Published Iwice a Month by the Communist League of America (Opposition)
VOL. VI, No. (Whole No. 67 NEW YORK, APRIL 15, 1931 PRICE CENTS THE MILITANT Republican Revolution in Spair Ill. Miners Convention Penn. Sedition Act Seeks Victims order.
Alfonso has quit the soil of Sr.
the hourgeois republicans, assistext socialist allies, have proclaimed the.
As this issue appears, the rank and file the professional progressives of Hap cruelest effect. yesterday blunders of the lic. The universal acclaim with which miners movement against the treacherous good, Brophy, Stevenson and Co. who col Stalinists have come home to roost. The «leparture of the royal family was inet. dk reunion of the Lewis and Fishwick cliques lapsed and left the miners in the lurch at bankruptcies and defeats of yesterday burthe people furnishes eloquent testimony to in the United Mine Workers of America every decisive moment, and continuing to in the revolutionary movement just at the profound unpopularity of the monarchy.
will come to In head at a convention in use Alex Howati who udlowed Fishwick proclamation of the republic. the this particular moment, when the possibilSt. Louis to determine the course the min and Co. to use his reputation of bygone ities for a revival and consolidation are Spanish masses have taken their first big ers shall pursue. The movement which militancy as bait with which to entice the step in breaking with the old régime and especially favorable. Yet, with the miners has as its chief driving power the desire own towards establishing their rule tominers into the reactionary net with this (above all, in Illinois) rapidly experiencing morrow of the miners to cut loose from the domina agglomeration of pseudo and quasi progress a disillusionment with the two gangs of tion of the reactionary union skates, has ives the Muste group is seeking to establish labor leaders and ready for a new moveBut the bloodless victory of the repubalready won the support of some of the alliance over its domination of the new movement and lican socialist ment, the appeals of the National Miners the Spanish most militant section of the Illinois mine perform monarch guarantees neither the radical upassigned function of keeping Union are failing on deaf ears.
fields, of the new independent union in rooting of monarchical rule, the establishit from going red.
That is how the rank and file miners West Virginia, and of sections of the coal ment of the republic, nor the real people The Blunders of Stalinism are repaying Stalinism for the stupidities territory in Ohio, Indiana and Kansas. Berégime of tomorrow. The essential evils That the Muste group of reformists has and crimes of the past: for the bureaucratrayed, traduced, used by their leaders as with which the reign of the Bourbons inthus far succeeded in a measure to put it tic, arbitrary, supercilious regime in the pawns in dickers with the coal operators, flicted the people still remain. More, the self at the head of the rank and file move Left wing union which repelled those worksuffering the intense misery from the efrepublican bourgeoisie, even with the serment is eloquent testimony to the decrepit ers who sought in it a democratic instrufects of the general crisis added to the spe vile aid of the social democrats, is incapstate of the Communist movement, particu ment for advancing their interests; for the cific crisis in the coal industry the most able of solving any of the tasks which press larly in the Illinois mine fields, and to the irresponsible, adventurist, 111 begotten militant elements among the miners are with such burning urgency for solution.
virtually complete disappearance of the Na strike of last year, called without conovercoming the spirit of demoralizing and The Spanish bourgeoisie now in power tional Miners Union in that state. With the (Continued on page 3)
despair. It is these elements who are at is bound by a thousand threads to the old present most active in the work of laying monarchical system and the semi feudal rethe foundation stones for a new union movelationships on the land. In turn, the ment, based the class struggle, able and monarchy is intimately intertwined, in its willing to defend the interests of the minessence as well as in the person of Alfonso With the conviction of comrade Bill Lawrence and others under the Flynn Antiers, free from the bureaucratic and reachimself, to the prevailing mode of capitalLawrence, active militant of the Communist Sedition Act must not be allowed to pass tionary incubus that has destroyed the once ist exploitation. Proceeding from both of party in Philadelphia, who was tried, found powerful union of the American mine workwithout the creation of the broadest possi them are the ties with the reactionary guilty and sentenced last week under ble protest movement. These cases, and clergy. the big landowners, the military ers.
notorious Flynn Anti Sedition act of Penn others of a similar nature, are of the same cliques, all of which form the chain that The Unity of Fishwick and Lewis sylvania, the cases of other workers ar type as the case of the undersigned. Taken has, and still does fetter the emancipation The revival of the militant spirit so rested in that state under the same law together, they indicate that the ruling class of the people, of the workers and the peacharacteristic of the miners comes at the assume particular significance. In addition is engaged a brutal attack upon the sants upon whose misery the strength of end of a more than one year dispute between to a number of members of the Communist vanguard section of the labor movement the ruling class has been built.
two sections of the labor officialdom the party indicted under the act, there are two which must be repulsed by all the strength Bourgeois and monarch those two are International office headed by John Lewis Philadelphia members of the Communist at our command.
infinitely closer to each other than they are and the Illinois district, which split away League of America (Opposition. Leon Good Up to now, the contrary to to the proletariat and the peasantry. As man last year and established an autonomous and Bernard Morgenstern, against its long established policy, has refused to has happened before in history, and in union under the leadership such die whom the court has just returned a true give us anything but legal defense. which Spain history as well, these two ruling cdited touts of the coal operators as Fishbill, with their trial to come up in short means to destroy the class significance of forces will find no great difficulty in being wick, John Walker. This entirely unthe whole fight. We earnestly believe this reconciled in the face of an independent principled dispute came to a conclusion by It is clear that particularly through procedure to be a profound error calculated insurrectionary proletariat and peasantry.
court order. but in reality because the out Pennsylvania, the ruling class is pur to injure the fight against the Flynn Act. The monarchy is not at a definite end in union had been sapped to such an extent suing a deliberate policy of picking off In this connection, and bearing in mind Spain. Alfonso is far from having given that the diminished resources available to one militant after another, prosecuting them the general campaign being made against all up the expectation to return. In his deboth groups of the officialdom compelled quietly and dispatching them to years of militants a campaign which endangers the claration, he has proclaimed that he does them to seek refuge in each other arms. imprisonment for the crime of fighting the whole movement, we make the following not renounce any of my rights. am battle of labor. As usual, this vicious cam proposals to the for its immediate waiting to learn the real expression of Over night, Fishwick, who had de paign is being directed in the first place eonsideration. the collective opinion of my people. The nounced Lewis for every crime in the deagainst the vanguard fighters of the work united front conference, called bourgeoisie, which proved its capacity to calogue returned to the fold of this same ing class, the Communists, with the aim and organized on the broadest possible unload the king under pressure of the massLewis who, in his turn, had been working of intimidating labor as a whole and ham basis, should be held immediately for the es and out of fear of itself being unloaded.
tongue and pen with might and main to pering its struggle against the wage cutpurpose of drawing every labor organization is equally capable of effecting a reconciliaprove that Fishwick and his associates ting and standards lowering offensive of the into a compact body for the struggle against tion with the Bourbons under the preuswere scoundrels of the deepest dye. The bosses. It is on this basis, and in the gen the Flynn Act, for the release of those nre of other circumstances.
sudden reconciliation, however, did not re eral interests of working class solidarity already convicted under it, and for the de Can the new republican socialist comsult in bringing the miners rank and file that every worker and labor organization fense of those who, like ourselves. are bination rule, or shall we have in Spain docilely under the domination of the remust assemble their strength of fight back threatened by conviction.
united skates. Throughout Illinois, the outa repetition of the abortive republic of the capitalist prosecutors and defend the To conduct a widespread agitation 1873? That depends upon a number of inraged miners not only refused to pay dues class war prisoners.
al campaign for all the workers at present definite factors, primarily upon the next to the Lewis machine but expressed strong Morgenstern and Goodman were arrest. involved under the Flynn Act on a work stages in the development of the proletarsentiments for cutting loose from the hulk ed in Philadelphia for distributing the leaf ing class basis, so that the class significance ian movement. What is already quite clear to which the has been reduced, let on unemployment issued by the Com of the arrests, trials and convictions may is the attitude of the new rulers toand establishing in its place a new union, munist League, together with a circular be brought home to the labor movement. wards the working class which In West Virginia, a notorious scab field urging workers to attend the unemploy purely legal defense. such as is pro sisted it power. With because of the deliberate sabotage of organithe reacment demonstration organized on February posed in our case, is not only entirely in tionary fury that characterizes every exmtion work by the Lewis clique, the new 25th by the Communist party and the Left adequate but fit solely for liberal de ploiting class that has just come to power union movement has already assumed dig.
wing movement. On the basis of the de fense movement certainly not for a class even though by revolution it has already tinct form and embraces, according to varclaration in the League leaflet that only defense organization like the turned upon that section of the working ious reports, from 7, 000 to 000 members.
the socialist revolution can finally solve the To organize a mass meeting in class which has been first to manifest its In Kansas, for many years a stamping ills of the working class, the arrests were mediately to protest the conviction of com class independence. In Barcelona. center ground for militancy, the same sentiment made and the indictment set forth against rade prevails. To a lesser extent, Indiana and Lawrence, and to bring to popular of working class ferment, the rulers of the the two militants.
working class attention the danger of sim Catalonian republie crowned only the Ohio have echoed the aspirations of the The International Labor Defense, which ilar convictions confronting other workers day before. have proclaimed martial law Illinois miners.
its Stalinist commissars have sought to con already arrested. We propose that one of against the workers. killed two of them.
The convention to be held in St. Louis vert into one of their factional appendages, the undersigned defendants in the case ap and suppressed the 24 hours general strike.
on April 15, 1931 is the rallying point for at first refused to take up the case of these pear at this meeting as one of the speakers. How instructive is the violence with which this sentiment. The frcumstances and au two workers. At the united front confer These steps are proposed as prelimin the revolutionary republicans attack the spices surrounding its convocation furnish ence held a few weeks ago, delegates from ary a systematic and extensive fight revolution in permanence. an illuminating comment on the relationship the Philadelphia branch of our League were against the Flynn Act and the persecutions The Barcelona movement is only an of forces in the mine field. The prime moy unseated in the presence of the that take place under it. We make these initial skirmish. The proletariat of Spain ers officially in the fore for this convention national secretary, Engdahl. It was only proposals only because we are actuated by will yet have adequate opportunities to proare the progressives associated with the after protests from a number of workers the most earnest desire to achieve the duce its revolutionary Communist party and the Muste group. Keenly and branches of the to which we greatest possible unity of the militant move to place itself at the head of the popular aware of the spirit of revolt spreading refer elsewhere in this issue that the ment to rally the workers in a fight against nation The powerlessness of the bourgeamong the miners, these professional damp Philadelphia local of the latter organiza our common enemy. Our political affiliation oisie to solve the problems of the Spanish eners of working class militancy, yesterday tion agreed to take up the legal defense the Communist League (Opposition. people will be a source of strength to the open and concealed adjutants of Fishwick of Morgenstern and Goodman, which meant while it differs from that of other workers real revolution. Alcala Zamora, the proand Co. have taken advantage of the ab not to make a class fight in their case. in the impels us to seek the closest visional presi lent, and the government itsence of any substantial and genuinely mill To make clear their position and the posi and most loyal collaboration with the work self, have ready announced the protant leadership capable of opposing Lewis tion of the League, the two comrades have ers defense organization. We therefore gram of the new government, and it ism and have sought to ride the wave of sent the following letter to the Philadel anxiously await your reply to our proposals. is filled with the empty promises sound rank and file revolt. With yester phia Fraternally yours, with which the bourgeoisie always feeds day loyal agents of the Fishwick apparatus Comrades: Leon Goodman. the masses. The republic will guarantee like Wm. Daech and similars, joined with The recent conviction of comrade Bill Bernard Morgenstern (Continued on page 5)
to to to