8 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE Saturday, August 23, 1919 Joint Call for a Communist Party Convention trusts.
After considerable negotiations seeking to eliminate the differences existing between the Communist elements of the Left Wing, as represented by the so called Minority and Majority of the Left Wing Conference held in New York June 21st to 24th, the National Council of the Left Wing Section Socialist Party realising the necessity of the organisation of the Communist Party of America, in accordance with the decisions of the National Left Wing Conference, realising also the futility of participating in the proposed Emerg ention of the Socialist Party, does hereby join with the Natiunal Organisation Committee in issuing the following call for the organisation of the Communist Party: In this the most momentous period of the world history Capitalism is tottering to its ruin. The proletariat is straining at the chains which bind it. revolutionary spirit is spreading throughout the world. The workers are rising to answer the clarion call of the Third International.
Only one Socialism is possible in the crisis. Socialism based upon understanding. Socialism that will express in action the needs of the proletariat. The time has passed for temporizing and hesitating. We must act. The Communist call of the Third International, the echo of the Communist Manifesto of 1848, must be answered.
The National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of America has evidenced by its expulsion of nearly half of the membership that it will not hesitate at wrecking the organization in order to maintain control. crisis has been precipitated in the ranks of revolutionary Socialism by the wholesale expulsion or suspension of the membership comprising the Socialist Party of Michigan and Massachusetts, Locals and Branches throughout the country, together with seven language federations. This has created a condition in our movement that makes it manifestly, impossible to longer delay the calling of a convention organize a new party. Those who realize that the capturing of the Socialist Party as such is, but an empty victory will not hesitate to respond to this call and lecve the right and center to sink together with their leaders.
No other course is possible; therefore, we, the National Left Wing Council and the National Organization Committee, call a convention to meet in the city of Chicago on September 1st, 1919, for the purpose of organizing a Communist Party in America.
This party will be founded upon the following principles: The present is the period of the dissolution and collapse of the whole capitalist world system, which will mean the complete collapse of world culture, if Capitalism with its unsolvable contradictions is not replaced by Communism. The problem of the proletariat consists in organizing and training itself for the conquest of the powers of the state. This conquest of power means the replacement of the state machinery of the bourgeoisie with a new proletarian machinery of government. This new proletarian state must embody the dictatorship of the proletariat, both industrial and agricultural, this dictatorship constituting the instrument for the taking over of property used for exploiting the workers, and for the re organization of society on a communist basis.
Not the fraudulent bourgeois democracy the hypocritical form of the rule of the finance oligarchy, with Chicagó Ist its purely formal equality but pro Socialist criticism has sufficiently letarian democracy based on the pos stigmatized the bourgeois world order.
sibility of actual realization of free The task of the International Comdom for the working masses; not munist party is to carry on propacapitalist bureaucracy, but organs of ganda for the abolition of this order administration which have been cre and to erect in its place the structure ated by the masses themselves, with of the Communist world order. Under the real participation of these masses the Communist banner, the emblem in the government of the country and und which first great victories in the activity of the communistic have already been won; in the war structure this should be the type of against imperialistic barbarity, against the proletarian state. The Workers the privileged classes, against the Councils and similar organizations bourgeois state and bourgeois prorepresent its concrete form.
perty, against all forms of social and The Dictatorship of the Prolenational oppression we call upon the tariat shall carry out the abolition proletarian of all lands to unite!
of private property in the means of Program of the Call production and distribution, by trans We favor international alliance fer to the proletarian state under of the Communist Party of the Socialist administration of the work United States only with the Coming class; nationalization of the great munist groups of other countries, business enterprises and financial such as the Bolsheviki of Russia, Spartacans of Germany, etc. accord5. The present world situation de ing to the program of Communism mands the closest relation between as above outlined.
the revolutionary proletariat of all We are opposed to association countries.
with other groups not committed to The fundamental means of the the revolutionary class st uggle, such struggle for power is the mass action as Labor parties, Non Partisan leaof the proletariat, a gathering to gues, People Councils, Municipal gether and concentration of all its Ownership Leagues and the like.
energies; whereas methods such as We maintain that the class the revolutionary use of bourgeois struggle is essentially a political parliamentarism are only of subsidi struggle by the proletariat to conquer ary significance.
the capitalist state, whether its form In those countries in which the be monarchistic, or democratic rehistorical development has furnished publican, and to destroy and replace the opportunity, the working class has by a governmental structure adaptutilized the regime of political demo ed to the Communist transformation.
cracy for its organization against The Party shall propagandize Capitalism. In all countries where class conscious industrial unionism the conditions for a worker revolu as against the craft form of unionism, tion are not yet ripe, the same process will go on.
and shall carry on party, activity in co operation with industrial disputes But within the process the workers that take on a revolutionary characmust never lose sight of the true ter.
character of bourgeois democracy. If We do not disparage voting nor the finance oligarchy considers it ad the value of success in electing our vantageous veil its deeds of violence candidates to public office not if behind parliamentary votes, then the these are in direct line with the class capitalist power has at its command, struggle. The trouble comes with in order to gain its ends, all the tra the illusion that political or industrial ditions and attainments of former immediate achievements are of themcenturies of upper class rule, dema selves steps in the revolution, the progogism, persecution, slander, bribery, gressive merging of Capitalism into calumny and terror. To demand of the Co operative Commonwealth.
the proletariat that it shall be content to yield itself to the artificial rules The basis of our political campaign devised by its mortal enemy, but not should be: observed by the enemy, is to make a (a) To propagandize the overmockery of the proletarian struggle throw of Capitalism by proletarian for power a struggle which depends conquest of the political power and primarily on the development of sepa the establishment of a Dictatorship rate organs of the working class of the Proletariat power. b) To maintain a political organ7. The old Socialist International ization as a clearing house for prole has broken into three main groups: tarian thought, a center of political (a) Those frankly social patriots education for the development of revwho since 1914 have supported their olutionary working class action.
bourgeoisie and transformed those (c) To keep in the foreground elements of the working class which our consistent appeal for proletarian they control into hangmen of the in revolution; and to analyze the counternational revolution.
ter proposals and reformist palliatives (b) The Center, representing in their true light of evasions of the elements which are constantly waver issue; recognizing at all times the ing and incapable of following a de characteristic development of the finite plan of action, and which are class conflict as applicable to all capat times positively traitorous; and italistic nations. c) The Communists. To propagandize the party As regards the social patriots, who organization as the organ of contact everywhere in the critical moment with the revolutionary proletariat of oppose the proletarian revolution other lands, the basis for international with force of arms, a merciless fight association being the same political is absolutely necessary. As regards understanding and the common plan the Center our tactics must be to of action, tending toward increasing separate the revolutionary elements unity in detail as the international by pitilessly criticizing the leaders. crisis develops.
Absolute separation from the organ Communist platforms, proceedization of the center is necessary. ing on the basis of the class struggle, It is necessary to rally the recognizing that the Socialist movegroups and proletarian organizations ment has come into the historic who, though not as yet in the wake period of the social revolution, can of the revolutionary trend of the contain only the demand for the Commuist movement, neverthless Dictatorship of the Proletariat.
have manifested and developed a (a) The basis of this demand tendency leading in that direction. should be thoroughly explained in the economic, political and social analysis of the class struggle, as evolving within the system of Capitalism. b) The implication of this demand should be illustrated by the ffrs: steps and general modes of social reconstruction dependent upon and involved within the proletarian domination of the political life of the nation. c) municipal platform of Communism cannot proceed on a separate basis, but must conform to the general platform, simply relating the attainment of local power to the immediate goal of gaining national power. There are no separate city problems within the terms of the class struggle, only the one problem of capitalist versus proletarian domination. We realize that the coming of the social revolution depends on an overwhelming assertion of mass power by the proletariat, taking on political consciousness and the definite direction of revolutionary socialism. The manifestations of this power and consciousness are not subject to precise pre calculation. But the history of the movement of the proletariat toward emancipation since 1900 shows the close connection between the revolutionary proletarian assertion and the political mass strike.
The mass action conception looks to the general unity of the proletarian forces under revolutionary provocation and stimulus. In the preliminary stages, which alone come within our pre determination and party initiative, the tactic of mass action includes all mass demonstrations and mass struggles which sharpen the understanding of the proletariat to the class conflict and which separate the revolutionary proletariat into a group distinct from all others.
Mass action, in time of revolutionary crisis, or in the analogous case of large scale industrial conflict, naturally accepts the Council form of organization for its expression over a continued period of time. Applying our declarations of party principle to the organization of the party itself, we realize the need, in correspondence with the highly centralized capitalist power to be combated, of a centralized party organization Organizations endorsing the principles and program outlined above as a tentative basis for the organization of a Communist Party are invited to send delegates to the Convention at Chicago on September first, 1919.
The basis of representation to be one delegate for every organization and one additional for every additional 500 members or major fraction thereof.
Provided, that States which are organized and endorsing this call shall send delegates as States.
In States which are not organized the organized locals accepting this call shall send delegates locals.
In locals which are not organized a part of the local may send delegates.
Provided further, that organizations composed of less than 251 members shall be given fractional votes; and provided that the total vote for each State represented at the Convention shall not exceed one, plus one per five hundred members or major fraction thereof.
Organizations sending delegates will be assessed Fifty Dollars for each delegate. This fund will be applied to equalize the railroad fare of all delegates to the Convention.
Organizations having less than 251 members which are unable to pay all of this amount. 50. 00) are urged (Continued on page 7)