September 15, 1929.
THE MILITANT Page Yaroslavsky on Trotsky this game Unity Chautauqua platform this summer in order to let the WICKS SPEAKS UP American people understand the true situation. He WORDS FORGOT has given several years study to Sociology and is preA Warrior Against Trotsky pariete to write two books on the problems of the hour.
that this may be the first notice some of them will In the Daily Worker a few days ago, Wicks NOTE: The official Stalinist press has lately suffered have of his apostacy.
an editor and one of the pillars of the new Party leadfrom a renewed bomixrdment against comrade Trotsky ership, devotes a part of his billingsgate to denouncby one of the arch liars in the falsification factory: Wicks is now a big man in the Party leadership, ing us as counter revolutionaries and renegades.
Yaroslavsky. Each new contribution made by YaroWicks is one of that horde of parasites who make one of its spokesmen, a candidate for office in New slavsky to the distortion and misrepresentation their way in the International under Stalin by denounc York. He is one of the regenerated Lovestoneites to practised against the Opposition is distinguished only by its whom Foster, whom he knew personally. has been ing and slandering the revolutionary fighters, and viler slanders, revolting demagogy and more outrageous Wicks, like many of the others, has had previous ex fastened to make the new Party leadership. Wicks is defamation. That such a person could have become perience in which makes his task easier to also an editor of the Daily Worker. Perhaps after re the leading scribbler in the Comintern against the Bolday. The only difference is that in earlier times they reading the above press story, he will use some of the shevik Leninists is in itself a sign of decay. Comrade valuable space of his paper to explain why the follow Trotsky has dealt with Yaroslavsky once and for all slandered us from outside the Communist ranks, while ing notice appeared in 1921 in the Official Bulletin of today, thanks to the temporary supremacy of Stalinin his masterful letter to the Bureau of Party History the Communist Party of America (Section of the Comism, they speak as officials of the movement. The munist International) Issued by the General Execu by Stalin and company in recent years. We take the where he exposes a few score of the lies made popular essence of what they say about us and its import is tive Committee, No. 2, on page 1, under the heading, following excerpt from that letter. Editor.
essentially the same now as then. This newly appoint Some Important Decisions. ed guardian of Communism hurled just as vicious slander against us when we were fighting to build the The recommendation of an investigating committee Nine tenths of his slanders and falsifications YaroCommunist cleus face of outside acks as that Harry shall not be admitted to the Party slavsky dedicates to the author of these lines. It would he does today when we are fighting against internal was approved. The information proves him to be ab be hard to imagine lies more confused and at the same degeneration. In the days of the Palmer raids, when solutely undesirable within the Party ranks.
time more spiteful. Do not make the mistake of thinkthe Communists were being tested by fire, Wicks We brought up this matter of Wicks and his record ing however, that Yaroslavsky always wrote this way.
played the role of Judas. For the information of the ti once before in the Party. At that time he was shielded No, he wrote quite differently. It was just as purple, Communist workers who are receiving their education by Lovestone and Pepper, although Lovestone, in his it was in just as bad taste, but to exactly the opposite nowadays from the Wickses, we reprint verbatim the Appeal to the Comintern now admits the truth. What effect. In the spring of 1923, Yaroslavsky devoted an following report contained in the Gary, Indiana, Post will the new leadership do about it?
article to the beginnings of the political activity of the (now the Post Tribune) of Thursday, March 25, 1920, author of these lines. The article is a tumultous panepages and 9: Front Is Broadened syote, unbearable to read.
It requires an effort to it BARES UNDERHAND RED PLOT TO USE UNIONS is necessary. In his character TO RUIN UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT In their endeavor to minimize the strength of the of inquisitor, Yaroslavsky takes a voluptuous pleasure in bringing face to face on the witness stand ComH. Wicks of Chicago, a reformed Socialist, spoke Lovestonite Right wing in the Party, the official Party on the revolutionary tendencies of the times to some press has neglected to announce the following ex munists guilty of distributing the Testamente of Lenin, the letters of Lenin on the national question, and other forty Gary men last evening. Mr. Wicks established pulsions that took place a few days ago in the Chicago a Socialist local in Gary several years ago; he said he district of the Party: William Kruse, district organ illegal documents in which Lenin dared to criticize helped select Oscar Anderson as the leader of the Gary izer of the Party and recent graduate of Stalin so Stalin. Let us bring Yaroslavsky face to face with strike; therefore he did not appear to be an entire called Lenin School. Jack Deer, Rose Cohen, and himself.
stranger.
Saul Held. The two latter were members of the Young HOW YAROSLAVSKY ONCE WROTE He charged that the steel strike was wholly the Communist League. The brilliant literary publicistic activity of comwork of the syndicalist movement. Violent minorities Furthermore, half a dozen Party and League mem rade Trotsky. so Yaroslavsky wrote in 1923, in the steel unions forced the strike against the wishes bers have been expelled, in addition to those named by gained him the world wide name of Prince of Pamof the majority, he said. The majorities did not want the Daily Worker, for supporting Lovestone at the phleteers. The English writer Bernard Shaw described to strike but were howled down by the leather lunged membership meeting. Ldward Wright has been ex him thus. Whoever has followed his activity during minorities whose only argument was that the oppo pelled from the Party, and therefore removed from course of a quarter of a century, cannot but be nents of the strike were agents of Judge Gary. his post as business manager of the Labor Defender. convinced that this talent of the pamphleteer and BREAKS WITH PARTY While Engdahl name is officially published as editor of the Defender, the job is actually in the hands of a polemist developed, grew, and blossomed with especial Mr. Wicks has been a socialist in good standing quill pusher from the Daily Worker, Sol Auerbach, brilliancy during the years of our proletarian revolu: until last fall when he openly broke with the Socialist who has the twin virtues of obedience and ignorance.
tion. But even at the dawn of his activity, it was obParty. Previous to that time he had served as a memCarl Hacker is hanging by a hair in the and servable that we had before us an endowment most ber of the National Executive Committee of the Party.
his being suspected of Lovestone support makes it profound. All his newspaper articles were saturated He said he was familiar with the work and attitude of certain that he will soon find himself on the outside. with inspiration, they all partook of the Socialists, W, Communists and all revolutionAlready, his post as national assistant secretary has imagery, color, although they had to be written within the jaws of the ists.
been taken over by George Maurer, as predicted in our vise of the czarist censorship, which defaced the bold with very few exceptions, he said, the radicals are last issue. Even the book keeping of the has thought and the bold form of every one who wished not Americans. Most of the Socialists are people of been made safe for the New Line by the removal of to estape from the grip of those jaws and raise himforeign birth and citizenship and many of them do not the Lovestoneite suspect, Anna Thompson and her subself above the common level. But so great were the even speak the English language.
stitution by Julius Codkind. Our list would be inWORK FOR AMERICAN LEGION complete if it did not include the news that Beatrice ripening underground forces, so strongly was felt the Bill Haywood and his satellites should not be tol Karlin, an excellent tennis and golf player, who is beating of the heart of the awakening people, so sharp erated in this country, Mr. Wicks said, he had been consumed with pain at the sufferings of the poor ere the developing contradictions, that all the censors advising American Legion members not to permit these working class, has been attached to the staff of the in the world could not stamp out the creative power of vermin to talk to them, but to knock them down. That, Workers School.
such a shining individual personality as was already he said, is the only language they understand.
in those days the figure of Trotsky.
The speaker charged that the Socialist Party was Probably many have seen the quite widely distribthoroughly pro German during the war and is today uted photograph of the youth Trotsky when he was controlled by the pro German Victor Berger. He said We are glad to chronicle the appearance of two new first sentenced to exile in Siberia that boisterous head Berger richly deserved the 20 year sentence meted organs of the Bolshevik Opposition, both of which are of hair, those characteristic lips and lofty brow. Under out some time ago and he hoped the Milwaukee man assured of splendid futures and victory over huge obthat head of hair, under that lofty brow, was boiling would be forced to serve his time. He said if there stacles. One is The Proletarian published in Shangeven then a turbulent stream of ever was a traitor to his country Berger was it.
hai by our comrades of the Chinese Opposition. We images, thoughts, moods sometimes diverting comrade Trotsky a little NO USE FOR REDS have received the first four issues of the paper, which from the great road of history, compelling him someMr. Wicks has no respect for Socialists or radicals is in small format, averaging 48 pages per issue. It is times of any sort. Having associated with them intimately printed on a multigraph machine. The Chinese Oppochoose a too long way round, or, on the other for years he claims to know them exactly as they sition, like the American, is one of the youngest in the hand, to cut his way fearlessly through where it was inadvisable to go. But in all these searchings we had are and he says that they are all selfish opportunists International. It has tremendous difficulties in its who are simply after something for themselves. work, since it must encounter not only the official before us a deeply devoted revolutionary man, born He commended the deportation proceedings that have Party but the blood thirsty dictatorship of the Kuo Min to the role of tribune, with a tongue sharply whetted rid the country of many agitators and urged that other Tang.
and flexible as steel, slaughtering his enemies, and a foreign trouble makers be given the same treatment. The other is The Bulletin of the Opposition (Bolpen scattering in handfuls. like artistic pearls the He urged an Americanization program for the for shevik Leninists. published in the Russian language riches of his thought.
eign speaking workers and he said the American Le in Paris, for distribution mainly in the Soviet Union. LEADER OF THE REVOLUTION. gion is the one organization in the country which is It is a standard size magazine of 40 pages, and in And further: The articles at our disposal embrace doing good Americanization work.
cludes most of the recent writing of comrade Trotsky, a period of more than two years. from October 15, EXPELLED FOR DEFEAT letters from Moscow, and material on the problems of 1900, to September 12, 1902. The Siberian comrades Mr. Wicks was especially severe of the brand of the International Opposition. It is the first organ of read with delight these brilliant articles and awaited democracy that the various organizations subscribe to the Russian Opposition that has ever appeared. Details will be found elsewhere in this issue.
their appearance with impatience. Only a few knew He said when Victor Berger and Morris Hillquit were who was the author, and those knowing him never defeated leaders of the most control.
He told of attending the congress of the Communist Comrade Kurt Landau, leader of the Austrian Comof the greatest revolution in the world.
Party in Chicago where by use of a caucus about onemunist Opposition, writes us as follows: And finally the conclusion: fourth of the delegates controlled the meeting. In April, the city council elections took place in His protest against the pessimism of the de magLenin is a dictator, and Emma Goldman and Ben Graz, the second largest city of Austria, where we have netized Russian intelligentzia (Ahem. comrade TrotReitman would not dare to carry on the propaganda our main organization and where our paper, Der sky established later. Not in words, but in deeds he in Russia which they did carry on here. If they did Mahnruf appears. By tremendous sacrifices, we suc established it, shoulder to shoulder with the revoluit would be a firing squad for them.
ceeded in raising the costs of participating in the tionary proletariat of the great proletarian revolution.
The purpose of the revolutionists today is not deelection, and received 604 votes, beating the Stalinite For this great powers were needed. The Siberian vil.
mocracy. They want the rule of the militant minority. list, which only got 104 votes. After the elections, the Mr. Wicks charged that Syndica had been lage did not destroy in him these powers. It only furgovernment, and above all the social democracy began ther convinced him of the necessity of radically breakup in many instances by unions. He said there is no an intensified pressure upon our Graz organization.
question about the syndicalism of Foster, who was Our comrades there, who are mostly unemployed for ing, to the foundation, that whole structure in which secretary of the Steel Strike organization. He said many years, have had the city unemployment relief the facts described by him were possible. Siberian he knew Foster personally and was positive that the withdrawn from them. The Graz printing shops reFires, Nos. and 2, January and April 1923. late strike leader had not abandoned any of his synfuse to print our paper. We are now obliged to estabAlthough in some of his more recent appreciations dicalist beliefs. He also stated that the radicals were lish our paper in Vienna.
comrade Yaroslavsky may have rounded the circle at simply biding their time to call another strike.
The speaker could not find words to describe his Since this was written, the official Party in Austria 180 degrees, we must confess that in one respect he remains exactly the same: he is equally unbearable in disgust for the He charged them with being has experienced another of its periodical crises, once cowards and the scum of the earth.
more engendered by the machinations of the Master, slander and in praise.
Mr. Wicks is preparing to tour the country on the Stalin. The Opposition is forging ahead. New Opposition Papers of the Socialists who voted against them and retained Victory for Us in Austria recognized belonge do that she would be one of the