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The Semi Monthly Organ of the Opposition Group in the Workers (Communist) Party of America It is necessary that every member of the Party should study calmly and with the greatest objectivity, first the substance of the differences of opinion, and then the development of the struggles with in the Party. Neither the one nor the other can be done unless the documents of both sides are published. He who takes somebody word for it is a hopeless idiot, who can be disposed of with a simple gesture of the hand. Lenin MILITANT VOL. NO.
NEW YORK, Y, DECEMBER 1, 1928.
PRICE CENTS The Party Discussion Opens!
mon paper, but American We said, pre.
Oppo sition and so. The and Pepper, on a on a number of boots to the bottom say nothing of FTER not a little delay, occasioned by the custhat Christ wrought miracles but we do not be tomary cabling back and forth, by cabled ap.
hy James Cannon lieve that even he ever succeeded in riding two peals of protest by the Foster group which were horses going in opposite directions at the same time, rejected over the same cables, the statement of the group of interminable debaters. Neither are we an The Foster group took forward step when it Lovestone Pepper on our declaration and ex army of voting robots. The automatic hand raiser united with us in the fight against the right wing pulsion was published in the Daily Worker on November 16th is no Communist any more than the undisciplined. joint fight against the Panken maneuver. com endless talker. The one of these conceptions is The statement of the Party majority covers just as far away from Leninism as the other. We meetingeorm at the February and May Plenary of the Central Executive Committee, much it had no space to answer the hold to the principle of democratic centralism just criticisms of the Opposition on a single point. Our as firmly as we reject the suppression of discussion common Party the Right Danger in the y. etc. Its failure to develop the and the substitution of official commands for ideosuvered with an administrative instruction to the logical and political leadership.
international implications of our tion stand, its failure see that the problems of party to expel all those who share our views.
our party and the fight The great principle questions raised by the Rusagainst its hat everyone knows, that the questions sian Opposition questions of decisive importance have never been discussed and we demanded dership are indissolubly bound up with the Bolshe for the whole future of the world proletarian redisctission. They replied o volution have never been fairly and fully dis forward development of the Foster group and the ground for its. has been correct on all important questions we if our own party. have been de gave reasons for our statement and demanded the cided wrongly.
This is the essence of the matter, leadership in demagogy against the Russian right to defend these views in the pre convention which the statement of the Lovestone majority ig.
us only sharpened its contradicdiscussion prescribed by the Party constitution.
disposed of this political proposal with legal.
nores entirely, because it is fatal for their whole tible and made its whole position politically impos istic references to the decisions of the Communist ea the party comrades do not know the issues from pigie fare the toplayca sorry role when principle International.
Such, in brief, is the political content of the longdelayed and much labored over statement of the the material of the Opposition was not published questions are placed on the agenda.
The resolution of the District Executive Com Lovestone Pepper faction which, by grace it was suppressed. There has been no real and of Bucharin, constitutes the majority of our Central serious discussion in the party it was prohibited. mittee of New York, under the direct inspiration The Communist militants who have had the op.
of the Central Executive Committee majority, de Executive Committee. We might add that, as an portunity to read the documents and learn the extraordinary concession on their part (and con mands that the Fostere Opposition en repudiate the truth are not allowed to speak within the party statement on Party if it really wants to fight her they are expelled.
read it in The Militant) they printed our if it The Foster Cof and logically so.
which had the honor of carLovestone Pepper statement to the Polcom, including even a para best to eliminate from publication.
graph, which we, for Party reasons, had thought Tying the info against us to Lovestone opportunists represents on an American Soup of received their reward in the statement: the opportunist opponents and calumniators of the a condescending pat on the back, which was no Russian opposition represent Russian and in They merely recite that the CI has decided doubt appreciated, even if it was accompanied ternational scale. The Lovestone faction leaders against the Trotsky platform a fact which every by a rough box the are merely the American represeritatives of the an.
body knew before and pass that off for an anti Trotsky faction in the Communist International swer to the principle arguments of the Opposition. The difficulties of the Foster group arise out and have been imposed upon the party by it. They The merits of the decision of the which all of the contradictions in its position. It is claimed are not and can never be leaders of our party in which is the real point of dispute, are not ue, ended Communists have a right and duty to discuss and their own right. On the other hand, the course of the American Opposition, insofar as it develops by one word in the statement.
Swabeck, Glotzer Join consistently, merges with the path of the Russian gogical overseers show their contemptuous estiOpposition. This is the logic of the whole situa.
mate of the Party members. They do not consiOpposition; Expelled der it necessary for the Party comrades to know Between these two stools there is no place for themselves the issues involved.
The forces of the Opposition were immeasThe Foster group, by its present policy, comrades are merely informed of the decisionsweakens discussion is not allowed.
urably strengthened last Saturday by the for itself, strengthens the right wing leadership and The bureaucrats who rule by decree set up a mal adhesion of a powerful group of Comconfuses the party. They take part, shame faced munist fighters in Chicago, headed by Arne and conception of the Comintern which Lenin never contemptible, in the obscene lynching Swabeck and Al Glotzer. In a campaign against us, saying we have no right to op: knew. Instead of a living body of revolutionar ies, generalizing from world experience, as Lenin addressed to all Party and League members pose the decision of the Communist International these two comrades, the outstanding Chicago cn the Russian questions. The right wing leaders conceived the Comintern, they want to palm it retort: Very good. We appreciate your help in off as an institution which decides while the Party Icaders in the Party and Young Workers League, declared their incoronal support lynching and expelling Communists by wholesale, members need only to be informed of the decisions.
of the platform of the but the same rule you are supporting applies to tralized international organization of the Comwith all comrades expelled you also. You have no right to oppose the deci of the Communist International on the Amerimunist workers are completely lost in such a con views. On the presentation of their statement at a meeting of the Chicago on Satur can question. Your own expulsion is next cn the In this caricature of Leninism the Communist day, they were also declared ex19 who knows for himself and defends his position pelled from the Party together with comrades why should they not speak this way? Is because he knows is thrown aside in favor of the Mike Zalisko, Sidney Borgeson and Helen there some secret paragraph of the statutes of the one who does not know and asks no questions, In Communist International which says that the de Chile expulsions of other comrades in cision such a scheme there is no recognition of the pos on the Russian question is sacred and may are being prepared. The not even be discussed under penalty of expulsion, sibilities of errors and no provision for a correction Chicago membership has been profoundly while the decision on the American question may of them. Tomorrow they shaken by these events.
Comrade Swabeck, as opposed is well known, with These decisions are to and impunity?
one of the foremost American Communists. He is attempt to establish the same relationship a large extent bound together. For our part we are the Party members and the of the Party.
against both and one of the founders of the Party and has been openly say so.
We have no doubt that the overwhelming maj Then the Foster Froup which is now helping to a member of the Central Executive Committee tablish this OS!
le. bich denies our right to cri for mary vears. He is the leader of the Left crity of the supporters of the Foster group above ticize the of the Comintern, will be repaid Princi Wing in the Chicago Federation of Labor an. ali its proletarian and non bureaucratized section for faithful service in was the director of the mining campaign of will soon find the right way out of the preso ent dilemma. In the interest of the party, the to cease criticism of the decisions of the the He was District Organizer of the regardless of the errors contained in them the Chicago Gistrict from the days of the und sooner the better. The first step on this path will be to break with the tactic of trailing after the greater the error the less the right to criticize. growd Party till is removal by the As for the ordinary worker in the Party ranks stone faction last year. Comrade Glotzer is expulsion policy of the right wing splitters and to who has no faction behind him, his right to open cutstanding leaders the Young his mouth ceased long ago.
Workers League and a member of its National The statement of the CEC majority says: We feel confident on the basis of our experiences The Communist Party is not a debating socie Executive Committee.
during the attack of the government in 1919 20, ty. Behind this statement, true enough in itself Other sensational developments along this when the party was driven underground that the all the bureaucrats who fear discussion seek to hide line are expected within the coming week.
core of the party and its leadership are sound.
their incompetence. We Communists are not a This can be said only with certain qualificaThus the pedation.
to sit.
The party utterly statement and their solidarity for these Sion of ception Judd.
be is will go on for deed they have alreadey will go a step further instarted on this path and pathetween Party one of