BolshevismBourgeoisieCommunismCommunist PartySocialismSocialist PartyStrikeWorkers MovementWorking Class

July 19, 1919 THE COMMUNIST Page Four THE MOONEY STRIKE THE COMMUNIST It must be admitted that viewing the country as a whole OFFICIAL ORGAN or THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF AMERICA the Mooney Strike was a failure. Whether the next period of the strike in September, makes a better showing or not depende DENNIS BATT, Editor largely upon the understanding amongst the workers as to the Organization Committee, Communist Party of America cause of the failure of this one.
JOHN KERACIER DENNIS BATT Until the of convention everybody was of the KOPNAGEL ELBAUM STILSON JOHNSON opinion that there would be a monster demonstration through ALEXANDER STOKLITSKY out the country. In reality, there were comparatively few work.
DENNIS BATT. Secretary ers on strike throughout the period set. In Chicago it is estALEXANDER STOKLITSKY, Organizer mated by the strike committee that two hundred thousand were STILSON, Treasurer out, but in most of the large cities there was little if any deSUBSCRIPTION: monstration. 00 per year Single Copies cents In its work of crushing the Mooney demonstration the 00 six months Bundle Rates on Application of served the master class well, as it did in many other ways. Merely because a capitalist politician appeared before Published Weekly By THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE the convention and pledged upon his word of honor that 1221 BLUE ISLAND AVENUE, CHICAGO, ILL. MCGREGOR, Bus. Manager Mooney was going to get a new trial the strike was called off.
The so called radicals within the of as well as the reactionaries laid down on the job. The reactionaries by assisting in befuddling the issue and following their old course of VERBAL BALOONING Vending aid to the capitalists of the country. The radicals allowed themselves to be fooled by the combined activity of the With the exception of twenty or thirty wars we now have of jobholders and government officials. The refusal of peace. That a democratic peace has been made no one can the of convention to indorse the strike together with doubt after President Wilson fervent affirmation of the fact. Wilson speech before the body completly demoralized them.
But, then, what is a democratic peace?
They were apparently unprepared for the situation that conPresident Wilson has explained in his usual manner the fronted them. Anyone with any forsight at all should have been League of Nations Covenant and, truly, we should be satisfied. able to see that there would have been a government representHis beautiful word picture of the League of Nations is very en ative there to befuddle the situation. As for the refusal of the trancing, but upon examination it just as meaningless as most of of to indorse the strike, who but an idiot ever expected his previous speeches. Full of glittering generalities, it furnishes them to do anything else? The strike should have been called a fine verbal smoke screen for the League of Nations, which is in spite of the action of the convention. This the radicals within nothing more or less than an alliance of the national groups of the of weakly neglected to do.
capitalists throughout the world.
If a general strike is ever to be a success in this country it Many senators are girding themselves for their opposition must be pulled in spite of the reactionary activity of the to the covenant. Their ponderous efforts are ludicrous. The of leaders. Any organization that is interested in calling a squabble between pro League and anti League can mean general strike will take that into consideration and lay their nothing to the working class. It is merely the periodical Punch plans to go ahead without the of The leaders are nothand Judy show for the edification and confusion of the scis ing but barnacles upon the labor movement and the quicker the sor bills.
rank and file follow the example of their European brothers and Sensible workers will keep their feet on the ground and walk over their leaders the better.
refuse to be carried away by this verbal balooning of either the President or his opponents. The League of Nations can never be GOVERNOR LOWDEN OF ILLINIOS more or less that an alliance of the robbers of the working class. At the Elk Convention in Atlantic City (Atlantic City seems to be the home of reaction. Governor Lowden delivered himself of a speech which is highly amusing to those who underTHE OF. GAG stand. We quote him as follows: In the closing hours of the Atlantic City convention the For years we looked upon the Socialist party as visionary, not de Holy Family of the American Federation of Labor became structive, he said. The party now has thrown off all disguise. It apprehensive of the security of their future position and decided sought in every way to obstruct this government in the prosecution of the war. It sympathized with every enemy who arose in our midst.
to entrench themselves. Their propaganda mut be met with propaganda of our own. We must show that our citizenship is not composed of classes whose interThere has been a strong tendency inside of the of ests are antagonistic to one another.
to modernize the organization. Many workers have come to In Russia the radicals are seeking not equality of opportunity but equality of fact. They close the schools and churches. To destroy the realize that the obsolete plan of craft organization is but the home they nationalize the women. They appeal to brute force. They reflex of craft production and should pass away with the passing know they must arouse class warfare, so they declare a war of the classes. They speak of the proletariat and bourgeoise. There is neither in of craft production. They have come to understand that any America.
organization that proposes to protect the workers in modern inThe Governor speaks of meeting our propaganda with his dustry must be formed upon an industrial basis as a reflection of own, and we challenge him to carry out his threat. If the propindustrial production.
aganda which he handed out in his Atlantic City speech is a fair Further, as the development of the capitalist system has Lowden and his kind do not care to meet the socialist argument sample of his capacity, we have nothing to fear. Governor given a political character to strikes, by the more frequent and with argument, for they realize that even the best of them would sudden use of the political weapons against the strikers, wage be helpless in the hands of a mere soap boxer. The real aim slaves have come to appreciate the value of calling a strike of of their speakers clubs and propaganda bureaus is to furnish the whole community.
rallying points for the Black Hundreds of America, that they These tendencies towards industrial organization and the may conduct their anti Socialist pogroms.
general strike menace the security of the position of the dueseaters in the American Federation of Labor and they have himself to be either a liar or a blatant ignoramus. The first In his statements of conditions in Russia, Lowden proves taken steps to stop it.
real educational work ever known in Russia has been carried The Constitution of the Federation has been amended to on by the Bolsheviki. As for the nationalization of women make it illegal for any organization or members of the organize that charge has been proven ridiculous long ago.
tion to advocate a general strike or industrial organization without the consent of the General Executive Board of the Amer cent of the wealth, the statement that there is neither prole: With two per cent. of the people controlling ninety per ican Federation of Labor. Everyone knows how much chance tariat or bourgeoisie in this country is absurd. With a small there is for the Executive Board to approve of that kind of minority rolling in wealth and luxury and the great masses slavagitation.
There is an old saying that if a calf is given enough rope it cannot help but be convinced that there are classes in America.
ing long hours to produce wealth which they do not receive, ono will hang itself. It is quite certain that the of is getting One class that receives its income by owning the tools of producenough rope. The question of its hanging rests with the work tion (the mines, mills, factories, lands, etc. this class is called en.
the bourgeoisie the world over; another class made up of the