BolshevismBourgeoisieCapitalismSocialismStrikeSyndicalismWorkers MovementWorking Class

July 5, 1919 THE REVOLUTIONARY. AGE 13 slavery and another guaranteeing the rights pers machine, in which are represented the national and international unions, and how the of seamen had both been rejected.
presidents of the great unions. Then begins a Federation has now power over them. But Gompers, in reply, adopted the usual tactics bitter fight between the great unions for the it has the power of life and death absolutely.
of accusing Furuseth of acting behind the back fragments of the little union; and the end is If a union does not behave if it becomes of the American delegation. He then went on that they partition it between them, like the too powerful or too radical, if it shows signs to say that while the provisions of the Labor Kingdom of Poland, or the Austrian Empire. of revolt then another great union is set on Charter were not adequate, the American dele Again and again in the Convention these to organize in its trade. jurisdictional disgation accepted them to help the workers of jurisdictional fights cropped up, accompanied pute ensues, both parties appeal to the Fedthe backward nations. He said that Ameri by the savage quarrels of the great unions eration and the machine gets in action and can labor, under the beneficent rule of the themselves forever pirating upon each other, revokes or suspends the charter of the offendFederation, had advanced more than the labor forever stealing each other membership or ing organization and orders its membership to movements of any other country in the world encroaching upon the boundaries of each oth enroll in the other. And if the members of the which of course is not true, since the work er trades; the increasing refinement and com defeated union do not obey, they are blackers of Europe have, during the war, gained a plexity of industry always bringing new quar listed, scabbed upon by the Federation union, position far in advance of the United States, rels, new adjustments, new partitions. and in some cases, forced out of their jobs.
as was proven by the Berne Trades Union The officials of the Federation are always Thus at this Convention witnessed the Conference; and that not only politically, but repeating phrases about the autonomy of the partition of the Jewelry Workers between the also in the purely trade union province of Machinists and the Metal Polishers. One dewages and hours.
The Left Wing Program spairing delegate of a union whose charter The ignorance of the delegates concerning had been suspended because it refused to subthe Labor Movement in foreign countries was (Continued from page 1o. mit to the disastrous ruling of the ederation, extraordinary, and deliberately fostered by the tion of mass power by the proletariat, taking addressed the chair: Gompers machine. According to the of on political consciousness and the definite di You have suspended our charter, he said.
ficials the of was the largest, most rection of revolutionary socialism. The mani That is equivalent to expelling us from the powerful, most advanced, most enlightened festations of this power and consciousness are Federation. But under the rules it requires a workers organization in the world. It had, not subject to precise pre calculation. But the two thirds vote of this Convention to revoke according to them, led the workers of the history of the movement of the proletariat a charter; isn that so?
world in inaugurating a Labor Day in fact, toward emancipation since 1900 shows the Gompers looked at his watch. He then enGompers claimed that the of first sug close connection between the revolutionary pro gaged in a low voiced conversation with old gested May Day to Europe! He added that letarian assertion and the political mass strike. Jim Duncan for a few moments, while the in Europe the workers did not dare take a The mass action conception looks to the delegate waited. Finally Gompers said: The full holiday on Labor Day, as Americans did general unity of the proletarian forces under hour of adjournment having now arrived; the. but celebrated on Sunday or at night, after revolutionary provocation and stimulus. In Convention stands adjourned!
work; a most remarkable statement! Accordthe preliminary stages, which alone come withBut while the machine appeared all powing to Frey, all democratic political reforms in the United States, including the Initiative in our pre determination and party initiative, erful more powerful than it has for years, the tactics of mass action includes all mass while the old time radicals kept silent, and and Referendum, were invented by Organized demonstrations and mass struggles which only a handful of comparatively new men sharpen the understanding of the proletariat Duncan of Seattle, Deutelbaum of Detroit, The delegates listended to the reports of the as to the class conflict and which separate the Sullivan of Salt Lake, Strickland of Portland, Foreign Labor Missions without a smile the revolutionary proletariat into a group distinct Ore. Brown of Providence, Birch of Seattle, hob nobbings with King George, King Victor from all others.
Grow of Los Angeles, Schoenberg, GorenEmmanuel, Clemenceau, the visits to Venice, Mass action, in time of revolutionary crisis, stein and the foreigners generally battled the art galleries of Paris, pleasure tours and or in the analogous case of large scale induswith the machine, there were signs of change banquets; the shaking of hands with generals trial conflict, naturally accepts the council form not to be disregardeed, and not disregarded and military heroes on the battlefront; and of organization for its expression over a conby the ever watchful machine. For instance, the ignorant abuse of the great Socialist move tinued period of time.
although there was a good deal of talk about ments of Europe, and of the tremendous La 8) Applying our declarations of party prin Bolshevism the first two days, the term was bor groups supporting them.
even laugh when Gompers was telling of the and realizing the need, in correspondence with They did not ciple to the organization of the Party itself; not again mentioned, but deliberately avoided.
But the most important symptom was in the International Labor Congress at Paris; at the highly centralized capitalistic power to be attitude of the radicals themselves. They were which, he said, he and the other American combated, of a contralized party organization, not disheartened by the results of the Condelegate (representing the employers. were we offer the following recommendations: vention. After all, it was what they had exin absolute harmony and complained bitterly a) Delegation by the National Executive pected, and at the end their attitude seemed that the Socialists attacked him as violently as Committee of a large measure of its administra to be that of men who had found what they the reactionaries!
tive powers, between intervals of meetings, to came to find.
All with whom talked were But what, you will ask, has all this to do a National Emergency Committee, composed very cheerful.
The Convention had proved with labor? True, the Convention denounced of three or more members of the National itself not only reactionary, but entirely out the usurping of legislative functions by the Executive Committee; this Emergency Comof touch with the Labor movement of the new courts, and also resolved to organize the Steel mittee to maintain the closest possible contact, era. It was not the rank and file which was Industry in the face of the most hostile trust with the work of the National office and to represented here; this was a gathering largelv in America. But these actions were in no advise with the Executive Secretary on all of national and international officers, profoundsense revcolutionary actions; they were merely matters where consultation is necessary, ly ignorant, profoundly selfish business men, to protect the Federation monopoly of the b) Strict control by the party organization looking out for their jobs. The radical commodity, Labor.
over all Socialists elected to public office: the delegates the Westerners and the foreigners.
The real business of the Convention was Emergency Committee, and the National, State as can be noticed, acting together were at the settling of jurisdictional disputes. Just as and County Committees to co operate with the last, thought, and finally, convinced that the one of the functions of the capitalist state is public officers within their respective jurisdic American Federation of Labor was nothing to settle disputes among the capitalist class, tions; immediate expulsion of all public officials but a putrid corpse, and that life was not in and to suppress the weak capitalists in favor of who refuse to accept the decisions of the it; that what new life shall come into the the strong, so the main function of Federation party.
Labor movement must come, not through the is the adjustment of troubles between groups c) Control by the party membership, bourgeois political machinery by which the of skilled workers, and the strengthening of through the regular party processes, of all Federation is controlled, but from the new the powerful at the expense of the weak. party papers and official publications; not by revolutionary impulse stirring at the bottom, little union is formed in a new trade. This committees or trustees not responsible to the among the workers on the job.
union grows, gets a charter from the Federa membership.
And they seemed to feel that the Thirtytion, becomes important enough so that the d) Like control of all party property, such Ninth Convention of the American Federation great national and international unions about it as offices, halls, etc.
of Labor had provided them with some pretty covet its dues paying membership, which e) Like control of officially recognized edu good propaganda against the Trade Unionism would strengthen their own financial and polit cational institutions.
of before the war, which, although it is not ical position. So they fall upon the little f) Establishment of a Central Lecture yet apparent, has gone as completely out of union and begin to compete for its member Bureau and of a Press and Information the world as Wilson Fourteen Points.
ship. Then the little union appeals to the Bureau.
Capitalism created the American FederaFederation; and the Federation appoints a g) Standardization of party platforms, tion of Labor. Without Capitalism there would committee to investigate, and this committee propaganda, dues and methods of organiza be no of And the end of Capitalism is composed of persons obedient to the Gom tion.
is in sight.