THE MILITANT February 15, 1929.
February 15, 1929.
THE MILITANT age Page in creasing lack of The is unable ary. All particularly the re com and ations The pa merican workers the must tarians of population and mo officials, man requisites, they to these position that bring dute and and alienating ust become gress Party direct the The problem a mass fact. They are carried out only insofar as they the education of the Party membership on its present Opposition was in the forefront from the are in harmony with the temporary, opportunist meaning and significance are made all the more very beginning, received powerful support from interests of the leadership. The absolute impos. necessary by the confusion that prevails on the the Communist International, particularly in 1921 sibility of making the deed conform with the word whole question of Party government, of forms of and 1922. The new course of the Party, its in the present situation lies in the fact that any working class organization, of centralization and emergence from the underground, its adoption of correction of of Party line or improvement of its discipline. This confusion is fostered by the mon a realistic trade union policy and its participation condition can be made only in the sharpest strug strous distortions of Lenin teachings disseminated in the Labor Party movement, were the result of gle against the present Party leadership. Since by the Party leadership and is the direct result of this struggle. The recruitment of native workers the present leadership is exclusively interested in them.
its self preservation at all costs, the word remains The present leaders and teachers of the Party under the leadership overseas and particularly at the 1923 a hollow, farcical gesture.
distort and misapply these conceptions. They tot: vention, developed progressively.
ally neglect to take up this burning problem at all The disruption of the leadership and the altera.
Party Democracy in their respective faction theses. They substitute tion of the course of the Party in 1925 halted this the idea of discipline in the formal mechanical development, and the past three years has seen a The absence of any genuine self criticism in the sense for the Leninist doctrine of democratic cen retrogression. The proportion of native workers Party goes hand in hand with the growing bureau tralism. Our Party which ought to be the cham in the Party and its decisive leadership today is cratization of the leadership and functionary staff pion of Workers Democra throughout the en insignificant and the recruiting power of the Party of the Party, its deproletarianization, and the intire labor movement is making the very word among these elements has greatly declined. Even of workers democracy in taboo. All democracy is indiscriminately labelled in great mass struggles like that of the miners, the wholesale expulsion of of proletarian fighters does not exclude but presupposes centralization to gain, and still less to keep, any goes hand hand with the considerable number of new members of this type.
recruitment of half baked intellectual elements. The class mechanical conceptions of discipline which kers emains primarily a Party of foreign born wer: position of the Party, particularly in the New give rise to syndicalist prejudices in this respect. narrowing more and more to the needle trades.
This state of affairs, bound up with the problema bership is concentrated, has been seriously a fenced struggle against the leadership that fosters and ex of Party policy and leadership, is fatal for the by this process in recent years and has had a direct presses it. The first step is to break down the growth of the Party as a factor in the class struggle expression in the opportunist policies of the Party pelled Communists with the right to express their tive expulsion policy and to reinstate the ex in America.
is necessary to state these facts openly and generally fearlessly and to insist on a change of course in In the of administrative gagging, suppression and terrorcircles of the Party, in the Party upper most resolute manner. The new course for the apparatus, this increased proportion of non proleism must be overthrown. The worker Communist be enormously expanded. Under the LoveAmericanization of the Party in the Communist able to feel at home in his own Party. He stone regime these elements are appearing more have the right and feel the freedom sense must be adopted. Conscious, deliberate and his mouth and say what he thinks without being gle activities by every member of the Party to ctors, teachers. supervisors othed. like a recalcitrant workingman in calicis leadership in all of its seres hos e o leproach. managers, directors, Coming attract native workers into the Party and into its com tory, and threatened with discipline. All talk of Party representatives, the Party democracy in the face of suppression on all careerist attributes of ins them the detestable arrogance and so on, must be decisively influenced by this of office, antagonizing sides and the wholesale expulsion of comrades for the worker elements and thrusting them aside.
their views is a swindle.
aim. There must be a simplification and popularization of propaganda and agitational work. Far Accompanying this is the alarming growth of Americanization in the greater attention to simple, modest tasks of a move.
the tendency to replace in various positions those ment in its elementary stage of development, comrades who have built and worked in the Party Greater responsibility and concentration on main since its formation with those who have only restruggles and activities, and less sensation mongerBolshevist Sense cently joined the less ing the movement from the Socialist pretentiousness, bombast, exaggeration. the Zionist movement, liberals, etc. etc. As a result primarily of historical conditions the The Party must examine these questions in guage comprehensible to the American workers American Communist movement was from the connection with the struggle against the and more related to their traditions.
Right the opportunist leaders who beginning predominatly a movement of foreignare born workers, whose revolutionary and socialist is to unite the inspiration of the its bearer. It is is necessary at once to take a com traditions had heir Russian revolution, which and has been the plete registration of the Party membership with strongest influence in the revolutionary wing of passage to Communism was the object of precisely determining its class the American labor movement, with a realistic ap position. A reorganization Europe, above all the Russian of the Party apparatus, proletarian revolution, and this reaction was not proach to the specific tasks of the American Comfrom top to bottom, up to and including the Cen closely connected with the class struggle in the munists. This now applies especially to the de tral Executive Committee, placing the overwhelmthe United States. In its formative years the Party fenders of the Russian Opposition which is ing majority of the positions in the hands of stood aloof to a very large extent from the great representative of the victory of the Russian Octo evperienced and tested Party workers of tarian origin, must be effected at once. In this general strike of the miners, and so on, and did not the American workers with the spirit of Interna connection, the Party must reject categorically the recruit its forces from them. The Left. wing in the tionalism while strengthening and developing the gross mockery of proletarianization which the Socialist Party and the Communist Party into Communist influence in the class struggle in Lovestone Pepper group is carrying out. It con which it evolved were dominated by foreign lan. America.
sists of the formal addition to certain Party com guage Federations. The American leaders, for The efforts made in the past to pervert the mittees of unknown comrades who are never in the most part, were the English expression of revolutionary essence of this program to adapt the this movement.
serve as proletarian window dressing behind the opportunists and petty bourgeois careerists can This anomalous situation imparted to the early justify the present composition of the Party and the laxness in improving it, but have in no sense movement an unrealistic and extremely sectarian work with greater security. For the next until a proletarian stabilization has been achieved character and caused deep internal contradictions invalidated the correctness of our proposals which are as vital today as ever, if not more so.
and bership must be closed entirely to non proztarian tion comination and the Federation form of organs elements. Even then their admittance into the ization, although formally an organization question, The Party, the Groups Party must be strictly supervised.
An analysis of the number of comrades employed Am Americanization of the movement. It was closely and our Perspectives in the apparatus (in the Party national and district bound up with the struggle against sectarianism for a realistic trade union policy, for legal activ offices, in the Party press and their administraThe Party today is in the throes of ities and a legal Party, for the Labor Party and for factional a tion, in the large number of auxiliary organiza the predominance of American workers in the crisis which has raged continuosly since 1923.
tions, in the numerous cooperative institutions, leadership.
This factional struggle, which the freParty has a staff of paid functionaries and technical This character of the Party and its leadership product of the Stalinization of the Party and the equal to more than 10 per cent of the in the formative years militated against its effective imposition upon it from above of an artificial and Party membership who are not employed in in participation in the class struggle and greatly weak incompetent leadership; At bottom this agriculture. This bureaucratic crust series talent is revolutionary workers. The movement of stop and which broke out afresh after each pro fight for the Party is a fight against the that time which was a great reservoir for Com clamation of unity, has been a conflict between systematic opportunist policy of the leadership and munism and a large part of the natural base for the proletarian and the petty bourgeois tendencies.
of itself against control and correction from below tracted, and the anti Communist strategy of the struggle in the Communist Party of the Soviet This internal opportunistic line and is an expression of it. facilitated. The Party failed likewise, for these situation in our Party, the proletarian tendency has serious struggle for a correction of the opportunist reasons, to recruit thousands of revolutionary made numerous mistakes and has not always been external policy which weakens the Party and consequently the class before their enemies is impos. and in the Left Wing of th the Socialist Party able to formulate the issues clearly, since this trade unions. could be done only with an international orientasible without the most determined, stubborn and The violent internal struggles were called forth tion and perspective.
relentless fight for Party democracy. Party demo by the contradictions between the composition, The ruling faction in the Party on the other cracy is the means whereby the policy of the Party tactics and leadership of the Party and the condi hand was strengthened by its international concan be corrected and its leadership reorganized on a tions for its existence and effective functionaing nection with the Stalin Bucharin regime and reproletarian Communist basis.
in the class struggle. The struggle of a minority ceived direct and continuous support from it. Thr The raising of the issue of Party democracy and to overcome these contradictions, in which the Loveston Pepper faction is an American replica o The Perspective of a importance of this work, a correct policy in it and by the Party membership. Again in 1927 a cable serious attention to it.
from the prohibited a majority in the Labor Party It must be the main task of the Party in this Central Committee (the bloc of Cannon Weinfield to mobilize the white workers to fight for stone Foster groups) from exercising their right the rights of the Negro masses to full social, econThe perspective of coming mass struggles into reorganize the Polcom and elect Party officers; volves the question of developing these struggles on omic and in their strical equality and to unite with them thus safeguarding the Lovestone control. The a political direction and unifying them in a Not an attitude of liberal patern Supplementary Decision cabled to the Party later but an an attitude of comradely support in a alism, centralized form. The movement for a Labor in 1927 called upon the Party to support the Love Party is today at low ebb as a result primarily of will give an impetus to the move cempor serege stone group after the had been compelled to reject its main line.
passivity of the workers and the decline in Further help in mobilizing the Party for the movements of struggle in the past period. The and will pave the way for the expansion of Party coming period of developing economic struggles Lovestone faction was given a little later by cables will very probably be reflected in tendencies to Negro masses for struggle goes hand in hand with hypocritically protesting against the factionalism ward the revival of the Labor Party movement.
the mobilization of the white workers for the de.
of the Opposition while ignoring and condoning fense of the Negroes against persecution and disIt is not reasonable to expect that the masses the most criminal and corrupt factional practices of the American workers, who are still tied ideocrimination.
of the Lovestone group. Ewert, present leader prerequisite for this is the persistent struggle of the conciliators group in the German Pity, logically and politically to the bourgeois Parties, against race prejudice (white chauvinism) which his capacity as representative of the will come over to the Communist to our at one step in a period not immediarty politically is sedulously cultivated by the ruling class and Party in 1927, helped the Lovestone faction to revolution dominates large sections of the white workers. It gerrymander and steal the Party Convention in experience, and cent experiences in the mining, textile and needle This can be rooted out only by a broad ideological after the Sixth World Congress in 1928 is even reflected in certain sections of the Party, Tammany fashion. The secretarial decision of the Communist leadership in strikes did not uporte en campaign explaining the reactionary: anti working ignored all the big political questions and simpzs the Communist ticket, do not sustain such expect theories of white supremacy, and utilizing ship follows a right wing line (which were proven perspective of a Labor Party, as a to the hilt in the Opposition document on The every concrete instance in this sense. Such a camstep in the political devolpment of the paign has not yet even been begun in our Party Right Danger in the American Party. to be un adopted by the Party in 1922 after attempt to deal with the question by founded and thus again indicated its political supFourth Congress of the Communist Internationthie purely methods is False.
Negro port of this faction holds good today, although the forms and methods question is also a a nati question, By all these means, by political pressure, by direct and the Party must raise the slogan of the right of its realization will be somewhat different than of self determination for the Negroes. The effecorganizational interference, by abusing the con those indicated at that time.
tiveness of this slogan is enhanced by the fact that confidence of the Party members in the ComIt is therefore necessary to keep this perspective there are scores of contiguous counties in the South munist International, by tricks and machinations, is in the majority, and the Centrist leadership of the and the the working class. We speak here not for the it is there that they suffer the most violent perse American counterpart and entrenched its control immediate formation of such a Party and surely cution and discrimination.
in the American Party not for the adventurism and opportunism that has the means especially of penetrating these Negro characterized this work in the past, particularly masses in the South and of mobilizing them for This Stalinization of the Party has reduced the in the organization of fake Labor Parties that had revolutionary struggle. The Party must at the dues paying membership from 16, 325 in 1925 no genuine mass basis The Labor Party must same time decisively reject the false slogan of a (Convention report January June) to 7, 277 in 1928 have a mass basis and must arise out of struggle Negro Soviet Republic in the South at this time. Financial reports January August. in a threeyear period which offered abundant possibilities end, the propaganda slogan must be really revived, gated in the Party press and in official Party literand as soon as it has found roots in the masses and ature despite its rejection even at the sixth con particularly heavy loss of natis brought about a their trade union elements, reducing the proportion of and agitational in the struggle, it must and finally an action slogan.
work among the Negro masses must from The Labor Party must not be an enlarged shadow the very beginning be based on leadership by the to insignificance. Party democracy does not exist of Communist Party. It must have a Negro proletariat and There is far less freedom of expression in basis, else it will be a caricature. It must permit bourgeoisie. The do not by the Negro petty Party today, working under legal conditions and the freedom of action, independence and criticism has been based The Party orientation the formats during a pre convention discussione period, it bon ionary elements within it. It must Only through the domination by the Negro prolnot have an exaggerated importance attributed to Party. Bureaucratization has become a cancer eatit as the leader of the working class to libera advance the work of organizing the Negro peas. ing put the Party life. The class composition of tion, and so on, for no illusions about its role can ants, tenant farmers, share croppers, etc. in the the Party has deteriorated and the main sections of the Party leadership, its decisive upper strata, South in an effective and revolutionary senise.
be permitted except at the expense of the revolutionary interests of the membership class. It must are predominantly. petty bourgeois.
Permanent on individual The Stalinization of the factionalism rages in the Party year in and out and absorbs its main This year The energies. The whole a Farmer Labor Party must be rejected in primitie organization of two classes in one Party, American Party course of disruption and disintegration is being ple in favor of the crowned now by the wholesale expulsion of the workers, and the formation of a political alliance Opposition proletarian Communists, founders of with the poor farmers under the leadership of the Soviet Union from the line of Lenin has been re The departure of the Communist Party of the the Party and its most loyal, reliable and tested fornier. The militants.
in the Farmer. portunist errors of Party comrades flected in the Communist International and all of Party of Minnesota and states flowed inevitably from, and were secondary its sections. The Stalinization of the Comintern, Self Criticism to the basically false policy of a two class Party; scrupulous struggle of the Stalin Bucharin revision which is the evil fruit of the demagogic and un The self cristicism of the ruling faction conand worker are ostensibly on an equal basis, but ists against the Bolshevik Opposition led by Trotsists in making tardy admissions of the least sig.
where actually dominates the petty bourgeois ideology of sky is represented by opportunist politics and a the former bureaucratic internal regime in the Comintern and indicating any connection between them, or the nificant of the errors they committed, without The struggle for a Labor Party, as part of the in the Parties. Stalinization has brought about an struggle for the development of a class movement enormous and absolutely unprecedented bureaubasis upon which they arose. The important and American workers, requires more in the apparatus.
an intransigeant cratization against the of leadership and the The weaknesses of the Communist International and only under the most severe pressure, Socialist Party who represent obstacles to this and its National sections and the faction struggles ascribed to the opponents of the very errors.
The and even then, in most development The main base of the future Labor which undermine them flow directly from the will be industrial th unions formed in faction struggle in the Russian Communist Party. for them, are never established. The result is that the struggles coming against the employers, the the Stalinization carries schism and disintegration into they are either repeated in the same form, or else government and the labor fakers and reformists.
they are repeated in an inverted form caused by The Left Wing, organized in the old unions, will in our Party. recognition of this fact is the only iresponsible swings to the also play a very important part. Tle radicalizing key to the understanding e opposite extreme.
our effect of these struggles and the circumstances and the organization of a Communist fight to solve prerequisite for the establishment of clarity, the Party problems genuine Leninist self criticism is a primary which give rise to them will create the conditions them. The struggle for the regeneration of our raising of the ideological level of the Party and for the formation of the Labor Party and for the Party, for the correction of its policies and the the elimination of the distrust effective participation of the Communists and their formation of a proletarian Communist leadership, by its absence. Instead of self criticism, the Party and cynicism caused independent struggle for leadership of the masses. is an international fight.
All attempts to wage lead coalment, distortion, and self praise. Its own has this fight on purely national grounds, within the instituted a regime of diplomacy, Work Among Negroes framework of Stalinist legality, are unprincipled achievements are paraded and exaggerated in and futile.
the most revolting shopkeeper manner. blank The Party as a whole has always greatly under The direct responsibility of the Stalinist faction check of immunity from any error or crime is an estimated the tremendous importance of revol for the Lovestone Pepper regime our Party and automatic premium to any of its faction supporters.
tionary work among the Negro masses. The Amer all its corrupting consequences is clearly demon In this poisonous atmosphere the disparity beican Negroes are destined to play a great role in strated by the facts of Party history in recent tween words and deeds grows greater every day.
the coming revolution. The Negro proletariat of years.
Resolutions, theses and motions are made primarily the North, and the great mass of Negro peasantry This leadership was established in the Party in for the record and not to be carried out. They in the South form a tremendous reservoir of rev: 1925 by cable of the plus the jesuitical remain on paper in the Party archives to be pointed olutionary force, which has hitherto remained un machinations of Gussev, the representative of the to only to justify this or that action, after the crean background had a European fundamentally a recomaction to events in prole Mood the which the ot fight Party the new workers dustry or or in smothering the Party in