August 9, 1919 THE COMMUNIST Page Six Russian Socialist Federation, at its meting on August 31st, The District Executive Committee of the Chicago District, donated one hundred dollars to the Organization Fund of the Communist Party.
City in June, in condemning the old Socialist Party: and be it further Resolved, that we greet the organization of the Communist Party of America, and pedge our moral and financial support to the National Organization Committee of the Communist Party The Communist League of Newark, Walter Gabriel, Secretary.
The following Branches of the Russian Federation have endorsed the action of the Minority delegates at the Left Wing Conference: Lincoln, Lowell, Mass. Ansonia, Conn. South River, Endicott, Communist Locals have been formed in other New Jersey cities. Patterson has a Local of 200 members; Passaic, 200 members; Elizabeth, 432 members. Other Locals are being formed and New Jersey will be represented at the Communist Convention on September 1st, by delegates from not less than six cities.
The work of organizing a Communist Local in Erie, Pa. has been completed. The new Local has 300 members and five branches. One of their first acts was to send in an order for 100 copies of The Communist, The conference of the Polish branches of New Jersey, at which eight branches were represented, adopted a resolution endorsing the action of the Minority Delegates at the Left Wing Conference. The resolution says in part: The split in the Socialist Party has shown that we cannot longer belong to that party, for this reason we endorse the action of our dele.
gate at the Left Wing Conference, and favor the organizing of a communist party.
The German Socialist Federation and the Communist Party of the federation membership when they By Fred Freedman It is always a risky business to make adopted the resolution which calls for predictions for they may come true or they may not. Still, if we have a founda will of the masses, as expressed on slips the separation from the Socialist Party, if after August 30th the Party remains tion solid enough to carry the burden, of paper called ballots, was to their minds as at present constituted.
we may forsee or predict future develop all that was necessary. Anything else Thus far all was satisfactory, but since ments of a pending question, within cer would be in defiance of the expressed tain limits. The particular question now will of the great mass which has just the convention the party crisis has reachbefore me is: What attitude will the Ger awakened from the lethargic sleep of ed another stage. Forty thousand members have been excluded from the Party man Socialist Federation take in regard war time; anything else would be the to the Communist Party which is now in autocracy of a mere handful of fanatics. and remain out, the seven counter revothe process of formation. So they aligned themselves with those lutionists of the hold office in It is difficult to answer this question in intellectuals in Germany whose names spite of the protest of many Locals and a few words or with a few short sen sound so well to their opportunistic Branches. They seem to be stronger tences. It will be necessary to consider ears. They aligned themselves than was at first supposed. Moreover, the situation existing in the Federation Kautsky and his associates who have they have succeeded in securing the supfor a few weeks past, to examine the taken the golden middle road; they con port of influential members in our and condition at the present moment, and sciously became centrists. Here they re other federations. Secretary Germer has them to draw our conclusions as to the mained until May, when the convention been busy endeavoring to confuse the probabilities in the future.
of the Federation was held. Then the issue, influencing the wavering memberUnquestionably, ninety per cent of the situation changed. The drift toward the ship and seeking to control papers. And, German Federation is in favor of repu Left became ever stronger until it is safe it must be admitted, has had some success diating not merely the National Execu to say that the German Federation is in the German federation. In Adolph tive Committee, but the whole program now overwhelmingly Left. This rapid Dreifuss, translator. secretary of the and structure of the Socialist Party, change is significant. It did not come German federation, he found a willing which, in its present form is manifestly out of the discussions, neither was the tool. Dreifuss, who for years has been impotent and unfit to serve as a revolu Rochester convention responsible for it; on the federation payroll, was all too tionary instrument. In this sense all but on the contrary, this convention was the ready to do the work ordered by Germer.
a small part of the German Federation direct result of the rapid drift to the Although he is mentally impotent, and membership is in favor of a general Left.
incapable of adopting any decisive athousecleaning. This minority is of little The change did not come from the titude, he is a clever speaker and capimportance, being composed of those few Right wingers, neither from the able of influencing the weaklings. He who are inactive or who are too indif Centrists, who are but socialists of the sent out the lying bulletins furnished by ferent to give the matter any serious old school. The change came from the Germer, he preaches patience and tolerthought.
so called rank and file, from the com ance toward the who might Of greater importance are the various paratively young and inexperienced have some good reasons for expelling factions who are constantly discussing members of the Federation. They were the party members who used fraudential these matters from different angles. The not theorists, they could not, perhaps, methods to ruin the organization. He question of reforming the Party arose discuss academic propositions; they pos claims to have some inside information, several months ago, shortly after the sibly do not know how many interna and says that while he is not in accord November Revolution in Germany, when tionals have broken down, and if they with the action of the he still Comrade Scheidemann inherited his knew they might not able to explain just believes that the federation should not high office from his former master. Since why. But they are workers, they have that time there have been constant dis preserved their proletarian class charac investigating committee which will be act without hearing the report of the cussions as to which side the Federation ter and class consciousness; they judged given at the convention called for August should support, the Scheidemann of with minds unpoisoned with the enervat 30th.
the extreme Right or the extreme Leit. ing reformism of the Second InternaWith such confusing arguments who oppose mere parliamentarism and he has succeeded in drawing the attentional. They naturally sympathized with tion of the members to minor questions.
insist that the dictatorship of the prolet the radicals of Europe who gave up their But even this was not enough. Germer ariat is the only means for the transfor lives to save the revolution. They under wanted more.
mation from capitalism to a socialistic or He wanted control of at stood only the demands of the extreme communistic regime.
least one of the federation daily papers, Left, the communists, and did not greatA great many of the older comrades, ly concern themselves with the possibility to be used as a medium through which who belong to the early school of the to further confuse the membership.
Second International, could not at first of realizing these demands, as did the Again Dreifuss was his tool. He is preRight wingers and Centrists. Therefore sident of the company which owns the accept either of the two extremes. The first is not socialistic, that much was to the membership belongs the credit Chicago Arbeiter Zeitung, the second clear to them but the other extreme they ashamed of revolutionary socialism. The that the German federation need not be largest German socialist daily paper in were not prepared to accept. They ob delegates to the Rochester convention America. Two of the three editors of this jected to dictatorship in any form. The acted in conformity with the sentiment paper were communists and in absolute Continued on Page