"Origin and Growth of the Hungarian Socialist Movement in the United States," by A. Loewy [1916] Short history of the origin and development of the Hungarian socialist movement in America by the Translator-Secretary of Socialist Party of its Hungarian Federation. Loewy states that the first Hungarian socialist club was organized in New York City in 1894. This was followed that same year by a club in Cleveland and the first short-lived Hungarian language socialist publication in the United States, Hajnal (Dawn). The movement split in 1900 and 1904, the latter division seeing an exodus of members to the Socialist Labor Party. The remaining SP members started a new publication, Elöre (Forward), shortly thereafter, which went to weekly publication in 1907 and became a daily in November 1912. The majority of the Hungarian Federation voted to formally affiliate with the Socialist Party of America in 1912. At the time of the writing, Loewy asserted that then Hungarian Federation had "over 40 branches in good standing" and " a membership of well above 1,500." The Federation had issued 18 pamphlets and its newspaper, Elöre, had a circulation of about 10,000, according to Loewy.
"The Lithuanian Socialist Federation," by C.A. Herman [1916] Brief history of the Lithuanian Socialist Federation written by a leading participant for a Socialist Party yearbook in 1916. Herman indicates that the Lithuanian Federation was established in 1904 and held its first convention in Newark, NJ, in May 1905. The Russian Revolution of 1905 -- the empire of which Lithuania was then a part -- proved a powerful impetus for organizational growth, Herman declares. A narrow majority of the Lithuanian Federation voted to affiliate with the Socialist Party of America in 1914, Herman writes, but this proved to be divisive, with the Federation's membership falling from 3500 before affiliation to just over 2,000 in 1916. The Lithuanian Federation's organ, published in Philadelphia) was a weekly called Kova (The Struggle) and it also published a monthly theoretical journal called Naujoji Gadyne (The New Age). In addition, local socialist cooperative publishing societies published a Lithuanian socialist daily in Chicago, a semi-weekly in Brooklyn, weeklies in Boston and Pittsburgh, and a monthly in Worcester, Massachusetts.
"The Polish Socialist Federation" [an excerpt from a pamphlet published by the Polish Alliance, SPA] [1916] Brief excerpt from a pamphlet published by the Polish Alliance detailing the group's organizational origins. The Alliance was formed in February 1913 through the merger of two Polish socialist organizations in America -- the Alliance of Polish Socialists in America and the Polish Socialist Federation. The former group had existed for nearly 20 years with a goal of preparing for socialist revolution and transformation in Poland, with a view to returning to the old country; the latter was a Polish-American organization with its eyes upon politics in the new world. The Polish Federation maintained a daily paper, Dziennik Ludowy (People's Daily), published in Chicago from 1907, as well as weeklies published in Chicago and Pittsburgh. The Polish Alliance, SPA was in favor of political action and the naturalization of its members as American citizens, advocated that its members join and try to "modernize" American unionism , and conducted various educational and propaganda efforts among the Polish-speaking population in America.
"The South Slavic Socialist Activities in the United States," by Frank Petrich [1916] Short history of the Yugoslav socialist movement in America by the Translator-Secretary of that Federation for the Socialist Party, Frank Petrich. Petrich indicates that there were 4 nationalities included in the South Slavic Federation: Croats, Slovenes, Serbs, and Bulgars. The South Slavic Federation was organized in July 1910 at a unity convention in Chicago, Petrich indicates. This convention determined that the Federation should affiliate itself to the Socialist Party of America, which was brought about in January 1911. At that time over half of the Federation's 635 members were Croats, followed by 250 Slovenes; there were only 45 Serbs and a handful of Bulgars in the organization. By the end of 1911, the South Slavic Federation had grown to 1,266 members, with the number of Slovenes coming to exceed the number of Croats in the organization, according to Petrich's figures. Membership peaked in 1914 at just over 2,600; thereafter membership tailed off to about 2,000, a level at which it remained at the time of this article. Sixty percent of the South Slavic Federation's locals were located in the states of Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio, according to Petrich's statistics. "Eighty-five percent of the South Slavic people in the United States are industrial laborers, a good third of them working in the coal mines and the rest of them in the steel mills; 14% of them have their trade, and one percent are farmers," Petrich notes.
The Western Comrade, v. 3, no. 9 [Jan. 1916] Large file. Graphic pdf of the 31st issue of The Western Comrade, edited by Job Harriman and Frank E. Wolfe. "Preparedness Number." Key Contents: Frank E. Wolfe: "Editorial Comment." Adelaide Maydwell: "When Slavery Will End." "Socialists and Preparedness." R.K. Williams: "Preparedness at Llano." John Dequer: "Theory and Socialism." Ernest Wooster: "Humpety Dumpety" (poem). Clara R. Cushman: "Safety Next." A.F. Gannon: "Preparedness" (poem).
"Letter to G.A. Hoehn in St. Louis, Missouri, from Eugene V. Debs in Terre Haute, Indiana, Jan. 6, 1916." On Nov. 29, 1915 the man viewed by many as the presumptive 1916 presidential nominee of the Socialist Party, Charles Edward Russell, boldly and aggressively came out in favor of Woodrow Wilson's "Preparedness" campaign of American rearmament in a speech in Philadelphia. Wildly out of step with the SPA's rank and file sentiment and expressing an almost paranoid vision of German imperial designs on Europe, Canada, and the world, Russell effectively torpedoed any chance of nomination in a single evening. On Jan. 4, editor of St. Louis Labor G.A. Hoehn wrote to Debs, urging him to reconsider his refusal to stand as Socialist Presidential nominee for a fifth time. This short reply from Debs to Hoehn reaffirms his desire not to run for President in 1916. Debs indicates that his desire to free the Socialist Party from criticism lay behind his decision not to run. "I never did desire a nomination to office at any time, but I certainly understand that a loyal Socialist obeys the command of his party," Debs acknowledges. "I still think it better for the party to nominate some other comrade this year," he declares. (This letter not in Constantine's 3 volume collection.)
"The Truth About 'Preparedness,'" by John Spargo [Jan. 8, 1916] The content of this article by John Spargo is largely forgettable, save as a curiosity -- conspiracy-theory alleging mutual manipulations of an owned press by the armaments makers of the main European antagonists. The national trusts of guns and iron are said to each and all have planted hostile stories abroad against their own nationality in order to fan the flames of patriotic hatred at home, generating lucrative military contracts in the process. Points for originality, I suppose. What is more striking is the extent to which John Spargo "flipped" on the question of militarism in little more than a year's time, he becoming a lead propagandist and cheerleader for Woodrow Wilson's War as well as the administration's token Socialist for foreign missions. Unintended irony drips from Spargo's words: "The great war in Europe has caused many people to fear the astonishingly efficient military organization of Germany.... And the capitalist "patriots" have capitalized that fear. They have made it the basis of the most hysterical campaign in our history. They have even swept some of our best-beloved comrades from the moorings of their faith. Socialists who but yesterday thrilled us by their revolutionary ardor now join in the hysterical cry 'Prepare against War! Prepare against War!' Let us not be deceived. The United States is more assured against attack from any quarter in the world today than at any time within the past hundred years. Nowhere in the world is there the interest, the disposition, or the power to make war upon this nation."
"Publishing Statements: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by I.T. Barron [Jan. 8, 1916] This letter to the editor of the Socialist Party's official organ from a long-time New Hampshire rank-and-filer calls on editor Louis Engdahl to publish more verbatim statements by leading party figures, so that the party membership may be better informed. "William D. Haywood was recalled from the National Executive Committee [in 1912] and it's a cinch that not 1 in 25 who voted to recall him knew what he said or that he actually said anything. I voted to recall him but do not know to this day whether I was justified in doing so," Barron writes. A similar controversy surrounds the purported statements of Charles Edward Russell in Philadelphia on Nov. 29, 1915, Barron believes. Russell was alleged to have at that time come out for the Wilson regime's program of American militarization (so-called "preparedness"); party members again remained in the dark about the actual statement made. "Let us get at the facts before we act. If Comrade Russell lacks class consciousness to the extent that he advocates principles to which the Socialist Party is unanimously opposed he is not fit to be a candidate for President or a member of the Socialist Party. Let's fire him," declares Barron, adding that there are three absolutely sacrosanct principles of the SPA: Collective Ownership, Democracy, and Anti-Militarism.
"Executive Secretary Candidates in Party Referendum Voice Views on Militarism and Preparedness." [Jan. 15, 1916] "Do You Favor the Policy of Military Preparedness?" Asking early 20th Century American Socialists this question is about as provocative as asking early 21st century Democrats whether they favor a woman's right to reproductive choice or Republicans of the same era whether they favor lower income taxes. Virtually all members of the Socialist Party -- Left, Right, and Center -- were vehemently opposed to the European war and Woodrow Wilson's campaign to militarize America under the slogan of "Preparedness." One can read personal ideology through shadings of position statements, however. The 4 candidates for SP Executive Secretary make their positions heard. At the far Left is Washington State Secretary Ludwig Katterfeld, who states "The capitalist system is rotten ripe for revolution. It will collapse as quick as we are ready. Let us prepare. Stop frittering away our strength on 'reforms.' Educate and organize for the purpose of revolution." A radical Center-Left position is staked out by Adolph Germer, who indicates that if the American public insists upon military preparedness, it should take the form of universal military training for all able bodied men between ages 18-45 in lieu of a standing army, complete with democratic election of officers, guarantees against the militia being used against strikes or in wars of aggression, and a provision that individuals are to keep their rifles and at least 200 rounds of ammunition (all provided by the government) at home -- a de facto arming of the proletariat with obvious albeit unstated revolutionary implications. At the Center, current Executive Secretary Walter Lanfersiek seems demoralized and resigned to electoral defeat, his position reading in toto: "I am opposed to military preparedness." To the SP Right is Carl D. Thompson, who emphasizes a positive program consisting of "a federation of nations, a sort of United States of the World with an international congress and court, universal disarmament, and the erection of the World International."
"Election of Party Officials: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist in Support of Santeri Nuorteva for SPA NEC," by J.F. Maki [Jan. 22, 1916] Translator-Secretary of the Finnish Socialist Federation J.F. Maki here endorses Santeri Nuorteva of Massachusetts in the coming election for the 5 members of the SPA's governing National Executive Committee. He provides a fine short biography of Nuorteva, noting that the young Nuorteva had spent two years in Germany as an office worker before touring the world as a fireman aboard a steamer. Maki says that Nuorteva was elected to the Finnish Diet 3 times and served as editor of party publications there, drawing the ire of the Tsarist censorship, "who indicted him at least 20 times for articles he wrote to the party press." Nuorteva had served one 7 month term in prison and was under the cloud of another sentence for a 2 year term in his native Finland. In America, Nuorteva "has made several lecture tours over the country, translated several works on socialism, and at the present time is editor of one of our dailies," Maki notes.
"Socialist Presidential Referendum Now On, Arouses Intense Interest." (Editorial from the Appeal to Reason) [Jan. 22, 1916] In 1916 the Socialist Party of America did not hold a typical quadrennial convention to nominate its candidates for President and Vice President of the United States, instead making use of a party referendum to select its nominees. This "Socialist experiment" is here hailed by the weekly Appeal to Reason as a "great success" and an example to be followed in the future by the Democratic and Republican parties. Three had been nominated for President: Appeal columnist Allan L. Benson of New York, Pennsylvania AFL leader James H. Maurer, and North Dakota Socialist leader Arthur LeSeuer of Kansas. "A big vote on the Presidential referendum will be an inspiring beginning for the next big national contest between the forces of capitalism and Socialism," the editorial declares.
"Adolph Germer for Executive Secretary: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by U. Solomon [Jan. 29, 1916] While the campaign for NEC of the Socialist Party was polite, the battle for the Executive Secretary position got a bit nasty, with proxies for the 4 candidates (and candidates themselves) chipping at one another. New York State Secretary U. Solomon here goes after Rev. Carl Thompson, who had previously went after sitting Executive Secretary Walter Lanfersiek, a man who was also attacked by the 4th candidate, future CLP/UCP/CPA leader Ludwig Katterfeld, Washington State Secretary. Solomon accuses Thompson of taking credit for the work of others, engaging in factionalism in Nebraska and Minnesota, and feathering his own nest as head of the SPA's Speakers' Bureau. "If a change is necessary, and it seems that one is because of friction in the National Office, in which Thompson is by no manner of means a disinterested person, then let us have a real change. Keep out of the National Office all those who either started dissensions or were participants in the same. A real change will take place if we elect Adolph Germer." Germer, it should be noted, was a well-known figure in the SP milieu, the leading vote-getter in the National Committee's balloting for NEC in 1915 and a fairly frequent contributor to the party press on labor issues. Regardless, this letter provides an excellent illustration of the idea that factional struggle often had at its root a struggle for jobs and was often powered by personal animosity. Further, this sort of behavior has been typical of human political organizations for hundreds of years and did not suddenly spring from nothing in the American Communist movement in 1919.
"Russell and His War Views: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by Eugene V. Debs [Jan. 29, 1916] In November 1915, Socialist Party touring organizer Charles Edward Russell came out for Woodrow Wilson's program of military "Preparedness." A storm of discontent erupted among the Party faithful over this flagrant departure from Socialist principles, including calls for Russell's immediate expulsion. This prompted widely respected party orator Gene Debs to write this letter to the SPA's official organ in Russell's defense. Debs expresses his belief that though he disagrees fundamentally with Russell's pro-militarist orientation "I honor the man for having the courage of his convictions and I want to say that it requires moral courage of the highest order to take the position he has taken and fearlessly and frankly express himself in the face of a hostile and overwhelming opposition." This frankness had cost Russell the probable nomination of his party for the Presidency, Debs believes, noting that such courageous statements of conscience are " all too rare in the world." Debs states that the charge levied against Russell that he was guilty of party treason was not applicable: "There is not a drop of traitorous blood in Russell's veins. He is simply mistaken and it is our duty as his comrades to seek to convince him of his error. "
FEBRUARY 1916
The Western Comrade, v. 3, no. 10 [Feb. 1916] Large file. Graphic pdf of the 32nd issue of The Western Comrade, edited by Job Harriman and Frank E. Wolfe. Key Contents: Frank E. Wolfe: "Editorials." Emanuel Julius: "Blessings of Ignorance." Wilby Heard: "A Millionaire's Vision" (poem). Edmund R. Brumbaugh: "Jolting the Jingoes." Ernest S. Wooster: "Through Eyes of Tomorrow" (Llano del Rio). R.K. Williams: "Enthusiasm Rules Llano." A.C.A.: "Montessorians." John Dequer: "Llano Musings." Clara R. Cushman: "Wedding Bells" (fiction).
"On Liquor and Prohibition," by Eugene V. Debs [Feb. 2, 1916] Citing personal experiences gained during his seven years of frequent residency in the dry state of Kansas, Gene Debs offers a pragmatic view of prohibition and the liquor question. This article, originally written for his hometown newspaper, was part of an ongoing debate over the liquor question between Debs and a local Methodist minister. Debs argues forcefully that prohibition leads to the closure of otherwise healthy businesses and the consequent decrease of tax revenues, while at the same time boosting costs of government operation. Moreover, prohibition only leads to an illegal economy, Debs indicates: "There are 19 prohibition states in the country and every one of them swarming with bootleggers; not one of them in which you cannot buy all the whiskey you want if you have the money to pay for it. There is not an actually dry county in all these states and there never will be." As for the social gains of prohibition, Debs states these are non-existent, there being "not a particle of difference between so-called wet and dry states so far as the workers are concerned." Debs argues that only the elimination of profit from the liquor trade and its operation by the state would eliminate the ill effects associated with the industry, citing the late temperance leader Frances Willard's belief that the economic system which causes exploitation and poverty was the root cause of drunkenness and Socialism the solution.
"State Convention Passes Upon Many Important Questions: Finnish Difficulties Satisfactorily Settled --Many Constitutional Changes." [events of Feb. 26-28, 1916] This unsigned article from the Minneapolis Socialist weekly New Times, edited by Alex Georgian, reviews the changes made at the 1916 Minnesota State Convention of the Socialist Party. The conflict within the Finnish Socialist Federation in 1914-15 had taken a serious toll on the party's membership, as had the discouragement and economic downturn which followed the eruption of war in Europe in the summer of 1914. From a high of 5,600, the paid membership of the Socialist Party of Minnesota had fallen to 3,547, it was reported to the convention. The convention determined to issue charters to five locals loyal to the (conservative) national Finnish Socialist Federation while at the same time implementing constitutional changes that would make it more difficult for the State Executive Board to arbitrarily suspend locals. Henceforth, charges would have to first be published in the official state newspaper and seconds for the proposed suspension gathered from 6 locals in no fewer than 5 counties. Former Christian Socialist and future Communist Jeremy Bentall was nominated to head the Socialist Party's ticket as its candidate for Governor.
"The Duluth Convention," by John Gabriel Soltis [events of Feb. 26-28, 1916] This upbeat report of the recently completed Minnesota State Convention of the Socialist Party of America hails the termination of the bitter feud within the Finnish Socialist Federation as the greatest achievement of the gathering. "It can be said to the credit of Leo Laukki, the brilliant Finnish thinker and leader of the 'Reds,' that he himself engineered and supported the much desired rapprochement between the two Finnish factions," Soltis writes. He adds: "It was clear to all that the Finns of both sides desired unity. After all they came to realize that their differences of opinion concerning tactics did not justify a wide split, so they united. As a result the organization is now much stronger. This act of unity confirms the theory that socialists can always unite if they have the will to do so." Soltis also indicates that the creation of a new county level of organization in the Minnesota party will go far in curbing the "anarchical" actions of individual locals. He also lauds the choice of Jeremy Bentall as the party's candidate for Governor, noting that Bentall is "an able speaker in two languages, and a clean student of the revolutionary movement."
"The State Convention," by Alex Georgian [events of February 26-28, 1916] Recap of the 1916 Minnesota State Convention of the Socialist Party by New Times editor Alex Georgian. Georgian concurs with other analysts that the chief accomplishment of the 1916 Minnesota convention was the liquidation of the split within the Finnish Socialist Federation in the state, revealing details of the backstory. According to Georgian, the pro-syndicalist Left Wingers of the Finnish Federation, expelled from the national federation for their support of the Left Wing daily Sosialisti, retained their charters from the Minnesota State Executive Board and blocked the efforts of moderates loyal to the national Finnish Federation from forming their own locals. Composition of the Minnesota Executive was determined in advance by the Left Wing Finns and their anglophonic allies, who elected a full slate, thus maintaining the status quo. The 1916 convention seems to have brokered an agreement allowing the moderate Finns to establish their own locals in exchange for legitimacy of the Left Wingers and their paper -- support of which had been deemed to be a party crime by the moderate Finnish Federation leadership, based in the Eastern District. Georgian, later a prominent member of the early American Communist movement, reveals his sympathies to be with the Finnish moderates rather than the pro-syndicalist Left Wingers.
"What the Convention Accomplished," by Sigmond N. Slonim [events of February 26-28, 1916] This analysis of the 1916 Minnesota State Convention of the Socialist Party reiterates the steps towards reunification of the so-called "Reds" and "Yellows" into which the Finnish Socialist Federation was divided. The two factions had "instead of fighting for the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of socialism, began to spend their time, money, and energy in fighting each other" and a split of the federation itself had resulted. The decision of the convention to allow the excluded Finns to establish locals had laid the groundwork for real unity of the two factions, Slonim believes. "I hope that the time is not very far off when the two factions of our party will soon realize the importance of having harmony in the party and they will join hands not only by holding membership in the party, but by doing away with their animosities and hatreds against each other and will then put up a solid front in their struggle against capitalism until the time will come when the toilers of the world will be emancipated from wage slavery."
MARCH 1916
The Western Comrade, v. 3, no. 11 [March 1916] Large file. Graphic pdf of the 33rd issue of The Western Comrade, edited by Job Harriman and Frank E. Wolfe. Key Contents: Job Harriman: "Facts and Comment." Frank E. Wolfe: "Labor Conscription." John Dequer: "Westfield" (fiction). Edmund R. Brumbaugh: "Boosting Better Babies." Max Sherover: "Fighting Militarism." Wilby Heard: "The Town of Amis." R.K. Williams: "Improvements at Llano." Prudence Stokes Brown: "The Children's House" (Llano del Rio). Alberta J. Leslie and Isabel Scott McGauhey: "Two Poems of the Llano." Clara R. Cushman: "The Cause of Crime" (fiction). Gray Harriman: "Preparedness."
"Choose Hillquit and Berger on First Ballot: Tally of the First Round of Voting for the National Executive Committee of the SPA." [March 18, 1916] Results of the first round of balloting for the 5 member National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party showed only two candidates receiving a majority of the ballots cast -- New York City lawyer Morris Hillquit and Milwaukee publisher Victor L. Berger. Both of these two leading vote-getters tallied over 17,000 votes, far surpassing the just over 10,000 ballots cast for their closest two competitors. The top Left Wing vote-getter was Kate Sadler of Washington state, who drew just over 5,300 votes, narrowly trailing sitting NEC member George Goebel of New Jersey. Santeri Nuorteva, an SP Regular with a Center orientation, drew 5,275 votes, compared with the 3,125 or so garnered by Ella Reeve Bloor, and the fewer than 3,000 votes cast for Cleveland Left Winger C.E. Ruthenberg.
"First Ballot Shows No Choice For Secretary." (news report in The American Socialist) [March 18, 1916] The 1916 Socialist Party referendum ballot for Executive Secretary was a four-way race pitting Washington State Secretary L.E. Katterfeld (Left), NEC member Adolph Germer (Center), sitting Executive Secretary Walter Lanfersiek (Center), and Rev. Carl D. Thompson (Right). No candidate won on the first ballot, although Thompson's support was broad -- 30 of 48 state and territorial organizations gave him a plurality of votes and he led 2nd place finisher Germer on the first ballot by nearly 900 votes. Lanfersiek was dealt a crushing defeat in his reelection bid, garnering only 5,383 out of 31,525 votes cast (17.1%) and winning pluralities only in 4 small states, including his home state of Kentucky. Katterfeld, running as an outspoken revolutionary Socialist, fared even worse, winning a narrow majority in his home state of Washington and a plurality in Minnesota (home of a radical Finnish movement) en route to a paltry 11.3% of the vote. The results do hint at one charge later levied at Adolph Germer -- that the man who presided over an NEC which engaged in mass suspensions and expulsions (of extremely dubious legality) over so-called "bloc voting" in 1919 was himself the recipient of bloc votes in his own election. Germer is shown here carrying the state of Massachusetts (home of a large Finnish contingent) by a margin of 1,088 to 284 over Thompson. He was also the beneficiary of the campaigning of his allies in New York, which he carried over Thompson by a margin of 1,862 to 986. As no candidate won a majority, a run off between Germer and Thompson was slated.
"Unity Favored by Large Majority in Party Referendum." (news report in The American Socialist) [March 18, 1916] Socialist Party "Resolution 'A,' 1916" was a proposal first made by the party's Scandinavian Federation: "That the Socialist Labor Party of the United States be invited to elect a committee composed of 5 of their members to meet in joint conference with a committee of 5 members to be elected by the National Committee of the Socialist Party. Said joint conference shall meet within 2 months from the time of their election and work out a basis and agreement that provides for the amalgamation of the Socialist Party and the Socialist Labor Party in one organization." This working agreement for organic unity was to taken to the two organizations for ratification by referendum vote not later than June 1, 1916. The SP approved this referendum in a landslide, with 82% of those voting approving the proposition, including majorities of every state organization. Only 3 states gave less than 60% of their ballots in support of the proposal -- Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and South Dakota. Even those state organizations stereotypically portrayed as being on the SP's Right, such as Oklahoma and Wisconsin, were overwhelmingly in favor of the proposal for unity with the SLP (the referendum winning 94.7% and 78.1% support in Oklahoma and Wisconsin, respectively). The National Committee had already named its 5 in anticipation of approval, including prominent SP Left Winger L.E. Katterfeld, State Secretary of Washington.
"Naujienos Observes Second Anniversary" (Naujienos). [March 20, 1916] Self-congratulatory press account published in the Chicago Lithuanian-language Socialist daily, Naujienos [News], marking a public celebration of the publication's second anniversary. While Dirk Hoerder's bibliography of the non-English labor press in America lists February 9, 1914 as the date of the first issue of the publication, this news account claims March 19 of that same year as the date of Naujienos's birth. A speech of founding editor Pijus Grigaitis is quoted, in which Grigaitis indicates that the publication's establishment by the Lithuanian Socialist Federation related to a trend towards Catholicism in the established Lithuanian press in America. The advent of World War I in August 1914 increased the demand for news from Europe among the Lithuanian community in Chicago and the share-selling publication moved to daily frequency in response, soon emerging as the largest Lithuanian-language newspaper in America. "The Naujienos is a progressive and revolutionary newspaper. It does not classify Lithuanians by religious creeds, but distinguishes them as workers or capitalists. And since practically all Lithuanians are workers, the Naujienos has the largest field in which to thrive," the article notes.
APRIL 1916
The Western Comrade, v. 3, no. 12 [April 1916] Large file. Graphic pdf of the 34th issue of The Western Comrade, edited by Job Harriman and Frank E. Wolfe. Key Contents: "The Gateway to Freedom Through Cooperative Action" (Llano del Rio of Nevada ad, includes Declaration of Principles), Job Harriman: "Editorials." Anthony Turano: "A Modern Movie." Ernest S. Wooster: "Turning the Trick" (poem). Edgcumb Pinchon: "Justice and Not Bullets." Adelaide Maydwell: "The Needs of Llano." R.K. Williams: "Activities at Llano." Mildred G. Buxton: "The Montessori System." Job Harriman: "The Socialist Party." "War Pictures by Robert Minor" (book review). Emanuel Julius: "Periscopings."
"The Socialist Party," by Job Harriman [April 1916] Butler University graduate and Christian minister-turned-lawyer and utopian socialist commune founder Job Harriman launches into another polemic against the intellectuals who run the Socialist Party of America, insisting on the need for its transformation to an adjunct of the organized labor and cooperative movements. In Harriman's view the SPA was exhibiting "a strong tendency to become ever less and less a labor movement and more and more an intellectual and quasi-religious movement" and was thus "developing the spirit of the old Socialist Labor Party." Harriman rails against the idea that the unions and the political party were two independent wings of the worker movement, instead insisting that the "political party must be a practical fighting machine for what the class wants now." Harriman insists that only an organization allowing in the first instance only members of unions or cooperatives and striving the win immediate demands would avoid the degeneration brought by intellectuals. He also argues in favor of using the current military preparedness campaign as an excuse for the arming of "all the citizens."
"The Old Lyceum: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by John M. Work [April 8, 1916] Socialist Party veteran John Work defends the party speakers' bureau which he formerly headed from what he perceives to be unfair criticism. The Lyceum was no more responsible for the party's debt than was the Information Department, he states, both of which were official departments of the National Office with similar budgets. Work states that the Lyceum was not a purely negative drain on party resources, and that it circulated vast quantities of socialist literature and brought thousands of members to the party, despite being hampered by the lack of a broadly circulated single national propaganda newspaper. Most of the criticisms of the director of the new Lyceum, L.E. Katterfeld, are unjust, Work adds: "Katterfeld is only a mortal, but he is a young man of splendid energy and enthusiasm. I would not favor giving him a high position in the party until he has developed more balance.... Both he and his critics need to learn how to treat one another with the genuine Socialist spirit."
"Preparedness Will Crush You," by Eugene V. Debs [April 8, 1916] Accusing steel magnates Charles Schwab and Andrew Carnegie of being the vocal nucleus of the so-called "preparedness" movement, Socialist leader Gene Debs warns his readers of the future effects of militarism in their daily lives. For the industrialists "the more preparedness the more profit," declares Debs, adding that "If war follows preparedness, as intended, all the better." But for the working class preparedness was, in Debs' view, "a fraud and a sham in so far as it means an army and navy controlled by the capitalist state," which "will respond to the commands of the ruling class and the workers need expect nothing from it except to be crushed by it when they revolt against starvation." Debs instead calls for an alternative "working class preparedness" based upon education and organization -- "preparing the working class, in every way that may be necessary for the class struggle, however it may be fought, and the overthrow, by whatever means, of the capitalistic system that now enslaves and robs them."
"Benson and Kirkpatrick," by Eugene V. Debs [April 15, 1916] Popular Socialist Party orator Eugene Debs, not running as his party's Presidential nominee for the first time in the history of the organization, delivers and effusive endorsement of the SPA's standard bearers. Debs states that Allan Benson and George Kirkpatrick are "not only incarnate the principles of socialism" but also "men of unimpeachable character and standing." Debs opines that "Not once has either ever flinched or faltered; cowered or compromised. In every hour of trial they have stood erect, true to their manhood, loyal to their convictions, staunch in their devotion to the cause, ever ready to strike a blow or repel one, and ever waging the warfare for the overthrow of capitalism and the emancipation of the people." Debs characterizes the pair as gifted, able, modest, and tenacious.
"Shall Party Committees Control Referendums? Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by A.W. Ricker [April 15, 1916] A.W. Ricker, a supporter of candidate for SPA Executive Secretary Carl Thompson, cries foul at a letter sent out by the German Federation to its affiliated branches, urging them to support Adolph Germer for Executive Secretary, as well as Herman Schlueter and Santeri Nuorteva for seats on the 5 member National Executive Committee. "This is the first time in the history of the party so far as we know that a [Federation] National Committee has thus officially interfered with a referendum and recommended the election of their own chosen candidates," Ricker declares. Ricker warns that "the possibilities of this sort of action are apparent if we remember that the foreign federations constitute about 30 percent of the entire membership and always cast a much larger percentage of their vote than the English speaking branches." He also states that "in many cases the German branches have the unit rule and vote of their entire membership in one way." Ricker backs his assertion by citing statistics from the Finnish Federation-dominated state of Massachusetts, in which Germer trounced Thompson 1,088 to 284 in the race for Executive Secretary, and for the German branches of Chicago, from which Germer collected 194 of 196 votes cast. "Had the plans of the German committee worked out we would have had not only a National Secretary who was the candidate of the German Federation, but we also would have had a National Executive Committee NOT A SINGLE ONE OF WHOM WAS BORN IN THIS COUNTRY and one of whom -- Comrade Nuorteva -- is not even a citizen of the United States," declares Ricker.
"Discussions of Party Referendums: Letter to the Chicago Edition of the American Socialist," by Adolph Dreifuss [April 15, 1916] Dreifuss, the Translator-Secretary of the German Federation of the Socialist Party, defends the National Committee of his Federation's right to issue non-binding recommendations in the election of party officials. He indicates that the criticism leveled against the German Federation is strictly factional -- that the Socialist Party of New Jersey and the Socialist Party of Pennsylvania had issued documents endorsing Carl D. Thompson for the post of SPA Executive Secretary and that many others, including the State Secretaries of Illinois and Nebraska and various high-ranking national party officials had endorsed him while emphasizing their party positions. "As a result of all these doings, and not before they had come up, the National Committee of the German Language Federation sent out its letter of warning, not to deliver the votes -- the German speaking comrades are not sheep whom you can direct any way you please; it is well known that they, as a whole, are against Thompson's policy in the movement and would vote against any man of his type and views -- but to call attention to the vigor and the way the campaign for Carl D. Thompson was (and apparently still is) managed," Dreifuss notes.
"Against All Interference: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by Adolph Germer [April 22, 1916] Socialist Party Executive Secretary Adolph Germer (beneficiary of Language Federation official support and bloc voting) makes himself heard on the issue of electioneering withing the party. Germer says that he personally advised Carl Thompson not to seek the Executive Secretary's post since he was perceived as leading the charge against sitting Executive Secretary Walter Lanfersiek and "it looked too much as if he was trying to get Lanfersiek out of the way to make room for himself." Both ultimately ran for the position, however. The Milwaukee Leader and front man A.W. Ricker began whooping things up" for Thompson on the campaign trail, which was fair, Germer believes. In response came the circular of the German Federation in support of Germer. "I did not inspire the circular out of the German Federation and would rather that it had not been sent out, as I am opposed to electioneering schemes of any kind. But the German Federation, or any other Federation, has as much right to do electioneering as the Milwaukee Leader," says Germer.
MAY 1916
"Hold Fast to Real Patriotism!" by Robert M. LaFollette [May 1916] Victor L. Berger was not the only US Senator from Wisconsin with his own political periodical -- senior Senator Robert M. LaFollette had a monthly journal of his own, LaFollette's Magazine, published in Madison. The 1924 independent Presidential candidate LaFollette, a progressive Republican, contributed editorials and the text of Senate speeches to each issue. This front page editorial from May 1916 attacks the militarism beginning to be unleashed by the interventionist and nationalist Right Wing in America. "Our liberty is not threatened by a foreign foe. In crucial times in our nation's history, the American people have not failed," LaFollette declares. "Lack of readiness is not our peril. Our immediate danger lies in the possibility that we may be swept from our moorings by the tide of sentiment that, under the guise of patriotism, is actually based on commercial greed." LaFollette is extremely critical of the "new doctrine" that "the flag follows business," that American military force is to be asserted abroad in defense of the profits of empire-builders. "It is a prostitution of patriotism that would tax the people of a nation hundreds of millions of dollars and send our soldiers to sacrifice their lives for the purpose of insuring exorbitant profits for speculators in foreign investments and foreign loans," LaFollette insists. America was at a fundamental turning point, in LaFollette's view, and if the tide toward militarism could be resisted, an inestimable service would be provided by America. It would be thus demonstrated that "national security is not dependent on military superiority" and that "the European system of rival armaments for preserving peace is a delusion."
The Western Comrade, v. 4, no. 1 [May 1916] Large file. Graphic pdf of the 35th issue of The Western Comrade, edited by Job Harriman and Frank E. Wolfe. Key Contents: Job Harriman: "Editorials." John Dequer: "Westfieldian Infidelity" (fiction). "A Constant Associate": "The Working Hypothesis" (Haeckel on the war). Edmund R. Brumbaugh: "Every Day is Mothers' Day." Frank E. Wolf: "The New Impossibilism" (Llano del Rio). Robert K. Williams: "Llano del Rio Anniversary." Ernest S. Wooster: "What Two Years Have Wrought" (Llano del Rio). Robert K. Williams: "Cooperation at Llano del Rio." Clara R. Cushman "Millville Preparedness" (fiction). Emanuel Julius: "Jungle Jottings."
"A Necessary Protest: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist, May 6, 1916," by Ludwig Lore Translator-Secretary Lore of the German Federation of the Socialist Party protests against what he sees as a coordinated effort to fan the flames of prejudice against the Language Federations and to "attach the "American" Socialists to the Thompson bandwagon." The German Federation was fully justified in making its non-binding recommendations on party affairs, Lore states. Further, he indicates that Thompson supporters, in addition to practicing dirty politics and being incorrect were also hypocrites: "In the East, George Goebel, a member of the National Executive Committee and A.W. Ricker, whose party activity...are acting as campaign managers for Thompson & Co. We say Thompson & Co. because it is generally known that the same comrades who are so "righteously" indignant over the 'arrogance' of the German Language Group, agreed on and supported a slate of 5 comrades -- not 2 -- for the National Executive Committee." Baited by the Thompson supporters to explain why Thompson was less than suitable as Executive Secretary, Lore pulls no punches: "We believe that Carl D. Thompson's election as National Secretary would be detrimental to the movement, because in our opinion, the chief officer of a workingmen's party should be neither a Prohibitionist nor a Christian Socialist, nor a mere reformer. What the Socialist Party needs today, more than ever before, is an Executive officer -- a man who, as a class-conscious Socialist -- knows and understands the needs of the working class and will keep in touch with the working class movement. Such a man is Adolph Germer and not the prohibitionist, 'Christian' Socialist Carl D. Thompson."
"Fair Play: Joint Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist, May 6, 1916," by the Translator-Secretaries of 10 Socialist Party Language Federations Ten of the 15 Translator-Secretaries of the Socialist Party of America join in a protest of the Milwaukee Leader's allegation that the federations made use of the unit rule and cast their ballots unanimously in party referenda -- unlike the SPA's English language locals and branches. Unfair electoral tactics against the Leader's favorite for Executive Secretary, Rev. Carl D. Thompson, is thus alleged. "If that charge were true the foreign branches would make the referendum a ridiculous farce. But it is not true. It was obviously invented to create a prejudice against foreign speaking branches," the letter by the 10 asserts. The Leader refused to print the denial and refused to retract its assertion, however, thus forcing the 10 Translator-Secretaries to take their case to the party's official organ.
"The Finnish Amendment," by Sophie Carlson [May 6, 1916] The author of this letter to the Minneapolis Socialist Party weekly was a moderate member of the Finnish Federation whose local lost its charter as part of the faction fight in the Finnish Socialist Federation -- a particularly bitter battle in the state of Minnesota. Carlson describes the sequence of events, in which her Chisholm, MN local expelled a handful of pro-IWW dissidents for two years under Article II, Section 6 of the Socialist Party's national constitution. Under the Socialist Party's federative system, final say over such matters in the state was held by the elected officials of the state party in each state; and the Minnesota State Executive Board overturned the decision of Local Chisholm and ordered the expelled syndicalists reinstated by Local Chisholm. This the local refused to do, which the Minnesota SEB met by pulling the charter of Local Chisholm for violation of party discipline and issuing a new charter to the pro-syndicalist dissidents. When the moderate majority faction reapplied for admission to the Socialist Party of Minnesota, the SEB declined, stating there was already a Finnish branch in Chisholm. The moderate majority sought to align itself with the national Finnish Socialist Federation (which had itself conducted mass expulsions of its pro-IWW Left Wing) and refused to join the chartered local and a stalemate ensued. Carlson is not hopeful of rapprochement between the two factions: "We have had meetings and hot debates, and at present are trying to compromise but it seems impossible," she writes.
"Standing of the Lithuanian Socialists in Chicago" (Naujienos). [May 17, 1916] Cursory look at the structure of the local Chicago branches of the Lithuanian Socialist Federation from the pages of the LSF's Lithuanian-language daily. The article indicates a membership of approximately 200, spread across 7 Chicago branches -- an average of 28 members per branch, which is regarded as "very weak." Substantial time, energy, and money are spent on the activities of these atomized branches, it is indicated, with no city-level central authority extant to coordinate their activity. Branch meetings were held approximately monthly, generally in saloon halls, and were often limited to mundane operational detail -- with the result that organizational growth was stagnated. Establishment of a central authority is recommended as a means for gaining a dedicated meeting hall for the Lithuanian Socialist Federation, and for the maintenance of trained agitational speakers. Foundation of a Socialist school is also mentioned as an objective of the Chicago Lithuanian organization.
"Russell and Teddy Agree: Letter to the Editor of The American Socialist," by Alfred Wagenknecht [May 20, 1916] This letter from Left Wing Socialist Alfred Wagenknecht -- home again in Ohio after the better part of a decade as a leading member of the radical Washington state organization -- takes a shot at Victor Berger by linking him with the "Preparedness" campaign bally-hooed by Theodore Roosevelt and endorsed by Right Wing Socialist Charles Edward Russell (soon to leave the party). In Wagenknecht's view, both Russell and "Teddy the Terrible" agree that "eventually and ultimately we must come to a system of universal military service patterned after the Swiss and Australian plans. Both claim, and so does Victor Berger, that these plans of compulsory service further true democracy." Russell may be excused for bringing intellectual baggage of his past into the socialist movement, Wagenknecht states, "but how about veteran Berger? Shall we excuse him on the assumption that his brain still contains vestigial impressions of the savage state of society?"
"Result of Referendum: Germer is Chosen National Secretary; Berger, Hillquit, Maley, Work, and Spargo Members of National Executive Committee." [May 27, 1916] Complete state-by-state returns for the run-off election for 3 open slots on the Socialist Party's NEC and for the position of Executive Secretary. In the all-important Executive Secretary race, Adolph Germer won a bitter election over Carl D. Thompson, 14,486 (54.9%) to 11,900 (45.1%). Thompson won majorities in 25 of the 48 states and territories participating, but lost the race due to strong Language Federation voting in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York, which delivered decisive majorities for Germer. In the race for the 3 remaining seats on the governing National Executive Committee -- Morris Hillquit and Victor Berger having already won impressive majorities in the first round of balloting in March -- Anna Maley (17,585), John Work (14,057), and John Spargo (13,413) received majorities of votes cast in the run off and were elected. Maley garnered strong support across the country, picking up the highest number of votes cast in 28 of the 48 participating states. Founding member Work received similar broadly spread support, while Spargo was put over the top by a decisive total in New York State. Losing candidates in the run-off were founding member Algie Simons, Oklahoma favorite H.G. Creel, and sitting NEC member Walter LeSeuer.
JUNE 1916
"Chicago 'Prepares' to Live; Fights 'Preparedness' to Die," by J. Louis Engdahl [June 10, 1916] On Saturday, June 3, 1916, Chicago's employers declared a paid holiday so that their workers could march in an official "Preparedness" parade through the city's streets, patterned after an earlier event held in New York City. The Chicago Association of Commerce, primary organizer of the event, claimed that over 130,000 participated. This article appeared in the Socialist Party's official organ the following week. The use of economic compulsion and "conscription" on the party of nationalistic employers is charged, and anecdotes related about workers who refused participation. Secretary of the Chicago Federation of Labor Edward Nockels is quoted as saying ""We are not in sympathy with the parade.... The men at the head of it are all enemies of organized labor." American Socialist Editor Engdahl characterized the parade as primarily an event of big business and in support of the Presidential candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt, and only secondarily as a real "preparedness" event. An ineffectual counter-effort was made by the two outnumbered Socialist aldermen on the Chicago City Council, who unveiled a three part "program of social preparedness" for the city, calling for the formation of committees given the task of drawing up concrete legislation to take before the next session of the Illinois legislature on the issues of housing, unemployment, and for municipal ownership. The first of these proposals was passed by the council, the second two referred to committee, where they presumably died.
"The Party Finances: Report of the Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party," by Walter Lanfersiek [June 17, 1916] Final report of outgoing National Secretary of the SPA Walter Lanfersiek, of Kentucky. Though soundly defeated in his bid for reelection in 1916, Lanfersiek takes pride in having righted the Socialist Party's financial affairs over the past three years. The party's leftover debt from 1912 had been more or less liquidated, and the party's net worth had increased by some $25,000, despite having had 3 costly annual meetings of the National Committee and undertaken a greatly expanded payroll in the form of 11 Translator-Secretaries. Actually paid party membership stood at 94,378 (including dual members and exemptions) for the previous 3 months, Lanfersiek states. "There is no doubt that the past 3 years have been the hardest years the party has had, or perhaps ever will have. The membership has not been as large as all have desired, which fact reduced the income. The war and unemployment in 1914 and 1915 had a great influence on keeping the party back, and our present position, with close to 100,000 members, and with the finances in an excellent condition, will make it possible for the party to go ahead with its work." Lanfersiek makes no apologies and indicates that history will show him to have been "a faithful and conscientious servant of the party."
"Politicians and Preachers," by Eugene V. Debs [June 24, 1916] This brief election year article by SPA orator Gene Debs written for the party's official organ remains timely in an election year 90 years later: "The politicians and preachers of capitalism are set up as the shepherds of the flock, the politicians holding aloft the banner of patriotism and the preachers arrayed in the livery of religion. These are the real betrayers of the people, the hypocrites that Christ denounced and for which he was crucified; the slimy, oil-tongued deceivers of their ignorant, trusting followers, who traffic in the slavery and misery of their fellow-beings that they may tread the paths of ease and bask in the favors of their masters.... Beware of the liveried hypocrites of the landlords, the usurers, the money-changers, the stock-gamblers, the exploiters, the enslavers and despoilers of the people; beware of the ruling class politicians and preachers and mercenary menials in every form who are so profoundly concerned about your 'patriotism' and your 'religion' and who receive their 30 pieces for warning you against socialism because it will endanger your morality and interfere with your salvation."
JULY 1916
"Eugene V. Debs, Interviewed for Appeal, Sees Bright Chance for His Election to the United States Congress: 'Voters Sure to Come to Us,' Says Veteran Champion of the Working Class -- Comrades Throughout the Country Support the Campaign with Silver Ballots -- Fifth Indiana District Being Flooded with Socialist Literature," by Emanuel Julius [July 1, 1916] In 1916, 4 time Socialist Party Presidential standard bearer Eugene V. Debs decided not to run for chief executive, but to instead pursue election to US Congress in the Indiana 5th District. Appeal to Reason writer Emanuel Haldeman-Julius paid a visit to Debs at his home in Terre Haute to report on the high profile campaign for the tens of thousands of readers of the Kansas Socialist weekly. "I have every reason to believe that the campaign if properly constructed (and I am sure it will be) will bring the vote to us. The preparedness issue will do it. I have confidence that the situation is going to become more and more responsive to the appeal of Socialism," Debs told Julius. Debs expresses disdain for President Woodrow Wilson's reversal on the issue of stopping the trusts and his flip-flopping on militarization: "Mr. Wilson, who had all his life been opposed to militarism, has now become the avowed champion of plutocratic preparedness, and today he stands before the country pleading in the name of Wall Street and its interests for the largest standing army and the most powerful navy in the world," Debs declared. Debs was upbeat about party unity in 1916: "I've been in all campaigns since our party was organized in 1900," said Debs, "and never have I been in a campaign like this one, never have I seen such harmony."
"Andrew Richards: An Obituary." (St. Louis Labor) [events of July 6-9, 1916] This obituary of the father of Missouri Socialist Kate Richards O'Hare makes it clear that she should be added to the long list of prominent "red diaper babies." Born of a slave-owning family, Andrew Richards had come to hate the institution as a boy and had enlisted in the Union Army as a bugler and drummer boy at the outbreak of hostilities. Following the war he had married his childhood sweetheart and moved to Western Kansas, where the couple raised Kate and her four siblings. During the 1890s, Andrew Richards had helped organize Section Kansas City of the Socialist Labor Party, the obituary intimates. Richards is called "one of the grand old workers of the Socialist movement" and funeral services had been conducted by Socialist Party of Missouri State Secretary Otto Vierling and editor Harry Tichenor of the socialist-free thought monthly, The Melting Pot, the obituary notes. Pallbearers had included Missouri Socialist worthies Phil Wagner and G.A. Hoehn.
"Our Platform for the 1916 Campaign: As Drafted by the National Executive of the Socialist Party." (St. Louis Labor) [July 29, 1916] This lengthy campaign document of the Fall 1916 Presidential campaign of the Socialist Party was drafted by 10 party worthies -- the members of the outgoing and incoming National Executive Committees, "in conference with" Presidential nominee Allan Benson and Vice-Presidential nominee George "Kirk" Kirkpatrick. Although not one of these eleven men and one woman were connected with the party's syndicalist or revolutionary socialist left wing, the document nevertheless includes a militant minority plank opposing war and militarism that foreshadows in tone and content the party's famous "St. Louis Resolution" passed the following spring. A lengthy litany of immediate demands follows, including such staples as hikes in income, corporate, and inheritance taxes to fund socialization of industry, the provision of low cost loans to states and cities to fund their own socialization programs; woman suffrage; adoption of a unicameral legislature and elimination of Supreme Court power to void law; extension of the public domain over mines, forests, oil wells, and water power; initiation of public works to employ the unemployed, etc., etc. The draft platform was to be immediately submitted to a referendum vote of the party membership for ratification, considering its various planks seriatim.
AUGUST 1916
The Western Comrade, v. 4, no. 2/3 [Aug. 10, 1916] Large file. Graphic pdf of the 36th issue of The Western Comrade, edited by Job Harriman and Frank E. Wolfe. Key Contents: Thomas W. Williams: "Socialist State Secretary Wishes Colony Success." Job Harriman: "Editorials." R.K. Williams: "A Trip Over the Llano." Wesley Zornes: "Llano Bean Culture." "Llano Has Own Printing Plant" (announcement of launch of The Llano Colonist). Frank E. Wolfe: "Llano Manana." A. Constance Austin: "An Art Vocation." Gray Harriman: "Blood and Iron" (fiction). Mildred G. Buxton: "Learning by Doing" (Llano del Rio). Frank E. Wolfe: "What the Writers Say: The Substance of Instructive Articles in July Magazines." Dr. John Dequer: "Therapeutics." "What Llano Women Do." "What Our Visitors Say" (Llano del Rio). Emanuel Julius: "Jottings of Julius." Scott Lewis: "The 'Llano System.'"
"On the Proposed National Platform," by Eugene V. Debs [Aug. 4, 1916] With the Presidential nomination already to be made by referendum vote, in an effort to conserve scarce party funds the 1916 national convention of the Socialist Party was canceled. The job of writing a new party platform was delegated to the staid party veterans of the National Executive Committee. The document which these moderates returned raised a firestorm of protest by the Socialist Party's center and left, including this impassioned letter to the rank and file from iconic party leader Gene Debs. Debs lists three deficiencies in the platform: a failure to clearly stand for the class struggle, a failure to clearly stand for "the revolutionary industrial union as against the reactionary craft union," and two passages which indicated the legitimacy of a war of self-defense. "This is putting the party back upon the same ground it occupied in Europe when on that very account it was swept into the hell of slaughter in which our comrades by the millions are now perishing," Debs observes, adding "Every nation in Europe, taking its own word for it, is fighting a war of defense and resisting invasion." Debs views this a "deadly peril" for the Socialist Party and urges the planks' defeat. "If the Socialist Party is true to itself and the working class it will take its stand staunchly in favor of the class war, the only war that can put an end to all war, and quite as staunchly against every war waged by the ruling class to rob and kill and enslave the working class," Debs insists.
SEPTEMBER 1916
The Western Comrade, v. 4, no. 4/5 [Sept. 10, 1916] Large file. Graphic pdf of the 37th issue of The Western Comrade, edited by Job Harriman and Frank E. Wolfe. Key Contents: Job Harriman: "Editorials." Robert K. Williams: "A Trip to Llano Springs." R.K. Williams: "Llano Grows in Attraction." "With Montessorians at San Diego" (Llano del Rio). Florence Pier Griffith: "Llano Montessori School." Robert K. Williams: "Character." "Women's Department: Natural Law in the Home." Dr. John Dequer: "The Air We Breathe." Wesley Zornes: "The Soils of Llano." Oliver Zornes: "Feeding for Egg Production." "Questions and Answers" (Llano del Rio). A. Constance Austin: "An Art Vocation -- The Solution." Frank E. Wolfe: "What Thinkers Think: The Substance of Instructive Articles in August Magazines." "News of the World: Socialist -- Labor -- General." Clinton Bancroft: "The Cooperative Commonwealth." "Growth of Cooperation." Emanuel Julius: "Jottings of Julius." "Victor Berger on His Recall." Elizabeth H. Thomas: "A Strange Referendum" (Berger recall). "Letters from Colonists/What Our Visitors Say."
OCTOBER 1916
The Western Comrade, v. 4, no. 6 [Oct. 1916] Large file. Graphic pdf of the 38th issue of The Western Comrade, edited by Job Harriman and Frank E. Wolfe. Key Contents: Job Harriman: "Editorials." Robert K. Williams: "Following the Water" (Llano del Rio). Prince Hopkins: "The Story of Boyland." Frank L. Wright: "Hand Made Rugs" (Llano del Rio). Henel Frances Easley: "The Soul of Sing Lee" (fiction). A. Constance Austin: "Building a Socialist City" (Llano del Rio). Wesley Zornes: "Irrigation Systems" (Llano del Rio). Oliver Zornes: "Scientific Management of Soils" (Llano del Rio). Agnes H. Downing: "Woman After the War." Gray C. Harriman: "Facts vs. Fancies" (war). Frank E. Wolfe: "What Thinkers Think: The Substance of Instructive Articles in September Magazines." Dr. John Dequer: "The Water We Drink." Walter Huggins: "The Llano I Saw." Frank E. Wolfe: "New View of Llano."
"Our Patriotism and Theirs," by Morris Hillquit [Nov. 4, 1916] Socialist Party leading luminary and Congressional candidate Morris Hillquit responds to charges made by the right that the Socialists are "devoid of patriotism." To this Hillquit responds that, quite to the contrary, only the Socialists stand for "true and enlightened patriotism." "True patriotism expresses itself in honest efforts to enhance the happiness and welfare of the great masses of the people, to help them in their struggles for more food, better homes, higher education, larger freedom, brighter, happier lives," Hillquit states. The candidates of the Republican and Democratic Parties, however, travel the country "prating about 'true Americanism,' they wave the American flag with rivaling frenzy, they flatter our national vanity, they appeal to our basest instincts, they foment racial antagonism at home and pave the ground for strife and war with foreign nations. Their agitation is harmful to the people, it is grossly unpatriotic." The Socialists alone believe in the words of the Declaration of Independence, that government exists for the purpose of ensuring "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to all citizens and that "whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness." While the regime of the capitalist parties exists to preserve "Property, Authority, and the Pursuit of Profits," the Socialists seek to establish "a government organized to maintain human life and promote human happiness, a government based on industrial as well as political liberty, a true popular government for the benefit of the whole people."
"Manifesto of the Socialist Propaganda League of America." [Nov. 26, 1916] The "Left Wing" of the Socialist Party of America was a long-existing ideological trend, dating back to the 1901 origin of the SPA and before. It was not until the end of 1916, however, in the aftermath of the abject failure of the Second International to avert war and with the slogan of "Preparedness" sweeping America, that this radical fraction began the process of formal organization. The November 26, 1916, meeting in Boston which adopted this manifesto, established a dues-based membership organization, and initiated an official organ called The Internationalist may properly be regarded as the moment of origin of a formal "Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party" -- an evolving movement which would in 1918 begin publication of another Boston newspaper called The Revolutionary Age and set into motion the political process leading to the formal splitting of the Socialist Party into Social Democratic and revolutionary Socialist wings in 1919. The manifest states: "The time is passed when our national Socialist parties, bound by old forms and moved by old ideals, can proceed with its old propaganda within the confines of capitalist legality and morals, and expect within these limits to advance the cause of industrial democracy. We are at the dawn of a new era; the day is big with the content of social eruptions, economic and political strikes, revolutions. It is an era in which the class conflict approaches its climax."
DECEMBER 1916
The Western Comrade, v. 4, no. 8 [Dec. 1916] Large file. Graphic pdf of the 38th issue of The Western Comrade, edited by Job Harriman and Frank E. Wolfe. Key Contents: Job Harriman: "Editorials." "Live Stock of Llano." Robert K. Williams: "An Active Week at Llano." "How They Hate Publicity" (fiction). Frank E. Wolfe: "Jack London" (obituary). Mildred G. Buxton: "Children and Liivestock" (Llano del Rio). Dr. John Dequer: "The Clothes We Wear." Oliver Zornes: "Poultry as a Business" (Llano del Rio). Wesley Zornes: "Selection in Breeding." A. Constance Austin: "Building a Socialist City." Frank E. Wolfe: "What Thinkers Think: The Substance of Instructive Articles in November Magazines."
"A Short Cut to Revolution," by James Oneal [Dec. 23, 1916] This article by Socialist Party of Massachusetts State Secretary James Oneal demonstrates once again that the Left/Right split in the SPA predated American entrance into the European war. Oneal responds to a December 1916 article by S.J. Rutgers in the International Socialist Review announcing the establishment of an organized Left Wing faction in the Socialist Party, with a view to eventual formation of a "new International." Oneal lists the failings of the Left Wing in Massachusetts during 1913-1914, when they held control of the administration of the state organization, racking up a $1200 debt and damaging or destroying the primary party locals which they controlled. According to Oneal, the Left Wing failed to endorse or support, either organizationally or financially, the recently completed campaign of SP Presidential nominee Allan Benson. Oneal claims that "the formal way provided by the party" for its reform "does not appeal to them for these super-men are superior to referendums, conventions, and constitutions. They must have an inner circle within the party. Composed of Syndicalists, Direct Actionists, IWWs, anti-religious bugs, and a hash of other views, they constitute the queerest collection of opinions that will be found anywhere in the country. The Left Wing had split the organization, Oneal states, with the factions "tearing each other to pieces over 'proper tactics.'" Oneal warns that "This is a forecast of what may be expected should the 'revolutionists' get support elsewhere."
