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THE MILITANT Augue. 1929.
Page Lovestones Appeal To Party for stone made Lovestone splitting cable from Moscow. And when he had had his fill of Stalin intrigues, it was bedacht who proposed in Moscow to comrades Gitlow, Lovestone and Wolfe to establish connections with Brandler and to keep a permanent representative in Berlin.
Less than one tenth of the appeal to the InternationIt was Kedacht whe drafted the aggressive Lovestone al now being circulated secretly, among the Party memBy Max Shachtman delegation statement on May 9th.
And finally, it bership by Lavestone, Gitlow, Wolfe, Miller, Myerswas Bedacht who wrote the letter to Wolfe, who was cough, Welsh and White, is devoted to any differences and Foster for speculating on the differences in the then ia Moscow, on February 20, 1929, in which he in platform or principle it may or may not have with Russian Party, which everyone protested did not exist.
gave his opinions of that eminent paladin of Bolshev.
That is why Lovestone speaks only now a year after the present leadership and line of Stalin and the ism, Comrade Goldfarb Petrovsky Bennett Williams as American Party leadership; and this is entirely char the event of the famous anti Bucharin Corridor Con follows: acteristic of the present unprincipled struggle between gress that was the talk of Moscow during the sesBEDACHF ON GOLDFARB BENNETT sions of the Sixth Comintern Congress, the Corridor the Right and Center wings of the Communist movement. Lovestone, even less so than Bucharin or Brand Congress led by the Neumanns, Lominadzes and Bittel We are living in an almost impossible atmosphere.
After we were told to fight it out, at the World Conler, has not yet completely unfurled his programmatic mans, but secretly supported by more powerful forces. banner.
gress, and after we fought it out to live in constant He is recruiting the forces for his faction e. by Stalin. Lovestone, who has as little principle first; he will develop his platform in fuh later. Here as the Stalinists who now condemn him, was hoping expectation that some Goldfarbian cable will nullify the whole history of the last few months and will deagain he is only following in the foot steps of his new new consolidation of Bucharin and Stalin that clare that the membership of our Party proposes and masters: Bucharin, Rykov and Forsky.
would leave him more firmly intrenched in the AmeriGod Goldfarb disposes.
Lovestone document, therefore, is mainly a personal can Party leadership, a hope based upon the fervent have told you in my last letter and repeat here factional polemie against his opponents, a printed edi speechtes of Stalin himself, made only few months that the role played by the Goldfarbs creates a most tion of the underground mimeographed caucus circu ago, which denied the counter revolutionary Trotsky impossible relation with the Comintern. No edict lars that corrupted the movement for years. What he ist slanders of a breach in the Russian Party or its any person or any Body can establish confidence of succeeds in proving to the hilt in his appeal is that the leadership our Party members in the face of the Comintern if The notorious anti Bucharin resolution proposed by this face is that of an old Menshevik whose outstandpersonnel of the newly concocted leadership is man Lovestone and Gitlow at the last Party convention was ing contribution to American Party history is his al, for man no better, and in many respects worse. from therefore a last minute act of desperation, an attempt liance with Abe Cahan and his right wing gangster the political and moral viewpoint than the crew that tactics in the struggle against Left wing. No matter Lovestone has managed to recruit.
to get straight with the new leading faction in the how loud he hollers now about Bolshevism, he cannot Comintern.
Place the Daily Worker frothing next to LoveLovestone now reveals the whole selfdrown the sound of his past tirades against the Left appeal and you will have a rounded out picture condemnatory and squalid story of this resolution, wing in the American and he cannot eradicate of the whole leadership that earned its spurs in the and the story sheds no glory either on his former his history. It is a bitter experience for us who have struggle against the Bolshevik Opposition from Love faction colleagues or their Fosterite opponents. The gone thru the struggle against the Goldfarbs here, stone through the gamut of the Weinstones, Bedachts, resolution was written by Minor and Bedacht and pro against his counter revolutionary Menshevik conceptions and tactics, Stachels and Johnstones to Foster. Each is a sample posed by the faction to the convention, although Lovenow treated like schoolboys Lovestone more than the Stalinists. of the friend stone now claims that he opposed the whole affair. by the same Goldfarb, posing as a school master of ly thieves of yesterday who have finally fallen out.
Bolshevism. That makes not only a cat laugh but also Johnstone, speaking to the convention in the name of makes angels weep.
Here is how Lovestone characterizes six of the men the minority, declared that it would not permit this with whom he collaborated most intimately in the Deceit and hypocricy are not yet recognized BolConvention to get away with a mere declaration on shevik methods and we refuse to use them, as well as Party and in caucus for the last half a decade or more: policy but would force it to take an open vote on the we refuse to be made victims of them. Degenerated elements from the former majority condemnation of comrade Bucharin by name. What has happened since this letter was written that leadership of the Party precisely those elements two Comintern representatives, Dengel and Pollitt, has changed the character of Goldfarb to such an which are ideologically weakest, most factional, most plain to the Lovestonites that the extent that Bedacht finds himself able to take orders unprincipled and guilty of committing the worst Right considers us Bucharinites and that this fact influenced from him in the Secretariat and the Political Bureau, wing errors. Minor (the alliance with Sydney Hillman the judgement of the on the American and hail his ignorance as the apex of Leninist wisdom?
against the Communists and the Left wing, the propoquestion. We were informed that our repeated declar Goldfarb has not changed; Bedacht has.
sal to desert the central field of the mining struggle, ations on policy to the contrary were insufficient to The essence of Lovestone document is his appeal the repeated opportunist errors of the Daily Worker clear us from this suspicion. We were told that our under his editorship. Weinstone (a co father with for leadership of the Party, based on two claims: his Cannon of the National Opposition Bloc condemned declaration would have to be much more specific, would past loyalty to the Comintern, and his struggle against by the Communist International; a congenital petty have to mention names. Then, only after the Foster and final expulsion of the Communist Opposition. His bourgeois vacillator notorious for careerism and most ite minority and Weinstone had each introduced reso claims for leadership are as valid as the ones unprincipled striving for office as best exemplified in lutions condemning Bucharin by name and indorsing of those who replaced him. Not valid at all are the body snatching role he played when he threw the Stalin similarly, did Lovestone introduce his resolu his complaints we have the unprecedented situation Fariy into a factional struggle upon the death of Com tion! This, briefly, is the sordid history of the game in the Party in which comrades fear to express their rade Ruthenberg in order to secure for himself the of wire pulling that passes for political struggle to opinions. Discussion sion is being stiffled. The enlightNational Secretaryship; the Panken case, the New enment York conperatives, the painters, fraction, the Electrical day.
campaign is a campaign terror paralyzing LOVESTONE CABLEGRAM the Party.
Workers Union, etc. Stachel (joined Party only in It was the Lovestones throughout the 1924 and never participated in any of the mass work The same is more or less true with the case of the International who were the heartiest protagonists of of the Party, professional trickster, petty bureaucrat incredible telegram sent by Lovestone from Moscow the regime of terror against the Leninist Opposition.
deeply distrusted by even his closest co workers and Berlin to his caucus in the United States, outlining It was they who stifled discussion. It was they who exshared, most of the errors of Weinstone enumerated steps for taking over the Party apparatus and prop pelled their Leninist critics, made gangster attacks above. Bedacht (Social Democratic attitude toward erties in defiance of any decision by the Comintern. upon them, imprisoned and exiled them. Lovestone apthe youth; the Milwaukee Socialist Party alliance, the plauded this regime for years, and even called for Right wing capitulatory policy in the mining campaign, The Bedachts, Stachels and Minors are now violently crassly social democratic literature in Chicago in the outraged at their former leader for having conceived more violent measures; in the United States he pracsuch a telegram. But Lovestone proves that while he ticed these methods upon us. Who will give his pleas last election, surrender to Dr. Warbasse at the last Cooperative League Convention. Ballam (notoriously may be a scamp, his former friends are not innocents for Party democracy a penny of credit?
lazy and incompetent and permanently on the auction abroad.
The Party is a bitterly critical situation. But block, chronic unprincipled factionalist and propound First, the cable was drafted by Lovestone, Wolfe, Lovestone can offer no way out since he was and is er of the fantastic counter revolutionary doctrine that Gitlow and Bedacht. Secondly, Stachel and Minor one of the main causes of the crisis. It was his manthe Communist International through the Address is fully agreed with this policy before the delegation left. agement of the Party for four years that brought it to attempting to weaken the American Party in order In fact, Stachel and Minor prepared a list of names its present pass. He is as incapable of solving the to gain for Soviet Russia, American credits and recof comrades to whom all Party property could be transsituation as he is of analyzing it, ognition. Wicks (deserted the Party during the first ferred in case the would decide. to turn the Lovestone represents the American section of the government attack, furiously attacking the Party from outside, Lynch alliance in the Typographical Union Party over to the Minority. Stachel, even before the International Right wing of Communism, the bannerunanimously condemned by Fourth Congress of Party Delegation left for Moscow, arranged with one of the bearer in Russia of the Thermidorian elements. He for this opportunist policy.
attorneys handling the Party legal matters, to make and his represent the policy and interests of one class But these were precisely the deserters, petty bour it impossible for Weinstone to take away thru legal and we of another. His demand for Party democgeois vacillators, careerists, opportunists, bureaucrats channels, the Workers Center from the Party in New racy, like Brandler s, may appear superficially to be and fakers that formed Lovestone main strength in York. Thirdly, Stachel and Minor, the recipients of similar to ours. The same may appear true on other the Party, his closest colleagues, whom he protected the cable, concealed the cable from the Party for alfields. But the demands of the Leninist Opposition and defended, who formed his Marxian trunk and his most three weeks; if Stachel, Minor, Ballam, Puro, are raised to subserve certain class interests which Bolshevik old guard. What he says about them all Engdahl, Olgin, Mindel were immediately convinced are antagonistic to the class interests represented by is quite true, and more might be added. We only await that it was a Party splitting cable, why did they keep the Right Wing. When we demand Party democracy, the moment when he will fall out with Gitlow and it a secret for so long. And why doesn Stachel or a correct trade union policy, it is for the purpose Wolfe, and then remind us how Wolfe cravenly deserted tell the Party and the how it is that this cable of strengthening the working class Bolshevik elements the Party twice and ran from the police; only now when the New York national in the movement. When it is demanded by Lovestone, Lovestone was put out of the way by Stalin be Majority top caucus decided to burn it and he, Stachel, it is for the purpose of, gaining free play for intercause he was an American base for Bucharin, just as guaranteed its being destroyed?
ests alien to the working class that have seeped intoBucharin and Stalin put Fischer, Maslov, Treint and Only lack of space prohibits us from quoting futher the Communist movement. That is why any collaboraNeurath out of the way because they were bases for from Lovestone proofs of the utter depravity of such tion or a common line btween us is impossible, all the Zinoviev 1925. All the other accusations against people as Minor and Stachel, these glowing torches of malicious talk of the Weinstones, Fosters and Petrova Lovestone are after thoughts. It avails Lovestone noth Party enlightment. But a few words must be added skys to the contrary notwithstanding.
ing to point out the unquestionable fact that the Com on the odious role played by the paragon of self polluNor can a way out be offered by that wierd Stalinist intern has supported him and his group for the last tion, Bedacht, over whose honorable, manly and Bolamalgam of Centrism which has been imposed upon four years and helped to crush any opposition to his shevik self criticism Earl Browder recently went into the Party, a leadership without line or lineage, still dominance. Lovestone was supported so long as the panegyrics of praise.
bound politically and theoretically by a hundred Right Center Bloc was in operation in the Russian Par Bedacht earned his laurels, and membership on the threads to the Right wing, before whom it is ready to ty and the International. When the crisis overtook almighty. Party secretariat, by his indignant denun capitulate in every crisis, with whom it is ready to this bloc, and only then, Lovestone from grace.
ciati Lovestone for all his crimes, and for a hake an intimate bloc, as it has done in the past, in self criticism of his own only, Bedacht neglected order to fight the Left.
THE SPECULATION ON BUCHARIN AND STALIN to admit those mistakes that serve as the most solution can be had only on the basis of princiLovestone, like Bucharin, like Stalin, hoped that the danning indictment of him. We mention only a few. ple, after the adoption of the tried line of Lenin which differences in the bloc could be patched together in When it became know that Stalin had decided in ad has been thrown overboard, after the readmission of the interests of a solid front against the Leninist Op vance to condemn the Lovestone group. Comrade Be the International Opposition which has made this line position. That is why, on the eve and after our expul dacht proposed that we demand our passports. It its own. There is no other way out of the present sion, we were damned so violently by both Lovestone was Bedacht who participated in the sending of the swamp.
is made jorie public