BolshevismBourgeoisieCommunismCommunist PartyDemocracyOpportunismSocial DemocracySocialismSocialist PartySovietStrikeSyndicalismWorkers MovementWorking Class

THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE Saturday, May 31, 1919 The Creation of the Finnish Communist Party FTER the defeat of the revolutionists in Finland, we must build on its ruins a new party the Commun the proletariat and the aspiration to crush the bourgepart of the Finnish Social Democracy found reist Party.
oisie, they said, but should the international prolefuge from the White Terror on the territory of Russia. Kuusinen described in detail the growth of the So tarian revolution fail, the imperialists of all lands Lacking a connecting centre these Finns scattered in cial Democratic Party of Finland, pointing to its would join hands for the purpose of strangling Soviet all directions, some even going to Siberia, so that now gradual conversionſ to opportunism and, as civil lib Russia. It would be better to be ready for all sorts over one hundred Finns have settled in Tomsk. erties were gained, to parliamentarism. He also of emergencies, and therefore, the fighting for civil The Organization of Finnish Social Democrats showed how the formerly strong trade union move liberties, their enactment by legislative measures, the Abroad which was created about this time was so ment of Finland gradually lost its revolutionary sig raising of the economic level of the workers, should much burdened with work in connection with aiding nificance, and finally at the height of its development be their immediate aims, as only through the accomthe refugees establishment of refugee colonies, sup became a purely reformist labor movement. He plishment of these aims would they ever be ready for plying work to thousands who were unemployed, org traced the manifestations of these facts during the the seizure of power.
anizing Finnish regiments of the Red Ariny that very revolutionary days while the revolutionary working After the discussion the Left Wing submitted the little attention could be paid to building up the Party were aspiring, moved by their instinctive following program which was carried by a vote of and agitation. In this respect the disorganization was class feeling, towards proletarian dictatorship, the 74 to 16, four abstaining from voting: complete.
leaders and the main organs of the Party centered The proletariat must resolutely prepare for In addition a part of the membership of the former their attention on legislative measures not within the armed insurrection and must discard the pre revoluparty, including some of the leaders such as Valpas bounds of dictatorship but of universal franchise; tionary methods of struggling: parliamentarism, trade Cheninin, only aided in the work of disruption. The putting in the forefront of their activities the gaining union and cooperative organizations and other such paper, Vapaus (Freedom. established in Petrograd of democratic liberties. This he declared was one means on which the Finnish Social Democratic Party after great difficulty, devoted itself almost exclusively of the main causes of the defeat of the revolutionists, had hitherto supported itself.
to criticising the revolutionary government of Finland, arguing that if the revolution in Finland had been Only a labor movement, based on Communist ignoring the inner party organization. But the spirit looked upon as a phase of the international proletar, teachings and having for its ultimate aim the Socialist of organization engendered through many years of ian revolution the Red Army could have been saved revolution is acceptable. The groups and parties who effort was bound to triumph. The masses, themselves, by retreating into Russia in face of the German reshare opposite views must be branded and their aglbegan to organize, to build up the Party: clubs and inforcements to the White Guards. But as the revtation among the masses resolutely combatted.
circles were established and soon it became necessary olution was regarded as a national phenomenon as a struggle of classes within Finland its international The aim of the revolution is the seizure of to call a congress to concentrate and connect the grown significance was lost and the Finnish workers isolated power by the proletariat; therefore its object is the ing organization.
abolition of the bourgeois state.
themselves.
Finally at the end of last August a congress was What was the use, lie asked, of organization and By the power of a proletarian dictatorship a held in Moscow. About 150 persons attended, but as propaganda work for fifteen years if at the decisive Communist social structure must be established, land, only a small proportion had definite credentials it was moment they could only advance such democratic factories and all means of production and distribudecided to accept all those who came to the congress. slogans as universal suffrage, constituent assembly, tion confiscated, and production and distribution oras members of the so called preliminary conference.
etc? He urged the building of a new Party on a reganized on Communist lines through the disciplined The question facing this conference was whether it turn to the Marxian basis, which had been ignored in power of the proletariat.
was now timely to restore the Finnish Social Demo the mire of parliamentarism and trade unionism. To conduct an energetic propaganda and agitacratic Party, which had been destroyed by the White In the lengthy discussion that followed the speech tion for the international proletarian revolution.
Terror, and to revise the program, tactics, etc. On two sharply digressing points of view were mani After the acceptance of this program the work of this question the Moscow and Petrograd Finnish fested: one for Communism and the other against it. the preliminary conference was finished and the Communist Clubs submitted propositions which had The opponents of Contmunism tried to evade the is 74 delegates who voted in favor remained to continue as a common basis: the former Party is dead and sue. They accepted in principle the dictatorship of the work of establishing the Finnish Communist Party.
Let us Clean House It us actively engaged in constructing the Co operative is that the so called leaders in the radical moveBy Alanson Sessions Commonwealth.
ment are little to be trusted. All of us can remember the time when John Spargo, Simons, But it has been a splendid lesson for the rank and We will overlook Mr. Stokes abysmal ignorance Ghent, Winfield Gaylord and Phelps Stokes with reference to the progress and accomplishments blecof American Socialists. It has taught them to were looked upon by their admiring comrades as paragons of revolutionary virtue. We now know, and is the fact that Mr. Stokes and all who shared his and leaders. It has taught them the necessity of hasing the Socialist movement firmly on the broad, should have known long ago, that leaders, no matter apostasy were never revolutionists at all. They were bent back of Labor.
ranks of the toiling working class, are not an asset labble in theory and probabilities and possibilities, Our national executive committee should not be but a serious liability Revolutionists who do their just as many of our upper class women tinker with composed of professors, editors and lawyers.
rebelling through boo publis. the capitalist reform for the excitement of the thing: When an age should be composed entirely of men directly repre.
press nearly always waver in a crisis.
gregation of energetic Socialists, taking Socialism sentative of our basic national industries. And not seriously, attempt to put it into practice in Russia, inntil this is done can we say that the political machinConsider, for instance, the career of John Spargo. these gentry recoil with horror.
ery of our party is thoroughly under working class.
Spargo, a few years ago, was very positive in his conThey harangued about the class struggle for years, control: Nor until this is done can we ever be sure tentions that a true Socialist could never be a nationthat the leaders will not desert us in an emergency alist. He vehemently asserted that the class war but call their comrades traitors and pro Germans the came before all other wars. Then in our first national moment they actually engage in it. They preached as they have done in the past.
crisis, Spargo dropped his internationalism and revolution, but now revile the revolutionists who are Let us have a proletarization of the Socialist Party.
whooped it up for a capitalists war. His latest volume, entitled Bolshevism, is an attempt to prove that in essence the spirit of Prussianism and BolsheThe General Strike in Canada vism are identical!
Some months ago Phelps Stokes wrote me a TIE TII general strike which a short time ago was cepted.
letter which contained the following: considered impossible in the Americas, now looms When labor is forging ahead the opposing forces yourself as being a Bolshevik. large and threatening. The second week of the Win always become anxious for the working man, lest his rights and liberties are endangered by the trust that you are a Bolshevik only as regards ideals, nipeg strike finds the workers daily gaining strength strike committee. But the workers have suffered so and that you do not think that it would be a wise while throughout the Dominion the idea of the force upon an unwilling electorate. For that is what our patienter med bike the living demonstration of the the hands of their masters that they can wel affora the Bolsheviki of Russia are trying to do. Millenia! Strike Committee in Winnipeg has the situation well own committees. This is the old of divide and conditions as a result of a long educational process, and of a in hand and their strength can be estimated from the conquer, but it has been worked out. The workers men and women can, through its instrumentality. ers are deprived of their highly developed form of political democracy that has suddenly manifested great anxiety lest the work their right of bargaining by individual factory proceed in safety to develop such forms of industrial Instead of giving to the workmen in any indi wake up to the fact that the more factories engaged life as in their judgment will be conducive to the wel vidual plant or industry the right of collective bargain in the bargaining the better the chances of success and fare of the whole community. cannot believe that ing with their employers he is quoted as saying the signs are not wanting that unless the employers and anything but chaotic conditions akin to those of Cap present plan deprives them of the right and places the Federal Government come to terms very shortly italism at its worst would result from the mere seizure them entirely in the hands of a central body; which they will have to do the bargaining not only with a of industrial powers here and there by groups aiming principle, the citizens committee of Winnipeg, pro Central Strike Committee for one town, but with a prime ily at promoting their own advantage. vincial and federal governments agree cannot be ac Central Strike Committee for the whole country. You speak be