31, 1919." From the opening gavel there was
little, if any, drama about the outcome of the 1919 Emergency
National Convention. The so-called "Right Wing" Regulars
had maneuvered themselves into a position of clear control in
the face of a Left Wing split over strategy towards to the convention.
Despite its preordained outcome, there was drama and a defining
movement at the Socialist Party convention, however, -- the extensive
debate over the Credentials Committee's recommendation as to
the seating of the Minnesota delegation. It was during this debate
that the various philosophies and ethical orientations within
the Regular wing of the party became clear, as the loyalists
attempted to navigate a split without losing the party's democratic
soul. Basing their case upon affidavits from 4 Minnesota locals
that they had not received ballots for the election for convention
delegates from State Secretary Charles Dirba and the acknowledgement
that members of suspended language federations had participated
in the vote, there were some who favored the adoption of the
Credentials Committee report, setting aside the Minnesota election
of a Left Wing delegation and instead seating the alternative
slate hastily named in an extra-constitutional manner by the
Regular State Executive Committee of Minnesota. Others loyal
to the Regular faction stood strongly for the principle of rank
and file democracy, defending the slate elected by the membership
of the state in spite of the delegation's ideological coloration,
the alleged and acknowledged electoral irregularities, and the
decision of the Minnesota Left Wing delegation not to accept
seats in any event (their spokesman Jack Carney having told Jacob
Panken's Credentials Committee to "go to hell.") The
Left Wing perspective was advanced by delegates from Illinois
and New Jersey. Behind the debate lay the question of whether
the Socialist Party's National Executive Committee had the ethical
authority and legal right to arbitrarily suspend 7 language federations
of the party in the first place. The stenographic report reveals
a certain complexity and diversity of thought among adherents
of the Regular faction which has been little appreciated in the
literature. Includes an Art Young pen-and-ink caricature of the
leading lights of the dominant New York delegation and a photo
of iconoclastic Duluth editor Jack Carney.
"Report to the National Convention
of the Socialist Party of America by the Special 1919 Election
Investigating Committee: Chicago, IL -- Aug. 31, 1919."
The May 24-30
meeting of the NEC which expelled the Socialist Party of Michigan
and suspended 7 language federations from the Socialist Party
of America also appointed a 4 member special committee to study
the question of election fraud in the 1919 party election which
it terminated, the committee to report back to the Emergency
National Convention scheduled 3 months hence. This is the report
of the committee to the assembled delegates in Chicago. While
the report confirms the claim of the Left Wing that it had won
a big majority of the 15 seats on the SPA's governing National
Executive Committee "on the face of the returns," as
well as sweeping the 4 International Delegate positions and voting
to affiliate with the Communist International by a margin of
more than 6-to-1, the special committee cites a litany of electoral
irregularities said to have been systematically perpetrated by
several of the suspended federations. This report was approved
unanimously by the convention and used as a rationale for a complete
restructuring of the party constitution and the election of a
new 7 member "temporary" NEC by the convention itself.
The margin in the resolution on international affiliation was
so wide as to remove any question of the validity of its passage,
and was declared adopted. This document includes explanatory
footnotes by Tim Davenport which argue against several of the
assertions made by the special investigating committee.
"Minnesota Group Seated But
Denied Vote by Convention: Socialist Emergency Gathering in Chicago
Sustains Action of National Executive Committee -- Telegrams
of Greetings Sent to Debs, Mrs. O'Hare, and Hillquit: Big Vote
Cast Favors Referendums B and D: Evidences of Widespread Frauds
in Balloting are Charged in Investigation of Practices of Suspended
Sections of Party -- Bloc Voting Said to Be Prevalent,"
by Herman Michelson [Aug. 31, 1919] The highlight of the 2nd day of the Emergency
National Convention of the Socialist Party of America was the
protracted debate on the seating of the Minnesota delegation,
a controversy which brought into play most of the big issues
about the authority of the National Executive Committee to impose
its will upon state organizations. This report by the correspondent
of the New York Call saw the result of the debate, seating with
voice but no vote a substitute delegation appointed by a contested
State Executive Committee over a delegation elected by party
referendum of Minnesota Socialists as decisive. Reporter Michelson
declares that this action effectively "puts the stamp of
approval by the convention on the action of the National Executive
Committee in expelling [sic.] the 7 foreign language federations
from the Socialist Party." The tepid response which met
Rhode Island Left Winger Joseph Coldwell's 2 pm declaration of
a delegate bolt over the convention majority's decision to conduct
business before all credentials challenges were resolved is the
object of much mirth on the part of Michelson, who proclaims
it "a very mild affair" prematurely conducted over
a "perfectly trivial excuse." The unanimous report
of the committee investigating the 1919 party referendums was
read by Otto Branstetter, Michelson notes, alleging "serious
frauds in balloting" but making no concrete recommendations.
"What'll Folks at Home Think
of this '85-45' in Convention Wrangle?" by Eugene Wood [Aug.
31, 1919] Valuable
first-hand account of the proceedings of the pivotal Credentials
Committee (Committee on Contests) of the Emergency National Convention
of the Socialist Party, headed by Judge Jacob Panken of New York.
Wood contrasts the quite and understated style of the committee
with the frequently boisterous pontification indulged in by the
various spokesmen of challenged delegations -- "'thrillers'
who swing their arms and talk about 'class-conscious revolutionary
movements' and use a Madison Square Garden voice to carry four
feet." The hearings were held in public in one of the rooms
of the old Illinois club, attended by often cheering spectators.
Wood notes that "These who cheer and handclap and rejoice
when the smashing and shattering of the Socialist Party is proposed
will form part of the membership of the Communist Party, if it
doesn't split into too many divisions. It is calculated that
there are at least 6 divisions already in sight. It is believed
that this is not so much a split as a fringe, or a broom, or
some other word expressive of a complete frazzle." Wood
sees the impending split as an inevitability: "The moment
the decision of the Committee on Contests is announced and it
doesn't suit them, they blow the whistle and pull 'em all out,
and go down to Blue Island Avenue or wherever the 'Communist'
convention is to meet, and start in, and we shall have to teach
ourselves to call 'em 'Mister.' 'What's the use, if you're 85
[delegates] and we're 45?' they ask. And that seems to end it
with them. The only thing to consider is the folks at home, who
have been Socialists when it cut deep to be a Socialist. The
question is, what'll they think about it all?"
"Minutes of the Left Wing
Section of the 1919 Convention of the Socialist Party of America."
[Aug. 29-31, 1919]. The
1919 Chicago Convention of the SPA pitted two organized factions
against one another, the group of "Regulars" around
National Executive Secretary Adolph Germer and the outgoing NEC
and the "Left Wing" faction around newly elected National
Execuitve Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht and the incoming NEC --
a group whose legitimacy was biitterly challenged by their outgoing
counterparts, who refused to recognize the results of the 1919
election and who launched a series of suspensions of "Left
Wing" Federations and states in an effort to rid the party
of what they perceived as an alien influence. These are the meeting
minutes of the Left Wing section from the time of their first
organized caucus in Chicago on Aug. 29 until the issuance of
a convention call for establishment of a new Communist Party
(specifically, the Communist Labor Party) on August 31.
"Minutes of the Founding
Convention of the Communist Labor Party of America, Aug. 31 -
Sept. 5, 1919." After
fighting for control of the 1919 Emergency National Convention
of the Socialist Party of America in Chicago and losing in their
bid, the organized Left Wing Section of the SPA retired downstairs
and held a convention of their own -- a gathering which established
the Communist Labor Party of America (CLP). The body elected
organizational officers and wrote and adopted a platform and
program.This document collects the minutes of every session of
the CLP convention held over the six day period.
SEPTEMBER
"America: The Foundation
of a Communist Party," by "Y." [Sept. 1, 1919]
This article from
the Petrograd magazine The Communist International speaks of
the formation of a Communist Party of America as an accomplished
fact -- in an issue with the same publication date as the opening
of the founding convention of the Communist Party of America!
The author, signing only with the initial "Y.", declares
that the SPA, "led by the notorious traitors to Socialism,
Algernon Lee and Maurice Hillquit, has long been ripe for a split."
The issuance of the Left Wing Manifesto is heralded and quoted
extensively in this article. The June 1919 National Conference
of the Left Wing Section, held in New York, is mentioned, although
"Y." remarks that "unfortunately we have no information
as to the decision adopted concerning adhesion to the Third International.
All we know is that the question was on the agenda. Nor have
we any information as to the numerical strength of the party.
It is quite possible that the party has not yet assumed the character
of an organization of the masses." Despite the grossly deficient
state of communication, "Y." depicts the prospects
of the revolutionary movement in America in glowing colors, noting
that "in the epoch of universal history upon which we have
now entered, every great movement of the toiling masses and the
oppressed invariably assumes a Communist form and inevitably
culminates in a struggle for the dictatorship of the proletariat.
At this juncture, America may be described as an erupting volcano.
Strikes follow one another ceaselessly. In many of the states
there have been armed revolts among the negroes, who demand equal
rights. More than 100,000 fully armed Afro-Americans took part
in what amounted to actual battles in the streets of Chicago.
The revolt was led by colored ex-soldiers back from the front...
We are confident that our American comrades will unite into a
single stream the scattered torrents of the mass movement, that
they will free it from foreign bodies, and will break the lava
crust which has formed upon the surface. Then, from the rumbling
volcano of the capitalist order there will escape a brilliant
and mighty jet of flame which will consume all the obstacles
in its path, and will crystallize, as it cools, to form a new
society of labor."
"Report of the National Executive
Committee to the Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party of America: Chicago, IL -- Sept. 1, 1919," by James
Oneal Text of
the report of the NEC to the Emergency National Convention, justifying
the committee's action in abrogating the party's 1919 electoral
referendums and launching a series of suspensions and expulsions
which led to the loss of approximately 70,000 of the party's
roughly 110,000 paid members between the first of the year and
the date of the convention. NEC member Oneal, one of the leaders
of the Regular faction in the intra-party conflict, recounts
the days since the St. Louis Emergency National Convention of
1917, marked by the "desertion and betrayal" of the
party by its "small Right Wing" and the launching of
mass government repression in an attempt to crush the SPA and
eradicate its press. A new period began with the collapse of
the Central Alliance and the end of the war, in Oneal's estimation.
In this period "a systematic campaign of falsehood"
was waged against the Socialist Party and its leadership by a
faction within the party, which falsely claimed that the party
was allied with the Berne conference of pro-war Socialist Parties
and insulted its officials as "Noskes" and "Scheidemanns"
looking to drown the revolutionary workers in blood. "In
no single instance has this faction attempted to buttress these
attacks with any official declarations of the party," Oneal
declares, noting the party's consistent support for the revolutionary
movement in Germany and Russia. Oneal characterizes the Left
Wing as "disrupters" who conducted "organized
and systematic treachery" for the purpose of "capturing
the party." They had shunted aside party veterans, sabotaged
the party's efforts to hold an amnesty convention on behalf of
its political prisoners, and made use of "vicious and corrupt
practices in the recent referendum elections," Oneal charges.
"We have no apologies to make to the Left Wing or any of
its wings. The National Executive Committee has tried to make
the best of the most trying situation the party has ever faced.
It welcomes honest criticism and differences of opinion. But
for those who have wrought ruin in their confessed attempts to
'rupture the party,' it voices the opinion of the honest members
in saying that such conduct is a gross violation of Socialist
ethics, Socialist solidarity, and Socialist principles."
"Statement Subscribed to
the Delegates of the Emergency Convention by the Delegates of
the State of California." [Sept. 1, 1919] A document from the CLP/UCP archive seized by
the New York Bomb Squad and the Department of Justice's Bureau
of Investigation in April 1921. This statement was apparently
read or distributed to the 1919 Emergency National Committee
by the California delegation, a Left Wing body denied the seats
to which they were elected by the machine of outgoing National
Executive Secretary Adolph Germer. Despite being elected by overwhelming
majorities of uncontested locals in their states, and despite
not being opposed in person by an opposition delegation, the
California delegation was ejected from the convention floor by
the Chicago Police and forced to stand for hours in an anteroom
where they could not hear the proceedings for which they had
travelled 2,000 miles to attend. All the while, " packed
delegations from other states occupied the convention floor,"
the statement declared. The Contest Committee stalled a decision
on the California delegation for two days, thus preventing them
from participation, eventually coming in on the third day of
the gathering with a recommendation to deny the delegation their
seats. This was overturned by action from the floor by delegates
who were held to have awoken to the "despotic procedure
steamrollered by the officialdom of the convention." The
California delegation demanded that all contested delegations
be seated, that the representation of the packed delegations
from "reorganization states" be scaled down to the
number of votes to which they were entitled based on actual paid
membership, and the removal of the Chicago Police was demanded.
The delegation -- which included Max Bedacht, James Dolsen, and
John C. Taylor -- ultimately refused their seats and bolted the
SPA convention to help establish the Communist Labor Party.
"Convention Voids Referendum
C by Unanimous Vote: Delegated Decide to Choose Temporary National
Executive Committee as Soon as Party's Constitution is Rewritten
by Convention: New Balloting Will Be Instituted for Officials:
California Delegation Fails in Its Attempt to Bolt Gathering
-- Seated Envoys Who Participated in 'Communist Convention' Will
be Permanently Excluded Today by Herman Michelson [Sept. 1, 1919]
Front page account
of the 3rd day of the Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party by the correspondent of the New York Call. Michelson
reports on the convention's unanimous vote to set aside the results
of the 1919 party referendum for National Executive Committee
on the grounds of electoral irregularities. Michelson notes that
"State Secretaries from as far apart as Kansas and Massachusetts
told of branches voting twice the number of their members; of
voting en bloc in which ballots were marked and signed by the
same person throughout; of refusal to allow the investigating
committee to see the actual ballots; of ballots being destroyed
on the plea there was not room to store them; and other procedure
claimed to be highly irregular." He adds that "when
the unanimous roar of approval invalidated the referendum, the
convention launched into an ovation, presumably for itself and
its own good judgment in ordering a new deal." Later in
the day, after this decisive action had been taken, the decision
was made to overrule the recommendation of the Panken Credentials
Committee and to seat the elected Left Wing delegation from California.
This group declined to accept their seats, however, sending James
Dolsen as its spokesman. "We will not take our seats,"
Dolsen declared, "unless all duly elected delegates are
seated, until the packed delegates from several reorganized states
be reduced, nor until the convention ceases to act under the
guardianship of the Chicago Police Department." An appeal
was made for delegates to abandon the Socialist Party convention
for that of the Communist Labor Party downstairs in the same
building; this earnest request met with no response, Michelson
states.
"Socialist Convention Held
at Chicago," by Joseph W. Sharts [Sept. 1, 1919] Valuable first-hand account of
the pivotal 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party beginning in Chicago on Aug. 30, 1919. Sharts, a SP Regular
lacking the pugnacious attitude common during the summer of 1919,
tells the tale of dominance of the convention by an effectively-run
machine. "Along the left-hand side of the room ran a railing,
and out beyond this railing were the seats for the spectators.
Here the "Lefts" were packed, pressed, crammed, suffocating;
while inside, although the big hall was full, there was comfortable
elbow-room," Sharts writes. The pivotal test of strength
came in the election of the contest committee, which was headed
by Right Winger Jacob Panken of New York. As the contest committee
slowly and methodically conducted its inquisition of challenged
delegates and acrimony erupted on the floor of the convention
upstairs, "an ominous sound" began to be heard from
the billiard room downstairs -- "the singing of songs, sharp
outbursts of applause. The Left Wingers have started their rival
convention without waiting the action of the old organization
on the contests." A press deadline unfortunately limits
Sharts' account to the early stages of the convention.
"Convention May Name Debs
Today for Presidency: Nomination Will Be Submitted to Referendum
of Party Membership Upon His Acceptance of Candidacy, Resolution
Proposes. Choice of Running Mate Will Probably Be Put Off: Drastic
Revisions Sure to Be Made in Constitution -- Special Bureau to
Deal with Relations to Economic Organizations Regarded Certain
of Creation," by Herman Michelson [Sept. 2, 1919] The New York Call's staff
correspondent from the Chicago Emergency National Convention
reports on the activities of that gathering's 4th day. Full rosters
of the various committees were named and the day was dominated
by committee work. Text of a cable to Ludwig Martens of the Soviet
Russian Government Bureau is included, expressing the best regards
of the Socialist convention and wishes for success in the establishment
of friendly relations between the peoples of the United States
and Soviet Russia. Michelson is preoccupied on the question of
whether the Emergency Convention would nominate Gene Debs as
its Presidential standard-bearer for the 5th time (it ultimately
did not; instead Debs was nominated by the 1920 Convention).
A complete list of delegates "present and taking part"
in the SPA convention (that is, excluding delegates who were
challenged and rejected, those refusing to assume their seats,
those bolting, and those who missed roll call) is included, listing
128 names of regular and fraternal delegates to the convention
for which 200 delegates were originally authorized.
"The Chicago Convention:
An Editorial in the New York Call, Sept. 3, 1919."
This editorial
in the New York Call from the time of the Socialist Party's
Emergency National Convention provides numeric detail illustrating
the magnitude of the "regrettable" party split: "The
report of Secretary Germer, showing that of the 200 delegates
allotted to the convention, 136 were entitled to seats without
a contest, indicates the extent of the schism in the party. But
even this figure does not tell the whole story. About 103 of
these uncontested delegates are said to be 'Regular.' That is,
they stand for the Socialist Party organization, but among them
are a considerable number who are uncertain of their course and
reserve judgment on matters in controversy. Some have positive
convictions that the expulsions of several state organizations
and suspension of language federations were not justified, and
it will require strong evidence to convince them." The remaining
33 uncontested delegates were "strongly sympathetic to the
so-called Left Wing," the editorial continues, adding that
"some of them may be won over if the evidence is strong
enough to justify the expulsions." The preposterous claim
is made by the editorialist that "every delegate entitled
to a seat, no matter what his views are, was seated" at
the convention.
"Convention Urges US to Recognize
Republic of Erin...: Formation of Socialist Press Syndicate Favored:
Question of Naming Debs for Presidency Put Over Until Today --
Resolutions Adopted Demand Berger Be Seated in Congress and Denounce
Recent Race Riots," by Herman Michelson [Sept. 3, 1919]
The New York
Call's day-by-day account of the Emergency National Convention
of the Socialist Party in Chicago continues in this coverage
of Day 5. Reporter Michelson emphasizes the recommendation of
the convention's Press Committee that a nationwide Socialist
press syndicate be established for the collective gathering of
news on behalf of the daily press affiliated with the SPA --
standing at 10 papers and slated to rise to a dozen in the coming
year. If there had been such an organization of the Socialist
press, the present crisis in the party would have been averted,
Press Committee chairman Eugene Woods claimed. Michelson also
reports the findings of a special committee headed by Left Wing
sympathizer Rose Weiss of New Jersey which was given the task
of investigating whether the delegations of the "reorganized"
states of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and Michigan
were packed by the party officialdom. "The committee found
that 4 states were entitled to a representation of 69 and only
61 delegates seated on the floor of the convention," Michelson
reports. The news account includes full text of the Press Committee
Report as well as resolutions adopted in favor of Irish national
liberation, condemning race rioting, and demanding the seated
of elected Congressman Victor L. Berger by the House of Representatives,
which had denied him his seat on political grounds.
"Supplementary Report of
the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of America
to the Emergency National Convention: Chicago, IL -- September
4, 1919." The
Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party demanded
of the outgoing National Executive Committee a supplemental report
justifying its actions of expulsions and suspensions which took
place at its May 24-30, 1919 meeting in Chicago. This is the
second of the two reports of the NEC, signed by 8 of the 15 members
of the committee, written in the unapologetic and combative language
of NEC member James Oneal, who delivered the report to the gathering.
"The federations attempted to usurp power that belongs only
to the general membership and conventions and such power as is
delegated to the National Executive Committee between conventions.
Either the National Executive Committee had to accept the offending
federations as a self-constituted supreme court with power to
veto our decisions, or else suspend the federations," the
report asserts. The report declares that the charges made that
the federations had no opportunity to defend themselves to be
false and adds that Michigan State Secretary John Keracher had
declined an invitation of the NEC to reopen the matter of the
Michigan expulsion in order to present contradictory evidence.
The expelled state of Massachusetts had at its convention sent
representative voting delegates to the National Conference of
the Left Wing in June, a banned "party within the party,"
and the expelled state of Ohio had been "the worst offender
of all" through its call through its State Secretary, Alfred
Wagenknecht, to withhold funds from the national organization.
"For the National Executive Committee to acquiesce in all
these actions would have been for its members to surrender the
party organization and the convention to those responsible for
them. We had to act as the National Executive Committee or vacate,"
the report declares. The NEC's abrogation of the 1919 party election
had already been justified by the convention's accepting of the
report of the special investigating committee that "gross
frauds" had been committed and the charge that the Emergency
Convention had been "packed" was without merit, the
report adds.
"Party Manifesto Demands
Amnesty and End of Blockade Against Russia Be Instituted by US
Immediately: Document Reaffirming Solidarity with Revolutionary
Workers of World Adopted Unanimously by National Socialist Convention
at Chicago...: National Executive Committee Rebuked by Gathering
for Expelling Language Federations and State Organizations Without
Appealing to Their Members," by Herman Michelson [Sept.
4, 1919] During
the 6th Day of the Socialist Party of America's Emergency National
Convention in Chicago, the delegates unanimously adopted a manifesto
of the party which New York Call reporter Herman Michelson characterizes
as "the most revolutionary the party has ever drawn up,
and one certain to bring back into the organization thousands
of members temporarily outside of it, either because their local
organizations were expelled or by reason of what Lenin has called
'the intoxication of the revolutionary phrase.'" Upon adoption
of the document, "the convention broke into an ovation that
lasted for several minutes, winding up with three cheers for
the Socialist Party," Michelson notes. An extremely controversial
supplemental report of the National Executive Committee was also
delivered and debated, detailing the NEC's aggressive policy
of suspensions and expulsions which stripped upwards of 70,000
members from the SPA's ranks in a few short months. The convention
approved the report by a vote of 53 to 8, concurring that "the
administration of discipline was necessary and justified, but
feels that had the National Executive Committee made a sufficient
effort to acquaint the membership of the suspended and expelled
organizations with the facts and endeavored to have them repudiate
their officials that many of the members now outside the party
might have remained in." The view of William Henry of Indiana
is cited as being typical of that of convention delegates: ""There
is little doubt that the National Executive Committee was absolutely
right in its action. But that action was very bad tactics."
"Party Repudiates Berne Parley,
Calls for New Conclave: Convention Goes on Record As Favoring
Eugene Debs For Presidential Candidate in 1920 and Ends Its Sessions...:
National Executive Officials Instructed to Appoint Committee
of 7 to Draw Up Statement of Principles and Working Platform..."
by Herman Michelson [Sept. 5, 1919] The final day of the Socialist Party Emergency
National Convention is reviewed by the New York Call's reporter
on the scene, Herman Michelson. During its 7th day, the convention
delegates unanimously declared themselves in favor of Gene Debs
as the party's Presidential standard-bearer in the coming 1920
campaign, but left the matter of formal nomination to a convention
to be convened for that purpose in the coming year (the revised
party constitution calling for annual conventions in lieu of
the previous quadrennial gatherings). The issue of international
affiliation was debated and a majority resolution adopted for
referral to the party membership which called for SPA affiliation
to a "reconstructed Socialist International" in which
"only such organizations and parties should be given representation
which declare their strict adherence by word and deed to the
principle of the class struggle." The majority resolution
added that "to such an international must be invited the
Communist parties of Russia and Germany and those Socialist parties
in all countries which subscribe to the principle of the class
struggle. No party which participates in a movement coalition
with parties of the bourgeoisie shall be invited." This
majority resolution was ultimately defeated by vote of the party
membership in favor of an even more radical minority resolution
authored by Illinois delegates Louis Engdahl and Bill Kruse,
calling for affiliation of the SPA to the Third International.
A 7 member "provisional National Executive Committee, which
is to function until the next national convention in 1920, or
until a permanent committee is elected" was named by the
convention, consisting of William Brandt, William Henry, John
Hagel, Edmund Melms, James Oneal, George Roewer Jr., and Oliver
Wilson. Substantial changes in the party constitution were made
and referred to the membership for ratification by referendum,
including a provision that the new Executive Secretary of the
Party was to be named by the NEC rather than directly elected
by the party membership, as had previously been the case.
"The Chicago Conventions,"
by Max Eastman; Drawings by Art Young. [events of Aug. 30-Sept.
7 1919]. [Large
file -- 1 megabyte] At
the end of August and first of September, there were three monumental
conventions of the American left simultaneously taking place
at Chicago: the 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party of America, the Founding Convention of the Communist Labor
Party, and the Founding Convention of the Communist Party of
America. No more than a small handful of people attended sessions
of all three bodies and only one chronicled them with a journalist's
touch and a historian's eye. This lengthy analysis of the three
gatherings by Max Eastman is a seminal pieces of reportage --
absolutely indispensible for historians of the Debsian SPA and
the early American Communist movement. First published in the
pages of The Liberator in its October 1919 issue, this
a the revised version of the article, adding many of the original
sketches and pen-and-ink drawings by Art Young. Those with slow
internet may alternatively download the text-only
version.
"Impressions of the Convention,"
by James Oneal [events of Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 1919] This article by leader of the
Socialist Party's Regular faction, James Oneal, provides a review
of the party's life in the months leading up to the August 30,
1919, Emergency National Convention. Oneal charges the Left Wing
with a breach of faith for abandoning the Socialist Party when
it was under external attack by the US government, despite its
maintenance of a consistent and principled anti-militarist perspective
during the world war. While Oneal allows that "many of those
who had in the meantime attached themselves to the insurgent
forces were thoroughly sincere in their belief that the Socialist
Party had in some way betrayed the historic aims of the Socialist
movement," he charges that the Left Wing had never provided
evidence of any sort documenting the validity of their position.
Outside of a few lapses of individual members from the party
and its cause, the Left Wing's criticism had amounted to nothing
more than "highly emotionalized attacks which at times bordered
on hysteria," Oneal charges. "The insurgent group displayed
the same sort of mental distress and irrational conduct that
the deserters who left the party shortly after the entrance of
the United States into the war. Both constituted an irrational
reaction to the great events transpiring in Europe. Thousands
of party members who were not swept off their feet undoubtedly
felt the impress of the European upheaval and at certain moments
were inclined to permit their emotions to sway their reason."
Oneal claims that the outcome of the Emergency National Convention
was not determined until its third day, when at last "normal
judgments began to return and became more and more stable."
The chief cause of this change was the "sobering effect"
of certain delegates "demanding admission and then refusing
to take their seats when given them" -- "something
that had never been witnessed in a Socialist convention before."
The unanimous vote accepting the controversial report of the
special investigating committee on the 1919 party referendums
is characterized as another pivotal moment in the history of
the convention: "When the negative vote was called for there
was silence for a moment. Then the convention burst into a roar
of applause," Oneal recalls. "No convention in the
party's history was ever characterized by so many dramatic moments
and so much tense feeling and uncertainty, for the first few
days of this one," Oneal declares.
"The National Emergency Convention
Through Yipsel Eyes," by William F. Kruse [events of Aug.
30-Sept. 5, 1919] Participant's
report of the Socialist Party's 1919 Emergency National Convention
in Chicago by the former National Secretary of the Young People's
Socialist League. Kruse, elected by the Socialist Party of Illinois
as a delegate to the convention, relates the story of the SPA
gathering in Machinist's Hall through the prism of his former
organization. He indicates that he and other friends of the YPSL
were able to persuade the Constitution Committee and then the
convention itself to liberate the YPSL from formal Party control
by deleting constitutional provisions that the YPSL "shall
be under the control and direction of the Executive Committee
of the Socialist Party," in favor of language establishing
a "Director of Propaganda and Education among the young"
who "shall organize and cooperate with the existing Young
People's Socialist Organization for the extension of propaganda
and education among the young people." In this way it was
hoped that the YPSL might be able to steer its way clear of the
factional war that was decimating and disorganizing the adult
socialist movement. Kruse also makes mention of the "Minority
Report" on international affiliation that he put forward
with Louis Engdahl. He emphasizes the commonality between Majority
and Minority perspectives: "All agreed that the Second International
was dead. All repudiated absolutely the Berne Conference. All
agreed that the new International would have to be organized
upon the definite and rigid basis of the class struggle. All
repudiated the social patriots who had stood by their warlords
in time of test and struggle. All agreed that those who entered
coalition governments with the bourgeoisie could not sit in the
International. The distinction came on the point of whether the
Third International should come into being through the call issued
by the Communist Party at Moscow, or upon some subsequent call...coming
from some other source among the revolutionary socialist parties
of Europe."
"Report of the Missouri Delegates
on the National Emergency Convention to the Membership."
[events of Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 1919] Brief report by W.M. Brandt, G.A. Hoehn, Caleb
Lipscomb, Jacob Kassner, Missouri delegates to the Socialist
Party's Emergency National Convention to the members of the Socialist
Party of Missouri. "We find that the action of the National
Executive Committee in holding up the referendum on the election
of a new National Executive Committee last May was not only fully
justified, but extremely proper. It saved the party from total
destruction. We examined the returns and heard the report of
the special committee elected to investigate the charge of fraud,
which report was adopted by unanimous vote of the delegates,
and find beyond doubt that the most shameful frauds were perpetrated,
mostly by some of the foreign language federations, and largely
under the direction of American citizens," the report declares.
The report also cites financial improprieties on the part of
the suspended language federations, but optimistically asserts
"aside from the financial condition of the party, we feel
that it is in better condition than ever before."
"Socialist Party Convention,"
by Emma Denney [events of Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 1919] This is a unique first-hand account
of the pivotal 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party, published in the pages of the official organ of the rival
Socialist Labor Party. This account does not seem to have been
known by Theodore Draper and it advances out understanding of
the most eventful week in the history of American Socialism on
the following matters: (1) Denney seems to indicate that the
Chicago police responded to the scuffle between John Reed and
Julius Gerber and were thereafter spontaneously used for their
own ends by the Party Regular leadership, rather than through
prearrangement. (2) The meeting hall was very large and included,
in addition to the 200 or so delegates and potential delegates,
spectators and press bringing the total to approximately 1,000.
(3) Bits of flavor about the actual proceedings, including a
heckling call by the Left Wing delegates for the election of
the Chicago Chief of Police as Chairman of the day. (4) A protracted
struggle on the floor over the presence of the police, in which
the SP Regular leadership, headed by Chairman of the day Seymour
Stedman, defeated all efforts to remove or formally protest the
police presence. (5) The only first-hand account of the work
of the Credentials Committee in its interrogation of challenged
Left Wing delegates, in which Chairman Jacob Panken is said to
have queried about personal information and hypothetical convention
situations, during which some Left Wing challenged delegates
are said to have responded to the committee's politically-driven
obstructionism and badgering in an aggressive manner. (6) Prolonged
discussion over the matter of setting aside the SPA constitution
and electing the new NEC by the convention, despite lack of legal
authority to do so. Denney also visited the conventions of the
Communist Labor Party and the Communist Party of America taking
place at the same time, but does not contribute appreciably to
our understanding of either with her brief account.
"Report of the National Convention
at Chicago," by John C. Taylor [events of Aug. 30-Sept.
5, 1919] First-hand
account of the 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist
Party and the founding Convention of the Communist Labor Party
from California SP State Secretary John C. Taylor, not included
in volume 1 of Draper. Taylor provides the best account of Adolph
Germer's use of the Chicago police to "clear the hall"
of those delegates not carrying a white card issued by Germer.
Taylor charges bad faith on the part of the Germer clique in
the distribution of such cards, these not being mentioned the
day prior to the convention during conversation with Germer and
his associates. Removed by a plainclothesman and "fully
a dozen" uniformed officers already standing by, Taylor
and his comrades were excluded from the hall from 10 am until
after 1 pm, at which time they were only permitted to stand in
an adjacent room in the heat. Taylor detaiils the machinations
of the credentials committee, which operated in slow motion until
the Germer clique was certain of the stability of their majority.
Taylor remarks on that several votes were decided by a tally
of 88 to 33 the first day, giving an indication of the relative
strength of the two factions among uncontested delegates, and
details the walkout of the Left Wing delegates when the convention
moved to conduct business before the resolution of all delegate
contests. Taylor's account of the founding convention of the
CLP downstairs is unfortunately less valuable, emphasizing the
songs sung by the delegates but providing little additional substantive
detail.
"Convention Impressions,"
by William Bross Lloyd. [events of Aug. 30-Sept. 5, 1919]. An account of the preliminary political jousting
and formation of the Communist Labor Party by a founding member
of that organization. William Bross Lloyd, a millionaire, was
one of the financial angels of the American radical movement
during the last years of the 1910s. In this article, published
in The Class Struggle, he harshly criticizes the Left
Wing National Council of Ruthenberg, Ferguson, & Co. for
having exceeded its authority when it collaborated with the Language
Federations and Socialist Party of Michigan in calling for immediate
formation of a Communist Party of America. Lloyd is particularly
blunt with regards to the "Russian Federations," which
he characterizes as "a machine just as pernicious as the
old SP National Executive Committee. That is the situation which
is the fundamental cause of disunion today." If there is
unity between the CLP and the CPA, Lloyd states, "it will
come because self-seeking politicians and their power of control
have been eliminated."
"Circular Letter to All Locals
and Branches of the Socialist Party of America from Alfred Wagenknecht,
Executive Secretary of the CLP, circa Sept. 10, 1919." This communique was sent out by
Executive Secretary of the Communist Labor Party Alfred Wagenknecht
immediately after the formation of the CLP to all local units
of the Socialist Party, seeking their affiliation with the new
organization. "The Left Wing delegates whom you sent to
Chicago to attend the convention of the Socialist Party were
thrown out of the convention hall by the police in command of
the Socialist Party National Secretary. These Left Wing delegates,
82 in number, then organized the legal Socialist Party convention,
under the direction of the new National Executive Committee which
you elected and in obedience to the mandate of the National Left
Wing Conference, organized the Communist Labor Party, the logical
outgrowth of the fight for Left Wing principles made in the Socialist
Party by the majority of its members," Wagenknecht declares.
Wagenknecht advocates the immediate call of a meeting of each
local body for the sole purpose of considering the constitution,
program, and platform of the CLP and for decision on the question
of affiliation. "Take your stand with us in a united revolutionary
movement. Out all ties that bind you to that kind of socialism
which has made Scheidemann and Kerensky infamous.... The old
Socialist Party is dead. The new party is virile with the spirit
of those who know no compromise," Wagenknecht implores.
"Russia -- The World's Greatest
Labor Case: A Speech in San Francisco," by Robert Minor
[Sept. 14, 1919] Texas
born, California dwelling cartoonist and journalist Robert Minor
was one of the first-hand American observers of the Russian Revolution.
For the better part of a year he lived in Moscow, interviewing
Lenin, contributing a cartoon to Pravda, and attempting to fulfill
his journalistic obligations in spite of suppression of his various
cables to America. Once home, Minor toured and spoke extensively
on behalf of the Russian Socialist Republic. This is the text
of Minor's second speech in America, made in San Francisco late
in the summer of 1919. Minor charges that Soviet Russia is the
victim of the greatest of labor frame-ups, a "conspiracy
to falsify the facts" on the part of governments and their
diplomats working hand in glove with the bourgeois press. Soviet
violence was exaggerated and depicted in the lurid accounts,
while the greater violence of the anti-Communists went largely
unreported. Minor tells his audience to "dismiss from your
minds the lies that have been told on the score of the 'red terror.'
Perhaps 4,500 or 5,000 people were killed under the 'red terror.'
For that reason Russia is to be excluded from all consideration,
they say. Look on the other side of the fight. Not less than
76,000 were killed by the 'white terror' and you never heard
of it." Minor makes the provocative claim far from American
being threatened by the virus of Bolshevism, to the contrary
it was American that was radicalizing Soviet Russia. Minor asserts
that he "ran across these American-Russians everywhere,
and every one of them who has been here got his political education
and has no illusions, knows all the potentialities of this country."
It was these American-Russians who were "the most radical
of all." The St. Louis stockbroker-turned-diplomat David
Francis was dismissed by Russians as an "old stuff shirt,"
Minor declares, while the "one American representative in
Russia who understood and saw" was YMCA man Raymond Robbins,
"a capitalist of the kind that can understand a few things
and see ahead."
"Old Local Queens [NY] Votes
to Leave Socialist Movement: Report of Meeting of Sept. 14, 1919."
This news report
from the New York Call details the exodus of Local Queens from
the Socialist Party as the result of a decision made at the membership
meeting of September 14, 1919. The session received the report
of Maurice L. Paul, a delegate to the founding convention of
the Communist Party of America, who declared asserted the decision
of Local Queens to send him to the CPA gathering was the correct
one. "The Socialist Party Convention was packed. For example,
New York was represented by 36 delegates, whereas 36 delegates
is out of all proportion to the true representation. The Communist
Convention and the bolters' convention, or Kangaroos [the CLP],
was made up of such comrades who fluctuated one way or another
and knew not where to go." After hearing Paul's report,
Edward Lindgren reported on behalf of the Communist Labor Party,
who claimed the CLP delegates were attempting to fulfill their
mandates to attend the Socialist Party's Emergency Convention;
as opposed to the CPA, which Lindgren stated was dominated by
the federations and thus "could never amount to much in
this country as a revolutionary party." Jay Lovestone also
spoke on behalf of the CPA. "His remarks were mostly personalities,
and of all the speakers of the evening he seemed most bitter,"
the account notes. After extensive debate on a series of amendments,
Local Queens voted 39-8 to join the Communist Party of America.
"National Secretary Germer's
Letter of Resignation: Retiring Party Official Gives Reason for
Quitting Post at This Time -- Is Under 20 Years' Prison Sentence,"
by Adolph Germer [Sept. 18, 1919] With the exception of factional leader James Oneal,
the members of the National Executive Committee of the Socialist
Party stood down after the Emergency National Convention which
began August 30, 1919, and a new NEC was elected to govern the
organization. National Secretary Adolph Germer was not far behind
them, submitting this letter of resignation to the newly named
"Temporary NEC" little more than 2 weeks after the
convention closed. "Much has been made of the claim that
the old National Executive Committee precipitated the controversy
within the party in order to keep itself in power," Germer
declares, noting that "the report of the special committee
that investigated the election frauds fully vindicated the course
of the old National Executive Committee. Those who questioned
the motives of the National Executive Committee in holding up
the election for party officials, suspending the 7 foreign language
federations, and expelling Michigan and Massachusetts were proven
malicious slanderers and professional disrupters." The decision
by the outgoing NEC to terminate the 1919 election of party officials
was "unanimously endorsed by the recent national convention,
which included a large number of the Left Wing delegates."
Germer announces that "I assume my full share of the responsibility"
for the halting of the election, suspensions, and expulsions,
and that he would follow the example of the outgoing NEC by standing
down as Executive Secretary, effective Oct. 11, 1919, "or
sooner if the NEC can make arrangements to have a successor take
over the affairs of the National Office."
"Morris Hillquit Returns
After 14 Months' Recuperation; Looks Fine." (NY Call)
[event of Sept. 22, 1919] While
certainly not of the same world-historical importance as the
meeting of the returning Lenin at the Finland Station by the
Bolshevik faithful, there is a certain faint echo of the event
depicted in this news report from the New York Call detailing
the meeting of Socialist Party leader Morris Hillquit at Grand
Central Station in New York after his 14 months' illness and
recuperation in upstate New York. At 7:45 am, "about 40
of [Hillquit's] close friends and party officials, together with
committees from some of the branches, greeted him with enthusiasm.
The cheering was so great that an impromptu meeting gathered
around the Socialists, from which Hillquit laughingly escaped
with his companions." In attendance were such heavy-hitters
of the Socialist Party as Executive Secretary Adolph Germer,
Secretary of Local Greater New York Julius Gerber, NEC member
George Goebel, and representatives of various party units and
institutions. "Flowers were sent by many of the branches,
and someone laughed and wondered where the rice was," the
reporter notes. "When asked his opinion upon the League
of Nations, the steel strike, the Left Wing, the chances of the
Reds copping the world's pennant, and of the Shantung settlement,
Hillquit said: 'Let's all have breakfast.' The announcement was
greeted with cheers." The party thereupon adjourned to the
Grand Central Station restaurant for bacon and eggs.
"We Are All Socialists: Split
Need Not Weaken the Movement -- Let Us Waste No More Time In
Quarreling, but Throw Our Whole Strength Into the Fight on Capitalism,"
by Morris Hillquit [Sept. 22, 1919] This article in the New York Call marked Socialist
Party leader Morris Hillquit's return to active party life after
a 14 months' illness and recuperation at a sanitarium in upstate
New York. Hillquit weighs in publicly on the 1919 party split
for the first time, taking a benign position on the bitter factional
struggle, which Hillquit characterizes as "unfortunate but
unavoidable." The division of the party had been "an
accomplished and irrevocable fact many months ago" and the
various Chicago conventions had done "nothing more than
recognize the fact," Hillquit notes. The departure of the
Left Wing from the ranks of the Socialist Party did not mean
that their loss to the Socialist movement, however, nor need
it necessarily mean a weakening of that movement. "Our newly
baptized "Communists" have not ceased to be Socialists
even though in a moment of destructive enthusiasm they have chosen
to discard the name that stands for so much in the history of
the modern world. They are wrong in their estimate of American
conditions, their theoretical conclusions, and practical methods,
but they have not deserted to the enemy. The bulk of their following
is still good Socialist material, and when the hour of the real
Socialist fight strikes this country, we may find them again
in our ranks," Hillquit declares. Hillquit urges against
an preoccupation with factional infighting: "The quarrels
of political stepbrothers are always more violent than those
of political strangers. It is to be hoped that the Socialist
Party at least will effectively resist the temptation, for nothing
could be more ruinous to the Socialist movement than frittering
away its energies and resources on internecine strife,"
Hillquit cautions. Hillquit upbraids those who have taken the
party's dirty laundry to the capitalist press: "Our quarrel
is a family quarrel and has no room in the columns of the capitalist
papers, where it can only give joy and comfort to the common
enemy."
"The Foreign Language Federations
in the Socialist Party: What Should the Relation Be Between Non-English
Speaking Groups and the American Workers?" by Andrew Pranspill
[Sept. 23, 1919] A
thoughtful and provocative reassessment of the role and function
of language federations in the Socialist Party of American in
the aftermath of the great split of 1919. Pranspill, formerly
the Secretary of the SPA's tiny Estonian Federation and now secretary
of Local Astoria, New York, argues that each of the federations
are actually nothing more than a dreaded "organization within
an organization," in which the participant members have
their own set of nationally-determined concerns and further reflect
the general concerns of the foreign worker in America, rather
than the issues which concern the American working class as a
whole. For perhaps the first time in the Socialist Press, the
real cause of growth of the Russian, Ukrainian, and other language
federations in late 1918 and early 1919 is correctly identified:
"They have joined the Socialist Party because they want
to go back to their old country. 'The workers in Russia have
overpowered the capitalists and all the exploiters, and in the
struggle they have not spared their lives.... What will you say
on your return when the Russian comrades ask you "What good
did you do in America?"' These are the arguments one almost
invariably hears at the Russian propaganda meetings. The reason
they so eagerly flock to the Socialist Party is their desire
to go back to Russia." The publications of these foreign
language groups are dominated by news of the old country, while
the news of the American movement is given short shrift. No matter
how radical the positions it takes, the American party will never
be radical enough for such foreign workers, Pranspill declares,
since the federationists held the anglophonic membership in even
greater contempt than English speaking workers hold for their
foreign brethren on the basis of national chauvinism. "Why
should then the federations pay dues to the party for merely
supervising their work? They need no supervision. To do that
is an insult to them. This state of affairs naturally breeds
discord and dissatisfaction. The Socialist Party in America should
stand on its own feet. It should not have any foreign federations
inside of itself.... It is a condition detrimental to both the
party and to the federations. The best thing to do is to leave
them alone. Let them have their platform if they wish, and let
them do whatever they please. No matter how revolutionary the
foreign federations may be, no matter how perfect their organization,
the American workers will not be led by the foreign federation.
The Socialist Party must represent the workers in America, not
some homesick immigrants. It must speak to the American workers
in the terms of their grievances," Pranspill declares.
"National Yipsel Head Under
Charges." (NY Call) [Sept. 27, 1919] Brief news snippet from the pages
of the New York Call announcing that charges had been brought
against Oliver Carlson, head of the Socialist Party's youth section,
by William Kruse, former head of the Young People's Socialist
League ("Yipsel"). "The charges are that he has
not occupied his office, although regularly drawing his wages;
that he has had his official mail directed to his home, and that
he refused to occupy his seat at the national convention, but
attended the convention of a party formed as a rival to the Socialist
Party instead," the article states. Kruse had been placed
in interim charge of the YPSL organization. The article ironically
notes that Bill Kruse had himself recently been "the leader
of the "Left Wing" element in the national convention,
but that he refused to bolt the party."
"Civil Rights Dead in America;
Labor Must Build Anew: Problem is to Change Conditions So That
Under Workers' Administration Free Speech and All Civil Liberties
Will Be Guaranteed, American Freedom Convention is Told: Permanent
Organization Planned." by H. Austin Simons [Sept. 27, 1919]
While the new
American Communist Parties were attempting to perfect their organization,
the Socialist Party regulars concentrated much of their time,
money, and effort on attempting to build what might accurately
albeit anachronistically be labeled a "United Front mass
organization" with a view to uniting various labor, political,
civil libertarian, and pacifist religious organizations to gain
amnesty for those convicted for "crimes" related to
their political, economic, or ethical views. The new organization
was also to be charged with attempting to win the restoration
of the constitutional rights of speech, press, and assemblage
abrogated by the Wilson regime and the bellicose Congress during
the war. From Sept. 26 to 28, 1919, an "American Freedom
Convention" was held in Chicago, bringing together 250 delegates
from around the country. This is a news report from the Milwaukee
Leader reporting on the initial speeches delivered to the
American Freedom Convention, including one delivered by Albert
DeSilver, Director of the National Civil Liberties Bureau, which
declared that "The whole vice of suppression of civil liberties
lies in the alternative that a society that suppresses the honest
expression of political opinion must either decay from lack of
new though, new blood, or else must become an autocracy."
DeSilver added that "Organized labor is the only element
in our society that can prevent either condition today."
Recently released conscientious objector Roger Baldwin was directed
by the convention to draw up a preliminary report on the establishment
of a permanent amnesty organization. The convention was divided
by a proposal to endorse the "One Big Union" concept,
which was ultimately tabled as a non-germane issue. This gathering
was boycotted and sharply criticized by the infant Communist
Parties, both of which were engaged in ultra-left posturing and
concentrating their efforts on uniting their own ranks rather
than serving as junior partners in a Socialist Party-dominated,
non-class, mass organization dedicated to regaining "liberty"
under a "capitalist" constitution.
"Cheer Plea to Impeach Wilson:
President Scored by Congressman at Freedom Meeting: Convention
Elects Immediate Action Committee to Organize Machinery for Carrying
Propaganda for Amnesty and Restoration of Civil Rights to All
Parts of Nation: Statement of Principles is Adopted," by
H. Austin Simons [Sept. 29, 1919] Second report in the Milwaukee Leader by recently
released conscription resister Austin Simons on the American
Freedom Convention held in Chicago from Sept. 26 to 28, 1919.
Simons notes that the convention decided to establish itself
as the "American Freedom League," with headquarters
in Chicago, to be governed by a National Committee consisting
of one representative from each state. The convention heard a
speech from Congressman William Mason of Illinois in which he
stated "In my opinion Wilson stands impeached because he
has changed the form of our government from a republic to a monarchy."
Mason's call for the impeachment of Woodrow Wilson was met with
a thunderous 3 minute ovation from the 250 assembled delegates.
This article includes the full text of the statement of principles
of the American Freedom League, which included the declaration
that "So long as the vicious repressive laws denying free
speech, free press, and free assemblage in the United States
are on the books; so long as the steel trust barons are permitted
to forbid steel workers peaceably to assemble for organization
into unions; so long as there is danger of a settled policy of
conscription for military service; so long as our Prussian court-martial
system exists -- so long will democracy continue to be dead in
the United States and our government will be a republic only
in name."
"Large Section of Old Local
[Cuyahoga County, OH] Back in Party (NY Call) [event of
Sept. 28, 1919] Brief
news account from the Socialist Party's New York daily detailing
the visit of party NEC member William Brandt to a large Sept.
28, 1919, gathering of Local Cuyahoga County, Ohio -- the massive
local organization from which both Communist Party Executive
Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg and Communist Labor Party Executive
Secretary Alfred Wagenknecht hailed. Brandt had been denied the
right to address the gathering on behalf of the Socialist Party,
which limited presentations to the two rival Communist organizations.
CLP NEC members Wagenknecht and Alexander Bilan spoke on behalf
of the Communist Labor Party and Ruthenberg had spoken on behalf
of the CPA. Debate followed, after which the gathering voted
overwhelmingly for the affiliation of Local Cuyahoga County to
the Communist Party -- the CLP astoundingly mustering only 3
votes of support. The vote for affiliation prompted an immediate
bolt of a small number of loyalists to the Socialist Party, who
proceeded to reorganize as Local Cuyahoga County, Socialist Party,
with former Cleveland City Council member John G. Willert as
Secretary. NEC member Brandt assured the rest of the SPA's NEC
that "the English membership was with the party, as was
the membership of the Jewish and Finnish branches," according
to the news report. "Brandt estimates that while 25 percent
of the membership is inclined toward the Communist Party, at
least 25 percent is loyal to the Socialist Party, with 50 percent
indifferent. He feels that the better part of this 50 percent
can be brought into the Socialist Party," the report optimistically
continues.
"An Open Letter to All Yipsels,"
by William F. Kruse [late September 1919] This open letter, sent out by former YPSL National
Secretary Bill Kruse to all of the organizations state organizations
and circles, provides important details about the history of
the organization in the turbulent months around the Socialist
Party split in the summer of 1919. As the Aug. 30 Emergency National
Convention of the SPA approached, YPSL National Secretary Oliver
Carlson polled the state and local YPSL organizations as to their
intentions should the Socialist Party split. A clear consensus
indicated that the YPSL should attempt to steer a middle course
through organizational independence. When this split became a
reality at the end of August 1919, Carlson unilaterally removed
himself from the National Office, instead having the Post Office
transfer mail service to his home, from which he attempted to
establish de facto YPSL headquarters. This arrangement proved
unsatisfactory to the Socialist Party which was paying his weekly
salary -- mail stacked up and went unanswered, the Young Socialists'
Magazine began to become irregular, and Carlson's long unexplained
absences caused the SP's NEC to first suspend his paychecks and
then terminate his employment by the party altogether. William
Kruse was convinced to take over the National Office's "Young
People's Department" and resume editorship of the YSM
-- although Kruse was careful to explain in this open letter
that he made no claims to be the National Secretary of the organization.
"The Socialist Party regrets exceedingly to part company
with its younger comrades at this time, but feels that the Yipsels
know best what will help maintain the integrity of their organization.
If by this step the young comrades can avoid the fratricidal
strife that has torn the older movement, the Party will put no
obstacles in the way of such a step," Kruse states.
OCTOBER
"Otto Branstetter Named Secretary
of Socialist Party: Edmund Melms Sees Huge Increase Coming in
Party Membership." (Milwaukee Leader) [Oct. 1, 1919]
Following Adolph
Germer's mid-September resignation as Executive Secretary of
the Socialist Party, the party's governing 7 member "temporary"
National Executive Committee quickly moved to fill the vacancy.
Their choice was was long-time Oklahoma party functionary Otto
Branstetter. The decision was announced to the SP daily, the
Milwaukee Leader, by NEC member Edmund Melms, returning
home from the NEC's quarterly gathering in Chicago. "Encouraging
reports were received from Ohio, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,
Indiana, and California, an from indications it will be only
a short time when the Socialist Party of the United States will
witness a new growth and a tremendous increase in membership,
as the result of overcoming the recent troubles forced upon it,"
Melms optimistically told the paper. Melms proclaims the Communist
Labor Party to be a stillborn organization: "The so-called
Communist Labor Party is dead. One of the strongest states that
it claimed was Ohio, and that state is hopelessly lost to it.
Some of the strongest industrial cities have repudiated it. In
Cleveland, in the city and country convention just held, the
Left Wingers [CLP] were able only to muster the votes of 3 delegates
seated in the convention." Plans for aggressive expansion
of the SP's membership ranks are noted by Melms.
"An Interview with Hillquit."
(article from the Reading Labor Advocate) [October 1919]
This is said to
have been the first interview granted by Socialist Party leader
Morris Hillquit in more than 14 months (Hillquit being stricken
with tuberculosis and to have stepped back from vigorous political
activity for the duration of his stay at a sanitarium in upstate
New York). Hillquit asserts the existence of three basic forms
of Socialism in the world: "the Russian, the German, and
the English. The Russian form is what has come to be known, quite
unscientifically, as Bolshevism. The German form is largely parliamentary,
while the English form, while it is political to a degree, is
largely industrial." These three basic forms of Socialism
emerged under differing historical circumstances but were gradually
converging. With regard to the Russian Revolution, Hillquit observes
that "The revolution came when it did because of the circumstances
of the case, and it took form, not as the revolution had been
dreamed for years by the Russian revolutionists, but in an entirely
different form. Kerensky could not succeed. He was miserably
weak. But Lenin is a great man; in a very real and a very important
sense, he is an opportunist, and he met things as he found them."
There was but one choice for Socialists in Russia, Hillquit asserts
-- the support of the Bolshevik Revolution. "That is why
the Socialists who do not belong to the Bolshevik faction are
rallying around the Soviet government with all their hearts to
fight off the forces that threaten it. That is why Martov is
trying to bring about a unity between all Socialist groups, to
work out a Socialist regime supported by all the Socialists in
Russia," Hillquit states. As for the United States, Hillquit
declares that "we are, as usual, the rear guard of the revolutionary
workers' movement. But things are speeded up these days. Fifty
years of evolution is encompassed in a year these days. We may
expect anything."
"Be a Socialist -- Join the
Party," by Otto Branstetter [Oct. 6, 1919] This article by new Socialist
Party Executive Secretary Otto Branstetter provides an excellent
example of the relatively simple agitational literature which
that organization issued in copious quantities. It also provides
a window upon the dominant SPA ideology in the months following
the September 1919 party split. Branstetter draws parallels the
Socialist Party to several broad membership social and fraternal
organizations -- the Methodist church, the Masons, the trade
union local. The notion of the SP as a "vanguard party"
is entirely lacking in this construct; rather, joining of the
Socialist Party (and paying its dues) is seen as a matter of
civic duty for those sharing the socialist vision. Branstetter
declares: "I know of but two reasons why a man who calls
himself a Socialist does not join the organization. The first
is that, while he believes in the principles of Socialism, he
does not realize the need of the party organization. In this
case he has missed the essence of Socialism -- cooperation, organization,
concerted effort, and united action on the part of the working
class for their own advancement and their own emancipation...
If, on the other hand, he realizes the need of organization ...
and then he refuses to get into that organization which he knows
to be necessary -- he is unfaithful to his principles, to the
party and to his class, and is unworthy of being called a 'comrade'
or a 'Socialist.'" Branstetter states epigrammatically that
"It is well to agitate, it is good to educate, but it is
absolutely necessary to organize." The activity of the broad
Socialist Party in the electoral sphere is seen as the mechanism
for the victory of the Socialist system, the SP "a political
movement that will become a power for the benefit of the working
class in your city and in the nation."
"A Message From Debs: Letter
to the NEC of the Socialist Party of America, October 9, 1919,"
by William Henry On
the morning of Oct. 5, 1919, Socialist Party NEC member William
Henry of Indianapolis visited fellow Hoosier Gene Debs in Atlanta
Federal Penitentiary. Henry wrote this letter to the other members
of the NEC about his visit. With regard to the 1919 split of
the Socialist Party, Debs is quoted as saying, ""I
have seen this coming for some time and am not at all surprised.
Everything will come out all right; the rank and file are all
right. The principle is the big thing." Debs is said to
have been cut off from all Socialist and radical publication
and Henry further alludes that "IWW and Bolshevik prisoners"
were held in another building at the penitentiary -- although
Debs is known to have been in close contact with fellow prisoner
Joseph Coldwell of the Communist Labor Party, at a minimum. Debs
is said to have been in good spirits but to have lost weight
during his incarceration. Debs emphasized his refusal to accept
any conditions placed upon his early release: "If I should
agree to say nothing, and crawl through a small hole, sacrificing
principle and my conscience, then I could get out; but if I should
crawl out through a small hole, then I would be only the size
of the hole when I did get out. I am coming out of here all right.
Tell the comrades to be in good cheer, and work for the cause.
Tell them I love them all. Tell them I feel good, and the authorities
of the prison are treating me as well as the rules will permit."
"Young Reds Break with Yellow
SP," by Maximilian Cohen [events of Oct. 12-13, 1919] On Oct. 12 and 13, 1919, a closely
watched convention of the Young People's Socialist League of
New York was held. The gathering was attended by representatives
of the 3 main radical parties: Alexander L. Trachtenberg for
the Socialist Party of America, Fannie Jacobs for the Communist
Labor Party, and Harry M. Winitsky (convention Day 1) and Bert
Wolfe (Day 2) for the Communist Party of America. In addition,
Bertha Mailly and David Berenberg were in attendance on behalf
of the Socialist Party-linked Rand School of Social Science.
The primary order of business for the gathering was to determine
the organizational affiliation of the New York YPSL in the aftermath
of the 1919 split of the SPA. The New York convention anticipated
the eventual action of the national YPSL organization, ultimately
deciding upon an official policy of "neutrality" and
severing relations with the parent Socialist Party. A new State
Board of Control was elected, including 4 supporters of the CPA,
1 supporter of the CLP, and 2 supporters of the SPA. All references
to the Socialist Party were deleted from the organization's constitution.
The New York YPSL convention also adopted a resolution repudiating
the Berne International and declaring itself "an integral
part of the International Communist movement."
"Democracy and the 'Dictatorship
of the Proletariat,'" by Joseph Gollomb [Oct. 13, 1919]
Socialist Party
loyalist Joseph Gollomb takes on the main ideological concept
advocated by the nascent Communist movement, the primary objective
of establishing a "Dictatorship of the Proletariat"
in the transition to Socialist society. Gollomb quotes statements
made in very recent months by leading Left Wing writers Max Eastman
and John Reed indicating a belief in the alternative conception
of "Democracy" and states that " a change in a
few months or even years from a conviction of the beauty of political
democracy to a contempt for it suggests less a growing mind than
a spinning top. One can't help wondering what the next 4 months
will do to the present fashion. And a year or two from now?"
Gollomb quotes a conversation had recently with John Reed in
which Reed is held to have agreed freely with the premise that
due to the lack of "class-consciousness" on the part
of a great part of the American proletariat, "Dictatorship
of the proletariat ... means practically dictatorship by the
[Left Wing] Socialists." By way of contrast, the [Regular]
Socialists "have fought dictators and dictatorships until
the very name makes our neck feathers stand on end. For years
we have cried and agitated that the cures for the ills of democracy
is more democracy and still more democracy." As for Russia,
the desperate measures adopted of necessity of the Bolsheviks
had little to do with the situation in prosperous and swaggering
America, Gollomb states, although "our peddlers of the phrase
would try to vend here and now what the Russians have resorted
to only in the most desperate of their emergencies!"
"In Defense of Representative
Government: Speech to Congress," by Victor L. Berger [Oct.
17, 1919] This
is a lengthy defense speech made by Congressman Victor Berger
before the House of Representatives, which was in the midst of
proceedings to unseat him from the seat to which he had been
elected. Berger asserts that it is not his personal case but
the principle of representative government itself which is to
be decided. His trial before Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis and
a handpicked jury had been inherently unconstitutional and a
travesty of justice, the likes of which were not to be equaled
by either Tsarist Russia or the Kaiser's Germany, Berger asserts.
Worse yet, Berger had been right in his analysis of the European
War as an imperialist adventure. Berger cites various statements
made by Woodrow Wilson against American entry into the European
bloodbath in 1916 and observes that "Mr. Wilson was re-elected
President of the United States in November 1916 with the slogan
that 'He kept us out of war'; and after all this, he pushed us
into the war a few months later." The war had cost America
billions of dollars, 326,177 killed and wounded, and gained America
nothing. The world was not "made safe for democracy"
as Wilson had cravenly sloganized, but rather an imperialist
peace had been imposed by Britain and France, Berger notes. "What
has America gained except billions of debts and a hundred thousand
cripples? And we have lost most of our political democracy. Can
anybody think of a single thing, worthwhile, that we have gained
through this war?" Berger asks. For his consistent opposition
to the conflict, Berger was to be denied his seat in Congress.
He states: "I believe it is foolish to expect any results
from riots and dynamite, from murderous attacks and conspiracies,
in a country where we have the ballot, as long as the ballot
has not been given a full and fair trial. We want to convince
the majority of the people.... And we know that one can kill
tyrants and scare individuals with dynamite and bullets, but
one can not develop a system in that way. Lenin and Trotsky are
finding this out to their dismay. Therefore, no true Socialist
ever dreams of a sudden change of society. We may have revolutions,
if neither the capitalists nor the workmen make good use of their
brains, but greater than all revolutions is evolution. We know
perfectly well that force serves only those who have it; that
a sudden overthrow invariably breeds dictators; that dictatorship
can promote only subjugation, never freedom." Berger asserts
that "The future belongs to some form of Socialism."
The actions of Congress to unseat an elected representative ran
the risk of discrediting the democratic option in the eyes of
the working class, Berger states, bolstering those who believed
that "direct action" was required to usher in socialist
society. "It will depend on our rulers whether we shall
have an orderly evolution, which I have always preached and propagated,
or a violent revolution, which we Socialists have always tried
to avoid," he says.
"Rethinking the Labor Party,"
by John M. Work [Oct. 20, 1919] Thinking in the Socialist Party about the possibility
of active cooperation with the fledgling Labor Party movement
began in 1919, as this column by former SPA National Executive
Committee member John Work demonstrates. Work directly quotes
the letter he wrote to the 1919 Emergency National Convention
of the SPA, calling on the organization to "make it legal
for a Socialist Party member to belong to the Labor Party or
the National Non-Partisan League, without forfeiting his membership
in the Socialist Party." These were organizations that "are
headed straight for Socialism, and will duly arrive if we assist
them," Work asserted -- but no delegate to the 1919 Convention
followed up on his suggestion. This article was written by Work
for publication in the Milwaukee Leader to further advance
this idea. "Fundamental changes in the social system are
going to be made one of these times. If we want to imprint our
ideas upon these changes, we must place ourselves in a position
where we can do so. Otherwise we shall look on while others do
it. Splendid isolation doesn't suit me a little bit. I want to
help build the new social order. To do so, I am willing to work
with all other organizations that are willing to federate for
working class purposes," Work states.
"Rhode Island Party Reorganized:
One Week's Whirlwind Campaign Puts State Back Into Socialist
Ranks." (NY Call) [events of Oct. 20-25, 1919] The Socialist Party experienced
a brief interlude of euphoria in the aftermath of the 1919 party
split, marked by rosy vistas of rapid recovery of organizational
size and energy with the departure of the organization's dissident
Left Wing. State and local organizations were rapidly reorganized
for the newly purged SPA and the outlook weemed positive. This
report from the pages of the New York Call details the
efforts of Socialist Party organizer William Kruse to relaunch
the organization in Rhode Island, a state which previously went
over to the Communist Labor Party by a vote of 60 to 30 at an
October 1919 state convention. Bill Kruse arrived on the scene
on Oct. 20, and within a week had successfully managed to reconstruct
a state organization with 9 branches (5 English, 2 Finnish, 2
Yiddish). A colorful account of an Oct. 24 YPSL meeting is included,
featuring what seems to have been a spontaneous emergence of
the sort of obnoxious disruptionism that would come to characterize
the factional warfare of the American Left over the two subsequent
decades: "After a motion to adjourn by the CLP members was
defeated, about 8 of them arose and stamped noisily out of the
room, yelling and singing. They went to the room above where
they stamped on the floor and yelled 'Bolshevik' and sang 'The
Internationale' -- very much out of tune... The meeting was held
successfully, even after the bolters came back into the room
to make more noise there." "Even those Yipsels who
were sympathetic with the CLP were disgusted at such tactics,"
it is remarked.
"The Socialist Apostle Speaks,"
by Nicholas I. Hourwich. [Oct. 25, 1919]
This article in the official organ of the Communist Party of
America attacks the perceived duplicity of Morris Hillquit's
second article on the factional war, "We Are All Socialists,"
[Sept. 22, 1919], in the immediate aftermath of the Chicago party
split. Hillquit's chastening of his comrades for "infraction
of Socialist ethics and decency" in the attack on the Left
Wing is dismissed by Hourwich as paternalistic patter -- the
zealous attack of the Left in the bourgeois press is viewed as
being uniform behavior by the "social-opportunists and the
social-reformists of all lands" in their effort to prove
their "ability" and "respectability" to the
bourgeois public. An interesting example of the vehement antipathy
held for the archetypical centrist social democrat Hillquit by
many on the revolutionary left of the American movement.
"Left Wingers Invited to
Rejoin Party." (Walter Cook) [Oct. 29, 1919] It is simple to interpret Socialist
Party
