The Party's Work, by Verne L. Reynolds. Text of a pamphlet written by the Socialist Labor Party's 1924 Vice Presidential candidate, published and distributed for free to the entire party membership in 1925 as a pocket guidebook to organization. Extensive discussion of how to promote speakers, to generate publication subscriptions and new party members, to delegate work within party sections, and to develop the speaking abilities of party members. Particular attention is paid to the handling of new party members -- building party discipline and keeping expectations for organizational growth reasonable without dampening the enthusiasm of the new convert.
"The American Labor Party," by Eugene V. Debs. [Jan. 1925] A 2nd National Convention of the Conference for Progressive Political Actions (CPPA) was scheduled to closely follow the completion of the 1924 LaFollette/Wheeler Presidential campaign. Chief on the agenda for the group was the establishment of a new political party, intended to be built upon the alliances around the country developed during the course of the fall of 1924. The Socialist Party sought the formation of a British-style Labor Party, federating component organizations and envisioning itself as playing the role of the Independent Labour Party in the UK. This article by Eugene Debs in the official organ of the Socialist Party of America gives voice to this desire. Debs states that despite the "blind stupidity of the workers and the covert machinations of their enemies to thwart or misdirect them," a Labor Party was inevitable in America. The staunch backing and support of the unions was mandatory for the success of such a venture, Debs declared, stating that while the leadership of the unions remained "almost to a man opposed to a Labor Party," hope lay in the hands of the rank and file, who might successfully be aroused to the task. Debs did not think it likely that such an organization would be constructed by the forthcoming gathering of the CPPA, but he hoped for the best and professed patience and an ability to wait.
"Speech to the Conference for Progressive Political Action, Feb. 21, 1925," by Eugene V. Debs. The National Chairman of the Socialist Party of America was the featured speaker at a "mass meeting" held at the Lexington Hotel in Chicago in conjunction with the Second Convention of the CPPA. This is the full text of his speech, from the official stenographic report of the convention. Debs argues that political parties can be either capitalist or socialist, but not both, and that any attempt to merge the "irrepressible" antagonistic interests of the capitalist class and the working class in a new party will be met with failure. Political parties by definition can not be non-partisan, Debs indicates, and the term "progressive" has been so "prostituted" that even J.P. Morgan and John D. Rockefeller might be reasonably expected to consider themselves progressives. Only a true Labor Party dealing with the fundamental issue of whether the national as a whole should own and control its own industries has any prospects for long-term success, in Debs' view.
"Statement of Party Policy by the Socialist Party in National Convention, Chicago, Illinois -- Feb. 24, 1925." The 1925 "Special Convention" of the Socialist Party was scheduled and held in Chicago immediately after the close of the 2nd Convention of the Convention for Progressive Political Action. This statement was issued by the SPA's convention to announce to the party membership that the CPPA Convention had failed to establish a Labor Party on the British model, and that with the departure of the railway unions and failure of the CPPA to establish a Labor Party, there was "no conceivable good either to the Conference or to the Socialists" for any continued affiliation. The Socialist Party consequently was severing its relations with that organization.
"The Chicago Conventions," by Bertha Hale White. [March 1925] Assessment of the Chicago conventions of the Conference for Progressive Political Action (Feb. 21-22, 1925) and the Socialist Party of America (Feb. 23-24, 1925) by the National Executive Secretary of the SPA. White provided valuable detail about the parliamentary maneuvering at the CPPA gathering -- a meeting split between the trade unionists seeking no party, socialists and radical unionists seeking a British Labor Party-style organization allowing participation by independent constituent organizations such as the Socialist Party, and liberals in favor of a Progressive Party constructed around a traditional individual memberships. White states that participants at the Socialist convention expressed "relief and satisfaction" knowing that the period of uncertainty was over effective with the unanimous decision of the SPA to withdraw from the CPPA.
"As to the Labor Defense Council," by Eugene V. Debs [March 1925] Although initially organized by the Communist Party as a broad-based non-party legal defense organization to aid the victims of the August 1922 raid on the party's convention at Bridgman, Michigan, by 1925 the Legal Defense Council had begun to take a more partisan cast. Lips began to wag about the presence of Socialist Party National Chairman Eugene V. Debs on the LDC's letterhead -- to the effect that Debs was, in deeds if not in words, sympathetic to the Communist cause. This prompted a reply by Debs in the official organ of the Socialist Party to discount any such speculation. "was organized to provide defense for Communists prosecuted under so-called criminal syndicalism and other laws because of their activities in the labor movement, the purpose of the defense being the preservation of the right of free speech, free assemblage, and other civil rights in the United States. I gladly accorded to this body the use of my name in raising funds and consented to be named as Vice President in its list of officers. I did this not so much for Foster, Ruthenberg, Minor, and others as individuals, but to back then up in the defense of their civil rights. That fight is also my fight," Debs declares. He bitterly notes that while the Communist Party "refused to lift a finger to help me out of prison," he nevertheless stood ready to defend the civil rights of Communists. Debs forcefully states that the "surreptitious" reports of his support of the Communists as against the Socialists are "on a par with some other falsehoods published in Communist organs to which my attention has been called." After this statement of his true allegiance, Debs insists that "if hereafter any Communist whispers it into your ear that I am with the Communists in anything except their right to free speech and other civil rights, just answer by turning your back upon him and leaving the vulgar falsifier to himself."
"Speech on Bolshevization of the American Party to the Organizational Conference of the Communist International, Moscow, March 18, 1925," by William Z. Foster Beginning March 15, 1925, a conference was held in Moscow, chaired by Osip Piatnitsky, dedicated to the restructuring of Communist Parties around the world on the basis of "factory nuclei" -- so-called "Bolshevization." William Z. Foster, representative of the Workers Party of America, was elected to the 10 member Presidium of this gathering (the candidates nominated en bloc by Piatnitsky and elected unanimously). On March 18, Foster addressed the gathering on the reorganizational situation in the Workers Party of America. Restructuring of the WPA on the basis of factory nuclei was only initiated at the time of the 5th World Congress of the Comintern in the summer of 1924, Foster said, noting that the fragmented nature of the American Party -- split into 17 language federations -- hampered the ready adoption of this scheme. Instead there was a general state of passive resistance, institutional inertia for the preservation of the current system, in which the center dealt with local organizations only through the intermediary of the Central Bureaus of the various Language Federations. Foster stated that of some 19,000 members of the WPA only 2200 were members of English-language groups, although he added that about half of the Federationists knew English well enough to engage in party work.
"Recommendations to the American Commission of the Executive Committee of the Communist International," Submitted by William Z. Foster and James P. Cannon. [circa March 1925] This undated document from the Comintern Archive was apparently submitted by American delegates to the American Commission of the 5th Enlarged Plenum of ECCI, held in Moscow from March 21 to April 6, 1925. Foster and Cannon here attempt to instruct the American Commission as to what concrete steps to take in order to liquidate the factional dispute in the Workers Party of America. Foster and Cannon are particularly adamant in their opposition to the notion that the Labor Party can or should be developed into a mass Communist Party -- a situation which even if successful would create a parallel organization with the WPA. Rather, the United Front should be conceived of as a mass organization of workers, while the WPA attempts to build itself into a mass Communist Party. Within this United Front it would be unions and not political organizations like the FFLP that best elicit the active participation of the working class, Foster and Cannon argue. Indeed, the development of the trade union movement was the prerequisite: "The Labor Party can be formed only under conditions where it secures genuine mass support from the trade unions," they state. The duo call for an instruction that all members of the WPA are to join and participate in unions and that the party is to expand its membership by addition of members of the working class to counterbalance an unhealthy reliance on the intelligentsia. "Bolshevization" of the party is strongly urged, including increase centralization (at the expense of language federation autonomy) and reconstruction of the party on a shop nucleus basis. The "reckless and irresponsible factional conduct of the Minority" is condemned, and Foster and Cannon urge that "Caucuses and fractions shall be dissolved and prohibited, and the practice of circulating underground 'documents' in the Party shall be condemned."
"Speech at the 5th Plenum of the Enlarged Executive Committee of the Communist International: Second Session, March 25, 1925," by Grigorii Zinoviev. The head of the Communist International states his perspective on the evolving international situation, attempting to stake out a middle position between the erroneous views of the "prophets of collapse" and "the worshipers of stabilization." The new ideological buzzword "Leninism" is front and center in Zinoviev's presentation, defined by him as "Marxism of the present." At issue was the "tempo and route of march of the proletarian revolution." Capitalism had achieved a short respite, Zinoviev states, with currencies around the world stabilized and credit restored -- with the finance-capital of the United States of America back of the restoration. While Central Europe was unstable, Zinoviev cites contradictions between the emerging United States and declining England as "the most important factor in the world political situation." Differences included matters of world hegemony; the issue of economic relations with Canada, Mexico, and Australia; the oil question; armaments; and the matter of debt. As a result "The comrades building upon the rapprochement of England and America [meaning Karl Radek, among others] are dangerously close to a revisionism of Leninism in the question of imperialism," Zinoviev says. Zinoviev also touches briefly on the rather ill-defined issue of "Bolshevization" and the critique leveled against ECCI for installing new party leaderships, about which he states: "No one wants to remove the old leaders in order to flatter the young ones. The young leaders must learn from their own mistakes, and must Bolshevize themselves. We require an amalgam of both generations..."
"On Boshevization and a Labor Party: Speech to the 5th Plenum of the Enlarged Executive Committee of the Communist International, Moscow -- March 30, 1925," by James P. Cannon Speech by Workers Party of America delegate to the 5th Enlarged Plenum of the ECCI (March 21-April 6, 1925) during the period of discussion about the political situation in the various countries and the next tasks of the Comintern in the restructuring of the constituent communist parties upon a basis of workplace party nuclei (so-called "Bolshevization"). With regard to Bolshevization, Cannon cites the lack of a tradition of revolutionary mass action by the working class, weak trade union organizations and the associated neglect of party work in the unions, and a fragmented party organization of just 20,000 -- of whom only 2,000 were enrolled in English-speaking organizations. "The Language Federation form of organization is absolutely incompatible with a Bolshevist organization," Cannon emphatically states, adding that "We must have a centralized form of organization or we will never have a Bolshevist Party." With respect to establishment of a Labor Party in America, Cannon states that "the organized American workers are not yet class-conscious enough to develop a labor party on a mass basis." The situation was entirely different in the United States than in Great Britain, Cannon argued, citing the strength of the British union movement and long historical standing of the British Labour Party. In contrast, all attempts to create a Labor Party in America in the preceding two years had been "disastrous failures." "It would be premature to form a labor party now, and even dangerous, for we would quickly become isolated from [the] growing mass labor movement," Cannon declares.
APRIL 1925
"Resolution of the 5th Enlarged Plenum of ECCI on the American Question." [adopted April 6, 1925] The 5th Enlarged Plenum of ECCI included a special American Commission, per usual, to attempt to mediate and resolve the ongoing factional war in the American Communist movement, per usual. This is the final American Resolution adopted by ECCI. The 1924 LaFollette movement is called a "genuine petty-bourgeois phenomenon" and his successful isolation of the Communists from the LaFollette-Farmer-Labor movement deemed something that "was to have been expected at the beginning." The policy of the Workers Party of America to oppose LaFollette and his broad alliance in the elections is deemed to have been a correct one. The CI indicates that the Communists will continue to attempt to exert influence in the budding Third Party movement, but now under the slogan "For a Labor Party" instead of "For a Farmer-Labor Party" owing to the objective lack of farmer support for the movement. Attention is paid to Volkszeitung editor and CEC member Ludwig Lore, who is deemed an "opportunist" and leader of a "non-Communist tendency in the Workers Party." ECCI once again weighs in against the ongoing factional war in the American Party, acknowledging that it "arose out of real differences" but had subsequently "been of too acute a character on both sides and at times assumed impermissible forms."
JULY 1925
"To Members of the IWW: Unite Your Forces Upon a Program of Revolutionary Class Struggle with the Red International of Labor Unions for Proletarian Dictatorship! (Appeal of the Red International Affiliation Committee)." [circa July 1925] Full text of a rare 1925 leaflet by a pro-Communist faction of the Industrial Workers of the World called the Red International Affiliation Committee (RIAC). The piece gives a fascinating glimpse at the little-studied factional politics of the IWW during the 1920s. Snippets of a membership series for the organization are provided: 38,828 in 1923; 30,722 in 1924; and just 13,620 in 1925 following a bitter "emergency" split of the organization. The IWW in 1925 is revealed as consisting of 5 actually functioning industrial unions -- Lumber, Marine Transport, Metal Mining, General Construction, and Agriculture -- with another 24 "paper" industrial unions almost devoid of membership. The 1924-25 "emergency" split seems to have been concentrated in the Lumber and General Construction fields, reading this document between the lines. An extensive program is presented by the RIAC, emphasizing affiliation with the Comintern's Red International of Labor Unions and a concentration upon the development of the five actually functioning industrial unions rather than extension of the organization into other fields, with activity in other industries to be contained in already established unions in conjunction with the Communist Party's Trade Union Educational League. A call is made by the RIAC for the establishment of "committees of action in every key industry, especially in every transport center, to unite all workers for defense of their class brothers and to prevent aggression against workers engaged in struggle" in light of Capitalism's ongoing transformation to Fascism and violent counter-revolution during what is conceived as it's "final" historical phase.
"Allen Cook: A Tribute: A Pioneer of Socialism in Ohio Passes Away -- The Spirit of a Spartan," by Eugene V. Debs [event of July 20, 1925] Brief memorial to a little-remembered Ohio Socialist, Allen Cook, who died of a stroke in July 1925 at the age of 41. Debs remarks upon Cook's decisive importance to the Socialist movement of Canton, Ohio, as a pioneer there. Cook was also "the chief promoter of the meeting at Canton which resulted in the writer being sentenced to prison," Debs notes. Cook is remembered as "a logical, forceful, convincing speaker and he wielded an incisive and trenchant pen" who never wavered, compromised, or lost faith in the ultimate triumph of the Socialist cause, Debs says.
The Workers Party vs. The Socialist Labor Party, by Joseph Brandon. Article from the Aug. 1, 1925, Weekly People that was reproduced as a five cent pamphlet. In this work Brandon contrasts the "ridiculous" principles and tactics of the Workers Party of America with the "100 percent perfect, all down the line" position of the SLP. Divergences noted by Brandon include the blind advocacy of the WPA to a Soviet-style "transition program" to socialism via the "dictatorship of the proletariat" (regarded as ahistorical and unnecessary in developed capitalist society); a refusal of the WPA to endorse new revolutionary industrial unions in favor of exclusive use of the tactic of "boring from within" existing unions (regarded as an impossible tactic that in practice meant little more than kowtowing to established labor leaders); and the WPA's celebration of general labor political success abroad from its partners in the "united front" (gains characterized as reformist and anti-revolutionary by Brandon). Finally, the Workers Party's advocacy of violence is depicted as playing right into the hands of the capitalist class, a policy advocated only by one who is "either a lunatic or a police spy."
"Lenin and Trotsky: A Comment on Max Eastman's Book Since Lenin Died," by N. Krupskaya. [September 1925] This article by the widow of V.I. Ul'ianov (Lenin) was written for publication in the American Communist press in response to the 1925 publication of Since Lenin Died, by Max Eastman. Krupskaya is harsh in her criticism of Eastman, characterizing his book as a "collection of petty gossip" and noting that Eastman "invents various fictions" by falsely characterizing Lenin's letters to the XIII Party Congress as a "testament" and further alleging these documents were "concealed." Krupskaya also alleges her personal correspondence with Trotsky was misrepresented in Eastman's book, that Trotsky from Krupskaya's correspondence "could not draw...the conclusion that Lenin regarded him as his successor, or regarded him as understanding his views better than anybody else," as Eastman alleged. Rather, Krupskaya says that Lenin merely "considered Trotsky a talented worker faithful in the interests of the revolution and to the working class" -- among others. Krupskaya also notes that she had stood in opposition to Trotsky in the current struggle in the Russian Communist Party and written against his Lessons of October in the pages of Pravda.
OCTOBER 1925
"From Propaganda Society to Communist Party: Pages from Party History, 1919-1925" by C.E. Ruthenberg. This 1925 article by the Executive Secretary of the Workers (Communist) Party reviews the history of the American Communist Party from its origins. This material first appeared in the pages of the party's theoretical magazine, The Workers Monthly, in October of 1925 under the title "From the Third Through the Fourth Convention of the Workers (Communist) Party of America" and was subsequently issued as a pamphlet by the same name.
"South Slavic Convention Unanimous for CEC and Comintern" (Daily Worker) [events of Oct. 17-20, 1925] Brief recap of the 1925 convention of the Yugoslav section of the Workers (Communist) Party, attended by 29 delegates in Chicago, said to represent 1,360 members (i.e. about 8% of the party). The delegates heard a keynote report by General Secretary C.E. Ruthenberg and obligingly provided unanimous support for a new restructuring of the party on the basis of shop and street nuclei and the transformation of language federations into "language fractions" which would soon have the effect of cutting party membership in half. A new 14 member bureau to govern the South Slavic section was elected, including 8 residents of Chicago who would constitute and "Executive Council" for daily affairs, with C. Novak as secretary. Also of note a mention of an inner dispute involving a "Comrade Fisher" on the losing end; whether this individual is the "Ed Fisher" of the 1920 factional war remains unclear.
"The Party’s Finnish Section Reorganization Commission Is Planning Big Drive" (Daily Worker) [event of Oct. 19, 1925] On Oct. 19, 1925, a special four member "Executive Subcommittee" of the Finnish Reorganization Commission held its first meeting to plan for an orderly transformation of the Finnish Federation of the workers party, organized around language branches, to a restructured Finnish section, based upon so-called "shop nuclei." More than 100 of the most important Finnish branches were identified, with these to hold special meetings to hear a representative of the Reorganization Commission and to reorganize themselves. A lengthy list of these speakers were identified, including General Secretary, Jay Lovestone, James P. Cannon, and top Finnish leaders such as Henry Puro, Elis Sulkanen, Fahle Burman, K.A. Suvanto, and others. This article from The Daily Worker is particularly valuable for its list of 121 communities and towns in which the Workers Party of America maintained Finnish-language branches.
"'One Step Forward -- Two Steps Backward' for Mr. Green," by Jay Lovestone [Oct. 21, 1925] In the aftermath of the 1925 Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor, Workers (Communist) Party official Jay Lovestone identifies and attempts to interpret a shift in the line of new AF of L President William Green towards the establishment of a labor party in America. Previously opposing establishment of a labor party in principle, as inimical to "American ideals," Green in 1925 acknowledged the reasonableness of the labor party ideal "in principle" -- albeit to be established at some later date, owing to the agrarian essence of America. "There may be a time when we in America can organize a labor party, but we will have to change from an agricultural into a semi-industrial country before we can make a success along that line," Green is quoted as having said. Lovestone lashes out at this rationale for delay, providing census data to illustrate a steady decline in agricultural employment and growth of the wage-earning working class. The AF of L's historic political slogan "reward your friends and punish your enemies" is characterized by Lovestone as a "dastardly policy" of "reward your enemies and hang yourself." Lovestone intimates that the AF of L's non-partisan approach is being overwhelmed by the numerical growth of the working class in the United States.
"New Activity Under New Form," by William F. Kruse [Oct. 23, 1925] The forthcoming restructuring of the Workers (Communist) Party is given an upbeat spin in this article from The Daily Worker. Kruse makes clear that the elimination of casual members in the language federations was not only expected but welcomed by the American party leadership. The "old territorial form of organization" being abandoned was a legacy of social democracy and its obsession with the bourgeois-democratic electoral process, Kruse notes, whereas the new form of organization was "the fruit of worldwide revolutionary experience." Kruse notes that opposition to the change is concentrated in the Finnish and German federations. He implies that the concern is misplaced, noting that in the Minneapolis district of the Workers Party, out of more than 60 towns in which the WPA had a presence, in over 50 there was only a single Finnish or Yugoslav branch, reducing the difficulty of forming multilingual shop nuclei. The loss of some members would be "undeniable, and also unavoidable," writes Kruse. "Elements, weak, unassimilated and unassimilable, will drop out. But by far the largest part of our proletarian elements will not only remain but will be heartened by the change to increase their strength." A network of "worker clubs" would fulfill the role formerly played by Finnish socialist halls, Kruse indicates. Those members lost in the change would be individuals "who 'belong' for reasons of social or lingual gregariousness" who were "no material for our revolution, which must come from the workshop."
"Towards Party Reorganization," by Jay Lovestone [Oct. 24, 1925] Top-ranking Workers Party of America leader Jay Lovestone provides details of the forthcoming reorganization of the WPA on the basis of "shop" and "street nuclei" instead of the historical "parliamentary district" and "federation" form of organization in question-and-answer format. Lovestone reveals that "under no circumstances should any of the existing language branches maintain themselves as branches, in name or in fact, after party reorganization" -- that the new "international" units based upon the workplace (if three or more party members are present) or neighborhood are to be permanent. Members speaking non-English languages are to establish "workingmen's clubs" open to all who "in general, the idea of the class struggle, regardless of how little he knows about or how unready he happens to be at this time for party membership," Lovestone states. These are to be formed with a goal "to draw as many as possible such non-Communist workers into these clubs so that we may have the chance to propagate Communism amongst them," he says. Members in workplaces with three or more party members are to take the initiative of establishing shop nuclei themselves, Lovestone declares, adding "don’t wait for anybody to come around and try to organize you." The first task of every member of such nuclei is to obtain is to obtain one or two new party members. "You will see how your shop nucleus will grow, how much new blood you will add to your group through your being active, in accordance with the instructions given in the CEC reorganization plan," Lovestone optimistically asserts.
"American Negro Labor Meet Opens With Gigantic Mass Demonstration in Chicago." (Daily Worker) [event of Oct. 25, 1925] Concurrently with reorganization of the Workers Party of America on the basis of shop and street nuclei came the establishment of a new Communist organization for propaganda amongst American black workers -- the American Negro Labor Congress. This short article from the Daily Worker makes note of the commencement of the first national congress of the ANLC, held in Chicago from Oct. 25-31, 1925. A very brief daily agenda is presented, to conclude with an "international ball" on Saturday, Oct. 31, "when workers of all races will mingle." The last-mentioned event was intended as a fundraiser for the new organization, the article notes. Headquarters of the ANLC were located at 3456 S. Indiana Ave. and the convention held at the Metropolitan Community Center, 3118 S. Giles Avenue, Chicago, a few blocks away. Neither building is still extant.
DECEMBER 1925
"The Case of Fred H. Merrick: Statement by the Central Executive Committee of the Workers (Communist) Party." [events of Nov. 30-Dec. 4, 1925] Notice of the expulsion of veteran Pennsylvania radical Fred H. Merrick from the Communist Party for violation of party discipline. Charged along with Edward Hornacek, Tom Myerscough and 6 others for alleged violation of the Pennsylvania statute against "criminal syndicalism," former Pittsburgh DO Merick and the other defendants were instructed to plead not guilty. Merrick instead had his attorney plead him out "no contest." When brought before the judge for sentencing on Dec. 4, Merrick indicated that he had severed ties with the party in July 1925; he received 10 years probation instead of a jail term. The CEC's expulsion notice laments the loss of Merrick "a tragedy for the revolutionary movement," noting that he had served a 3-1/2 year jail term in connection with a strike at Westinghouse years earlier. Merrick is nevertheless condemned for "betrayal of his comrades and the revolutionary movement."
"Stalin, 'The Voice of the Party,' Breaks Trotsky: The Rubberstamp Secretary vs. The Fiery Idealist: Sidelights on the Russian Revolution," by Anna Louise Strong [circa Dec. 15, 1925] In this article from the English Left Wing press, American Communist Anna Louise Strong explains the political situation evolving in the Russian Communist Party. Whereas previous to the death of the former, Lenin and Trotsky had dominated the Russian scene, now it was Trotsky and Stalin who loomed large. And of these two: "Stalin is undisputed 'boss' today. He rules through his commanding position as General Secretary of the dominant party, and from that post influences the appointment chairmen of the Council of People's Commissars and the heads of politics and industry. He sees practically no foreigners and none of the high non-Communist administrative officers of Government: his work is to keep the party machine organized and efficiently functioning." The Opposition around Trotsky is characterized as "small but able," composed largely of "the men who were abroad in Europe during the Tsarist days of persecution -- they learned Western languages, Western industrial technique, Western revolutionary movements." Strong adds that these "They comprise all the good orators of the Communist Party. Meetings have become dull since the Opposition was suppressed." Strong intriguingly observes that "Trotsky is a personality: he inspires millions. Stalin is only a perfect Secretary. Yet Stalin wins and Trotsky loses. Trotsky loses because his personality is always in evidence; Stalin wins because he succeeds in making himself forgotten. He is thought of not as a man but as the 'Voice of the Party.' Personal allegiances are at a discount among the Communists. Aside from their reverence for Lenin, who is no longer a man but a symbol, they wish to follow, not any individual, but the collective will of the organization. Stalin succeeds by becoming identified with that collective will. A man who can do that is, of course, a great politician."
