JANUARY
"Like a Prairie Fire Labor
Party Spreads: Movement Starts in Widely Scattered Localities
-- Enthusiasm and Loyalty in Hundreds of Letters [unsigned article
from The New Majority] [Jan. 4, 1919] This editorial from the debut
issue of The New Majority, official organ of the Chicago
Federation of Labor and the Labor Party of Cook County, trumpets
the fact that a labor party movement was spreading "like
wildfire." The movement had spontaneous origins, the editorialist
opines: "It started in many widely scattered localities
without prearrangement. No one tried to get it going in these
different places, but like Topsy 'it just growed.' Local unions
and city and state central bodies are organizing to get into
politics. Letters and telegrams are being exchanged between officials
of organizations and the wave grows bigger every hour. Men with
long experience in the labor movement have never seen anything
like this common desire, so enthusiastically expressed, for a
new deal in America." Secretary Ed Nockels of the Chicago
Federation of Labor, the organization which served as the advance
guard of this new movement, is quoted as saying, "Never
before in my 20 years' experience has there been such prompt
and enthusiastic response to any proposition sent out to labor
bodies as there has to this Labor Party plan."
"Labor's 14 Points,"
by The Labor Party of Cook County [IL] [Jan. 11, 1919] Taking a page from the political
playbook of President Wilson, the Labor Party of Cook County
issued this set of "14 Points" as general demands of
the emerging labor party movement. These "14 Points"
included such venerable trade union demands as the right to organize,
the 8-hour day in the 44-hour week, abolition of unemployment
through government works programs, and the democratic control
of industry. Also figuring largely were measures related to war
and its aftermath, such as an end to profiteering through the
establishment of cooperatives, liquidation of war debt through
inheritance and graduated income taxes, extension of the government
insurance provided to soldiers to the entire population and its
expansion in scope, and the establishment of "a league of
the workers of all nations pledged and organized to enforce the
destruction of autocracy, militarism, and economic imperialism
throughout the world, and to bring about worldwide disarmament
and open diplomacy." The restoration of "all fundamental
political rights" suspended during the war -- free speech,
free press, and free assemblage -- "at the earliest possible
moment" is sought. Seats for labor in government and the
peace conference were also demanded as part of the Labor Party's
"14 Points."
"Ex-Alderman Buck Joins Labor's
New Party: Leaves Republican Fold with Statement Charging No
Difference Between Old Political Groups." [unsigned article
from The New Majority] [Jan. 18, 1919] This article from the official
organ of the Labor Party of Cook County (Illinois) documents
an important addition to the organization -- former Chicago alderman
and progressive Republican activist Robert M. Buck. The journalist
Buck was soon to take over the reins as editor of The New
Majority and along with Chicago Federation of Labor officials
John Fitzpatrick and Ed Nockels would remain a leading figure
in the burgeoning labor party movement throughout the first half
of the 1920s. Buck declares that he had "long felt the uselessness
of the struggle to make the Republican Party responsive to the
first principles of democracy" but that since the war the
situation had worsened and the party's leadership had commenced
"hurtling the party further and further along the autocratic
highway toward imperialistic enterprise" contrary to American
values. The Democratic Party was deemed "no better,"
headed temporarily by Wilson "a forward looking man of conscience,
intellect, and power" -- but handicapped by petty jealousies
and insincerity in its program. As for the Socialist Party, Buck
deems that it "lost the esteem of red-blooded Americans
by its action on the war. When forward looking citizens, even
those who doubted the sincerity of the war leaders, supported
the war with the determination to do everything in their power
to make it a war for democracy, the Socialist Party officially
turned its face against such an effort." Consequently, Buck
believes, a new political party was necessary to defend the interests
of the workers, "who have been swindled out of that which
is theirs" by their exploiters.
MAY
"Socialist Party in Swing
to the Left," by Robert M. Buck [events of May 17-18, 1919]
This short news
snippet from the Labor Party of Cook County's official organ
documents the heated proceedings at the recently completed convention
of the Socialist Party of Cook County. The gathering had been
dominated by a Left Wing majority, Buck states, with "William
Bross Lloyd, multimillionaire" presiding and "Isaac
E. Ferguson, lawyer" steering "the radical element
to their triumph." The gathering had nearly erupted in a
riot the first day of the gathering, Buck observes, "but
the Sunday gathering was peaceful and orderly, after the withdrawal
of the moderate delegates, led by Seymour Stedman." "There
was talk of a dual organization during the heat of the conflict,
but so far as could be learned no definite steps have yet been
taken," Buck notes.
JULY
"Fred C. Ellis Plunges 5
Stories; Hits Walk: Cartoonist Escapes with Minor Fractures When
Painters' Swing Rope Breaks," by Robert M. Buck [event of
July 24, 1919] A
short anecdotal sidebar to the tumultuous history of 1919, this
news story documents the near-fatal fall of Fred C. Ellis, one
of the great political cartoonists of his generation. Ellis,
a regular contributor to The Liberator and The New
Majority, was working at his craft putting up an outdoor
advertising sign on the side of a 6 story building in Chicago's
North Side, when one of the ropes holding the scaffold from which
he was working frayed and broke, sending Ellis crashing feet-first
to the sidewalk 60 feet below. Miraculously, Ellis escaped with
fractures to both feet, his right hand, and his back -- another
sign painter had been killed in a similar accident nearby just
a few days previously when he fell through the roof of a car.
"I knew I was due for a drop," said Ellis, "I
was too far over to grab the guide line -- so I just set myself
for the spill. I figured if I could keep my head up I would have
a chance. It seemed like I was standing in the air while I was
dropping to the sidewalk. I remember seeing the fellows come
over and scoop me off the sidewalk -- then I lost consciousness."
Includes a photograph of a youthful Fred Ellis.
AUGUST
"Proclamation Concerning
the Race Riots by the Chicago Federation of Labor." [Aug.
9, 1919] Racist
violence erupted in the summer of 1919 centered around Chicago's
stockyards, pitting largely non-union black workers against the
largely unionized whites whom they replaced during the war and
after. This August 9 proclamation of the powerful Chicago Federation
of Labor places blame for the crisis firmly upon the employers:
"The profiteering meat packers of Chicago are responsible
for the race riots that have disgraced the city. It is the outcome
of their deliberate attempt to disrupt the union labor movement
in the stockyards. Their responsibility is shared by the daily
newspapers which are kept subsidized by the extravagant advertising
contracts of the packers..." Non-union black workers had
been imported to Chicago from the South in an effort to sabotage
the unionization efforts of the stockyards workers, the proclamation
states, adding that "organized labor has no quarrel with
the colored worker. Workers, white and black, are fighting the
same battle." Efforts were made to bring black workers under
the umbrella of unionization. "At every opportunity the
packers and their hirelings fanned the flames of race prejudice
and the fires of prejudice between strikebreakers and organized
workers, hoping for the day to arrive when union white men would
refuse to work beside unorganized colored men, so that the union
men, white and black, could be discharged and nonunion workers,
white and black, put in their places, until the spark came that
ignited the tinder piled by the packers and the race riots ensued,"
the proclamation declares.
"National Labor Party is
Born: Conference of Delegates Calls Convention at Chicago, November
22nd," by Robert M. Buck [event of Aug. 18, 1919] On Aug. 18, 1919, a national conference
consisting of 30 representatives of Labor Party groups from 7
states met in Chicago and determined to establish a national
Labor Party at a convention to be held Nov. 22, 1919. A temporary
chairman (Max Hayes of Cleveland) and 7 members were named to
to a temporary executive committee. The official organ of the
Chicago Federation of Labor and the Labor Party of Illinois,
The New Majority, was named the official organ of the forthcoming
party (subject to confirmation by the founding convention). A
basis for representation to the founding convention was decided.
"Call to the Convention to
Organize a National Labor Party in the United States." [Aug.
30, 1919] This
is the call for a convention to establish a national Labor Party,
to begin Nov. 22, 1919, in Chicago. The basis of representation
was announced as: "1 delegate from each state or local organization
with a membership of 500 or less and 1 delegate for each 500
additional members or major fraction." The convention is
said to be summoned for the "formation of a political party
of hand and brain workers based upon political, industrial, and
social democracy embodying the following: 1. Restoration of all
civil liberties. 2. The national ownership and democratic management
of the means of transportation and community mines, finance,
and all other monopolies and natural resources. 3. The abolition
of excessive land ownership and holding land out of use for speculative
purposes." "All Labor Parties and bona fide labor organizations
(including city central bodies) and cooperative societies"
are called upon to send delegates to the gathering.
OCTOBER
"Rethinking the Labor Party,"
by John M. Work [Oct. 20, 1919] Thinking in the Socialist Party about the possibility
of active cooperation with the fledgling Labor Party movement
began in 1919, as this column by former SPA National Executive
Committee member John Work demonstrates. Work directly quotes
the letter he wrote to the 1919 Emergency National Convention
of the SPA, calling on the organization to "make it legal
for a Socialist Party member to belong to the Labor Party or
the National Nonpartisan League, without forfeiting his membership
in the Socialist Party." These were organizations that "are
headed straight for Socialism, and will duly arrive if we assist
them," Work asserted -- but no delegate to the 1919 Convention
followed up on his suggestion. This article was written by Work
for publication in the Milwaukee Leader to further advance
this idea. "Fundamental changes in the social system are
going to be made one of these times. If we want to imprint our
ideas upon these changes, we must place ourselves in a position
where we can do so. Otherwise we shall look on while others do
it. Splendid isolation doesn't suit me a little bit. I want to
help build the new social order. To do so, I am willing to work
with all other organizations that are willing to federate for
working class purposes," Work states.
NOVEMBER
"Keynote Speech to the Founding
Convention of the Labor Party of the United States [excerpt]:
Chicago -- November 22, 1919." by Max S. Hayes On Nov. 22, 1919, over 1,000 delegates
from around America assembled in Chicago to help form the Labor
Party of the United States. After a series of nominations and
declinations, publisher and typography union member Max Hayes
of Cleveland (temporary chairman of the Executive Committee coming
into the gathering) was elected permanent chairman of the convention
by acclamation. Thereafter, Hayes delivered the keynote address
to the assembled delegates. "The time has come for us to
burn the bridges of the old political parties behind us, and
to rally to the new movement of the working people," the
former Socialist Hayes declares. During the war, the employers
had made pious pledges to uphold the right of the workers to
organize and collectively bargain, but in the aftermath of the
war, the employers and their political allies in Congress had
reneged: "They declared that the trade unions were controlled
by revolutionists, bolshevists, anarchists, and "reds"
-- the very names to strike terror into the hearts of the unsophisticated
-- in order to prejudice the minds of the people against organized
labor. Railway men, miners, iron and steel workers, all were
charged with attempting to bring about revolutionary chaos, a
thing that is furthest from their minds." The almost universal
support for the revolutionary regime of Soviet Russia among the
American working class is emphasized by Hayes biggest applause
generator, met with a standing ovation and delegates throwing
their hats in the air: "We know as Americans what our rights
are and we intend to enforce them. Our slogan is "America
for the Americans." Just as we believe in America for the
Americans, so will we stand for Russia for the Russians."
"Constitution of the Labor
Party of the United States: Adopted by the 1st National Convention:
Chicago, IL -- Nov. 22-25, 1919." Fundamental document of party law of the new Labor
Party of the United States, organized in Chicago at the end of
November 1919. The purpose of the Labor Party of the US is stated
as the organization of "all hand and brain workers of the
United States in support of the principles of political, social,
and industrial democracy." Governance is to be by a National
Committee consisting of 2 members from each state, 1 male and
1 female -- the first American political organization to establish
gender parity in its central administrative body. This National
Committee was to elect a 7 member Executive Committee and a National
Secretary-Treasurer to handle the day-to-day administration of
the party. Membership in the Labor Party of the US was to be
open to "all workers over 16 years of age, without regard
to race, color, sex, or creed, who subscribe to the principles
and purposes of the Labor Party, are eligible to membership."
There were to be two forms of membership, affiliation of national
and local unions and other groups, who paid a per capita tax
of 5 cents per month for their entire membership, as well as
individual at-large members, who paid 25 cents per month for
dues stamps. State organizations were empowered to establish
similar per capita taxes of their own. The primary party unit
was to be the "local branch" although no specification
of their minimum size and mechanism for obtaining charters is
given. The National Committee was given the power of expulsion,
with a sole party crime, fusionism, specified: "No member
of the Labor Party shall permit his name to be placed in nomination
by any political party other than the Labor Party, and no branch
of the Labor Party shall endorse the nominee of any other party."
"Declaration of Principles
of the Labor Party of the United States: Unanimously Adopted
by the 1st National Convention: Chicago, IL -- Nov. 22-25, 1919."
The 32 point program
of the newly organized Labor Party of the United States. "The
Labor Party is destined to usher in the new day of freedom in
the United States - freedom from the grind of poverty; freedom
from the ownership of government by big business; freedom from
the slave-driving of workers by profiteers; and freedom of the
men and women who buy food and clothing and pay rent from exploitation
at the hands of the money kings.... During the war, under the
cloud of alleged emergency necessity, the rights and privileges
of citizens of the United States were stripped from them and
guarantees in our constitution were suspended. Now that the war
is over, these rights, privileges, and guarantees are still denied
and withheld from the people by federal officials and state and
local officials who are under the domination of big business...
The day has passed when forward-looking citizens can hope for
progress, aid, or sincerity at the hands of Republican or Democratic
Party officeholders. The time has come for the workers of the
United States to force a clear line of cleavage and disengage
themselves definitely and permanently from old party ties and
henceforth support only those who openly espouse the cause of
the workers who constitute the large majority of our citizens
and do it under the banner of the workers' own party."
"The Labor Party Convention,"
by A.S. Carm [events of Nov. 22-25, 1919] In November of 1919, approximately 1,000 delegates
representing trade unions from around the country gathered in
Chicago to form the Labor Party of the United States. This is
the account of the gathering from the pages of the official organ
of the Socialist Labor Party. Max Hayes, former member of both
the SLP and the Socialist Party, was elected permanent chairman
of the gathering and delivered the keynote address. Carm indicates
that many of the the delegates were members of the AF of L officialdom
or past or present members of the Socialist Party of America.
Outstanding figure in the organization is said to be Chicago
Federation of Labor leader John Fitzpatrick, also a key figure
in the effort to organize American steelworkers into an industrial
union. Carm provides no evidence that anything of import was
accomplished by the gathering, which from his account seems to
have been dedicated largely to speeches from fraternal delegates
and socializing amongst the delegates.
JANUARY
"Vegetarians Arrested as
'Reds': Tailor Seized in 'Tolstoy' Cafe Freed on Showing Union
Card." [event of Jan. 2, 1920] Anecdotal news account emphasizing the dysfunctionality
of the coordinated nationwide "Palmer Raids" conducted
over the night of Jan. 2/3, 1920. B. Slater, an official in Local
104 of the Ladies' Tailors union, stopped by the "Tolstoy
Vegetarian Restaurant and Library" in Chicago to attend
a lecture on Vegetarianism. Slater found the restaurant filled
with policemen. He testifies that "I made for the door to
go home, when a husky guy asked me where I was going. The detective
told me there was no hurry, that I should stay inside where it
was warm and comfortable. Then they took a picture of us and
a patrol wagon drove up and we were brought to the West Chicago
Avenue station. They asked me if I belonged to the Communist
Party and I replied that I was not affiliated with any party.
They asked me to identify myself and I showed them my membership
card in the Ladies Tailors' Union. This seemed to satisfy them,
for they said they couldn't find anything against me, and they
let me go. They warned me, however, to keep away from the Tolstoy
Restaurant." Slater indicated that the nearest excuse for
calling the place a library was a few books in the rear of the
restaurant, and as far as he knew they all preached the Tolstoyan
doctrine of non-resistance.
"Call Off Steel Strike, Union
Drive Goes On: National Committee Says Men Can Go Back to Mills
While New Plans are Perfected," by Robert M. Buck [event
of Jan. 8, 1920] Beginning
Sept. 22, 1919, a enormous strike was conducted in the American
steel and iron industry, led by the National Committee for Organizing
Iron and Steel Workers headed by William Z. Foster. On January
8, 1920, with the strike effort under external pressure from
courts, police, politicians, and press and collapsing internally
the steel strike was terminated. This news report from The New
Majority includes the full January 8 statements made by the National
Committee for Organizing Iron and Steel Workers and resigned
strike leader William Z. Foster. Foster states: "The overwhelming
power of the steel corporations, the wholesale prostitution of
the press to the service of the employers, the unparalleled hostility
of the courts, the use of federal troops, the brutal suppression
of our rights of free speech and free assembly, the clubbing,
shooting, and jailing of thousands of our men, the use of city,
country, and state political machinery and peace guardians as
strikebreaking agencies - these and many more factors utilized
on a scale and with an unscrupulousness unknown before in industrial
conflicts, had served to break the ranks of the hastily organized
steel workers to such an extent that the strike had lost the
effectiveness necessary to have it lead to a settlement through
negotiation. According to the judgment of practically all the
organizers and officials in the field, to keep the strike on
longer would have been merely to punish thousands of our own
good men needlessly." With labor in short supply and large
numbers of orders unfulfilled amidst strong industrial demand,
future victories in issue of the duration of the working day
are predicted despite the failure of the Great Steel Strike.
APRIL
"A Yankee Convention,"
by Robert Minor. [April 1920] In this article from
the pages of The Liberator, Communist Party leader Robert
Minor expresses excitement over the growth of the cooperative
movement in America, not so much for that trend's ability to
lead to the long-run liberation of the working class, but for
its ability to bring together farmers and the urban working class
in a common cause. Minor here reports on the Cooperative Congress,
a national convention bringing together cooperative operators,
farmers' groups, labor unions, and the Plumb Plan League. Although
the gathering formally banned the discussion of politics from
its proceedings, Minor emphasizes the potential political importance
of the cooperative system, particularly as a provisioner of striking
workers. Includes several drawings by Minor of key participants
of the gathering.
MAY
"Wild-Eyed Palmer Waves Red
Flag: His Fake May Day 'Rebellion' Makes Him Laughing Stock of
Nation," by Robert M. Buck [May 8, 1920] According to The New Majority,
May Day 1920 was cynically used by Presidential aspirant Attorney
General Mitchell Palmer as a means of launching his bandwagon.
Instead of appearing as the nation's savior, however, Palmer
came across as a laughing stock: "In spite of front page
newspaper warnings by Palmer that the United States was to be
plunged into a bloody revolution May 1 [1920] by the 'reds,'
not a red revolted. No one expected them to, except Palmer and
his press agents. He built a man of straw, stuffed his pockets
full of bolsheviki literature, adorned him with false whiskers
and a red flag -- then kicked him to pieces, and announced that
the Department of Justice under his guidance had the 'reds' in
control. The whole 'red' scare was a farce from beginning to
end.... All the newspapers were agreed that the whole May Day
'red plot' was improvised to make political capital for Mr. Palmer
and for no other reason. " In Chicago 600 people were rounded
up by police as part of Palmer's anti-red campaign, most of whom
were merely "homeless persons tramping the streets in search
of a job or a place to live," according to Buck. In New
York, May Day hysteria ran rampant as well, with armed troops
and machine guns sent in to guard public buildings.
"Socialists Discuss Labor
Party League: National Convention to Decide Whether Union of
Forces May Become Possibility," by J.C. Laue [May 11, 1920]
Report from the
official organ of the Labor Party of the United States on the
deliberations of the Socialist Party of America with respect
to cooperation with non-socialist political organizations. Laue
is optimistic, writing: "It is almost certain that the convention
will recommend the party to continue its sympathetic attitude
toward all organizations that have cut loose from the dominant
political parties and that the way will be paved at this 1920
convention for a coalition of all radical groups in political
life after the fashion of the British Labour Party in which each
radical group will maintain its integrity but will 'go along'
without internal war against a common enemy." The Left Wing
Chicago delegation was opposed to this policy, the Right Wing
Wisconsin delegation in favor, the New York delegation taking
a center position, Laue believes, adding: "Practically every
delegate west of the Mississippi River is in favor of the coalition
and the outcome will be determined by the quality of the leadership
in the convention."
"Thumbs Down" is Socialists'
Edict: Can't See Labor Party -- Caution Governs Deliberations
at 8th Convention." (Unsigned news article from The New
Majority) [May 22, 1920] Contrary
to previous expectations, the Socialist Party did not liberalize
its anti-fusionism rules at its 1920 national convention. "The
Labor Party came in for a panning, and cooperation in this country
with other political groups whose views are in accord with those
contained in Socialist Party platforms was specifically turned
down by the convention," the article indicates. The report
indicates that a telegram signed by 30 delegates had been dispatched
to James Maurer of Pennsylvania, urging him to accept nomination
as Vice Presidential candidate on the Socialist Party ticket
but that "Maurer declined, as he had decided to link his
fortunes with the Labor Party of the United States."
JULY
"The Farmer-Labor Party Convention:
Chicago -- July 11-14, 1920," by Robert M. Buck The second convention of the Labor
Party of the United States, held in Chicago July 11-14, 1920,
accomplished three major things: the change of the organizational
name to Farmer-Labor Party of the United States, the nomination
of the group's first Presidential campaign ticket (Parley Parker
Christensen for President and Max S. Hayes for Vice President),
and the amalgamation with a major part of the Committee of Forty-Eight,
a national liberal organization whose political line was exemplified
by the magazines The New Republic and The Nation.
This day-to-day account of the convention from the pages of the
official organ of the FLP, The New Majority, recounts
the ebb and flow of the convention and ongoing efforts within
it to unite the organization around a progressive Presidential
candidacy of Wisconsin Senator Robert LaFollette.
"John Fitzpatrick Greets
Delegates: Room for All Useful Citizens in the Labor Party of
US, He Says." by Robert M. Buck [July 11, 1920] Keynote speech by Chicago Federation
of Labor leader John Fitzpatrick to the 2nd Convention of the
Labor Party of the United States. Fitzpatrick states that the
old parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, had kept the
working class hopelessly divided. Fitzpatrick declares that the
Chicago Federation of Labor "after going up against this
situation all of these years understood that thing then they
knew that a new day in politics must be brought into the situation,
if we intended to smash the old regime and to bring that new
day that we hoped for to the people. So, the declaration was
made that a labor party would be started, and we asked the rank
and file of the membership of the organizations affiliated with
the Chicago Federation of Labor what was their conclusions in
this matter..." Fitzpatrick draws attention to the positive
work done by the Bolshevik government of Russia and holds up
that working class government as a sort of model for America:
"But Russia has destroyed the situation, and has brought
into being a government of the people, representing the people,
and which takes into consideration the rights and activities
of the people in the way that the Russian people want them taken
care of. So, I am not worrying about Russia. Russia has done
a tremendous job. Oh, that the day was only near when the workers
in the United States would be able to concentrate their effort
and do a job such as Russia has done." This assertion was
met with "prolonged cheering and vociferous applause"
from the assembled delegates, according to the stenographic report
of Fitzpatrick's speech.
"The Farmer-Labor Party,"
by Upton Sinclair [July 25, 1920] Brief summary of the 2nd Convention of the Labor
Party of the United States (which changed its name to the Farmer-Labor
Party of the United States) by California Socialist author Upton
Sinclair. Sinclair writes that "Three or four days ago it
looked as if there were going to be a combination of all the
various liberal and labor parties, with Senator LaFollette as
candidate, and so I prepared a brief article, setting forth the
high opinion I had of Senator LaFollette, and how sorry I was
not to be able to support him for President. The next morning
I opened my paper and read that the various parties had swallowed
5/6ths of the Committee of Forty-Eight and the remaining 1/6th
of the committee had held a "rump" convention and had
adopted resolutions setting forth how disappointed it was. The
Farmer-Labor Party has nominated a man of whom I have never heard
before [Parley Parker Christensen], but he comes from the West
and is 6'4" high and weighs 287 pounds, and every pound
was found useful in handling a stormy convention." Sinclair
characterizes the Committee of Forty-Eight as having originated
with a "group of liberals who are tinged with Single Tax
thought," an ideology which Sinclair states was impractical
in the era of trustified industry. Sinclair characterizes such
parts of the Farmer-Labor platform as he has seen as "quite
wonderful reading" and indicates an ideological proximity
between the Farmer-Labor and Socialist Parties. "Apparently
it is too late to get the two groups together for this election,
so we who are going to support Debs can do no more than resolve
to do it as tactfully and persuasively as we can. If we must
oppose the candidate of the Farmer-Labor Party, let us at least
do it without bitterness and narrowness, without suspecting the
motives of those who have not traveled quite so far along the
path as we have," Sinclair volunteers.
OCTOBER
"Radicalism in Amerca,"
by Morris Hillquit. [October 15, 1920] This
article by Socialist Party NEC member Morris Hillquit in the
party's official organ reviews the two new political organizations
to emerge in post-war America -- the Labor Party (which transformed
itself to the Farmer-Labor Party) and the Communist Party. Hillquit
states that the Labor Party began from a principled position,
seeking fundamental change of capitalist society, but was quick
to sacrifice principle for expedience on the campaign trail,
destroying its working-class nature through a merger with the
"nebulous aggregation of middle-class liberals known as
the 'Committee of 48.'" To this amalgam was added the "purely
imaginary forces of the farming community," resulting in
an eclectic mish-mash slated for quick political extinction.
As for the Communist Party, Hillquit stated that while it was
"desirable" to have "extreme" groups within
the Socialist Party as a counterbalance to "any existing
tendencies to opportunism," in the current case the Left
Wing's position was not a "legitimate reaction" since
the SPA had taken "the most advanced international socialist
position" during and after the war. Instead, it was a "quixotic"
attempt to duplicate the Bolshevik Revolution in the United States
-- and effort which had shattered by "endless internecine
strife and successive splits" as soon as the negative program
of opposition to the SPA leadership was replaced by the positive
task of organization building. As a result, neither of the new
political groups had made "any essential contribution"
to American radicalism. "The Socialist Party still holds
the leadership in radical politics in the United States,"
Hillquit notes.
MAY
"Theses on the United Front
of Labor," a confidential document adopted by the Central
Executive Committee of the Communist Party of America at its
session of May 29, 1922. A
fascinating glimpse from the Comintern Archives at the thinking
of the governing CEC of the Communist Party with respect to its
United Front strategy. The majority of the American proletariat
was not conscious of its distinct class interests, the document
stated, and could gain awareness -- and usefulness to the revolutionary
movement -- only through its daily struggle over wages, working
conditions, etc. These struggles would expose reformist economic
and political leaderships as enemies of the working class. While
a broad united front might be constructed in the labor field
through the amalgamation process, in the political sphere established
parties claiming to represent the working class must be eliminated
from positions of leadership. Practice would prove the superiority
of the Workers Party's tactics, slogans, aims, and leadership
and a role of political leadership would consequently follow.
The Communists must become a factor in any Labor Party to be
formed in America. "We can achieve this end only if we anticipate
the formation of such a party and now adopt a policy through
which we will become established as a force in the political
struggle of the workers..." Any party emerging from the
Conference for Progressive Political Action would be retrograde
due to its eclectic class compositon, however. This organization
would dissipate working class power in "election campaigns
fought on the basis of petty ameliorative reforms and of schemes
for minor changes in the form of capitalist government."
Only a federative United Front Labor Party allowing the Workers
Party's continued existence "as a distinct organization
with a disciplined, educated membership acting upon a program
to give leadership to the struggles of the workers," complete
with "its full independence, its right of criticism, and
its freedom of action" would be acceptable, according to
these theses. Primary authorship of this document has been attributed
to Max Bedacht.
OCTOBER
"For a Labor Party: Recent
Revoltionary Changes in American Politics: A Statement by the
Workers Party of America, Oct. 15, 1922," by John Pepper.
Full text of a rather long pamphlet
published in this first edition by the Workers Party of America
without authorship noted -- two later editions attributed to
the pen of John Pepper. The pamphlet argues that while most previous
efforts have met with failure, the success of the Republican
Party -- originally a Third Party -- in establishing itself proved
that the Third Party tactic was viable. America as a nation was
in the process of becoming ever more centralized and bureaucratized,
tendencies favorable to the reshuffling of the political deck.
A mass Labor Party was the answer -- its long-term survival inexorably
linked to actual union participation in the organization. The
non-partisan "reward friends and punish enemies" orientation
of Gompers' AF of L was roundly criticized. Regardless of this
line of the national trade union bureaucracy, State Federations
of Labor around the country were standing up for a Labor Party
and a national organization along those lines was in the offing.
NOVEMBER
"The Workers Party and the
Labor Party," by C.E. Ruthenberg. [Nov. 1922] Executive Secretary of the Workers Party of America
C.E. Ruthenberg attempts to explain the relationship between
the WPA and a forthcoming labor party -- an institution which
Ruthenberg was being inevitably brought into existence by the
development of economic forces. This new party would be extremely
positive, he argues, noting that if such a party was established
and had "the support of millions of organized workers would
be the greatest stride forward in the history of the American
working class." It was the task of the Communists to "stay
with the masses in their struggles," Ruthenberg indicates,
and thus to participate fully in the labor party that was coming
to be.There would be no liquidation of the Workers Party should
any such labor party come about, however, for the educational
and agitational role of the party would remain, akin to the role
of the Trade Union Educational League in the unions -- leading
the working class and helping to transform the new party into
a Communist party. Ruthenberg offers two slogans to summarize
the task: "For a Labor Party!" and "For a stronger,
more powerful, better disciplined Workers Party!"
JANUARY
"Red Raid Scribe in Nonunion
Clan: Connections is Shown Between Michigan Cases and the Labor
Movement," by Robert M. Buck [Jan. 6, 1923] The grandfather of Right Wing
ultra-politicized "history" of American radicalism
was journalist R.M. Whitney, who was granted special access to
documents seized at the August 1922 raid of the Communist Party's
convention at Bridgman, Michigan by the Department of Justice
and then used this material as background for a sensational and
sensationalized series of articles in the Boston Transcript
and a 1924 book called Reds in America. In this article
Robert Buck of the Farmer-Labor Party reveals the linkage between
the organized anti-labor movement in America and the "red
raids" of the early 1920s. Historian Whitney is revealed
as the Washington, DC director of the "American Defense
Society," a nationalistic pro-business organization which
sought to establish "Home Defense Committees" around
America to stand ready to break the strikes of " irresponsible
agitators" and to work for the elimination of "labor
reds and outlaw strikes." The ADS also provided printed
propaganda to employers for insertion into pay envelopes urging
increased productivity as a means of reducing the cost of living.
The American Defense Society "folds itself in the American
flag and makes itself out a kind of an industrial Ku Klux Klan,"
Buck declares.
MARCH
"FLP in Move to Unite Forces:
Fitzpatrick Proposes July Convention in Chicago; Invite Other
Parties," by Robert M. Buck [March 17, 1923] In March of 1923, member of the
National Committee of the Farmer-Labor Party of the United States
and head of the Chicago Federation of Labor John Fitzpatrick
made a motion, later approved, to hold a special convention of
the FLPUS beginning July 3, 1923 in an attempt to bring together
the disparate working class political organizations of the United
States in common effort under the Farmer-Labor Party's banner.
The National Secretary of the organization was specifically authorized
"to invite all labor, farm, and political groups to send
representatives to the said National Convention of the Farmer-Labor
Party" in the effort to forge a common program of action.
While negotiation with the powerful Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota
for a joint convention with the FLPUS was ongoing, according
to National Secretary J.G. Brown, nevertheless the call for the
July 3 gathering was issued.
APRIL
"Letter to Otto Branstetter,
Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of America in Chicago
from J.G. Brown, Secretary of the Farmer-Labor Party of the US
in Chicago, April 11, 1923." This letter from the Secretary of the Farmer-Labor
Party to the Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party invites
the latter to elect delegates to the forthcoming July 3 national
convention of the FLP. Brown writes: "In the past, as you
know, the farmers and city workers have been either divided in
numerous minority parties with competing candidates at election
time or have supported the candidates of one of the old parties.
Where the latter course has been followed it has been with the
hope that if friendly candidates were elected consideration would
be given to the political demands of both divisions of labor.
Nearly all agree that results from any of the plans so far tried
have not been satisfactory. All felt the methods followed were
justified as being the best under the circumstances. Many have
waited and hoped that some group would take the step now being
taken by the Farmer-Labor Party and invite all organizations
and all parties to a convention where this grave situation might
be dispassionately discussed and, if possible, ways and means
found for solidifying political power of the workers as has been
done in other countries." The Socialist Party is asked to
forward a list of delegates to the convention and additionally
to contribute "any amount you can send" to help defray
the substantial costs of the convention.
MAY
"Monster Political Convention
of the Workers of America, Chicago, July 3, 1923. Every Local
Union, Central Body, Farm Organization, State, National, and
International Body and Political Group Invited. A Chance at Last
for Bringing About United Action of the Workers of Hand and Brain
on the Political Field. [Circa May 1923] Convention
call of the Farmer-Labor Party of the United States (J.G. Brown,
Secretary) to a July 3, 1923 gathering in Chicago called for
the purpose of "devising means for knitting together the
many organizations in this country in such a manner as will enable
the workers to really function politically." While established
national organizations were already invited, "the National
Committee felt the rank and file should also be represented,
and it was therefore voted to send credentials to all local and
central labor and farm bodies in the United States and urge that
delegates be sent to this most important convention." Local
organizations had simply to elect a delegate, have the President
and Secretary sign and stamp the form, and return a duplicate
slip by mail to the Farmer-Labor Party of the United States in
Chicago.
"For a Labor Party: Addenda
to the Second Edition, May 15, 1923," by John Pepper. There were three editions of
the pamphlet For a Labor Party produced over the course
of 1922-23, the second and third of which added additional commentary
reflecting the developing situation. This document collects the
vast majority of changed material from the original October 15,
1922, document (available as a separate file). Pepper excoriates
the action of the Socialist Party delegates to the December 1922
Cleveland gathering of the Conference for Progressive Political
Action, blaming them for the failure of the gathering to launch
the Labor Party anxiously sought by rank and file trade unionists
and poor farmers. Instead, the gathering chose to temporize,
barring the Workers Party from participation, passing a virtually
meaningless and watered down middle class platform, and following
the AF of L's line of non-partisan political action ("rewarding
friends and punishing enemies"). The decision of the Socialist
Party not to agressively pursue an independent federated Labor
Party was an act of premeditated treason against the working
class, in Pepper's view. It was left to the Farmer-Labor Party,
which bolted the CPPA following it's defeat of a proposal to
form a Labor Party, to organize this new federative group and
a call for a July 3, 1923, Convention to found a new party had
been issued. This July 3 Convention would "represent hundreds
of thousands, and will be the Þrst real step to an organization
of a mass party of the American working class," Pepper asserts,
adding that "the idea of a Labor Party is advancing, and
it can no longer be stopped."
JUNE
"Reply to the Farmer-Labor
Party: A Letter to J.G. Brown, Secretary of the Farmer-Labor
Party of the United States from a Committee of the Socialist
Party of America, circa June 1, 1923," by William Henry
et al. Official
reply of the Socialist Party to the April 11, 1923, invitation
of the Farmer-Labor Party for the SP to send delegates to its
June 3 convention in Chicago. The Socialist Party declines to
attend: "The Socialist Party fully agrees with the Farmer-Labor
Party as to the desirability of uniting the workers on the political
field. The only question is how soon and by what means this end
can best be attained. A necessary condition to the establishment
of a really powerful political party of the working class is
the active support of at least a majority of the great trade
unions. Unless there is assurance that this support is now obtainable,
any attempt at this time to effect the proposed "unity of
the political forces of the entire working class" would
result in disappointment. Is there reason to believe that a sufficient
number of powerful national and international unions favor independent
political action at the present time? We wish that we could answer
this question in the affirmative. Candor compels us to admit
that, while there are evidences of widespread discontent with
the parties of capitalism within the ranks of Organized Labor,
comparatively few of the great unions are yet ready to take the
decisive step of launching a working class party on a national
scale." The situation was seen as fluid however: "We
are convinced that working class opinion is fast evolving in
this direction, influenced thereto by the logic of events as
well as by the arguments of those who already advocate independent
political action. We think, however, that it would be a mistake
to force the issue prematurely, or to take such action as might
give a delusive appearance of political unity of the whole working
class without the reality."
"Statement in Reply to the
Socialist Party's Decision Not to Participate in the July 1923
Convention of the Farmer-Labor Party of the United States, circa
June 23, 1923," by Jay G. Brown Disappointment and pique is palpable in this response
of the National Secretary of the Farmer-Labor Party of the United
States to the June 19, 1923 declination of the Socialist Party
of America to participate in the forthcoming July 3 convention
of the FLPUS -- a special gathering which was intended to attempt
to unite the political activities of various working class political
parties under a common banner in the 1924 elections. The 1923
SPA convention had appointed a committee to reply to the FLPUS
before its adjournment on May 22, but a reply had not been received
until fully a month later, and this only after the letter of
declination was first published in the pages of the New York
Call. "To profess a desire for unity and then refuse
to discuss means of achieving it is not a very consistent attitude.
To withhold sending a communication for 30 days was discourteous;
to publish the letter before mailing it was to capitalize the
discourtesy," Brown declares. "The action of the Socialist
Party has been a disappointment to the Farmer-Labor Party,"
Brown states, adding that the Farmer-Labor Party "felt the
Socialist Party would be the last group to refuse. No obligation
was exacted in advance, no expense was entailed, no pledge to
abide by the findings was required." With the Socialist
Party opting out, the Farmer-Labor Party was faced with the prospect
of conducting a joint convention in just 10 days time with potential
allies on the far Left with whom it shared less in common --
the Workers Party of America and the Proletarian Party of America.
JULY
"Report of the National Secretary
to the Convention of the Farmer-Labor Party of the United States:
Street Car Men's Hall, Chicago -- July 3, 1923," by Jay
G. Brown Text
of the keynote speech of National Secretary Jay G. Brown to the
convention of the Farmer-Labor Party of the United States. Brown
recounts the FLP's disappointment with the Conference for Progressive
Political Action, which it broke with in Dec. 1922 over the CPPA's
refusal to endorse independent political action of the working
class (i.e. a 3rd Party). Brown indicates that the traditional
policy of the AF of L of "rewarding friends and punishing
enemies" has been a failure, leading to anti-labor policies
and a diminution of civil liberties from Republican and Democratic
administrations alike. "it is amazing that the workers of
both fields and factories can be induced to support candidates
of the Republican and Democrat Parties rather than massing their
political strength in a party of their own," Brown declares.
A "federated" labor party is called for by Brown, in
which affiliated organizations might retain their organizational
identity in a broad effort under an umbrella organization. Brown
posits the FLPUS as just this umbrella organization: "it
is worthwhile calling attention to the structure of the Farmer-Labor
Party itself. It is provided therein that political, economic,
and cooperative groups may become affiliated without being required
to forfeit any of their individual autonomy. If the present Farmer-Labor
Party could be constituted as or converted into the central body
of a federation it would have the advantage of being already
established, and in quite a number of states has the standing
of a recognized political party. Moreover, there are several
hundred local labor organizations already affiliated with it."
An agenda for the convention is proposed, in which the convention
of the FLPUS would adjourn, to be replaced by a conference of
those gathered attempting to forge a program and structure for
join federative action; thereafter the proposals of this non-binding
conference would be referred back to the FLPUS and other affiliating
organizations for consideration.
"Statement of Principles
of the Federated Farmer-Labor Party: A document of the National
Convention establishing the FFLP held at Chicago, July 3-5, 1923." During
the 4th of July holiday in 1923 a conference was held in Chicago,
conceived in large measure by the Workers Party of America as
the vehicle for its united front efforts, which established the
"Federated Farmer-Labor Party." This document is a
statement of political principles of this new organization, which
united elements of the old state Farmer-Labor Parties with representatives
of sundry workers', farmers', and radical political organizations
under the de facto direction of the WPA. "Today the government
of the United States is a government of, for, and by Wall Street
and the Þnancial and industrial system it represents,"
the document states. As a result "only one road lies open
for the industrial workers and farmers to protect themselves
against the exploitation and oppression of the Þnancial
and industrial lords who rule this country -- to organize a political
party representing the interests of the industrial workers and
farmers and enter into the political arena to wrest control of
the government from the hands of the Þnancial and industrial
masters who now rule in this country."
"Organization Rules of the
Federated Farmer-Labor Party: A document of the National Convention
establishing the FFLP held at Chicago, July 3-5, 1923." Constitution
of the Federated Farmer-Labor Party approved by the founding
convention of the organization. The group was to be directed
between conventions by a National Executive Committee based upon
proportional representation of affiliated organizations with
a designated set-aside of 5 for the old Farmer-Labor Party. This
National Executive Committee in turn was to elect a 7 member
Executive Council, the National Secretary, and National Chairman
of the organization. Dues were to be either on an at large ($1
per year) or per capita affiliation (1 cent per member per month)
basis.
"FLP Disowns the New Party:
Workers Party Takes Advantage of its Position as Guest to Start
Dual Movement," by Robert M. Buck [events of July 3-6, 1923]
After adjourning
as the convention of the Farmer-Labor Party of the United States,
delegates in Chicago reformed as a conference to forge a non-binding
umbrella organization for joint federative action of various
working class political organizations and trade unions. The Workers
Party of America, which had organized the election of delegates
to the FLP convention and conference, prepared a program, and
conducted itself as an organized caucus, found itself in a position
of hegemony vis-a-vis the Farmer-Labor Party of the United States
in the gathering. Rather than set up and recommend a non-binding
federative umbrella, the conference set upon establishing a formal
federative party organization, passing a constitution and program
and electing officers. Thus was born the Federated Farmer-Labor
Party. The FLPUS, intent upon its original vision of a non-binding
recommendation subject to approval by each federating organization
(and intent as well on retaining hegemony over the new organization)
recoiled from the WPA-inspired new party, walked out of its own
conference, and launched an acrimonious blast at the communists.
"The Farmer-Labor Party was graciously allowed 2 representatives
on a committee of 29, some members being added to the committee
on the floor of the convention at the last moment," New
Majority editor Robert Buck snidely notes. Upon the reporting
of a new constitution to the conference, "the Farmer-Labor
Party members, reporting as a minority, said that the Farmer-Labor
Party could not accept the new plan, which set up a new party
dual to the Farmer-Labor Party, in that it was almost a duplication
by its form of organization, and further, that the majority of
the committee proposed to steal the name of the party that invited
them to the conference." The Farmer-Labor Party met again
in a snap convention on July 6, 1923, Buck notes, with WPA and
other non-FLPUS delegates excluded. After 4 hours of heated debate,
a motion to appoint 5 members to the National Executive Committee
of the new FFLP was decisively defeated and the breach between
the two Farmer-Labor Parties was formalized. "The Farmer-Labor
Party remained intact following this severance, except for its
Washington state branch, the delegates of which bolted the convention
and attached themselves to the new party," Buck notes, additionally
slinging the epithet that those delegates seeking to remain in
the Federated FLP rather than sticking with the FLPUS after its
break with the new organization were "bolters."
"The FLP Convention,"
by Robert M. Buck [events of July 3-6, 1923] Editor Robert Buck of The New
Majority presents an editorial review of the happenings of
the eventful July 3, 1923 convention that saw the formation (and
subsequent disavowal) of the Federated Farmer-Labor Party (FFLP).
The Farmer-Labor Party of the United States (FLPUS) was uniquely
suited to serve as the umbrella organization for a British Labour
Party-style federative organization, in Buck's view; it alone
of the existing working class parties accepted memberships from
affiliated organizations on a per capita basis -- the others
being based solely upon individual memberships. This fact implied
that the organization should first establish deep roots with
affiliated unions rather than attempt to forge working agreements
with "other groups having a definite and different philosophy
than its own, until such time as it, the central organization,
the Farmer-Labor Party, should have worked up substantial strength
of its own," Buck states. Still, a section of the FLPUS
sought alliance with other parties of the Left to consolidate
their appeal to the working class, and the July 3 convention
was called to attempt to reach a working agreement with these
other Left organizations, particularly with the Socialist Party
of America and the Workers Party of America. The SPA was "
not ready for unity except with themselves" and declined
to even send a fraternal delegate to the July 3 convention, leaving
only the WPA as the target for united action. "Reports came
into the party headquarters that the Workers Party was packing
the conference with delegates from trade unions in which they
had enough members to have their own people named as delegates,"
Buck states, but the FLPUS did not burden themselves with much
concern about this, since the convention was perceived as preparatory
and subject to the ratification of the various constituent organizations.
However, "instead of a program for a plan to be carried
back by the delegates to their several constituents," the
gathering hastily moved upon a "plan for immediate organization,
including the election of a new National Executive Committee,
not in the future, but by that conference, then and there, which
they had packed and which they controlled," Buck declares.
The "guests" had failed to "behave themselves,"
and the FLPUS had moved to disassociate itself organizationally
from the new FFLP. Instead of joint action between the FLPUS
and the WPA, greater factional confusion had been the perverse
result of the convention, with the formation of a "dual"
Farmer-Labor Party in addition to the already existing organizations.
AUGUST
"The Farmers in the New Party,"
by Hal M. Ware. [August 1923]
While a great deal of analysis has been lavished upon the relationship
between the Communist Party and the trade union movement during
the Federated Farmer-Labor Party interlude of 1923-24, little
effort has been spent on examining the relationship of the radical
farmer movement to the new organization. This short article,
written by the leading CP specialist in agricultural affairs
of the first years of the 1920s, casts the relationship in a
glowing light. Farmers were burdened by staggering debt, Ware
says. He states they were ready to forge a coalition in a new
political organization dedicated to addressing their specific
needs, rather than continued reliance upon "farmer friends"
in the legislative branch, with their "miserable patchwork
legislation."
"The Federated Farmer-Labor
Party," by William Z. Foster. [August 1923] This long day-by-day account of the founding convention
of the Federated Farmer-Labor Party (July 3-5, 1923) was written
in the immediate afterrmath of the gathering by William Z. Foster.
This piece, published in the pages of the monthly magazine of
the Trade Union Educational League, is gushingly upbeat and positive
in its characterization of the founding convention: "Marked
by a tremendous outburst of militancy and enthusiasm, it was
a vibrant, thrilling, overwhelming demand by the rank and file
of agricultural and industrial labor for the formation of a powerful
political party of the toilers. Nobody who attended its sessions
will ever forget them." While Foster would very soon come
to regard the WPA's ideologically blinkered Farmer-Labor Party
policy and TUEL's subsequent loss of contacts and influence in
the labor movement as the greatest of debacles -- fuel for the
factional war inside the Workers Party over the next several
years -- at this precise moment he was positively ebullient about
the organization's prospects, it's founding marking a new epoch
in American political history: "A mass party, led by militants,
embodying the vital idea of a united political organization of
workers and farmers, and operating in the midst of the present
industrial and agricultural discontent, it is full of dynamic
possibilities," Foster declared. Foster dismissed the "supposed
[old] Farmer-Labor Party bolt" as a "lie widely spread,"
and he asserted that "the fact is that the most militant
elements in the FLP, carrying with them the bulk of the organization,
have declared for the new party."
"The Workers Party and the
Federated Farmer-Labor Party." by John Pepper [Aug. 1923]
The immediate
post-convention assessment of the new Federated Farmer-Labor
Party written by the chief adherent of the Farmer-Labor Party
tactic, John Pepper. Pepper depicts the new organization in the
most rosy colors, calling it a "militant revolutionary party"
and a "real mass party" to which 616,000 workers and
farmers are affiliated through their organizations. Pepper ironically
notes the contradictory behavior of Chicago Federation of Labor
leader John Fitzpatrick, who split from the Dec. 1922 meeting
of the Conference for Progressive Political Action in favor of
a labor party, but split from the July Convention establishing
the FFLP against formation of a labor party. "It is a pity
about Fitzpatrick," Pepper remarks, "He merited much
in the labor movement and was a good leader," but "the
road to revolution is paved with the poltical corpses of well-intentioned
leaders." The Fitzpatrick bloc consisted of "not more
than 50 or 60 delegates," Pepper says, noting "the
Workers Party was also in the minority" with a representatiion
"through various militant unons and other labor organizations"
of "not quite 200 delegates." Pepper says the WPA won
all four of the "great tactical batttles" which took
place at the FFLP Founding Convention -- the seating of every
delegate by the credentials committe, the report of the organization
committee to establish a labor party immediately, the continuance
of the alliance with the farmers in the report of the agrarian
committee, and the defeat of an attempt by the old FLP to adjourn
and reorganize a new party barring the Communists. In the establishment
of the FFLP at convention, the Workers Party had demonstrated
itself a "real communist party," Pepper states.
"Detroit Central Cans New
Party: Refuses to Affiliate with FFLP as Not Representing Farmers
or Labor," by Robert M. Buck [Aug. 4, 1923] While the Farmer-Labor Party of
the United States generally maintained an almost religious silence
towards other political organizations on the Left, the perceived
hijacking of the group's July 1923 convention and establishment
of a new organization bearing the FLP name was a bitter pill
to swallow. A bit of factional mirth can be discerned in this
New Majority news report of the new Federated Farmer-Labor
Party's difficulty in maintaining adherents. The latest defection
was that of the Detroit Federation of Labor, which after a 2
week investigation had overturned the decision of its Executive
Board to affiliate. In its official statement of disassociation,
the Detroit Federation stated: "The statement has been made
that the Federated Farmer-Labor Party was organized by the rank
and file of farmers and laborers and not formed from the top
down by big officials. An analysis of the representation at the
convention would seem to indicate that it was organized from
the outside with a view of imposing it upon the labor movement."
The claimed affiliated of membership appeared to be inflated,
the Detroit Federation stated, adding: "The Detroit Federation
of Labor would be very unwise if it would allow itself to be
stampeded into an abortive attempt to organize a labor party,
the reaction from which is apt to set back the organization of
an actual farmer-labor party."
OCTOBER
"To All Labor Unions in Chicago:
A Circular Letter Dated Oct. 31, 1923," by Joseph Manley
In the aftermath of the July 3-5,
1923 convention which established the Federated Farmer-Labor
Party there was a great deal of acrimony directed at the Workers
Party of America for their purported splitting of the farmer-labor
movement. This letter to Chicago unions, signed by Joseph Manley
(son-in-law of William Z. Foster and National Secretary of the
FFLP) answered these charges. The body of this letter is actually
a quoted letter stating the position of the Workers Party, signed
by the Executive Secretary of that organization, C.E. Ruthenberg.
Ruthenberg charges that it was the (old) Farmer-Labor Party of
Fitzpatrick and the Chicago Federation which "got cold feet,"
violated its previous understanding with the Workers Party, refused
any further effort at mediation of differences, and which ultimately
was ready to "sacrifice the labor party because Gompers
threatened them." The Workers Party was not at fault, Ruthenberg
stated: "If there was any split at this convention it was
not a split caused by the Workers Party. If there was a betrayal,
it was not a betrayal by the Workers Party. The split and betrayal
were the work of Fitzpatrick and the Farmer-Labor group."
NOVEMBER
"Letter from C.E. Ruthenberg
in Chicago to Morris Hillquit in New York, Nov. 3, 1923."
A cryptic note sent from the Executive
Secretary of the Workers Party of the member to the leading light
of the arch-rival Socialist Party of America. Ruthenberg notes
that he will be in New York on Nov. 8, 1923, and that he seeks
a conference with Hillquit to "talk with you" in regard
to an invitation sent by the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party to
labor political groups for a Nov. 15 conference in St. Paul.
This conference was an attempt to "come to an agreement
on the question of calling a national convention for the nomination
of a presidential candidate and the adoption of a national platform."
Despite the hostility between the two organizations, this document
affirms that there was at least informal discussion at the top
level about the possibility of joint action with regards to the
Farmer-Labor Party movement.
"Letter from C.E. Ruthenberg
in Chicago to Osip Piatnitsky in Moscow, Nov. 19, 1923."
A lengthy and illuminating review
of the Workers Party of America's Farmer-Labor Party strategy
as it rapidly evolved in the fall of 1923. Ruthenberg relates
the decision of the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party to call a convention
at St. Paul in May of 1924 for the purpose of joint nomination
of a candidate for President of the United States and adoption
of a joint program -- thereby uniting the various state Farmer-Labor
organizations, the Federated Farmer-Labor Party, and other labor
and political groups into a single organization. Upon learning
of this initiative, Ruthenberg states that the CEC immediately
sent him to Minnesota, where he met for two days with Minnesota
FLP officials working out the details for a November 15 pre-convention
conference. Interestingly, Ruthenberg states that it was his
initiative over "considerable objection" to extend
an invitation to the pre-convention conference to Morris Hillquit
of the Socialist Party in an effort to bring the SP and its popular
cachet into the new united organization. Ruthenberg also related
the decison of the CEC to declare a truce in the ranks of the
International Ladies Garment Workers Union, which was racked
by a severe struggle between the union administration of Sidney
Hillman and a TUEL-based left opposition. Hillman and the ILGWU
were to be key players in the forthcoming Farmer-Labor Party
movement, Ruthenberg indicated, while Hillman had the incentive
to play the public role of peacemaker, thus consolidating his
position in any forthcoming amalgamation of the ILGWU with the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers, believed by Ruthenberg to be in
the offing in the not too distant future. This document demonstrates
that volition in WPA action in the Farmer-Labor Party movement
came from the party itself -- that it did not blindly follow
"orders from Moscow" on this matter but rather acted
as it saw fit under the general line of the Comintern, providing
information of its specific actions after the fact.
"Our Labor Party Policy,"
by James P. Cannon and William Z. Foster. [Nov. 1923] The split of the Chicago Federation of Labor
from the Federated Farmer-Labor Party Conference of July 3-5,
1923, came as a stunning blow to the Communist Party's union-oriented
activists -- of which Bill Foster and Jim Cannon were in the
first rank. That the New York-based Central Executive Committee
attempted to spin the July Conference as a great triumph rather
than an unmitigated debacle came as an insult to this Chicago-centric
cohort. It was this matter that triggered a bitter factional
war inside the Communist movement that lasted for the rest of
the decade. This internal party document by Cannon and Foster
is a salvo against the New York leadership of John Pepper and
his co-thinkers. To split with the centrist progressive union
movement "on the grounds that they are not good revolutionary
militants is to reject the idea of alliance of the Communists
with other elements in the labor movement, and to repudiate entirely
the principle of the united front," Cannon and Foster charge,
adding that the result of the Federated Farmer-Labor Party blunder
was sectarian isolation. "We have lost the issue of the
united front labor party and are fighting now for our own labor
party, the Federated. As a consequence our comrades are largely
isolated, and face a united front of all other elements against
them." Convention delegates who voted for the new party
and returned to their unions either recanted under the onslaught
or were repudiated, Cannon and Foster state, noting "we
captured the delegates for three days, but we did not capture
their organizations for the FFLP. The claim that the FFLP is
a mass party with approximately 600,000 members has absolutely
no foundation in fact."
DECEMBER
"Communist Party Pays for
Farmer-Labor Party Convention," by Emil Herman. [Dec. 1923] This
unusual and valuable account by Socialist Party leader Emil Herman
briefly details the Washington state convention of the Farmer-Labor
Party, held in Everett over the weekend of Nov. 24-25, 1923.
Herman states that "the Federated Farmer-Labor Party was
born under the guidance and domination of the Workers Party"
and that the WPA had lent the Farmer-Labor Party $500 to fund
the mailing of its call for the Chicago FFLP founding convention,
paid the expenses of some delegates to a pre-convention caucus
meeting in St. Paul. Herman also stated that Washington FFLP
Secretary John C. Kennedy had received dues payments from at-large
members so infrequently that he was not even certain of the annual
rate. The Washington state convention voted to "cooperate"
rather than "affiliate" with the national FFLP, Herman
said, adding that the FFLP was "truly an incongruous mass
with aims leading in so many different directions that will end
in division or dissolution -- another object lesson in waste
of time, energy, and money for the benefit of a few politicians..."
JANUARY
"The Labor Party Campaign:
An Excerpt from the Report of the Central Executive Committee
to the Third National Convention of the Workers Party of America,"
by C.E. Ruthenberg. [Jan. 1924] The
Executive Secretary of the Workers Party of America reviews the
organization's activity for 1923 in the Farmer-Labor Party in
this report to the 3rd Convention of the WPA. The failure of
the WPA to have its delegates seated at the Dec. 1922 Cleveland
Confrence of the Conference for Progressive Political Action
combined with the FLP's withdrawal from the CPPA over its failure
to launch a new broad-based Labor Party spurred a move by the
WPA to join forces with the existing (old) Farmer-Labor Party
as its "united front" vehicle for joint political action,
according to this account. With announced decision of the Socialist
Party and LaFollette Progressive movement not to participate
in the forthcoming July 3, 1923, Conference to establish an new
"Federated Farmer-Labor Party," the old FLP began to
lose enthusiasm for the gathering, and a split with John Fitzpatrick
of the Chicago Federation of Labor took place at the gathering.
Ruthenberg is critical of the activity of the Chicago district
of the WPA in the aftermath and attempts to document this group's
mistakes in contrast to the "correct guidance" of the
Political Committee of the CEC of the Workers Party.
"The Farmers and the American
Revolution," by John Pepper [Jan. 19, 1924] One of John Pepper's most interesting
and thoughtful analyses of the state of American agriculture
and the Farmer-Labor movement -- an exposition of the core of
his strategic thinking about contemporary American economic development
from the perspective of a revolutionist. Pepper cites the statistics
of Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace as to the extent of
the deep crisis which rocked American agriculture throughout
the 1920s: even though the 1923 harvest had been vast, high costs
of tariff-protected manufactured goods and other production expenses
and low market prices for agricultural commodities had combined
to make agricultural profoundly unprofitable. Citing Wallace,
Pepper states that about 8.5 percent of grain-belt farmers had
already lost their farms to creditors with an additional 15 percent
in a technical state of bankruptcy, surviving due to the leniency
of creditors. This American agricultural crisis was the flipside
of the industrial crisis then wracking Germany and Great Britain,
with factories shuttered and millions of workers unemployed due
to an inability to sell manufactured goods to an impoverished
world. Over "big opposition in our Party" to the idea,
Pepper stated that the agricultural crisis was not temporary
and that "the most important revolutionary fact" of
the January WPA convention was the decision to make a "bold
attempt to place ourselves at the head of the farmers' revolt."
Pepper analyzes the composition of the American working class
and the WPA which mirrors it and concludes that "a revolutionary
movement in the United States, which embraces only the foreign-born
proletarian workers of the basic industries and only a narrow
stratum of the native-born workers, has no real hope of gaining
power without the support of the millions of native-born, working
farmers." In short, in Pepper's view the potentially revolutionary
condition was emerging in crisis-riven agriculture, not in the
trade union movement, thus his seemingly obsessive drive to construct
a class (i.e. Communist-led) mass Farmer-Labor political organization.
MARCH
"Call for the National Convention
of All Farmer Labor Forces in the United States: To be Held in
St. Paul, Minnesota - June 17, 1924" [March 12, 1924] The convention call which emerged
from the March 12 conference of Farmer-Labor groups, held in
St. Paul, Minnesota. While the Workers Party of America through
the Federated Farmer-Labor Party which it controlled sought a
May 30 date for the Farmer-Labor Party's Presidential nominating
convention, the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Federation sought a date
of June 20. Eventually a June 17 date was decided upon. This
convention call details the labor, farmer, and poltical organizations
which were able to send delegates as well as a five point "tentative
program" to which all organizations sending delegates must
subscribe. This "tentative program" included public
ownership, public control of natural resources, restoration of
civil liberties, an end to the use of the injunction in labor
disputes, and governent banking.
APRIL
"Theses on the Workers Party
Policy in the Elections of 1924," by Ludwig Lore & Moissaye
J. Olgin [pub. April 12, 1924] The March 17-18, 1924 meeting of the Central Executive
Committee dispatched three leading factional figures to Moscow
to argue the merits of their programs for the Workers Party of
America with respect to a formation of an American Labor Party.
William Z. Foster represented the majority faction, John Pepper
represented the minority, and M.J. Olgin represented the New
York-based "Third Faction" (which was personified by
Ludwig Lore on the party CEC). This is a document which Lore
and Olgin prepared for the consideration of the Executive Committee
of the Communist International explicitly detailing the ideas
of the "Third Faction" -- which was known as the "Anti-Third
Party Group" in the nomenclature of the day. While Lore
and Olgin in this period have long been regarded as committed
"2-1/2 Internationalists," this document does confirm
the analysis made by Ruthenberg that the "Third Faction"
criticized WPA policy from the Left. No support could be given
to a third bourgeois party and no United Front campaign run with
it, Olgin argues, as such a policy would smack of the sort of
political machinations for which the "old parties"
were held in contempt by the working class. Instead, the forthcoming
June 17 convention should be utilized for the establishment of
a firm "class line" "Labor-Farmer Party"
which would run campaigns in opposition not only to the Repubicans
and Democrats, but also in opposition to the forthcoming "third
bourgeois party" which was then seemingly being born through
the auspices of the Conference for Progressive Political Action
at its scheduled July 4 convention. "Only a clear-cut party
of labor and exploited farmers, controlled by organized labor
and farmers, acting through representatives of workers and farmers,
and nominating its own candidates on a definite class program
of labor and exploited farmers, can dispel the mistrust of the
labor masses, destroy their political inertia and make them fight
capitalism through political weapons with at least the same determination
as they have hitherto fought capitalism with the weapons of strike
and boycott," Lore and Olgin argue.
MAY
"St. Paul -- June 17th,"
by James P. Cannon. [May 1924] An
article from the monthly magazine of the Trade Unional Educational
League lauding the forthcoming June 17th Convention of the Farmer-Labor
Party, scheduled for St. Paul, MN. The St. Paul gathering was
held in parallel with a July 4, 1924 convention of the Conference
for Progressive Political Action, scheduled for Cleveland, which
the Socialist Party was not incidentally attempting to steer
in the same direction that the Workers Party was attempting to
take the FLP. Cannon's article attempts to explain this dualism.
The CPPA's "'sympathy' for the idea of a labor party is
a disguise to hide their actual allegiance to the capitalist
parties," he states, adding that the CPPA labor leaders
are unable to form a working class party "because they do
not have a working class point of view. They do not live like
the workers and they do not think like the workers." Only
the St. Paul convention offered a forum for the participation
of the militant working class rank and file, Cannon asserts.
"Circular Letter to All Units
of the WPA from C.E. Ruthenberg, Executive Secretary, circa May
1, 1924." This
circular letter to all units of the Workers Party of America
emphasizes an unpublished ECCI cable -- the content of which
may well have originated from the WPA itself and been dispatched
as a mechanism for building support of a controversial policy.
The cable reads: "Communist International considers June
17th Convention momentous importance for Workers Party. Urges
CEC not to slacken activities preparation June 17th. Utilize
every available force to make Saint Paul Convention great representative
gathering labor and left wing." Thus, Ruthenberg concludes,
"the Communist International has spoken" and "the
party must respond to this appeal of the Communist International."
In the 6 remaining weeks before the St. Paul Convention Ruthenberg
urges party members to (1) Distribute the June 17th Convention
leaflet in all workers' organizations; (2) Have every member
who is a member of a trade union, labor fraternal organization,
cooperative, or farmers' organization bring the June 17th call
before his organization and have a delegate elected to the convention;
(3) Support the call for the formation of state party in support
of June 17th; and (4) Raise the unit's quota of the "Farmer-Labor
Campaign fund" and send it immediately to the national office
of the WPA.
"Open Letter to the National
Executive Committee of the Socialist Party from the Central Executive
Committee of the Workers Party of America." [May 14, 1924].
As the pivotal
St. Paul Farmer-Labor Party Convention of June 17, 1924 drew
near, the political rhetoric about the gathering intensified.
This open letter to the governing National Executive Committee
of the Socialist Party called upon that organization to "immediately
sever its connection with and repudiate" the competing July
4th Convention of the Conference for Progressive Political Action.
Contrary to the expressed desires of the Socialists, the CPPA
would not yield an independent labor party, the open letter declared.
"Even [if] the CPPA through some miracle were to enter into
the political arena as a political party standing for independent
political action, what kind of party would come out of the CPPA?...
Its leadership belongs to the aristocracy of labor. The LaFollette
group in Congress which it supports is not the representative
of workers and farmers but of small business me, professional
groups -- the petty bourgeoisie. Out of the CPPA there could
only come a petty bourgeois Third Party, never a Farmer-Labor
Party standing for the class interests of the exploited workers
and farmers." The CEC of the Workers Party's open letter
declared that "If the Socialist Party wishes to retain any
vestige of a right to call itself a workers' political organization,
it will give heed to this demand. Today it is an enemy of the
movement for growing class action of farmers and workers through
its support of the CPPA, which denies and opposes such class
action and by its policy stands as an obstacle to the development
of a great mass movement of workers and farmers..."
"Communists Absorb Selves:
'Lefts' Pick Still Another Alias In Drive to Pack St. Paul Convention."
[May 24, 1924] This unsigned news
report from the pages of the New York Socialist Party weekly
The New Leader illustrates the depth of antipathy felt
towards the Communist movement by the majority of the Socialist
Party in the run up to the Farmer-Labor Party conventions of
the summer of 1924. The lead mockingly notes that "A new
'Labor Party' consisting of Communists united with Communists
and consolidated, federated, amalgamated, and joined with Communists,
was launched here Sunday when a group of Communists met, declared
themselves the 'United Farmer-Labor Party of New York State'"
and describes the refusal of the Schenectady Trades Assembly
to send delegates to the gathering, which was ultimately attended
by 92 people. "So far as is known, did not have a single
delegate from a bona fide Labor organization," the report
indicates, sarcastically adding that among the 16 members of
the executive of the new organization "are such well known
American 'trade unionists' as Ludwig Lore, Harry M. Winitsky,
Juliet Stuart Poyntz, William Weinstone, [Charles] Krumbein,
Noah London, [J.] Jampolsky, and [Benjamin] Lifshitz."
"LaFollette and the Communists:
The Statement of Robert LaFollette on Communist Participation
in the Progressive Movement, May 26, 1924." An open letter from the time of Sen. LaFollette's
independent campaign for President of the United States decrying
Communist participation in the Farmer-Labor-Progressive movement.
LaFollette, whose campaign was supported by the Socialist Party
to the extent they did not run their own candidate in 1924, here
calls the Communists the "mortal enemies of the Progressive
movement and democratic ideals" and declares that "all
Progressives should refuse to participate in any movement which
makes common cause with any Communist organization" -- meaning
the forthcoming June 17, 1924, Farmer-Labor Party Convention
to be held in St. Paul, MN.
JULY
"Workers and Farmers on the
Mark," by C.E. Ruthenberg. [July 1924]
An account of the June 17-19, 1924, Convention of the Farmer-Labor
Party, held in St. Paul, MN, by the head of the Workers Party
of America. The convention, dominated by the WPA, was attended
by over 500 delegates, who drew up a program and nominated candidates
for President and Vice President of the United States (Duncan
McDonald of Illinois and William Bouck of Washington, respectively).
The body also elected a National Committee, which in turn elected
a National Executive Committee, which included Alex Howat of
Kansas as Chairman and Clarence Hathaway of Minnesota as Secretary.
"Letter to the Central Executive
Committee, Workers Party of America in Chicago from M. Hansen,
Secretary of English Branch - Seattle, WPA, July 17, 1924."
The July 10, 1924
decision of the National Executive Committee of the Federated
Farmer-Labor Party (controlled by 5 WPA members of the 7 member
body) to abruptly terminate the candidacies of Duncan McDonald
for President and William Bouck for Vice President came "as
a bolt from the blue" to rank and file supporters of an
anti-LaFollette "real Farmer-Labor Party." This letter
from the Seattle English Branch to the center demands an explanation,
as the reasons for the abrupt shift advanced in The Daily Worker
are said to have "lacked sincerity." Hansen, the Branch
Secretary, writes: "There is in Washington a considerable
sentiment for a political organization so rooted in the economic
life of the organized producers as to be permanent and enduring,
and especially is this true of the delegates who attended the
Convention, and who were so favorably impressed with the attitude
of our Party. They had been convinced thoroughly that they did
not want LaFollette, which to them meant the death of their hopes
for a real F-L Party. Neither did they hold any hope for reaching
any considerable number of the masses through the WP direct.
They were enthusiastically behind the candidacy of the men named
in the Convention, and the withdrawal leaves them out on a limb
with our organization in the position of sawing it off next to
the trunk."
"Letter to M. Hansen, Secretary,
English Branch - Seattle, WPA, from James P. Cannon, Assistant
Executive Secondary, WPA, July 22, 1924." Reply of the Central Executive
Committee to the July 17, 1924 letter addressed to them by English
Branch - Seattle seeking complete and accurate information as
to the WPA's rapid change of course with regard to the Presidential
campaign of the Federated Farmer-Labor Party. Cannon replies
that the reports in The Daily Worker were, in fact, accurate
and that the WPA determined that dspite its best efforts to create
a United Front Farmer-Labor Party, this project was unsuccessful.
The two non-WPA members of the FFLP National Executive Committee
and a large section of the FFLP's supporters were in the process
of going over to the mass independent campaign of Senator Robert
LaFollette. Cannon states that after through discussion, "the
conclusion we finally arrived at, on the basis of the facts staring
us in the face, was that the Farmer-Labor United Front in the
present campaign does not exist, with the possible exception
of two or three states such as Minnesota, Montana, and Washington."
Rather than running a watered-down Farmer-Labor Party campaign,
around which there was no mass support, Cannon states that the
Communists were duty bound to run a campaign under their own
banner, and thus Foster and Gitlow were named as candidates,
to run a campaign "on a clearly defined revolutionary basis."
"Communists have to approach all these problems from the
standpoint of the Communist Party, which is identical with the
immediate and ultimate interests of the working class and which
is the only Party that stands for these interests.," Cannon
says, adding that the comrades of Local Seattle should talk frankly
with "such well-informed leaders of the Farmer-Labor movement
as John Kennedy and William Bouck" about the reasoning behind
the WPA's decision.
AUGUST
"Letter to George Bloxam
in Spokane, WA, from John C. Kennedy in Seattle, WA, August 6,
1924." Evidence
of the damage done to the WPA's United Front effort in their
1924 Farmer-Labor Party debacle. John C. Kennedy, head of the
Washington state Farmer-Labor Party and previously a close ally
of the Workers Party's effort to construct a radical mass national
Farmer-Labor Party writes to Spokane WPA member Bloxam: "The
action of the Workers Party in putting its own candidates in
the field and then having its members of the National Executive
Committee [of the FLP] disregard the plain intent and desire
of the St. Paul Convention [June 17, 1924] and withdraw McDonald
and Bouck and in their place endorse the Workers Party candidates,
has made it impossible for the Farmer-Labor Party of this state
to continue its cooperation with the national Workers Party."
The Washington FLP voted to follow the mass movement in endorsing
the LaFollette-Wheeler Presidential ticket and to put their own
full slate of candidates into the field as well. "Unquestionably
the LaFollette movement is the most spontaneous movement of the
producers along independent political lines for fifty years.
We feel it is our duty to participate in this movement, rather
than to stay outside hurling futile criticism at the masses who
are beginning to move in the right direction, even though they
don't see clearly their final goal," Kennedy notes.
