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 within 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. II, No.
NEW YORK, Y, FEBRUARY 15, 1929.
PRICE CENTS Platform of the Communist Opposition In ism. Integrally combinedolutionary internationa?
would Addressed to the Sixth National Convention of the Workers (Communist) Party By JAMES CANNON, ARNE SWABECK, MARTIN ABERN and MAX SHACHTMAN The Position of the spheres of influence on the other, is the resort to the Chinese Revolution, the British General Strike, imperialist war. sharpening the contradictions the Indonesian uprising and the Vienna events, Russian Revolution between the productive forces of world economy not to mention the millions of unemployed. The and national state barriers, imperialism evoked estimate of stabilization given at the Sixth World and its Marxist Leninist foundation is the dominat capitalism, the the develo Congress of the Com period of the decline. com ne prestacions eclectic that it permits of varying of a a partial economic re ing factor in the world movement that must de vival or even of productive forces. Lenin at the Second Revision of Leninism termine the course of every Communist and rev.
olutionary worker. It overshadows all other ques: was no absolutely hopeless situation. The state tions. An examination of its present status and of preparedness munist International rightly pointed out that there and the Crisis in the of to wage a revis a determining problemes qui sites to the solution of all other main fictionary struggle for power Comintern tionary movement. Just as the revolutionary Com to the treachery of the reformist social democracy, Upon this essentially erroneous estimate was munist movement ali ver the world was moulded to the strategic though temporary post war con based the theory of the possibility of the complete and hardened in estimating the significance of the or bad leadership of the Communist Parties, the (Russia. a theory entirely alien to the teachings construction of a socialist society in one country, the Second International and the rise of the Bol bourgeoisie has been able to achieve the present shevik Revolution, so world Bolshevism, its main relative stabilization of capitalism.
of Marx, Engels and Lenin, and directly contrary tenance and growth, is conditioned upon the But this estimate of the current stabilization difwith this reactionary estimation of the course of events in the Soviet fers Union and the Communist International in the revisionist radically from that implied in the Stalinist, theory is the idea that a self sufficing national of socialism in one country, economy can be maintained if only the danger of questions are subordinated to this and flow from it. epoch. This conception, which is an approach to That this inevitably leads to opportunism before of the last four to five years. All other that is, a stabilization for decades, for a whole imperialist military intervention is warded off.
The collapse of the Russian Revolution as the the social democratic view of capitalism as organ the world bourgeoisie. particularly before the retardation for decades of the revolutionary movesignify the ically stabilized, found in the resolution United States which is the basic counter revoluthe Soviet Union on Stalin of the 14th Côngress of the Communist Party of tionary force in the world today. is shown in the political ment in Europe and America and the uprisings declared that in the domain of international rela and the notorione ogg Pact by the Soviet Union of the colonial peoples, whose main point of report, which signing of the port today is the victory of the Russian October.
That it proposals.
tions, it is quite clear the period of respite is leads to abandonment of all that Lenin taught on collapse would be followed by an unequalled transforming itself into a veritable epoch. Later, the revolutionary struggle against war and the role reign of reaction throughout the world and would the resolution of the Enlarged Executive of the of the labor bureaucracy is shown in the capitulaentail a restoration of world imperialist rule with of July 1927, spoke without restrictions of the tion of the Russian Trade Unions in the Angloout precedent in the last two or three decades. technical, economic and political stabilization of Russian Committee. That it leads to the subordiOur primary concern is therefore with the fate of capitalism. History answer to this estimate was nation of the Communist Party to the national the Russian Revolution which directly affects the of the Russian Revolution against external attacks Lovestone Gangsters Stage Riot at New York Meeting most task of all Communists and every conscious are defenders of the Russian Revoto Protest Against the Deportation of Trotsky lution since 1917. There is no break in the con An audience of over 600 workers assembled at a mass cccd under such conditions and declared the inccting ad.
of our position for our present fight is meeting to protest the banishment of Trotsky from the journed.
directly connected with and follows from our Soviet Union were given a concrete illustration of Stalin.
The gangster methods of the Lovestone faction created whole previous line.
ist arguments against the organizer of the Red Army strong resentment among the workers who do not grant The attitude of official optimism and light when a gang of hoodlums, who were armed with these ſakers the right of preventing them fron attending minded equanimity which finds that all is as it black jacks and brass knuckles and other weapons of the labor meetings and listening to a working class viewpoint.
should be, without inquiry as to the actual facts of comrades were seriously injured and which finally cul ideological campaign started a riot in which a number number of Party and League meinbers who were at the and the basic trends of development. and seeks to meeting, declared their definite support of the Opposition minated in the break up of the meeting after the arrival prohibit such inquiry is the worst kind of sup of 100 policemen and dicks from the Industrial Squad, Another meeting will shortly be organized, and be held port that can be given the revolution. This atti the Bomb Squad and various other detachments. The under the protection of a workers guard sufficient to tude is actually one of criminal neglect and results meeting was held at the Labor Temple on Tuesday, Feb.
defend it from a repetition of the gangsterism that was displayed.
in disarming the proletariat before its enemies and ruary 26, by the Communist Opposition.
deluding it before difficulties. To base oneself lobby of the hall and tried to force entrance without The first riot occurred when a gang of 75 packed the Other Meetings of the Opposition only on faith and precedent is to drug oneself paying admission, headed by Kalfides, a paid official of The public activities of the Opposition in its struggle for the preservation of the Communist movement, have into impotence. Communists must give conscious the Party demanded free admission on the ground that been developed in a number of public meetings this and understanding help.
he was an unemployed worker. group of our com month. successful ineeting was held in Toronto on The origin of the present crisis in the Soviet rades successfully prevented this mass invasion, during Feb. 12, with comrade Maurice Spector as the speaker, Union lies in the contradiction between the existwhich sharp scuffling took place and our comrade Frank at which 500 were present. The Canadian Party, which.
Basky was severely beaten by brass knuckles hidden un ence of Soviet regime in is now in a free speech fight of its own, did not find country with a pre de femme der gloves and black jacks wielded by the Stalinites. His it expedient to attempt to break up the meeting despite the capitalist encirconomy, and the pressure of face was a swollen, bleeding mass and he had to be given om previous threats.
This crisis has been emergency treatment. rousing meeting was held in Boston on Feb. 15 sharpened and approvated by the false policier et The second riot began when the hoodlumns, who had with an audience of 300 workers, with comrade James come in by finally paying admission, commenced to how! Cannon as speaker. His lecture was received with great of overestimation by enthusiasm and resulted in strong consolidation of the the duration abiy as a result of the introduction of Fascist tactics in and depth of the temporary stabili Opposition Group and a number of new definite sup.
zation of cap the labor movement will finally be the human race. porters among the Party members.
of the prate which began after the defeat This was continued for a period of nearly an hour, inBulgarian proletariat in 1923. terspersed by numerous fights throughout the hall. Com Another well attended meeting was held in New Haven Our entire on February 22, with comrade Max Shachtman speaking.
is one of in disso rade Silva, a prominent militant in the Italian revolu No interference was made by the Stalinites who had allution, of imperialist wars and of the socialist revo tionary movement and a stalwart fighter, on the picket ready experienced sad results previously with Fascist of the proletariat. Imperialism is the final line in many labor battles, was slugged by a dozen who of stage of surrounded him and comrade Harry Stone was slashed the domination of finance Arne Swa seck spoke at a meeting in St. Louis on in the face with knife. Both comrades to get phyFebruary 23, at which comrade George Voyzey, presicapital, monopolies and international trusts, of the sician treatment. number of the hoodlums also car dent of the Illinois District of the National Miners Union, division and redivision of the world among the im ried away souvenirs of the struggle.
acted as chairman. well organized workers guard was perialist powers, wherein the only method of rem These tacties, as was counted upon by the organizers on hand and there was no attempt to interefcrc.
edying the disproportion between productive of the riot, inevitably brought the police invasion and Meetings are already being scheduled for the following resulted in disruption of the meeting. Comrade Abern, development and capital accumulation on the one the chairman, demanded that the police leave the hall, month. Comrade Cannon is billed to speak in Philadelphia on March 17th, and comrade Swabeck will speak hand and the division of markets, colonies and and when they refused, declared that we would not pro before the Chicago Karl Marx Club on March 21st.
worker. We tinuity in the future dominantly peasant in the epoch lution.
capitalism,