CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DATE DUE ■"Itiiifcim.iln III _j-^j-4r\ ii .jw™r"T OJli f "■"**i*ij^ .,. GAYLORO PRINTED IN U.SA cornel. University Library HX86 .M55 The fed .conspir-^-^if olin Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030332781 The Red Conspiracy BY JOSEPH J. MERETO 1920 THE NATIONAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY 37 West 39th Street^ New Yorl^ This book proves the existence of the Red Peril. We publish it to warn America. We ask the help of every loyal American, organization and institution to put " The Red Conspiracy " in every home, school and library in the land. Price, cloth bound, $2.15 postpaid; in paper, $1.10 postpaid. Chapters of the book and parts of chapters can also be supplied in pamphlet and leaflet form for wide distribution. Write us for particulars. The National Historical Society 37 West 39th Street, New York I (i CI J J/ J (j\ 1 ^ I' Copyright, 1920, hy ffm National Historical Society INTRODUCTION As a mark of sincere gratitude for all that he owes to his Country from birth, the author of " The Eed Conspiracy " hereby dedicates his work to his fellow-countrymen, trusting that it will prove a bulwark of defense for our Star-Spangled Banner and constitutional form of government, now so violently assailed by disloyal American citizens, as well as by Marxian rebels from abroad who have deceived many of the uneducated or trained them in ways of evil. While "The Eed Conspiracy" will appeal strongly to all who are seeking a clear and comprehensive knowledge of Socialism, Bolshevism, Communism and I. W. W. 'ism, it will be of special value to the workingmen of America, as it will enable them easily to understand the fallacies of the Revolu- tionists and at the same time make them realize the serious dangers that would result from the adoption of any of the various radical programs. Friendship, indeed, the " Knights of the Eed Flag " profess for the laboringman. Such friendship, however, once it is understood will be spumed, for it is one which would plunge the sons of toil into a terrible abyss of injustice, deprivation and suffering — wrongs far greater than those endured from abuses of capitalism and partial corruption of some government officials. At the very beginning of this work, the author wishes to express his heartfelt sympathy for poor men and women who are treated unjustly by employers, as well as with all who receive too small a recompense for their wearisome labors. It is, indeed, a source of deep regret to us that in consequence of injustice and uncharitableness, there are to be found in this rich republic numbers of our fellow-countrymen, not merely men and women but even innocent little children, who can scarcely relieve the pangs of their hunger by the coarsest kinds of food and have naught but rags for clotlaes and huts for homes. Feeling deep concern for these poor people, and for all who suffer either from employers or from defects of government, we trust that " The Eed Conspiracy " will not only help toward remedying many of the evils that now weigh heavily upon the working class, but help to avert the far more dreadful evils that would iii iv THE BED CONSPIRACY result from tlie adoption of Socialism, Bolshevism, Communism, and I. W. W. 'ism. For many years the author has made a careful study of radicalism, and diiring that time has read not only many thousands of Socialist and I. W. W. papers, leaflets, pamphlets and books, but also most of the leading works against Socialism in the English language. "We have sought to gather an illumi- nating collection of quotations, not merely from standard Marxian publications, but froni the speeches of Socialists of unquestioned authority in the international movement. These open confes- sions of the Eevolutionists cannot fail to interest the reader and will certainly arouse the deep indignation of every fair- minded person against a propaganda of deception which is working fast to wreck modern civilization. K"o doubt the readers of " The Eed Conspiracy " will be interested to learn that many of the revelations made in this book are brought to light through purchase by the author himself of revolutionary papers and pamphlets on sale in the spring and summer of 1019 at the National Headquarters of the Socialist Party, the Chas. H. Kerr Socialist Publishing Company, and the National Headquarters of the I. W. W., all in Chicago, and also in leading Socialist bookstores of Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia. The matter obtained in these centres of underworld corruption and anarchy could not have been procured had the author ransacked every public library in the United States. Though loyalty and patriotism should always inspire us to defend our country against its foes, we must concede to the Socialists that human government, whether national, state or municipal, is by no means free from serious defects; and we are bound to admit that representatives of the American people, as well as men engaged in business and commerce, have too often been guilty of dishonesty, injustice and cruelty to the suffering poor. Law-abiding citizens, while very much regretting that wrongs such as these should exist, confidently hope to reduce them to a reasonable minimum by methods of social reform still more effective than those that have already brought to an end not a few of the evils prevalent in days gone by. Prudence and charity suggest to true social reformers reasonable constitutional and lawful methods by which to correct abuses instead of adding to their number by adopting Socialism. We have already seen too much -of the work of the " Reds " in Europe and in parts INTRODUCTION V of Mexico, and we do not wish to behold our fellow-countrymen shedding more blood and suffering graver evils, under Socialism, than they did during the terrible World War. Loyal and patriotic citizens of America, Judging from the progress that has been made in the past in matters of social reform, have every reason for looking forward confidently to the success of their efforts — unless, indeed, the Eevolutionists, by greatly increasing their numbers, should divide the working- men of our country into two big parties, comprising, respec- tively, the Socialists and the anti- Socialists, whose main purpose it would then be to fight each other instead of joining forces against social abuses. If the Eevolutionists should gain very large numbers of recruits, there would be, on the one hand, a great party consisting of those whose object it would be to destroy our present form of government, as well as the entire industrial system, and, on the other, an opposition party, embracing good citizens and men of common sense and intelli- gence, who, because of their realization of the blessings which privately-owned industries and our constitutional form of gov- ernment have bestowed upon the people of America, would be determined to shed the last drop of their blood in defense of them. The Socialists, however, are not satisfied with social reform, but are bent on the total destruction of our system of govern- ment and industry, holding the system itself, rather than the faults and shortcomings of men, to be by its very nature responsible for all the economic evils of the day. "Down with the Stars and Stripes " is their cry. " Abolish religion and the present form of marriage." " Atheism and free-love must reign supreme." Then, trusting that workingmen will admire any- thing, provided that it be adorned in sufficiently glowing colors, they paint such fabulous pictures of Socialism as the following: " Hundreds of thousands of former representatives of the state will enter various professions, and by their intelligence and strength will help to increase the wealth and comfort of society. Neither political nor common crimes will be known in the future. Thieves will have disappeared because private property will have disappeared, and in the new society everybody will be able to satisfy his wants easily and conveniently by work. ISTor will there be tramps and vagabonds, for they are the product of a society founded on private property, and with the abolition of this institution they will cease to exist. Murder? Wh-j? JSTo one can enrich himself at the expense of others, and VI THE RED CONSPIRACY even murder for hatred or revenge is directly or indirectly connected with the social system. Perjury, false testimony, fraud, theft of inheritance, fraudulent failures? There will be no private property against which these crimes could be com- mitted. Arson? Who should find satisfaction in committing arson when society has removed all cause for hatred ? Counter- feiting? Money will be but a mere chimera, it would be love's labor lost ! Blasphemy ? Nonsense ! It will be left to good Almighty God himself to punish whoever has offended him, provided that the existence of God is still a matter of con- troversy." (" Woman Under Socialism," by Bebel, page 436 of the 19io edition in English.) As an immense number of American citizens would not be led astray by these foolish promises, or by others equally absurd — recalling how political and common crimes, theft, murder, arson, perjury, worthless currency, blasphemy and political corruption have ruined ' Socialist Russia and made it a hell on earth — a dreadful revolution would be necessary to compel our countrymen to surrender their cherished rights. The Socialists, if victorious, after having set Tip a new form of government, modeled on their own low ideas of morality, would not only substitute a free-love regime for the present form of marriage, but, going still further, would avail them- selves of every opportunity for destroying religion. The evils, however, would by no means end here, for the new government, whose rapid decay would begin from the very day of its birth, would in a short time collapse and fall, and then the citizens of America would have neither a government to protect them from the ravages of criminals, whose number would be legion, nor yet any suitable system of organized industries for the employment of men and the production of the necessaries of life. Consequently, trials and sufferings incomparably greater than any of the present day would befall the people in the reign of anarchy that would ensue. It is to preserve our fellow-countrymen from ever having to endure such calamities that we have u.ndertaken this work, in which it is proven conclusively that the " Reds," unless quickly thwarted, will overwhelm us with unspeakable horrors of crime, rebellion, anarchy and destitution. CONTENTS PAGES INTEODUCTION iii Scope of Book, iii ; Value to Workingmen, iii ; Sympatliy for Labor, iii ; Quotations from Socialist Authorities, iv ; Revolu- tionists Set Back the Cause of Labor, v ; Bebel's Fabulous Picture of Socialist Possibilities, v ; Socialism Means War, vi. CHAPTER I SOCIALISM m OTHEE LAIStdS. Modern Socialism Dates from " Communist Manifesto," 1848, 1 ; Karl Marx, 1 ; Engels, 1 ; International Workingmen's Associa- tion, 1 ; " Capital " by Marx, the Socialist Bible, 2 ; Socialism in Germany, 2 ; in Bavaria, 4 ; in Russia, 4 ; Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, 5 ; Socialism In Austria-Hungary, 5 ; in Prance, 5 in Great Britain, 8 ; in Italy, 9 ; In Spain, 9 ; in Belgium, 10 , in Holland, 10 ; in Bohemia, 10 ; in Sweden, 11 ; in Norway, 11 ; in Argentina, 11 ; in Canada, 12 ; in Bulgaria, 12 ; in Mexico, 12 ; in Other Foreign Lands, 12. CHAPTER II GROWTH OF SOCIALISM IN THE UNITED STATES 13 Introduced from Europe, 13 ; Workingmen's Party, JS ; Socialis t Labor Party . 13 ; Socialist Democracy of America, 1 3 ■ j-inciaii^i t Paftv rtnTm l^hca. IH! Siti'milHI Ptir'lllllii'H Is. 1 4 : ' Mnrialiat Party Strife and Buynlsiui, m ; The Internatonal, 16 ; The First Inter- national, 16 ; The Second International, 16 ; International Socialist Bureau, 17 ; American Socialists and the International, 17 ; The Berne Conference, 18 ; The Third (Moscow) Interna- tional, IS ; Debs and American Socialists Recognized by Lenine, 20 ; American Socialists' Straddle Resolution on Berne and Moscow, 21. CHAPTER III THE SOCIALIST PARTY OP AMERICA DEVELOPS A LEFT WING 33 Revolution Camouflaged as Evolution, 23 ; " Yellows," " Reds," " Rights " and " Lefts," 23 ; Origin of the Left win^ -yi ■ Revolutionary Principles of the Left Wing, 24 ; Sympathy with Russian Bolshevism, 25 ; industrial UniOTiism Ad vncgtarl ;^R • Mass Action and Strikes the Prfiluae io Armed Rebellion, 26 ; " Moderate " Socialism Rejected by American Revolutionists, 28 ; To Overthrow the Ti-niterl States Government 30 ;_■ Text of Call to Mostfi-rf International, 31 ; American Socialist Party for " Industrial Unionism," 34. vii Viii THE RED CONSPIRACY CHAPTEE IV THE FEEE-FOE-ALL FIGHT BETWEEN THE EIGHT AND LEFT WINGS 35 Rowdies at Socialist Meetings, 35 ; Revolution in America " at Hand " 38 ; " Existence o£ the Party at Stake," 37 ; The Steering Committee," 38 ; Hillquit Says Left Wing is Not " Too Radical," 40 ; " Friendly Separation," 41 ; The Left Wing Gets More " Dictatorship " Than It Wants, 42 ; The Rights Expel and Suspend Tens of Thousands, 42 ; The Socialists' " Im- mortal " Executive Committee, 42 ; Manifesto of the Third (Moscow) International, 45. CHAPTEE V BIETH OF TPIE COMMUNIST AND COMMUNIST LABOE PAETIES 53 Left Wing Conference, 52 ; Left Wingers Split, 52 ; Call for a Communist Convention, 53 ; Too Many Would-Be Lenines and Trotzkys, 54 ; The " Firing Squad," 55 ; National Emergency Convention, 55; Who Called the "Cops"? 57; A Convention on Each Floor, 57 ; The Communist and Communist Labor Parties Organize, 57 ; Their Principles, 58 ; " Reds " No Worse Than " Yellows," 58 ; Bolshevism of the Socialist Party, 59 ; Utterances at the Emergency Conference, 60 ; Revolutionary Character of the Socialist Party, 65 ; Trachtenberg on Affiliation with Moscow International, 68 ; Glassberg Letter, 69 ; Victor D. Berger, 70 ; American Socialists Join the Third International, 74 ; Hillquit Encourages the Communists, 74 ; The Socialist Party's Revolutionary Manifesto, 71-75. CHAPTEE VI SOCIALISM IN THEOEY 79 Socialist Office-holding is Not Socialism, 77, 85 ; Collective Ownership, 80 ; I. W. W. Point of View, 80 ; Socialism Explained Diversely by Its Leaders, 80; Hillquit's Notion, 81; Debs' Demand, 81 ; American Socialists to " Capture the Govern- ment," 82 ; Analysis of Collective Ownership, 82 ; All 'Women to Work, 84 ; Atheism and Free-Love, 85 ; Poetry from the " Call," 86 ; Don't Judge Socialism by Reform Planks in Plat- forms, 87 ; Socialists Attack Their Own Social Reform Program, 89 ; Unpatriotic Attitude of Socialists in the War, 92. CHAPTEE VII SOCIALISM IN PEACTICE M Herron's Socialist Day Dream, 94 ; Communist Experiments in Russia and Hungary, 94 ; Socialism in Yucatan, 96 ; " Zapata, Great Socialist Leader of Southern Mexico," 97 ; Act of the Second : " Zapata, a Tyrant, Who Played a Huge Joke on 100,000 Confiding Workers Whom He Exploited," 101; Socialist Experiment in Russia, 103. CHAPTEE VIII THE L W. W 105 A " Dangerous " Organization, 105 ; Its Origin, 105 ; Industrial Unionism Explained, 106 ; Organization by Industries, 107 • I. W. W. Preamble, 107; Revolutionary Aims, 108; Conceptions of Right and Wrong, 108 ; Violent Tactics, 109 ; Revolution by Means of the " General Strike," 100 ; " Government Will Dis- appear," 110 ; Remuneration for Work and the " Man-Day " 111; Doctrine and Examples of Sabotage, 111, ' TABLE OF CONTENTS il CHAPTER IX :(NDUSTRIAL WOEKEES OF THE WOELD IK ACTION 114 I. W. W. Trials and Socialist Support, 114 ; Eevolutlonary Threats, 115 ; Plotting Against the United States, 116 ; I. W. W. Publications, 116 ; Propaganda Among Foreigners, 117 ; The Paterson Strike, 117 ; The I. W. W. Atheistic and Antl-Eellglous, 118 ; Arousing the Negro, 119 ; Arousing the Chinese, 120 ; I. W. W. Songs, 120 ; Socialists Favor the I. W. W., 122 ; Pre- tended Anti-Sabotage Policy of the Socialist Party, 124 ; Gene Debs in Love with Bill Haywood, 126 ; I. W. W. Attitude Toward Bolshevism, 128 ; Drawing Together of Radicals, 129 : " Left Wing " Socialists and the I. W. W., 131 ; I. W. W. Help In Establishing Russian Bolshevism, 133 ; Socialist Drift Toward I. W. W.'lsm, 135 ; Growth of Syndicalism Throughout the World, 136. CHAPTEE X BOLSHEVIST EULE IN" EUSSIA 138 Rise of Russian Bolshevists, 138 ; Bolshevist Constitution, 139 ; Land Confiscation in Socialist Russia, 140 ; Peasant Warfare, 141 ; The Russian Soviets, 142 ; " Liberty " in Socialist Russia, 145 ; Justice in Bolshevikl-land, 146 ; Bolshevist Atheism and Religious Persecution, 146 ; Church and State " Separated," 147 ; Michigan Left Wing " Lets the Cat Out of the Bag," 149 ; Education Under Lenine's Government, 151. , CHAPTER XI EUSSIA RED WITH BLOOD AND BLACK WITH CRIME 153 The Red Terror, 153-5 ; " Take Our ' Lives But Spare Our Children," 156 ; 500 Butchered in a Night, 157 ; Horrors of Bolshevik Prisons, 158 ; Atrocities and Tortures, 159 ; Petrograd, "City of the Dead," 160 ; 76 Uprisings, 161 ; " Criminal Ele- ment " in OflBce, 161 ; " A Lapse Into Barbarity," 162 ; Nation- alization of Women, 163 ; " The Bureau of Free Love," 166 ; Forcible Abolition of Celibacy, 167 ; The " Call " Lauds Bol- shevism, 168 ; " S. O. S., An Appeal to Humanity," 169 ; " Every Pore " of Russia's " Body Shedding Blood," 170 ; Lenine Working for World-Wide Bolshevissm, 170 ; Offlcial Bolhevist Organ in New York, 172 ; American Socialists Want Bolshevism, 173 ; Bolshevism's Economic Failure Revealed by Lincoln Eyre, 173 ; After Destroying " Capitalism " Lenine Seeks " Foreign Capital," 174; Bolshevism Has Sacrificed "the Health of Future Generations," 175 ; Trotzky Offers " Foreign Capitalists " a " Share of the Profits " from Russian Conscript Labor, 175. CHAPTER XII EUEOPEAN SPARTACIDES AND COMMUNISTS.. 177 Spartacldes of Germany, 177 ; Origin of Name, 177 ; Violent Principles, 177 ; Rowdies and EufiSans Approved by American Socialists, 177 ; Spartacan Terrorism, 178 ; Communists of Bavaria, 178 ; Terrorism in Munich, 179 ; The Peasants Rise While the Communists Plunder, 179 ; American Socialists Allied With the Scum of Bavaria, 179 ; Communists of Hungary, 180 ; Free-Lovers, 180 ; Churches Converted Into Music Halls, 180 ; Budapest Painted Red, 180 ; American Socialists Lined Up With European Thugs, 181. X THE KED CONSPIRACY CHAPTEE XIII THE BOLSHEVISM OF AMEEICAN SOCIALISTS. 182 Pink Booklet "About Russia," 182; I^enine Tells Why Bol- shevism Requires " A World Revolution," 183 ; American Socialists " Greet " Bolshevist " Ambassador," 184 ; Poem on Llebknecht, 185 ; The " Call " Endorses Communism, Bolshevism and Spartacism, 186; Hillquit Hails Foreign Radicals, 188; American Socialist Papers Are Bolshevist, 188-93 ; Debs a " Bolshevik " and " Flaming Revolutionist," 194. CHAPTEE XIV VIOLENCE, BLOODSHED AND AEMED EEBEL- LION 196 Socialist Riots, 196 ; Trouble at Gary, 197 ; Ha ywood Says Socialists are Conspirators Against U. S. Government, 199 ; Jack London on the International " Fighting Organization," 200 ; Berger Says Socialists " Must Shoot," 201 ; " Blow Open the Vaults of the Banks," 202 ; Baywoo d and Bohn«-Say the Social- ist " Does Not Hesitate to BreHK " the Laws, 203'; " I am f^w Abiding Under Protest," Ravs^ P^ bs. " and Bidd My Time," 20&; Scott Nearing " Wants War," 20,5. CHAPTEE XV I PATEIOTISM EIDICULED AND DESPISED 207 Socialists Against Patriotism, 207 ; American Flag Scouted, 207 ; "Honor the Uniform? No, Spit on It," 208; The "Call" Derides Our Soldiers Returning from France, 208 ; " I Spit Upon Your Flag ! I Loathe the Stars and Stripes ! To Hell With Your Flag ! Down With the Stars and Stripes ! Run Up the Red Flag!" 210; Debs Attacks the American Flag, 210. CHAPTEE XVI THE CONSPIEACY AGAINST OUE COUNTEY. ... 212 I. W. W. Conspirators, ^^; " The Future of Socialism Lies in the General Strike, Armecrlnsurrection and Forcible Overthrow of All Existing Social Conditions," 213 ; Left Wing Socialists by Strikes and Industrial Unions to Establish " the Dictator- ship of the Proletariat," 215; Government Raids, 215; Com- munist Parties for Overthrow of Government, 215-219 ; Social- ist Party More Dangerous Than the Communists, 219-21 ; 1 American Socialists Part of the " Invisible Empire," 222-4 ; Secret Resignations in the Socialist Party, 225-6 : Socialist Party tor " Mass Action," " General Strikes " and " Industrial Unionism " to Seize " the Industries and Control of the Govern- ment of the United States," 227-32 ; Winnipeg General Strike, 230-1; The Socialist Party Joins the Third (Moscow) Inter- national, 232-7 ; Imitates Moscow's Program and Methods, 237-40 ; Socialists Acclaim Debs, the Convict, 242-5 ; Hillquit Threatens the New York Legislature with a General Strike, 245-6 ; Socialists Disguise Their Principles at the New York Assembly Trial, 246-51 ; Walling Rejects Socialist Peace Pre- tensions, 251 ; The Russian Soviet Government Talks Peace While Its International Plots War, 252-7 ; Wholesale Law- Breaking of American Socialists Justified at the Assembly Trial, 257-62 ; Their Traitorous Principles and Propaganda, 263-86 ; Socialists " Enter the Government " to Destroy It, 266 ; Fore- warned Is Forearmed, 266-7. TABLE OP CONTENTS Xl CHAPTEE XVII SOCIALISM A PEEIL TO WOEKINGMEN" 268 Socialist Chaos and Anarchy, 268 ; Discontent in the Socialist State, 269 ; Perils of Confiscation, 270-2 ; Liberty Bonfls and Insurance, 273 ; Unworkable Labor Schemes, 273-7 ; Forcing Women to Work, 277 ; Political Corruption, 277 ; Quarrels Over Religion and Free-Love, 278 ; Lincoln Eyre Reveals Socialism's Economic Failure in Russia, 279-91 ; " Lenine and Trotzky More Absolute Than Any Czar," 281 ; Starvation and Disease, 282-3 ; Military Confiscation of Russian Labor, 283-8 ; Lenine and Trotzky Invite " Foreign Capital " to Share the Profits from Exploiting the Wage-Slaves of Bolshevlki-land, 288-9 ; Death for Russian Wage-Slaves Who Strike Against Their Socialist Task-Masters, 290. CHAPTEE XVIII THE CONSPIEACY AGAINST EELIGIOISr ABEOAD 293 Ingersoll Argument Refuted, 293 ; Economic Determinism, 293 ; Atheism of European Socialists, 294-5 ; " There Must Be War Between Socialism and the Church," 296 ; Socialists " All more or Less Avowed Atheists," 297 ; " No Man Can Be Consistently Both a Socialist and a Christian," 298 ; Socialism Persecutes Religion In Yucatan, 298. CHAPTEE XIX THE CONSPIEACY AGAINST EELIGION IN AMEEICA 301 Socialism Turns Ministers Into Atheists, 301-2 ; Spargo Says Socialism Cannot Tolerate Religious Schools, 302 ; Anti-Religious Poems in " Call," 303 ; The " Call " Has " No Use " for " Christ," 304 ; " Religion Spells Death to Socialism," as Socialism " Does to Religion," 805 ; " Socialism Logical Only When It Denies the Existence of God," 306 ; " Christmas Is a Crime," 307 ; Blas- phemous Socialist Catechism for Children, 308 ; A Socialist Says " Socialism Is Anti-Christ," 309 ; Hypocrisy of Hillquit, Berger and Other Leaders in Concealing the Socialist Party's Irreligion to Get 'S'otes, 310-15 ; Hillquit Says " Ninety-Nine Per Cent of Us" Are "Agnostic," 311. CHAPTEE XX THE CONSPIEACY AGAINST THE FAMILY 317 Socialist Books Advocate Free-Love, 317 ; Socialists Dodge the Truth by Arguments About Prostitution, 318-19 ; The " Call's " Poem on " The Harlot," 320 ; Socialist Advocates of Free-Love, 320-2 ; Victor Berger's Milwaukee Company Sells Free-Love Literature, 322 ; Free-Love Stuff Sold by Kerr and Company and the National Office of the Socialist Party, 323-9. CHAPTEE XXI THE CONSPIEACY AGAINST THE EACE 330 The " Call," chief Organ of the Socialist Party in New York, An Obscene Vehicle of Propaganda for Race-Suicide, Teaching " All Within Its Polluting Reach to Violate One of the Laws of the State of New York," 330-41. Ill THE RED COIfSPIEACY CHAPTEE XXII SOCIALIST OEGANIZATIOX AND " BOEING IN ". 343 Organizing Activity of Socialists, 342 ; Dues-Paying Members, Locals and Branches, S42 ; 400 Socialist reriodicals in the United States, 343 ; Use of Boolis and Leaflets, 344 ; Financial Support by Rich Radicals, 345 ; Red Propaganda to Proselytize Labor and Prom»tT5>Strikea, 346 ; Effect on tbe American Fed^ea- tlon of Labor, g47l I. W. W.'s " Boring from Within," g48J ; William .Jir^FostCTT An I. W. W., Leads the A. F. of L. Steel Strike. 848^ CHAPTEE XXIII ENLISTING EECEUITS POE THE CONSPIEACY. . 350 Socialist Sunday Schools, 350 ; " Catch Them Young," 351 ; Lesson 24 from the " Socialist Primer," 352 ; Socialist Propa- ganda Among School Children by Townley's Non-Partisan League, 353 ; The Teachers' Union of New York City, 354 ; The Inter- Collegiate Socialist Society, 355 ; Radical College Professors, 356 ; The Rand School, 337 ; Socialist Propaganda Among Immi- grants, 358 ; Socialist Naturalization Bureau, 359 ; The Red Curse Among Women, 339 ; Among Soldiers and Sailors, 360 ; Socialist Cartoons and Movie Films, 360 ; Making Rebels o£ Negroes, 361. CHAPTEE XXIY EXPEETS IN THE AET OF DECEPTION 363 Must Socialism Be Good Because Something Else Is Bad? 363 ; Socialist Party Platform Planks Unreliable, 365 ; Socialists Disagree on Land Ownership, 365-8 ; Government Ownership of Public Utilities Is Not Socialism, 369 ; Double-Faced Socialists, 370; The Burden of Proof Rests on the Socialist, 371; The " Lunatic " Sophistry, 372 ; Sophistry That Labor Earns All Wealth, 873 ; Vote-Getting by Advocating Popular Schemes, 375 ; Latest Dodge of Red Organizations to Hide from Prosecution by Changing Their Names, 375 ; The Socialist Party Not a Real Workingmen's Party, 376. CHAPTEE XXV THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE BEDS 377 High Time to Fight the Reds, 377; Read and Circulate Anti- Socialist Literature, 37S ; Warn Our School Children, 379; Quiz the Soap-Box Orators, 380 ; Expel Socialist School Teachers, SRO ; Tasks tor the National Government, 381 ; Oppose Socialism in a Nation-Wide Campaign of Education, 382. INDEX 383 APPENDIX 391 Convention of the Socialist Party of the United States. May 8-14. 1920. CHAPTER I SOCIALISM IN OTHER LANDS Modern Socialism may be said to date from the year 1848 when Marx and Bngels published their " Communist Manifesto," a pamphlet that has since been translated into almost all modem European languages and has to this day remained the classical exposition of international Socialism. Karl Marx, the chief founder of the movement, was bom of Jewish parents at Treves, Germany, May 5, 1818. After studying at Jena, Bonn, and Berlin, he became a private professor in 1841, and about a year later assumed the editorship of the " Rhenish Gazette,' a democratic-liberal organ of Cologne, that was soon suppressed for its radical utterances. In 1843 he moved to Paris where he became greatly interested in the study of political economy and of early Socialistic writings and where he subsequently made the acquaintance of Erederick Engels, his inseparable companion and life-long friend. Engels was born at Barmen, Rhenish Prussia, in 1820. He remained in Germany until he had completed his military service, and then moved to Manchester, England, where he engaged in the cotton business with his father. In 1884, while traveling, he met Karl Marx, and was banished with him from France in 1847, and expelled from Belgium in 1848, the very year that witnessed the appearance of the " Communist Manifesto." Not long after this, Marx and Engels returned to Germany, and were instrumental in fomenting a revolution in the Rhine Province in 1849. The revolt having been sup- pressed in the same year, both men sought refuge in England. Here Bngels was the author of numerous German books on Socialism and became best known by editing, after Marx's death, the second and third volumes of the latter's works. While in England Marx took up his abode in London where he became the first president of the International Workingmen's Association, whose influence was not limited to England, but extended to France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Poland, and even the United States of America. The active career of this associa- 1 2 THE BED CONSPIRACY tion embraced a period of about eight years, from 1864 to 1872. Its SIX conventions were largely devoted to the discussion of social and labor problems and it produced a lasting effect upon the Socialist Movement by impressing upon it a harmonious and world-wide character. By 1876 the International Work- ingmen's Association was ruined by the quarrels that had taken place between the more moderate faction under the leadership of Marx, and the anarchistic element under Bakunin. It had, however, by this time contributed wonderfully towards the spread of Socialism, for it had taught the working classes of Europe the international nature both of their own grievances and of capitalism. Closely rivaling the success of the International Working- men's Association in furthering the cause of Socialism was a book known as " Capital,'' an economic work the first volume of which was published in 1867 by Karl Marx. The author never lived to edit the second and third volumes, though after his death in London, March 14, 1883, they were published from his notes by Frederick Engels. This work, to which the Father of the Eevolutionary Movement gave the German title " Das Kapital," has long been known as the Bible of Socialism. Its systematized philosophic and economic doctrines besides having supplied the various national branches of the party with a common theory and program, in the main still constitute the creed of the immense majority of the Socialists the world over. Though " Capital " has suffered severely from the criticism of economists of many schools, and though not a few of its doc- trines have been rejected by present-day Socialists, its powerful influence still persists to a very marked degree. Supplementing this short historical sketch of the origin of the modern Socialist movement, short comments will be added concerning the Eevolutionary organization in the different countries of the world. In Germany the Socialist movement first took shape in 1862 under the influence of Ferdinand Lassalle. It made compara- tively slow progress until 1874 when the 450,000 Socialist voters returned ten members to the Eeichstag. An attempt on the part of the German Government to suppress the movement failed, and henceforth the party under the leadership of August Bebel, Karl Kautsky, George Von Vollmar, and Wilhelm Lieb- knecht steadily continued to grow in strength. Shortly before the outbreak of the World War the Socialists, besides occupying 110 seats in the Eeichstag out of a total of 397, polled about SOCIALISM IIJ OTHER LANDS 3 4,252,000 votes and published 158 papers, but a faction under the leadership of Bernstein had made great progress in its endeavors to transform the Eevolutionary organization into an opportunist party. Most of the German Socialists supported the vrar and the majority of their members in the Eeichstag voted for the war credits. Some, however, like Karl Liebknecht, the son of Wilhelm Liebknecht, opposed the imperial government and were imprisoned. Pressure, however, finally forced the government to release Liebknecht, who then delivered impassioned speeches throughout the country, stirring up the people against Kaiser- ism and the war profiteers and urging the soldiers to turn their weapons against the imperial government itself. While Lieb- knecht was defying the authorities, the naval forces mutinied at Kiel. The Socialists then called a general strike for Novem- ber 11, 1918, as a prelude to the revolution. Scheidemann and Ebert had been supporting the government of Prince Max of Baden, the successor of Von Hertling, as chancellor of the empire, and had deprecated the idea of a revolution. But when Scheidemann saw that the revolution was certainly coming and that he and his colleagues would probably be left stranded, he joined the movement with his powerful organization, stepped in and grasped the power. A national council of soldiers, sailors and workmen was formed at Berlin, but the provisional government was shaped by Scheidemann, Ebert and others of the majority Socialists by virtue of their excellent political machinery. The Ebert-Scheidemann government fought many a bitter struggle with growing radicalism. Their government represented the most moderate group of the Socialists and received the support of the Centerists and others because these were far more opposed to the Socialists of the extreme left, such as the Spartacan Communists. Several revolts engineered by the Spartacans were put down with considerable bloodshed. In January, 1919, soon after the defeat of the Spartacides in Berlin, Karl Liebknecht and Eosa Luxemburg, their leaders, were put to death, and their minority party seemed to diminish in strength. In the latter part of May, 1919, the majority Socialists of the reactionary Ebert-Scheidemann group were at first opposed to the signing of the Treaty of Paris, whereas the Spartacans, and also the Independent Socialists under the leadership of Hugo Haase and Karl Kautsky, tried to force their opponents to sign it, so that the people of Germany might 4 THE RED CONSPIRACY soon blame the "reactionaries" for the humiliation, and rise in rebellion to overthrow them. In Bavaria the anti-war sentiment spread rapidly, fostered by the efforts of Kurt Eisner. King Ludwig abdicated the throne on November 16, 1918, and Eisner took up the reins of power, forming a Socialist government. After a few weeks Eisner broke with the Ebert-Scheideniann government of Berlin, and soon after was assassinated. Not long after this the Bavarian communists imposed the Soviet form of government on the country, much to the dislike of many of the inhabitants, especially tho"se living outside of Munich. The peasants of Bavaria rebelled against the communist-soviet government of Munich, which finally fell, after the Noske-Ebert-Scheidemann forces had marched against the city. Very many years ago Socialists began to spread their doctrines as best they could in the realms of the Czar. Many a Marxian was arrested for attempting to undermine the Kus- sian government and sent into exile in Siberia. The World War having broken out, Eussia suffered terribly, and this suffer- ing, especially of the masses, caused great discontentment and made the people an easy prey to the revolutionary forces of Socialism. The bureaucratic Czarist regime finally broke down in March, 1917, as soon as the revolution started. Three main contending parties attempted to ride into power on the revolu- tionary tide; the Cadets, the Moderate Socialists (i. e., the Men- sheviki, and Social Eevolutionists) and the Bolsheviki or revolu- tionary Socialists. The Cadets were the first to gain the upper hand, but were soon swept away, for they strove to satisfy the soldiers, workers and peasants with abstract, political ideals. The Mensheviki and Social Revolutionists succeeded the Cadets. The demand for a Constitutent Assembly was one of the main aspirations of the Eussian Eevolution. It was on the eve of its realization that Bolsheviki, in November, 1917, by a coup d'etat seized the reins of power. The elections for the assembly took place after the Bolsheviki had gained the upper hand and the Bolsheviki were defeated. The Constituent Assembly was actually convened in Petrograd in January, 1918, but the Bolsheviki dispersed the parliament at the point of the bayonet. Eussia was then ruled by Lenine, head of the soviet system of government. The government was a " dictatorship of the proletariat," characterized by injustice, violence, oppression, and bloodshed, the Soviets being little more than tribunals of punishment and execution, instruments of terror in the hands SOCIALISM IK OTHER LANDS 5 of the Autocrat Lenine. The Bolshevist government has met with continual opposition from the opposing groups of Socialists in Eussia and has been attacked by the Allies, principally on the Archangel front and in the Gulf of Finland. The Finns, Lithuanians, Poles, Czecho-Slovaks, Eumanians, Ilkranians, and especially Admiral Kolchak's Siberian forces waged a relentless warfare against the Bolsheviki tyranny either for political reasons or to rescue the countless millions of Bussians who suffered so terribly from the Lenine system of dictatorship. By the latter part of February, 1920, the Lenine government seemed to be overcoming all military opposition.* The Socialists in Austria- Hungary as far back as 1907 could count 1,121,948 votes and 58 newspapers. Shortly before the end of the World War the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy fell. Austria and Hungary separated from each other and each became a republic. Count Karolyi was head of the new Hungarian government, socialistic in tendency. In the early spring of 1919, when Hungary was being invaded by Czecho- slovak troops, Italians and Rumanians, and was threatened with an invasion from the Allies Count Karolyi fled and the government fell into the hands of the radical Socialist, Bela Kun, who soon established intimate relations with the Bolshevist government at Moscow. One difficulty after another, however, especially the attacks of the Eumanians, soon taxed the strength of the crimson-red government; and in the summer of 1919 it succumbed to pressure brought to bear on it by the Allies. Notwithstanding the Bolshevist propaganda carried on in Vienna, the Austrian government down to February, 1920, has resisted all inducements to adopt Bolshevism. Modern Socialism in France was rather inactive previous to the outbreak of the Commune in 1871. Then, after the victory of the government forces over the revolutionists, many leaders * '■ The Bolsheviks — formerly a faction within the Social-Democratic Labor Party — have recently changed their name to Communist party to distinguish themselves from the other Social-Democratic groups. " The term Bolsheviks and Mensheviks date back to 1903, when at a congress of the Russian Social-Democratic Labor Party a difference arose on a seemingly unimportant question (editorial supervision of the party organ), when upon a vote which decided the question there naturally was a majority and minority. Those who were with the majority were nicknamed Bolsheviks and those with the minority Mensheviks, deriving their names from the Russian words Bolshinstvo and Menshinstvo, meaning majority and minority respectively." " The Soviets at Work" hy Nicolai Lenin, published, with foreword cmd foot- notes by Alexander Trachtenberg, by the Band School of Social Science, 6 THE RED CONSPIKACt of the Commune declared for Anarcliism, but f?ubsequently abandoned it as impracticable and devoted themselves to the propaganda of Marxian Socialism. After Jules Guesde and other communards were permitted to return to France, by the amnesty of 1879, the party at first developed considerable strength, but soon split up into several factions, with Guesde as the leader of the more radical wing and Jaures and Millerand at the head of the moderate parliamentarian group. In the election of May, 1914, the United Socialists under Jaures polled 1,357,192 votes, while the Eadical Socialists and their allies in the Caillaux combination cast 3,237,176 votes. During the World War most of the Socialists, especially those in parliament, supported the government. After the War the Longuet faction of the Socialist Party became the majority party, took over control of the great Paris Socialist daily L' Humanite and chose Cashin as editor. On April 6, 1919, a great demonstration took place in Paris in honor of Jaures, the Socialist leader of Prance, who had been assassinated at the beginning of the World War. This and the decisions taken at the Socialist party congress of the Federation of the Seine on March 13th, demonstrated the decided turn to the left that the Socialist Party had taken since, its previous congress in October, 1918. In the demonstration, consisting, perhaps, of 50,000 Socialists, cries of " Eevolution ! " " Down with the AVar!'' '■'Down with Clemenceau!" "Long live the Soviet!" and "Long live Eussia!" filled the air for three hours. "The Call," New York, May 19, 1919, thus comments: " The Socialist papers for several days appeared uncensored, though every line breathed revolution. Most startling of all, there were as many soldiers as civilians marching. " Seven days later the representatives of each Socialist local in the Department of the Seine met in convention to decide upon which of three resolutions they should recommend the coming national congress of the Socialist Party to adopt. The discussion was hot, and more or less revolved around the per- sonalities of the three leaders, Albert Thomas, Eight Socialist, Jean Longuet Left Socialist, and F. Loriot, Communist or Bolshevist. Broadly speaking, the Thomas resolution based its faith upon present political action and future political power; the Longuet resolution advocated a third International, without indorsing the third International held in Moscow in March, and the Loriot resolution indorsed the Zimmerwald resolutions SOCIALISM IN OTHER LANDS 7 (against all wars) and recognized the existence of the Third International established by the Kussian Bolshevik party. " Most of the discussion hinged upon affairs in Eussia with hoots of derision at every uncomplimentary mention of Bol- shevism, until the speaker either had to take his seat or qualify his criticism of the Soviet republic. " Both the Longuet and Loriot resolutions called the war the consequence of imperialistic anarchy and bourgeois ambition, both denounced the imposition upon Germany of an unjust, or Bismarckian, peace, such as was imposed upon Prance in 1871, and both mourned the assassination of Karl Liebknecht, Eosa Luxemburg, and Kurt Eisner. " The Longuet resolution was as strong in its declaration of solidarity with the Soviet republic of Eussia as the Loriot resolution was in opposition to all annexation of the Sarre Valley by France." The National Congress of the Socialist parties of France was held from April 19 until April 22, 1919. A motion by M. Kienthaliens demanding the adhesion of French Socialists to the Internationale at Moscow, under the leadership of Premier Lenin of the Bolshevist government polled only 270 votes. This resolution failed to pass probably because the Longuet majority faction desired the union of all the French Socialist parties. The Congress adopted by a majority of 894 votes, a resolution offered by Jean Longuet to the effect that the French Socialists are willing to continue to form a part of the Second Internationale, provided that all those who are Socialists in name only shall be excluded. On May Day, 1919, the Socialists manoeuvered a general strike of all labor in Paris for twenty-four hours. The press dispatches informed us that the shut-down was virtually complete. Not a wheel was turning on any of the transportation systems and taxicabs and omnibuses kept off the streets. All restaurants and cafes were closed and guests in the hotels went hungry if they had not supplied themselves with food before- hand. Even the drug stores closed. Theatres, music halls, and other resorts did not open. No newspapers were published and periodic stoppages occurred in the postal and wire services throughout the day. Industry on all sides was in a state of complete inactivity, work being sus- pended by every class of labor. There was considerable disorder and very many policemen and civilians were injured. In the elections of November, 1919, the Socialist vote 8 THE EED CONSPIRACY increased to 1,750,000, a gain of 40 per cent over that of 1914. On the 1914 basis of representation this would have given them 160 seats in the Chamber of Deputies; but their representation was actually reduced from 105 to 55, due to a new basis of representation and a new formation of districts. The French Syndicalists, of the Labor Confederation, had 600,000 members before the war and now claim 1,500,000. They were quiescent during the war, but their congresses of July, 1918, and September, 1919, showed a " tendency to return to the traditional revolutionary policy of French Syndicalism." In Great Britain it was not until 1884, when the Social Democratic Federation was organized by Henry M. Hyndman, that the Marxian movement displayed any notable activity. Its progress at first was extremely slow, but after the Independent Labor Party was formed in 1893 under the leadership of J. Keir Hardie with a view to carrying Socialism into politics, the revolutionary doctrines spread much more rapidly, " The Clarion" and "Labor Advocate," the two organs of the Inde- pendent Labor Party, helping wonderfully in the work. In 1883 the Fabian Society, an organization Socialistic in name and tendencies, was founded by a group of middle class students. It rejected the Marxian economics, and by means of lectures, pamphlets, and books advocated practical measures of social reform. Among the leading English Socialists of the more radical type have been Hyndman, Aveling, Blatchford, Bax, Quelch, Leathan and Morris ; while Shaw, Pease and "Webb were the leading members of the moderate Fabian Society. The vast majority of English Socialists supported the gov- ernment in the World War, but the Labor Party, mostly Socialistic, during that time engineered great strikes of the coal miners, dock workers and railroad men. A press despatch dated London, April 21, 1919, says: " The first gun in the long advertised campaign of Bolshevism in Britain was fired at Sheffield, where the British Socialists' annual convention, at its opening session passed a resolution urging the establishment of a British soviet government. " The resolution expresses admiration for the workings of the soviet system in Hungary and Bavaria. It declares war on the 'capitalist' system in Britain, attacks the policy of the peace conference toward Eussia and favors the distribution of revolutionary propaganda in the British army and navy." During the summer and fall of 1919, Socialist and Bolshevist SOCIALISM IN OTHER LANDS 9 principles continued to gain an ever-increasing and very serious hold on the people of England and proved a serious menace to the government in the general railway strike in October. In Italy Socialism has been making steady progress for many years and since the end of the World War has increased wonder- fully in strength. The party has greatly profited by the suffer- ing and discontent due to the war and especially by the failure of Italy to secure coveted territory after all her sacrifices and the victory of the Allies. On April 10, 1919, the Italian Social- ists manoeuvered a very successful general strike in Eome, but were prevented by the government forces from marching through the streets in any considerable numbers. About the same time disturbances were also engineered in many cities and towns of the country, especially in Forence and Milan. In the latter part of April, 1919, the Executive Committee of the Socialist party of Italy resolved to sever its connection with the Inter- national Socialist Bureau and the Berne Conference, in which there were many reactionary Socialists, and to affiliate with the newly established Moscow International, consisting of the various National groups of Socialists giving whole-hearted sup- port to Lenine and the Bolsheviki. On July 21, 1919, Italian Socialists conducted a general strike against the Eussian blockade. Industrial prostration resulted in whole provinces stopping all traffic and communication while Soviets were set up in 240 towns and cities, including Genoa and Florence. In the November, 1919, elections the Socialists secured 159 Deputies in the Chamber, having had 44 previously. They cast over one-third of all votes cast, about 3,000,000, as against 883,409 in 1913. The membership of the Italian labor unions is now estimated at 1,000,000, an increase of about 300,000 since 1917. At a national conference, in April, 1919, the labor unions demanded a change of the national Parliament into a national Soviet. In Spain, especially in the big cities and notably in Barcelona, Socialism has made steady progress and the Marxians have taken part in several upheavals. In the early part of 1919 the eleventh national Congress, which met at Madrid, elected Pablo Iglesias president of the Executive Committee and adopted aggressive measures for extending Socialist propaganda, espe- cially into the rural districts, and for establishing Socialist day schools and women's evening schools. The official organ of the party, " El Socialista," came in for a round of criticism because of its espousal of the Allied cause to the detriment, it 10 THE RED CONSPIRACY was charged, of the International principles to which it should have adhered. In the latter part of April, 1913, the Belgian Socialists, under the leadership of Bmil Vandervelde attracted the attention of the world hy attempting to paralyze the entire industrial system of the country by a general strike. Shortly before the outbreak of the World War, Belgium, with its comparatively small popu- lation, had about half a million Socialist voters, constituting approximately half of the electorate of the country. During the war the Socialists supported the government and since the war down to the early fall of 1919 have not caused any serious trouble. On November 16, 1919, the Socialist vote rose to 644,499, with election of 70 Deputies and 20 Senators, an increase of 21 Deputies and 5 Senators. In March, 1919, out of the 100 members of the Second Chamber of Holland, there were four Communists or Socialists of the extreme left and 20 of more moderate tendencies. The Communists published a newspaper called " The Bolshevist " and maintained relations with the Eussian Soviet Government and the German Sparticides. David Wynkoop, the leader of the Dutch Communists, is called " Holland's Little Liebknecht " and in a parliamentary speech openly threatened a general strike. There was a Bolshevist crisis in January, 1919. An assembly of international communists met at the Hague and Spartacide success in Germany was the only thing required to launch a revolutionary attempt, accompanied by a general strike and terrorism. The government then adopted stern measures. Civil guards were formed, and banks, newspaper offices and police bureaus were occupied by the military with machine gjins, the banks and newspapers having been previously equipped with wireless against the cutting of telephone wires. Wynkoop, in the company of workingmen, visited soldiers in their barracks asking them to join the movement, but the soldiers fired, killing three and wounding several. Efforts to corrupt the cavalry and the navy by similar means were not a success. Shortly after the overthrow of the Austro-Hungarian Govern- ment, the three Socialist parties of Czecho-Slovakia, which had been divided principally over questions of nationality, got together and their leaders of moderate tendencies were very sanguine over the outlook for a general victory at the ballot box in the near future. It appears, however, that the party SOCIALISM IN OTHER LANDS 11 was afterwards split into pro and anti Bolshevist factions, with a consequent decrease in political strength. In speeches made by several leaders at the Bohemian Socialist conference at Prague in the early part of April, 1919, it was decided that the alliance with the Entente should be maintained because reconciliation with Berlin, Budapest and Moscow would mean danger for the Czecho-Slovak republic. Bolshevism was described as the suicide of the proletariat, and it was urged that the working people of Bohemia should differentiate between exaggeration and methodic reform. In Prague, Pressburg and other cities troops clashed with the Communists and Social Democrats. On March 7, 1919, at a mass meeting addressed by three leading agitators from Prague, 40,000 workers, mostly miners, cheered assertions that the levo- lution of October 28, 1918, had not turned out well for the proletariat which was still being oppressed; that the Govern- ment of Prague was as weak as under the old Austrian regime Socialism in recent years has made considerable progress m Sweden. The majority of the Marxians seems to be of the moderate group, though the Left Socialist Party assisted the Lenine Government of Eussia. HJalmar Branting, the leader of the Moderate Socialists, addressing the French Socialist Congress in the Spring of 1919, bitterly assailed Bolshevism and issued a warning against it. Branting's Social-Democratic Labor Party has 86 seats in Parliament, while the radicals, who seceded to form the Socialist Party in 1917, have 12 seats, In this convention, in June, 1919, the Socialist Party voted to join the Third (Moscow) International, declared for the principle of the dictatorship of the proletariat, voted for " mass action " as the means of conquest and a Soviet organization of the workers. In the Socialist party of Norway the Bolshevist faction appears to be in control. After the revolution in Germany in the latter part of 1918, the Norwegian Socialists, in speeches and articles urged the laborers to organize revolutionary organizations similar to those in soviet Eussia, provide them- selves with arms and be ready for a revolutionary uprising to overthrow the government. The party congress in 1919 joined the Third (Moscow) International and adopted "mass action" as tactics and preparation for a general strike. The Socialists were very active in Argentina after the ending of the World War and were the back-bone of the serious and prolonged disturbances ui Buenos Aires, In the latter part of 12 THE EED CONSPIRACY April, 1919, the Pan-American Socialist Conference was held in the Argentine capital. Its purpose was to promote the amalgamation of all the Socialist and labor organizations of the Western Hemisphere into one body. In South America Socialism is best organized in Argentine, Chile and Peru, and weakest in Brazil and Colombia. In Canada, at least till the summer of 1919, the Marxian forces were gaining in strength daily. This was especially true of the western part of the Dominion, where the radical indus- trial union, generally called in Canada the " One Big Union," has become very influential. Serious strikes with Bolshevist tendencies took place throughout the Dominion, especially in Winnipeg in the spring of 1919. Bulgaria has two Socialist parties, the Moderates and the Conununist Party, the latter affiliated with the Third (Mos- cow) International. In the August, 1919, election the Moderate Socialist members in the " Sobranie " or Chamber of Deputies decreased from 46 to 39, while the Communists increased their Deputies from 10 to 47. Mexico, on our southern border, has added " industrial unionism" to her Socialist movement. At the Socialist Party convention in the fall of 1919 a part of the organization seceded and reorganized as the Communist Party. Besides the many millions of Socialists in the countries already referred to, the Marxians are well organized and are making rapid strides in Serbia, Denmark, Greece, Switzerland, the Balkan States, Australia, New Zealand and even in Soutli Africa and far distant Japan and China. CHAPTEE II GROWTH OF SOCIALISM IN THE UNITED STATES Socialism was introduced into the United States about the year 1850 by immigrants who landed on our shores from Europe. The Marxians, who came from Germany, were principally responsible for the foundation of the Workingmen's Party in 1876, wliich in 1877 was called the Socialistic Labor Party, and, a few years later, the Socialist Labor Party, which was reorganized at Chicago in 1889, after having lost two sections by secession. One of these, called the Cincinnati Socialist Labor Party, in 1897 united with the Social Democracy of America, a combination of railroad men, followers of Eugene V. Debs, and of the populist followers of Victor L. Berger. The other seceders from the Socialist Labor Party, called the " kangaroos," united with the Social Democracy of Debs and Berger in 1900, the new combination then calling itself the Socialist Party of America. The minority of the old Socialist Labor Party, which refused to be amalgamated with the Social Democracy of America, is still known as the Socialist Labor Party; hence, since the year 1900, there have been two distinct revolutionary parties, the Socialist Party and the Socialist Labor Party. The former, under the leadership of Eugene V. Debs, Victor L. Berger and Morris Hillquit, with 109,586 dues-paying members in January, 1919, is by far the more powerful and influential, having steadily increased its vote to about 900,000 in the Presidential election of 1912, though in the year 1916 the vote dropped to less than 600,000. The Socialist Labor Party, under the guidance of Daniel DeLeon until his death, in May, 1914, seems to be making little if any progress. Though both parties claim to be genuinely Socialistic and Marxian, each has decried the other as being a "fake" or "bogus" party. The Socialist Labor Party's main complaint is that its rival the Socialist Party is sacrificing the principles of Karl Marx in its endeavor to gain votes, while, on the other hand, the latter party retorts by stigmatizing its opponent as being a party of " scabs," the sole purpose of whose existence 13 14 THE RED CONSPIRACY is to antagonize the Socialist Party. In recent years unsuccessful attempts have been made to unite the two. The Socialist Party, besides publishing two important dailies in English, " The Call," of New York City, and the " Milwaukee Leader," issues at least two in German, two in Bohemian, one in Polish and one in Yiddish. " Forward," the Jewish paper published in New York City in Yiddish, had a daily circulaton of over 150,000, according to a report in " The Call " April 6, 1919. Foremost for many years among the Socialist weeklies in English was the " Appeal to Eeason," which was once extremely bitter and unrelenting in its attacks on the United States Government. Published at Girard, Kansas, its circulation reached nearly 1,000,000 copies a week during the fall of 1912, but since 191? it has fallen into great disfavor among most Socialists because of its pro-war and moderate tendencies. In addition to tlie Socialist papers already referred to, there are in our country hundreds of others m English, German, Bohemian, Polish, Jewish, Slovac, Slavonic, Danish, Italian, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Lettish, Norwegian, Croatian, Eussian, and Swedish. In a report to Congress in 1919, the Attorney-General of the United States stated that there were 416 radical news- papers in America. A strong impression that serious party strife and bossism pre- vail in the Socialist organization is gained by those who read the Marxian papers and magazines. William English "Walling, for example, in the "International Socialist Eeview," Chicago, April, 1913, showed his sympathy with the so-called "reds," who then comprised the radical I. W. W. wing of the party, and at the same time attacked the " yellows," the advocates of political action. " Ever since the Socialist Party was formed," he wrote, " the party office-holders have been spending the larger part of their energies in endeavoring to hold their jobs and to fight down every element in the party that demanded any improvement or advance in any direction " A far greater danger is the new one, that has become serious only since we entered upon the present period of political suc- cess two years ago, namely the corruption of the party by those elected to public office '_' Only last year we had sereral mayors in the one state of Ohio either being forced to resign or deserting the party because they could not use it for their purpose "Next year we may elect a few congressmen and half a SOCIALISM IJJ- THE UNITED STATES l3 hundred legislators — if the reactionaries in the party will cease their underhand efforts to disrupt the organization and drive out the revolutionists "If then these office-holders continue to show the tendency towards bossism so common in the past, the Socialist Party will soon become an office-holders' machine, little different in character from the machine by which Gompers controls the Pederation of Labor, or Murphy, Tammany Hall " The only possible way to avoid a split so openly and shame- lessly advocated by some of the opportunist leaders of our party — Berger even threatened it in the last National Con- vention — is to have the system of proportional representation. "Unless some such changes as these are made in the next four years, it does not take a prophet to see that there would be nothing left of what we now know as the Socialist Party. If we cannot control our own petty autocrats, how can we ever hope to control the infinitely more powerful and resourceful autocrats of the Capitalist system ? " "The Communist," formerly the Left Wing organ of the Chicago Socialists, in its edition of April 1, 1919, bitterly assails Victor L. Berger of the Right Wing: " A vote for Berger is a vote of pitying contempt for our Bolsheviki and Spartacan comrades. A vote for Berger is a vote approving his repeated and uncalled-for condemnation of our class-war comrades of the I. W. W. — condemnation per- sistently offered to prove Berger's own eminent respectability. A vote for Berger is a vote of scoffery against the St. Louis platform — a vote of apology for the platform, dissipation of its meaning, and disavowal of its essential spirit. A vote for Berger is a vote for the International of German Majority Socialism. A vote for Berger is a vote for petty bourgeois progressivism as the essence of Socialism ; it is a vote against identification of the Socialist Party with the revolutionary mass aspirations. A vote for Berger is a betrayal of all the efforts, sacrifices and dreams of those whose lives have gone into the socialist movement as torch-bearers of proletarian triumph over capitalist exploitation, from Marx to the humblest comrade fighting today in the ranks of the revolutionary class struggle. " As far as this election is concerned there is nothing to be considered about Victor Berger, past and present, except the ideal Socialism which has become unchangeably attached to his name. If the American Socialist Party is to be a party of 16 THE RED CONSPIRACY Berger-Socialism, then indeed, the Socialist movement will not die in America. No, it is the Socialist Party that will die." As we shall see presently, these prophecies of disruption were soon fulfilled. The representatives of the Socialist organizations of the differ- ent countries of the world have from the time of Karl Marx met together at more or less regular intervals, being banded together in what is called the " International." The official organ of the National OfBce, Socialist Party, " The Bye Opener," in its issue of February, 1919, gives a detailed explanation of the " International " : " It is an organization of Socialist Parties and labor organiza- tions, meeting periodically in international conferences. In order to be eligible for membership, an organization must meet the following test, adopted by the International Congress of Paris, 1900. " Those admitted to the International Socialist Congresses are: " 1. All associations which adhere to the essential principles of Socialism; namely. Socialization of the means of production and exchange, international union, and action of the workers, conquest of public power by the proletariat, organized as a class party. " 2. All the labor organizations which accept the principles of the class struggle and recognize the necessity of political action, legislative and parliamentary but do not participate directly in the political movement. " This definition includes every Socialist Party and propa- ganda organization in the world and it further takes in those enlightened unions that recognize the need for political action. It excludes conservative unions that do not yet admit the soundness of the principles of the class struggle." The First International was thoroughly Marxian and revolu- tionary. According to " The Eevolutionary Age," April 13, 1919, it accepted the revolutionary struggle against capitalism ' and waged that struggle with all the means in its power. It considered its objective to be the conquest of power by the revolutionary proletariat, the annihilation of the bourgeois state, and the introduction of a new proletarian state, functioning temporarily as a dictatorship of the proletariat. The First International collapsed after the Franco-Prussian War. The Second International was formed at Paris in the year 1889. Its tendencies were much more moderate than those of SOCIALISM IN THE UNITED STATES 17 its predecessor. " The Eevolutionary Age," April 12, 1919, criticises it for being " conservative and petty bourgeois in spirit," and states that " it was part and parcel of the national liberal movement, not at all revolutionary, dominated by the conservative skilled elements of the working class and the small bourgeoisie. It was hesitant and compromising, expressing the demands of the ' petite bourgeoisie ' for government ownership, reforms, etc." In 1900 an International Socialist Bureau was established at Brussels for the purpose of solidifying and strengthening the work of the Second International and for maintaining unin- terrupted relations between the various national organizations. That the American Socialists were closely united with the Marxians the world over during the Second International, which continued tQl the World War, was especially evident from the fact that representatives from the United States met abroad in the international congresses every three years to discuss party policies. Far from denying the international character of tlie whole movement, the Eevolutionists of the United States have ever rejoiced and gloried in it, trusting that it would result in the rapid spread of their doctrines and the ultimate victory of their cause. In confirmation of the intimate union existing between American and foreign Socialists, during the time of the second International, we have the declaration of the Socialist Party of the United States in its national platform of 1904, pledging itself to the principles of International Socialism, as embodied in the united thought and action of the Socialists of all nations. Moreover, Morris Hillquit informed us m " The Worker," March 23, 1907, that the International Socialist Movement, with its thirty million adherents and its organized parties in about twenty-five civilized countries in both hemispheres, was every- where based on the same Marxian program and followed sub- stantially the same methods of propaganda and action. Writing again, in " Everybod/s," October, 1913, Hillquit declared that the dominant Socialist organizations of all countries were organically allied with one another, that by means of an Inter- national Socialist Bureau, supported at joint expense, the Socialist parties of the world maintained uninterrupted rela- tions with one another, and that every three years they met in international conventions, whose conclusions were accepted by all constitutent national organizations. Commenting upon "The Collapse of the Second Interna- tional," which is held to have taken place at the beginning of 18 THE RED CONSPIRACY the World War, "The Eevolutionary Age," March 22, 1919, says: " Great demonstrations were held in every European country by Socialists protesting against their government's declarations of war, and mobilizations for war. And we know that these demonstrations were rendered impotent by the complete sur- render of the Socialist parliamentary leaders and the oflEicial Socialist press, with their ' justification " of ' defensive wars ' and the safeguarding of ' deniocracy.' " Why the sudden change of front ? Why did the Socialist leaders in the parliaments of the belligerents vote the war credits? Why did not Moderate Socialism carry out the policy of the Basle Manifesto, namely; the converting of an imperial- istic war into a civil war — into a proletarian revolution ? Why did it either openly favor the war or adopt a policy of petty- bourgeois pacifism?'' At the conclusion of the World War Socialists and representa- tives of labor from many countries met at Berne, Switzerland, m what was known as the Berne Conference. This international Socialist conference was comparatively moderate in tendencies, while another Socialist congress, held shortly before it in Bol- shevist Moscow, was far more radical. J. Eamsay MacDonald, commenting upon the Berne Confer- ence ia " Glasgow Forward," in the spring of 1919, said: " It declined to condemn the Bolshevists and declined to say that their revolution was Socialism. . . " Moscow seems to be more thorough than Berne, though as a matter of fact Berne was far more thorough than Moscow. There is a glamour and a halo about Moscow; but there are substance and permanence about Berne. " That blessed word ' Soviet ' has become a shibboleth. But Berne did not say anything about it. It declared its continuing belief in democracy and in representative institutions. I hope that the Soviet is not contrary to democracy; I know that it is a representative institution. But I know more. I know that beyond its primary stage it is a system of indirect repre- sentation — the representation of representatives — and that a few years ago there was not a single Socialist in the country that would have accepted such a form of representative govern- ment. For Socialists to pretend to prefer that system to one of direct responsibility is a mere pose. " Therefore, two Internationals will be the worst thing that could happen to the revolutions now going on and to the gen- socialism: in the united states 19 eral Socialist movement. The duty of every Socialist — espe- cially of those of us who are not in revolution — is to strive by might and by main to get a union of the two. We may have to suffer a time of internal trouble owing to the friction of conflicting conceptions of Socialist reconstruction, but I am quite certain that no one has yet said what is to be the last word on the subject, and to split on such a controversy as this is to advertise to the world how unready Socialism is to assume command." The Berne Conference, which had at first been called to meet at Lausanne, the Eussian Bolshevik government of Lenine denounced in a manifesto which the " Chicago Socialist " of February 8, 1919, republished in part as follows: " The Central Committee of the Eussian Communist Bolshevik Party in a manifesto on the proposal to call together an Inter- national Conference at Lausanne, declares that the project can- not be considered even as an attempt to revive the Second International. The latter ceased to exist during the first days of August, 1914, when the representatives of the majority of nearly all the Socialist parties passed over into the ranks of their imperialist governments. " The attempts made to revive this International, for which agitation has been carried on in all countries throughout the war, emanated from elements standing mid-way, which, whilst not recognizing openly Imperialist Socialism, nevertheless had no idea of creating a third revolutionary International. " The attempts made to go back to the pre-war situation regarding the labor movement crashed against the Imperialist policy of the official parties, which could not, at that time, admit the appearance of an attempt to restore the International, fearing, as they did, that this might tend to weaken the war policy of the government and the working class working in unison. "To counteract these attempts, the Imperialist Socialist parties undertook to change the conditions of representation of the national sections in the old International. The last so-called inter-Allied conference in the Entente countries made it clear that this change had been effected. " Great Britain was represented by a motley organization in which the Socialist parties could play no direct role. Italy was represented by men whose party never before belonged to the International and whose presence compelled the absence of the official Italian Socialist Party. America was represented by 20 THE EED CONSPIRACY Gompers, representing associations which never had anything to do with the Socialists "As against the International of traitors and counter- revolutionaries, organizing themselves for the purpose of form- ing leagues against the proletarian revolutions the world over, the Communists of all countries must rapidly close their ranks around the third revolutionary International — already, in fact, existing. " This Third International has nothing in common with the avowed Socialist Imperialists, or with the pseudo-revolutionary Socialists, who in reality support the former when they refuse to break with them, and who do not recoil against participation in the conferences of falsely called Socialists. The Eussian Communist Bolshevik Party refuses to take part in these con- ferences, which abuse the name of Socialism. It invites all those who desire that the Third Revolutionary International shall live to take the same line ; the task of this Third Interna- tional being to hasten the conquest of power by the working class. " The Communist parties of Finland, Esthonia, Lithuania, of "White Eussia, the Ukraine, Poland, and Holland are at one with the Eussian Communist Party. " The latter also regards as its associates the Spartacus group in Germany, the Communist Party of German Austria and other revolutionary proletarian elements of the countries in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire; the Left Social Democrats of Sweden, the Eevolutionary Social Democracy of Switzerland and Italy, the followers of Maclean in England, of Debs in America, of Loriot in Prance. In their persons the Third International, which is at the head of the World Eevolution, already exists. " At the present moment when the Socialist Imperialists of the Entente who formerly hurled the most violent accusations against Scheidemann, are about to unite with him and to break the power of Socialism in all countries, the Communist Party considers that unity for the "World Eevolution is an indispensable condition for its success. " Its most dangerous enemy now is the Yellow International of the Socialist traitors — thanks to whom capitalism still suc- ceeds in keeping a considerable portion of the working class under its influence. " For the conquest of power by the workers let us carry on an implacable struggle against those who are deceiving them — against the pseudo-Socialist traitors." SOCIALISM IN THE UNITED STATES 21 At the end of May, 1919, the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of the United States, probably on account of pressure brought to bear on it by the " Left Wing," stated that the party repudiated the Berne Conference, but, at the same time, was not yet aiELiated with the Communist Conference of the Bolshevists at Moscow. The phraseology of this ambigu- ous announcement is here given : " It recognizes the necessity of reorganizing the Socialist International along more harmonious and radical lines. The Socialist Party of the United States is not committed to the Berne Conference, which has shown itself retrograde on many vital points, and totally devoid of creative force. On account of the isolation of Eussia, and the misunderstanding arising therefrom, it also is not afBliated with the Communist Congress of Moscow." This awkward straddle is explained by the fact ■ that the American Socialist Party, under the pro-German leadership of Morris Hillquit of New York and Victor L. Berger of Mil- waukee, had in its Congressional platform for 1918 expressly endorsed the Inter-Allied Socialist and Labor Conference, held at London that year. This is the conference which the Lenine government scoffs at in the manifesto quoted just above, styling it the " so-called inter-allied conference," in which " America was represented by Gompers, representing associations which never had anything to do with the Socialists." That the Ameri- can Socialist Party had been led into the endorsement of the conference by Berger and Hillquit because the conference had recommended a meeting with German workingmen seems evident from the wording of the endorsement, taken from the official publication of the Socialist Party's 1918 Congressional Plat- form, pages 3-4 : " In all that concerns the settlement of this war, the Ameri- can Socialist Party is in general accord with the announced aims of the Inter-Allied Conference. We re-affirm the principles announced by the Socialist Party in the United States in 1915 ; adopted by the Socialist Eepublic of Eussia in 1917; proclaimed by the Inter-Allied Labor Conference in 1918 and endorsed by both the majority and minority Socialists in the_ Central empires; no forcible annexations, no punitive indemnities and the free determination of all peoples. " The Socialist Party believes that the foundations for inter- national understanding must be laid during the war, before the professional diplomats begin to dictate the world's future as they have in the past. 22 THE EED CONSPIEACT " It therefore supports the demand of the Inter-Allied Con- ference for a meeting with the German workingmen, convinced that such a meeting will promote the cause of democracy, and will encourage the German people to throw oil the military autocracy that now oppresses them. ■ We join our pledge to that of the Inter-Allied Conference that, this done, as far as in our power, we shall not permit the German people to be made the victims of imperialistic designs." The phrases in the above endorsement, " Inter- Allied Con- ference," " majority . . . Socialists in the Central empires," and " promote the cause of democracy," must have invoked the scorn of Lenine and Trotsky. Hence the wording of their manifesto, in which they acknowledged as " associates " the " followers ... of Debs in America,"- is an evident slap at Berger and Hillquit and their " followers " in the American Socialist Party. It was so understood by many in the party, and led to the rapid sprouting of a "Left Wing" and the ultimate secession of about 72,000 dues-paying members, leaving only about 40,000 with Berger and Hillquit. The story of this rupture will be found in the three chapters following, where it also appears that Berger and Hillquit attempted to hide their " Yellow " streak under a deeper daub of « Eed." CHAPTER III THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF AMERICA DEVELOPS A LEFT WING Some years ago, when the people of the United States were beginning to suspect that the Socialists were plotting a revolu- tion against our Constitutional form of government the hypo- critical followers of Eugene V. Debs, fearing that their plot might be nipped in the bud, endeavored to conceal their con- spiracy, and succeeded quite well, by assuring the American people that the word " revolution," so often used by them, was a harmless term and was to be taken in a broad sense, without the " r," signifying nothing more than " evolution." " Do not be alarmed," they told us, " we Socialists are striving to bring about reforms in the government, but solely by constitutional means and the use of the ballot."* Many proofs could be given to show that, even in the early days of the American Socialist Party, revolution, in the strict- est sense of the word, was foremost in the minds of many of the Marxian leaders. With the advent of Bolshevism in Eussia, and the successful overthrow of European governments by revo- lutionary Socialists abroad, the " Eeds " in our own country became decidedly bolder, both in word and plot, against the Government of our country. The more outspoken, daring and impatient plotters in the Socialist Party of America lined up in a Left Wing faction, whereas the more hypocritical, hesi- tant, cautious and prudent revolutionists constituted the Eight Wing. The former became known as the "Eeds," the latter as the "Yellows." * It ia a notable fact that throughout his three days' testimony on the witness stand at Albany, February 17, 18 and 19, 1920, in the case of the five suspended Socialist Assemblymen before the Judiciary Com- mittee of the New York Assembly, Morris Hillquit, illustrious leader of the Red Rebels' Whitewash Squad, tried to save the five suspended Socialist Assemblymen and the d.imaged reputation of their organiza- tion, the Socialist Party of the United States, by tremendous applica- tions of Debs' old recipe of quicklime and water, the special formula of which is to spell revolution and rifles without the " r," pistols without the " p " and bombs without the " b." 23 24 THE RED CONSPIRACY The " Eeds " made a specialty of " direct action " or violence, liad little confidence in victory through the ballot, and campaigned for a revolution at an early day. The " Yellows,'' of course^ also rely on a final victory through rebellion, but in the meantime, during the period of revolutionary education and organization, insist on political action. The leaders in control of the executive machinery of the Socialist Party, wish- ing to retain their lucrative positions, and looking forward to the advantage of political ofBce during the years which might elapse before the time would be ripe for rebellion, were nearly all Eight Wingers, and have waged a bitter and unscrupulous fight against the Left Wing organization within the party. The Left Wing of the Socialist Party of America had its origin, probably, in the year 1916. According to the " Interna- tional Socialist Eeview," of December of that year, this ultra- revolutionary faction took form in Boston. About the latter part of the year 1917 it began to develop more rapidly, its progress being more or less proportional to the spread of Bol- shevism and the Socialist revolutions in Europe. Its success, of course, was at the expense of the political leaders of the Eight. The Left Wing has certainly been more honest than the Eight. The " Eeds " comprising it favor direct action, that is, strikes and disturbances, rather than the use of the ballot, hop- ing thus to bring our country into such a critical condition that they may precipitate a rebellion, and then, though in a minor- it)', assume control of the government by a sudden coup d'etat, as the Bolsheviki did in Eussia. The Left Wingers opposed the " immediate demands " in the Socialist Party platform, preferring to work for dictatorship rather than for social reforms. They despised the politicians of the Eight Wing, calling them yellow, reactionary, hypocritical, capitalistic Socialists, and telling them that their place was with the newly formed Labor Party, which had already praised the Socialists and invited them to Join its ranks. The Lefts expressed a fear that the leaders of the Eight would, if our Government were overthrown, turn against them just as the Scheidemann-Ebert group turned against the German Spartacides. The fight between the two factions became severe about the beginning of the year 1919. " The Eevolutionary Age," Boston, February 15, 1919, speak- ing of the disturbance in the Socialist Party, and explaining the fundamental principles of the Left Wing, said: SOCIALISTS DEVELOP A LEFT WING 35 " The American Socialist Party is in a condition of feverish theoretical activity. Pressing problems are being met in a spirit of self-criticism. New forms of action in the social struggle are being accepted. Old methods, old tactics, old ideas, which in the test of war have proven incapable of fur- thering the revolutionary struggle of the proletariat, are being seriously analyzed and repudiated. " The membership of the Socialist Party, the majority, is instinctively class conscious and revolutionary. It was this membership that compelled our officials to acquiesce in the adoption of a radical declaration against war — which most of the officials sabotaged or converted into an innocuous policy of bourgeois pacificism. When the Bolsheviki conquered, the majority of our ofScials were either hostile or silent ; some weeks before, the ' New York Call ' had stigmatized the Bolsheviki as ' anarchists.' But the membership responded ; they forced the hands of the officials, who became ' me too ' Bolsheviki, but who did not draw the revolutionary implications of the Bolshevik policy. These officials and their machinery baffled the will of the membership; more, the membership baffled itself because it did not clearly understand the theory and the practice implied in its instinctive class consciousness and revolutionary spirit. " While our National Executive Committee accepts the Berne Congress and refuses to call an emergency National Convention, locals of the party are actively engaged in the great struggle, turning to the left, to revolutionary Socialism. Groups within the party are organizing and issuing proclamations, determined that the party shall conquer the party for revolutionary Social- ism. Two of these proclamations were published in the last issue of 'The Eevolutionary Age.' They deserve serious con- sideration and discussion. " The manifesto of the Communist Propaganda League of Chicago is a concise document. Its criticism of the party is summarized : " ' The Party proceeds on too narrow an understanding of political action for a party of revolution, its programs and plat- forms have been reformist and petty bourgeois in character, instead of being definitely directed toward the goal of social revolution ; the party has failed to achieve unity with the revo- lutionary movement on the industrial field.' " Its proposals for democratizing the party — mass action in the party — are excellent; it repudiates the old international and the Berne Congress, and asks : 26 THE RED CONSPIRACY " ' Identification of the Socialist Party with class conscious industrial unionism, unity of all kinds of proletarian action and protest forming part of the revolutionary class struggle ; politi- cal action to include political strikes and demonstrations, no compromising with any groups not inherently committed to the revolutionary class struggle, such as Labor parties. People's Councils, ISTon- Partisan Leagues, Municipal Ownership Leagues and the like/ " In order clearly to understand the big fight that has dis- rupted the Socialist Party, further explanations of the prin- ciples of the Left Wing are necessary. " The Eevolutionary Age," from which the above quotation was taken, was first pub- lished in Boston, its editor being Louis C. Fraina. In the sum- mer of 1919 it combined with "The Communist," of Few York City, and, still maintaining its former name, became the na- tional organ of the Left Wing of the Socialist Party. In the article just quoted reference was made to "mass action." This, according to " The Eevolutionary Age," is to be the main weapon used by the rebels in precipitating rebellion. The July 12, 1919, issue of the same paper explains mass action and shows how it is to be used. The article, written by Louis C. Fraina, reads in part as follows : " Socialism in its early activity as a general organized move- ment was compelled to emphasize the action of politics because of the immaturity of the proletariat "All propaganda, all electoral and parliamentary activity are insufficient for the overthrow of Capitalism, impotent when the ultimate test of the class struggle turns into a test of power. The power for the social revolution Issues out of the actual struggles of the proletariat, out of its strikes, its indus- trial unions and mass action." Industrial unions of course means the union system of the I. W. W., and not the craft unions of the American Federation of Labor. The article continues: "The peaceful parliamentary conquest of the state is either sheer utopia or reaction " The revolution is an act of a minority, at first ; of the most class conscious section of the industrial proletariat, which in a test of electoral strength, would be a minority, but which, being a solid, industrially indispensable class, can disperse and defeat all other classes through the annihilation of the fraudulent democracy of the parliamentary system implied in the dictator- SOCIALISTS DEVELOP A LEFT WING 27 ship of the proletariat, imposed -upon society by means of revo- lutionary mass action " Mass action is not a form of action as much as it is a pro- cess and synthesis of action. It is the unity of all forms of proletarian action, a means of throwing the proletariat, organ- ized and unorganized, in a general struggle against Capitalism and the capitalist state " The great expressions of ma^s action in recent years, the Xew Zealand general strike, the Lawrence strike, the great strike of the British miners under which capitalist society reeled on the verge of collapse — all were mass actions organ- ized and carried through in spite of the passive and active hos- tility of the dominant Socialist and labor organization. Under the impulse of mass action, the industrial proletariat senses its own power and acquires the force to act equally against capital- ism and the conservatism of organizations. Indeed, a vital fea- ture of mass action is precisely that it places in the hands of the proletariat the power to overcome the fetters of these organi- zations, to act in spite of their conservatism, and through pro- letarian mass action emphasize antagonisms between workers and capitalists, and conquer power. A determining phase of the proletarian revolution in Eussia was its acting against the dominant Socialist organizations, sweeping these aside through its mass action before it could seize social supremacy " Mass action is the proletariat itself in action, dispensing with bureaucrats and intellectuals, acting through its own ini- tiative ; and it is precisely this circumstance that horrifies the soul of petty bourgeois Socialism. The masses are to act upon their own initiative and the impulse of their own struggles. " Mass action organizes and develops into the political strike and demonstration, in which a general political issue is the source of the action " The class power of the proletariat arises out of the inten- sity of its struggles and revolutionary energy. It consists, more- over, of undermining the bases of the morale of the capitalist state, a process that requires extra parliamentary activity through mass action. Capitalism trembles when it meets the impact of a strike in a basic industry; Capitalism will more than tremble, it will actually verge on a collapse, when it meets the impact of a general mass action involving a number of cor- related industries, and developing into revolutionary mass action against the whole capitalist regime. The value of this 28 THE RED CONSPIRACY mass action is that it ohows the proletariat its power, -wcalcens capitalism, and compels the state largely to depend on the use of brute force v. the struggle, either the physical force of the military or the force of legal terrorism ; this emphasizes antag- onisms between proletarian and capitalist, widening the scope and deepening the intensity of the proletarian struggle against capitalism " Mass action, being the proletariat itself in action, loosens its energ}', develops enthusiasm, and unifies the action of the workers to its utmost measure " Moreover, mass action means the repudiation of bourgeois democracy. Socialism will come not through the peaceful, demo- cratic parliamentary conquest of the state, but through the determined and revolutionary mass action of a proletarian minority. The fetish of democracy is a fetter upon the pro- letarian revolution; mass action smashes the fetish, emphasiz- ing that the proletarian recognizes no limits to its action except the limits of its own power. The proletariat will never conquer unless it proceeds to struggle after struggle ; its power is developed and its energy let loose only through action. Par- liamentarism, in and of itself, fetters proletarian action ; organ- izations are often equally fetters upon action; the proletariat must act and always act; through action it conquers " The great war has objectively brought Europe to the verge of revolution. Capitalist society at any moment may be thrust into the air by an upheaval of the proletariat — as in Eussia. Whence will the impulse for the revolutionary struggle come? Surely not from the moderate Socialism and unionism, which are united solidly in favor of an imperialistic war; surely not from futile parliamentary rhetoric, even should it be revolu- tionary rhetoric. The impulse will come out of the mass action of the proletariat " Mass action is equally a process of revolution and the revo- lution itself in operation." The March 22, 1919, issue of " The Eevolutionary Age " pub- lished the Manifesto of the Left Wing section of the Socialist Party of New York, from which several important quotations are hereby taken: ''We are a very active and growing section of the Socialist Party who are attempting to reach the rank and file with our urgent message over the heads that be, who, through inertia or a lack of vision, cannot see the necessity for a critical analysis of the party's policies and tactics SOCIALISTS DEVELOP A LEFT -WIXG 29 "In the latter part of the nineteenth century the Social- Democracies of Europe set out to ' legislate capitalism out of office.' The class struggle was to be won in the capitalist legislatures. Step by step concessions were to be wrested from the state; the working class and the Socialist parties were to be strengthened by means of ' constructive ' reform and social legislation; each concession would act as a rung in the ladder of Social Eevolution, upon which the workers could climb step by step, until finally, some bright sunny morning, the peoples would awaken to find the Cooperative Commonwealth function- ing without disorder, confusion or hitch on the ruins of the cap- italist state. "And what happened? When a few legislative seats had been secured, the thunderous denunciations of the Socialist legislators suddenly ceased. E"o more were the parliaments used as platforms from which the challenge of revolutionary Socialism was flung to all the corners of Europe. Another era had set in, the era of ' constructive ' social reform legislation. Dominant Moderate Socialism accepted the bourgeois state as the basis of its action and strengthened that state. All power to shape the policies and tactics of the Socialist parties Avas entrusted to the parliamentary leaders. And these lost sight of Socialism's original purpose ; their goal became ' constructive reforms ' and cabinet portfolios — the ' cooperation of classes,' the policy of openly or tacitly declaring that the coming of Socialism was a concern ' of all the classes,' instead of empha- sizing the Marxian policy that the construction of the Social- ist system is the tasK of the revolutionary proletariat alone. "The 'Moderates' emphasized petty-bourgeois reformism in order to attract tradesmen, shop-keepers and members of the professions, and, of course, the latter flocked to the Socialist movement in great numbers, seeking relief from the constant grinding between corporate capital and awakening labor. "Dominant 'Moderate Socialism' forgot the teachings of the founders of scientific Socialism, forgot its function as a proletarian movement — 'the most resolute and advanced sec- tion of the working class parties' — and permitted the bour- geois and self-seeking trade union elements to shape its policies and tactics. This was the condition in which the Social- Democracies of Europe found themselves at the outbreak of the war in 1914. Demoralized and confused by the cross-currents 30 THE KED CONSPIRACY within their own parties, vacillating and compromising with the bourgeois state, they fell a prey to social-patriotism and nationalism. "But revolutionary Socialism was not destined to lie inert for long. In Germany, Karl Liebknecht, Franz Mehring, Eosa Luxemburg and Otto Ehule organized the Spartacus group. But their voices were drowned in the roar of cannon and the shriek of the dying and maimed. " Eussia, however, was to be the first battle-ground where the 'moderate' and revolutionary Socialism should come to grips for the mastery of the state. The break-down of the corrupt, bureaucratic Czarist regime opened the floodgates of Eevolu- tion " ' Moderate Socialism ' was not prepared to seize the power for the workers during a revolution. ' Moderate Socialism ' had a rigid formula — ' constructive social reform legislation within the capitalist state,' and to that formula it clung " Eevolutionary Socialists hold, with the founders of Scien- tific Socialism, that there are two dominant classes in society — the bourgeoisie and the proletariat; that between these two classes a struggle must go on, until the working class, through the seizure of the instruments of production and distribution, the abolition of the capitalist state, and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, creates a Socialist system. Eevolutionary Socialists do not believe that they can be voted into power. They struggle for the conquest of power by the revolutionary proletariat " The ' moderate Socialist ' proposes to use the bourgeois state with its fraudulent democracy, its illusory theory of ' unity of all the classes,' its standing army, police and bureaucracy oppressing and baffling the masses; the revolutionary Socialist maintains that the bourgeois state must be completely destroyed, and pro- poses the organization of a new state — the state of the organ- ized producers — of the Federated Soviets — on the basis of which alone can Socialism be introduced. "Industrial Unionism, the organization of the proletariat in accordance with the integration of industry and for the over- throw of Capitalism, is a necessary phase of revolutionary Socialist agitation. Potentially, industrial unionism constructs the basis and develops the ideology of the industrial state of Socialism; but industrial unionism alone cannot perform the revolutionary act of seizure of the power of the state, since under the conditions of Capitalism it is impossible to organise SOCIALISTS DEVELOP A LEFT WING 31 the whole working class, or an overwhelming majority into industrial unionism " It is the task of a revolutionary Socialist party to direct the struggles of the proletariat and provide a program for the culminating crisis." Julius Hammer, in a letter published in " The Call," April 4, 1919, speaking of the Left Wing, says: " Aside from the discussions as to 1>he principles and tactics identifying the ' Left Wing ' there is a great deal of acrimoni- ous discussion and opposition to those in the ' Left Wing ' organ- ization. They are called ' separatists,' ' secessionists,' ' splitters of the party,' and this in spite of vehement denials that there is intention or desire to split the party. ' It is unnecessary,' say they, ' and superfluous ; the party machinery is ample for the purpose now; organization within organization is injurious and wrong.' Some seem to go even further and fling epithets of ' disrupters,' ' traitors,' ' direct actionists,' ' anti-politicalists,' ' anarchists,' etc. And there seems to be quite a number who consider that the menace should be met with stern measures — nothing less than expulsion." In the Left Wing statements of principles and tactics the reader will observe a constant emphasis upon " direct action," or violence, and in favor of " industrial unionism " and the " identification of the Socialist Party with class conscious indus- trial unionism." Chapters VIII and IX of this work, which describe the principles and tactics of the I. W. W., will make the significance of the Left Wing movement perfectly apparent as an effort to combine Socialist Partyism and I. W. W. 'ism or to place the latter under the political leadership of the former. In the Left Wing we see an enthusiastic consecration of the major part of the American Socialist Party to revolutionary violence — the direct application of anarchistic tactics to the overthrow of the Government and institutions of the United States. As we follow the Left Wing movement we shall see the principles and tactics of the I. W. W., as carried out in Eussia, adopted as a program by the major part of the American Social- ist party, which also finally succeeded in committing the minor part, the Eight Wing, to the same principles. ISTeedless to say, this movement was helped on by the various communications received from the Lenine dictatorship, and notably by the call for an international communist congress to meet at Moscow in March, 1919. The text of this call began to appear in the American radical publications in late March 32 THE RED CONSPIEACT and April, and is here reproduced from " The One Big Union Monthly " for the latter month : " First Section "AIMS AND TACTICS " In our estimation, the acceptance of the following principles shall serve as a working program for the International: " 1. The actual period is the period of the dissolution and collapse of the whole capitalist system ; " 2. The first task of the proletariat consists to-day of the immediate seizure of government power by the proletariat ; " 3. This new governmental apparatus must incorporate the dictatorship of the working class, and in some places, also, that of the poorer peasantry, together with hired farm labor, this dictatorship constituting the instrument of the systematic over- throw of the exploiting classes ; "4. The dictatorship of the proletariat shall complete the immediate expropriation of Capitalism and the suppression of private property in the means of production, which includes, under Socialism, the suppression of private property and its transfer to a proletarian state under the Socialist administra- tion of the working class, the abolition of capitalist agricultural production, the nationalization of the great business firms and financial trusts; " 5. In order to insure the Social Eevolution, the disarming of the bourgeoisie and its agents, and the general arming of the proletariat, is a prime necessity. " Second Section "ATTITUDE EEGAEDING SOCIALIST PAETIES " 7. The fundamental condition of the struggle is the mass action of the proletariat, developing into open armed attack on the governmental powers of Capitalism ; " 8. The old International has broken into three principal groups : the avowed social-patriots, who, during the entire dura- tion of the imperialistic war between the years 1914 and 1918, have supported their own bourgeoisie ; the minority Socialists of the ' Center,' represented by leaders of the type of Karl Kaut- sky, and who constitute a group composed of ever-hesitating elements, unable to settle on any determined direction and who up to date have always acted as traitors ; and the Eevolutionary Left Wing. SOCIALISTS DEVELOP A LEFT WING 33 " 9. As far as the social-patriots are concerned, who stood up everywhere in arms, in the most critical moments, against the revolution, a merciless fight is the alternative; in regard to the ' Center,' the tactics consist in separating from it the revolu- tionary elements, in criticizing pitilessly its leaders and in dividing systematically among them the number of their fol- lowers; these tactics are absolutely necessary when we reach a certain degree of development; " 10. On the other hand it is necessary to proceed in a com- mon movement with the revolutionary elements of the working class who, though hitherto not belonging to the party, yet adopt to-day in its entirety, the point of view of dictatorship of the proletariat, under the form of Soviet government, including the syndicalist elements of the labor movements; " 11. It is also necessary to rally the groups and proletarian organizations, who, though not in the wake as yet of the revolu- tionary trend of the Left Wing, nevertheless have manifested and developed a tendency leading in that direction; " 12. We propose that the representatives ' of parties and groups following these tendencies shall take part m the Con- gress as plenipotentiary members of the Workers' International and should belong to the following parties : "1. The Spartacus group (Germany) ; 2. The Bolsheviki or Communist Party (Kussia) ; 3. Other Communist groups of; 3. German- Austria ; 4. Hungary; 5. Finland; 6. Poland; 7. Esthonia; 8. Lettonia; 9. Lithuania; 10. White Eussia; 11. Ukraine; 12. The Eevolutionary elements of Czecho-Slovakia ; 13. The Bulgarian Social-Democratic Party; 14. The Eouma- nian Social-Democrats; 15. The Left Wing of the Servian Social-Democracy; 16. The Left Wing of the Swedish Social- Democratic Party; 17. The Norwegian Social-Democratic Party; 18. The Danish groups of the class struggle; 19. The Dutch Communist Party; 20. The revolutionary elements of the Belgian Labor Party; 21-22. The groups and organizations in the midst of the French Socialist and syndicalist movements who are in solidarity with our aims ; 23. The Left Wing of the Swiss Social-Democratic Party; 24. The Italian Socialist Party; 25. The left elements of the Spanish Socialist Party; 26. The left elements of the Portuguese Socialist Party; 27. The British Socialist Party (those nearer to us are the elements represented by MacLean) ; 28. I. S. P. E. (Great Britain) ; 29. S. L. P. (England) ; 30. I. W. W. (Great Britain) ; 31. The revolutionary elements of Shop-Stewards (Great Britain); 33. 3-1 THE RED CONSPIBACY The S. L. p. (U. S. A.) ; 34. The elements of the Left Wings of American Socialist Propaganda (tendency represented by E. V. Debs and the Socialist Propaganda League) ; 35. I. W. W. (Industrial Workers of the World), America; 36. The Workers' International Industrial Union (U. S. A.) ; 37. I. W. W. of Australia; 38. The Socialist groups of Tokio and Samon, repre- sented by Sen Katayama; 39. The Young Peoples' Socialist International Leagues. " Third Section " THE OEGANIZATION AND NAME OF THE PARTY "13. The Congress must be transformed into a common organ of combat in view of the permanent struggle and system- atic direction of the movement, into a center of International Communism which will subordinate the Interests of the Eevolu- tion from an international point of view. " The concrete forms of organization, representation, etc., will be elaborated by the Congress." The testimony of Morris Hillquit in the Socialist case before the Assembly Judiciary Committee gave the preceding docu- ment an added interest which the reader will better appreciate further on. As will appear later in our narrative, on September 4, 1919, the Socialist Party adopted a manifesto strongly favor- ing the " industrial " unionizing of American labor for the purpose of reinforcing the political " demands " of the Socialist Party with " industrial action." On the stand at Albany, on February 19, 1920, Hillquit acknowledged the authorship of at least 90 per cent of the "industrial action" manifesto of his party, but declared that he had never read the Moscow manifesto when he wrote his, and so was not influenced by the Moscow recommendation of indus- trial action to bring about a revolution by violence. But the above " call " to the Moscow Conference urged " a common movement " with " syndicalist elements," or " industrial union " revolutionaries, as much as the Moscow manifesto did, and the reader will find at the end of our next chapter evidence that Morris Hillquit was familiar with and criticized the above Moscow "call" at least as early as July, 1919. CHAPTEE IV THE FREE-FOR-ALL FIGHT BETWEEN THE RIGHT AND LEFT WINGS Emanuel Blumstein, a member of the Eight Wing, in a letter published in "The Call," -April 9, 1919, bitterly complained against the tactics of the Left Wingers — in trying to wrest control of the Socialist Party from the " Old Guard " of Berger and Hillquit, which had acquired the habit of domination: " The reason that the so-called Left Wingers are concentrating at meetings, making motions to recall delegates, and carry their motions through, is very simple. Anyone who attends the meetings can easily understand it. They shout down every honest thinking Socialist with slurs and abuse. They make it so intolerable that the meeting hall appears to be, instead of a Socialist meeting, a room frequented by rowdies of all types and descriptions. In this way they drive the most active Com- rades out of the meeting hall, as these Comrades get disgusted with the tactics pursued and leave the meeting. Then they drag the meeting on to all hours of the night until those left, having no opposition, carry all their destructive actions through, and this they call democratic decision for the Comrades of the branch — deciding the policies for them." Morris Zucker, a member of the Left Wing, defends his faction in a letter that appeared in "The Call," New York, April 11, 1919: " In regard to Lee's objection that the Left Wing may bring about a premature revolt, the reply is that no real revolution, no social revolution, is ever manufactured. It must be spon- taneous. It must be real. It must be an overwhelming, impul- sive demonstration of the popular will. Eevolutions may be manipulated but not manufactured. Trotzky shows in his ' From October to Brest-Litovsk ' that the Bolshevist Eevolu- tion was not manufactured. " The problem is to manipulate the revolution, to guide it, to counsel it. And herein lies the importance of proper Socialist 35 36 THE RED CONSPIRACY education, of knowledge and understanding, and from these of proper Socialist tactics. " The Left Wing believes it has the proper program. And it wants the Socialist Party to adopt its program. The Left Wing not only preaches revolutionary Socialism, it believes that the economic and social forces that have made half Europe Socialist, and threaten momentarily to engulf the other half are at work in America also. It believes that a revolutionary outbreak in America is not a matter of the far and distant future. And it desires to make that revolution as easy and as successful as it can possibly be. For that reason the Left Wing has evolved its manifesto and program, and now calls upon the Socialist Party to discuss it, perfect it, and adopt it." In April, 1919, the New York State Committee of the Socialist Party, by a vote of 24 against 17, resolved that it was " definitely opposed to the organization calling itself the Left Wing section of the Socialist Party, and to any group within the party organized for the same or similar purpose ; " and it instructed " its executive committee to revoke the charter of any local affiliated with any such organization or that permits its subdivision or members to be affiliated." "The Call," April 23, 1919, publishes a long letter from F. Basky in which he defends the principles of the Left Wing and attacks the New York State Committee for the above resolu- tions. We quote a part: "Aside of these arguments the Left Wing is not a counter- organization to the Socialist Party. On the contrary, it is the only active force to save the party from going into decay and finally to the scrap heap as a tool not adapted to the task. If the Left Wing is the party, then and only then can we answer the criticism of the syndicalist that a political party is nothing else but a vote-catching machinery for middle-class politicians, If the principles enunciated in the manifesto will be the prin- ciples of the party, then it will enjoy the confidence of those who, through their bitter experience realized the fallacies of the Second International, led and dominated by the social- patriots, reformists of the German Social Democratic Party. If we follow the line of uncompromising revolutionary activity indicated by the Left Wingers, then we can rest assured that the party will be cleared of the would-be Scheidemanns, Eberts, Kerenskys, Brantenburgs, and the rest of the traitors of our principles and our class. FIGHT OF EIGHT AND LEFT WINGS 37 " They will be eliminated anyway. The fight is on. And I welcome the attack of the state committee. We at least know some of those we would have to face in the critical hour. Might as well fight it out now ; whether they or the Left Wing repre- sents the party. Let us find out right now who is with us and who is against us." "The Call," April 30, 1919, published a resolution then recently passed by the Socialist Party of Essex County, New Jersey, which had adopted the Left Wing program. Part of the resolution is hereby quoted: " While the need for new orientation is clearly apparent, there is an element within the party which is either unwilling or unable to adjust itself to the new world conditions and the new tactics required by these conditions. Unfortunately, this ele- ment has controlled the party national executive committee and the party machinery, with the consequence that the national organization, in place of furnishing the leadership and urging the locals forward to take advantage of the present world crisis in building up the proletariat movement, has conspicuously lagged behind." By the early part of May, 1919, conditions in the Socialist Party became so serious that the Executive Committee of Local New York, according to " The Call," May 8, 1919, issued the following statement on the Left Wing: " To the Members of Local New York : " Comrades. — A critical situation has arisen within Local New York. Your executive committee is compelled to take unusual and vigorous measures to combat the disruptive efforts of an internal faction which seeks to dominate the party by undemocratic and unsocialistie methods. The executive com- mittee addresses itself to you, the membership, to explain the gravity of the crisis and to urge your support in saving the organization which has been built up with so much sacrifice by thousands of Comrades. " The very existence of the party is at stake — its existence as the democratically self-governed party of the working class, laboring to awaken and educate the proletarian masses and to express their class interests on the political field " This organization, i. e., the Left Wing, is not open to all party members, nor even to all who accept the ideas set forth in its manifesto and program. Only such persons are admitted as can be counted on to set the authority of the 'Left Wing M THE RED fcONSPIRACf Section' above that of the party itself. Its meetings are held in secret, and their business is that of a permanent closed caucus to lay plans for controlling the action of the party branches and committees, and of obstructing their activities when it cannot control them. "Even within the 'Left Wing Section' itself democratic methods are not used. The admission of members, the choice of delegates to Left "VVing conferences, and the framing of instructions to those delegates are intrusted to committees com- posing an inner circle. All members and adherents of the 'Left Wing Section' are called upon in their action as party members and as members of party committees, to give explicit obedience to orders issued by the inner circle. A sufficient sample of this is the appointment of a ' steering committee ' for the Left Wingers in the central committee of the local, and the issuance of instructions to delegates affiliated with that section as follows : "'In all matters involving Left Wing tactics vote as a unit with the steering committee. Do not make motions, ask for divisions, further divisions, roll call, and appeals from the chair. The steering committee will attend to tliat.' " The Left Wing Section has not been able to command a majority in the central committee, notwithstanding the drastic methods used in their attempt to capture it. Unable to control they have practised systematic obstruction, and have openly declared that they will not permit the central committee to function so long as their group is in the minority there. Under the direction of their steering committee, the time is consumed with every species of parliamentary delay, with the aim and effect of preventing the central committee from transacting business and carrying on the normal work of the party. These dilatory tactics are supplemented by personal abuse directed against those who will not truckle to the ' Left Wing,' by insults and provocatory threats, and when necessary, by the creation of an uproar designed to attract the attention of the police and to break up the sessions " The Executive Committee has heretofore decided not to have a meeting of the central committee on May 13, and has appointed a committee to reorganize Local ISTew York. This committee will begin with such branches as are affiliated with the 'Left Wing Section.' No one will be excluded because of his opinions, but no one can retain a double membership in the party and the so-called ' Left Wing Section.' " FIGHT OF EIGHT AND LEFT WINGS 39 By about the middle of May, 1919, the Left Wing program had been adopted by the Socialist Party in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, Kings and Queens Counties, N. Y., and Essex County, N. J. In Hudson County, E". J., the county committee referred it favorably to all the branches, and at the end of the month the New Jersey Convention of the party adopted it. In Chicago, J. Louis Engdahl, sentenced* to twenty years in Leavenworth prison, was reported to have been ousted from the organization, having been considered too con- servative by the millionaire Socialist, William Bross Lloyd, and the latter's friends who controlled the Communist Propaganda League, the Left Wing faction of the local organization. "The Call," May 8, 1919, publishes an interesting letter from one of its correspondents: " It is not so much a question as to Left or Eight Wing domination as it is a question of whether we are to have a united or divided party. " I am not a Centrist, if that means to be in the center of the party as it is today. We must move to the Left — that is understood by all thinking, class-conscious Comrades, but we must move together, not, perhaps, as far as some of the hot- heads would like to have us — they fail to understand what an American Socialist Party should be, for they seem to think of New York City as the whole thing. If they could take a trip to Chicago and back they might find themselves moving toward the Eight. " No one wants to be where the stick-in-the-mud Eights are, either — that is, no one except them. The majority of us see the need for revolutionizing the party. What we don't see is any necessity of disrupting the party in the process. The master class would like to see that; in fact, they have been egging us on to fight among ourselves for the last two or three years, and we have blindly done the very thing that they want most we should do. They are laughing in their sleeves at us- — -poor boobs that we are." * Engdahl was indicted at Chicago, February 2, 1918, as Editor of the Socialist Party's official publications, brought to trial before Judge Landis, December 9, 1918, and convicted on January 8, 1919. The four indicted, convicted and sentenced with him, each for twenty years, were Victor L. Berger, member of the Socialist Party's National Executive Committee; Adolph Germer, the Party's National Executive Secretary; William F. Kruse, Secretary of the Young People's Socialist League, and Irwin St. John Tucker, former head of the Party's Literature Pepartment. 40 THE RED CONSPIEACY On May 15, 1919, following the open fight against the Left Wing inaugurated by the New York State Committee and its Executive Committee, the Left Wing Locals of Boston, Cleve- land and New York joined in a call for a National Conference of the Left Wing to convene in New York on June 31. This call opened with the following paragraph: " The international situation and the crisis in the American Socialist Party; the sabotage the party bureaucracy has prac- tised on the emergency national convention; the N. E. C. [National Executive Committee] aligning our party with the social-patriots at Berne, with the Congress of the Great Betrayal ; the necessity of reconstructing our policy in accord with revolu- tionary events — all this and more, makes it necessary that the revolutionary forces in the Socialist Party get together for counsel and action." Apparently so many bitter letters were sent to " The Call " that it found it expedient to publish the following notice in its edition of May 16, 1919: "No letters dealing in personalities of any kind will be published in this column. All views and all arguments set forth must be confined strictly to the principles and tactics either defended or attacked. This ruling is by the unanimous vote of the Board of Managers of ' The Call.' " Morris Hillquit, member of the National Executive Com- mittee of the Socialist Party till September, 1919, and one of the principle leaders of the Eight, published in his paper, " The Call," May 21, 1919, a long article in large type, covering half of the editorial page, under the caption, " The Socialist Task and Outlook." After speaking of the gloomy conditions in the Socialist Party abroad, he thus comments on conditions in the American branch of the international organization : "All the more unfortunate is it that the energies of the Socialist Party should at this time be dissipated in acrimonious and fruitless controversies brought on by the self-styled Left Wing movement. I am one of the last men in the party to ignore or misunderstand the sound revolutionary impulse which animates the rank and file of this new movement, but the specific form and direction which it has assumed, its program and tac- tics, spell disaster to our movement. I am opposed to it, not because it is too radical, but because it is essentially reactionary and non-Socialistic; not because it would lead us too far, but because it would lead us nowhere. To prate about the dictator- ship of the proletariat and of workers' Soviets in the United SIGHT OF EIGHT AND LEFT WINGS 4l States at this time is to deflect the Socialist propaganda from its realistic basis, and to advocate the abolition of all social reform planks in the party platform means to abandon the concrete class struggle as it presents itself from day to day. " The Left Wing movement, as I see it, is a purely emotional reflex of the situation in Eussia. The cardinal vice of the movement is that it started as a wing, i. e., as a schismatic and disintegrating movement. Proceeding on the arbitrary assumption that they were the Left, the ingenuous leaders of the movement had to discover a Eight, and since the European classification would not be fully reproduced without a Center, they also were bound to locate a center in the Socialist move- ment of America.* What matters it to our imaginative Left Wing leaders that the Socialist Party of America as a whole has stood in the forefront of Socialist radicalism ever since the outbreak of the war, that many of its officers and leaders have exposed their lives and liberties to imminent peril in defense of the principles of international Socialism, they are Eight Wingers and Centrists because the exigencies of the Left Wing require it. The Left Wing movement is a sort of burlesque on the Eussian revolution. Its leaders do not want to convert their Comrades in the party. They must capture and establish a sort of dictatorship of the proletariat ( ?) within the party. Hence the creation of their dual organization as a kind of Soviet, and their refusal to cooperate with the aforesaid stage Centrists and Eight Wingers. " But the performance is too sad to be amusing. It seems perfectly clear that, so long as this movement persists in the party, the latter's activity will be wholly taken up by mutual quarrels and recriminations. ISTeither wing will have any time for the propaganda of Socialism. There is, as far as I can see, but one remedy. It would be futile to preach reconciliation and union where antagonism runs so high. Let the Comrades on both sides do the next best thing. Let them separate, honestly, freely and without rancor. Let each side organize and work in its own way, and make such contribution to the Socialist movement in America as it can. Better a hundred times to have two numerically small Socialist organizations, each homogeneous and harmonious within itself, than to have one big party torn by dissensions and squabbles, an impotent * This reference to Left, Eight and Center bears every earmark of familiarity with the use of these terms in the call to the Moscow Conference, 43 THE KED CONSPIRACY colossus on feet of clay. The time for action is near. Let us clear the decks." By the end of May, 1919, the Left Wing fight had become so serious that the National Executive Committee revoked the charter of the Socialist Party in Michigan and suspended the Eussian, Lithuanian, Ukranian, Lettish, Polish, South Slavic and Hungarian branches, expelling or suspending considerably over 25,000 members out of a total dues-paying membership of about 100,000. " The Ohio Socialist," the party organ of Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia and New Mexico, in its issue of June 4, 1919, comments as follows on the expulsions: " Violating every principle of fair play and square dealing and disregarding every constitutional provision, the National Executive Committee at its session in Chicago, May 24 to 30, expelled without a trial the state organization of the Socialist Party of Michigan, constituting about 6,000 members, suspended the Eussian, Lithuanian, Lettish, Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian and South Slavic Federations of the party, constituting more than 30,000 members, and worst of all — and let it be said to their everlasting shame — are autocratically holding up the national membership referendum for the election of a new National Executive Committee, International Delegates, Inter- national Secretary, and the holding of a national convention. " Never before in the party's history have Socialist Party officials been so lost to all sense of decency and square dealing. A wilful group of seven members of the National Executive Committee usurped power which the constitution does not grant them and which the Socialist Party membership never intended any servants of the party to have. This despotic group of seven did not act as the party's servants, but as dictators and tyrants to defeat the expressed will of the party membership and to perpetuate itself in office. "Unbelievable as it may seem, seven officials of the party had the monumental effrontery to assume the right to expel and suspend 40,000 members. Think of it. That such a dastardly deed should ever be perpetrated upon the rank and file of our organization is almost beyond comprehension. And yet it was done — it was done by those whom you elected to serve you. Instead they are betraying you, disrupting the organization. "The intention of these, autocrats is plain as daylight. Like a tidal wave, the demand for a Socialism which stands true to FIGHT OF EIGHT AND LEFT WINGS 43 the working class at all times has swept the party. The thou- sands of Comrades who are sincerely working to win the party to a more revolutionary position are known to the Left Wing. This Left "Wing understands clearly that the Scheidemann brand of Socialism stands for the betrayal and defeat of the working class and that only the Socialism of Liebknecht and Lenine has within it the potentialities of victory and success. . . " There was no trial, no opportunity for defense offered to the Michigan Comrades. A motion to allow Michigan a chance to interpret their action was voted down. The right to appear at a trial was denied '■' Expulsion meant throwing out over three thousand votes. On with the expulsion of Michigan. . . " But the expulsion of Michigan was apparently not sufficient to decide the elections in favor of the reactionary moderates. At a subsequent session, accordingly, it was decided to destroy the whole election. " The National Executive Committee instructed the secretary not to tabulate the vote or make it public. They nullified the referendum vote, destroyed the will of the mem.bership in order to retain control. Most of these National Executive Committee members are out for -re-election, are interested parties, knowing that the referendum defeated them for re-election, are now, by this action, perpetuating themselves in office " The National Executive Committee's action is equivalent to stealing the elections. The party must act sternly to rebuke this official chicanery. " After this betrayal of the party the despotic seven seemed to fear the results of the National Convention, which has been called for August 30. A way had to be devised to control the convention. Happy thought : Suspend the federations that have endorsed the Left Wing, and we are safe. Another caucus held. Eesult : Suspension of the Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Lettish and South Slavic Federations from the Socialist Party — over thirty thousand members. A plain attempt to assure the election of reactionary delegates to the National Convention to approve the abominable actions of the National Executive Committee majority " In spite of all these dirty tactics the little group of reac- tionary autocrats did not feel themselves secure. They still fear that they will not be able to control the coming National Convention. ' So they formed a corporation, nearly all the direc- tors of which are gf the game stamp &s the wilful sgven, and 44 THE RED CONSPIRACY into the hands of these directors is to be placed the entire property of the Socialist Party, including the new headquarters building upon which $10,000 has been paid. These directors cannot be recalled by the party membership as long as they retain membership in the party, and only four, a minority, can be removed in three years' time " They want the Left Wing to desert the party. They want us to leave the party machinery in their hands. They will be disappointed in this. We know their game. We shall not play into their hands. We will not quit. Every Left Winger will work night and day for the reinstatement of the nearly 40,000 members whom the reactionaries are trying to sever from the party in violation of the party's constitution. Every radical will work with might and main to get new members and build, build the Left Wing and the party. Every revolutionist will stick until victory is ours and the Socialist Party is completely won for revolutionary Socialism." Commenting on the referendum for a new National Executive Committee "The Pievolutionary Age" in its May 24, 1919, issue says : " The moderates claim that the Left Wing represents only a small clique in the party: why, then, not allow the membership to make its decision through the referendum ? Why disfranchise the revolutionary Socialists? Why steal votes away from the Left Wing candidates ? These desperate tactics are understand- able only on the theory that the moderates feel that the revolu- tionary Socialists are a majority, that they will meet defeat in the referendum votes and revolutionary Socialism will con- quer the party." " The Eevolutionary Age," July 12, 1919, informs us that the Massachusetts Comrades were also expelled and that others in other States were threatened : " Another State gone. Massachusetts is expelled for adopting the Left Wing program at its State Convention and for refusing to recognize the National Executive Committee's act of suspend- ing the Federations. For this latter offense, Pennsylvania is now threatened with excommunication, and very likely Ohio will meet the same sad fate. " It is a race against time. Will there be anything left for the rump N. E. C. to expel by August 30th ? " Eelative to the success of the Left Wing in electing its mem- bers to the new National Executive Committee of fifteen, and FIGHT OF EIGHT AND LEFT WINGS 45 to the meeting of this new committee, " Tlie Revolutionary Age," July 19, 1919, comments as follows: " The election of Comrades Praina, Hourwich, Harwood, Prevey, Euthenberg, Lloyd, Keracher, Batt, Hogan, Millis, Nagle, Katterfeld, Wicks and Herman appears now to be certain, while there is still a question about the third choice in the First District, Comrade Lindgren leading without the New York vote. " There is no question but that the final tally of the party elections is available at the National Office, but according to the action of the National Executive Committee this tally will not be made known till August 30. Meanwhile the State secre- taries have published enough of the votes to leave no question of the outcome, except as above indicated " According to the party law the new N. E. C. is entitled to control beginning July 1st " There can be no legality by which a defunct Executive Com- mittee can keep the newly elected committee from taking office. By such ' constitutionality ' the old body could perpetuate itself indefinitely, let the members vote as they like. Stopping refer- endums is the method chosen to make sure that the members consent." Accusations and recriminations, charges and counter-charges, continued to fly back and forth between the two Wings, as the secretaries proceeded with the work of expulsion or suspension, carrying out the savage instructions of the Right Wing majority of the National Executive Committee, where Victor L. Berger, Morris Hillquit and Seymour Stedman were the dominating leaders. On the side of the Lefts little more could be done than to set up a howl against the " dictatorship of the proletariat " within the party which forced them to taste the medicine they would have preferred to prescribe for the rest of the country. During the summer the Left Wing movement was hastened on, dragging the Right Wing after it, by the publication in the radical papers of America of the manifesto issued in Moscow in March, 1919, by the Third or Communistic International in session there. Max Eastman, a Left Wing leader, in an article on "The New International" in "The Liberator," July, 1919, a Left Wing magazine, thus describes the Bolshevik International : " The Communist International, which met at Moscow on March 2d, 1919, comprised thirty-two delegates with full power to act, representing parties or groups in Germany, Russia, Hun- 46 THE EED CONSPIRACY gary, Sweden, Norway Bulgaria, Kumania, Finland, Ukrainia, Esthonia, Armenia, delegates from the ' Union of Socialists of Eastern Countries,' from the labor organizations of Germans in Eussia, and from the Balkan 'Union of Eevolutionary Socialists.' " There were also present representatives with consultative powers from parties and groups in Switzerland, Holland, Bohemia, Jugo-Slavia, France, Great Britain, Turkey, Turkestan, Persia, Corea, China, and the United States (S. J. Eutgers, of the Socialist Propaganda League, now merged with the Left Wing section of the Socialist Party). A letter was read from Comrade Loriot, the leader of the Left Wing section of the French Party, repudiating the Berne Congress of the Second International. " The Eussian Communist Party was represented by Com- rades Lenine, Trotzky, Zinoviev, Kukharin and Stalin. This party contains many millions of organized class-conscious Social- ists, more, perhaps, than are to be found in all the rest of the world." The Communist Manifesto of 1919, issued by this Moscow International, became the test of fellowship among the simon- pure " Eeds " the world over, and since the campaign of the Left Wing grew into an attempt to force the Socialist Party of America to adopt this Bolshevik program, we here quote the salient parts of the Moscow Manifesto from the article by Eastman mentioned above: "To the proletariat of all countries! " Seventj^-two years have gone by since the Communist Party of the World proclaimed its program in the form of the Mani- festo written by the great teachers of the proletarian revolution, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels " We Communists, representatives of the revolutionary pro- letariat of the different countries of Europe, America and Asia, assembled in Soviet Moscow, feel and consider ourselves fol- lowers and fulfillers of the program proclaimed seventy-two years ago. It is our task now to sum up the practical revolutionary experience of the working class, to cleanse the movement of its admixtures of opportunism and social patriotism^ and to gather together the forces of all the true revolutionary proletarian parties in order to further and hasten the complete victory of the Communist revolution. " The opportunists who, before the war, exhorted the workers, in the name of the gradual transition into Socialism, to be FIGHT OF EIGHT AND LEFT WINGS 47 temperate; who, during the war, asked for submission in the name of ' civil peace ' and defense of tlie Fatherland, now again demand of the workers self-abnegation to overcome the terrible consequences of the war. If this preaching were listened to by the workers. Capitalism would build out of the bones of several generations a new and still more formidable structure, leading to a new and inevitable world war. Fortunately for humanity, this is no longer possible " Only the Proletarian Dictatorship, which recognizes neither inherited privileges nor rights of property, but which arises from the needs of the hungering masses, can shorten the period of the present crisis; and for this purpose it mobilizes all materials and forces, introduces the universal duty to labor, establish the regime of industrial discipline, thus to heal in the course of a few years the open wounds caused by the war and also to raise humanity to new undreamed-of heights. " The whole bourgeois world accuses the Communists of destroying liberties and political democracy. This is not true. Having come into power the proletariat only asserts the absolute impossibility of applying the methods of bourgeois democracy, and it creates the conditions and forms of a higher working class democracy " The peasant of Bavaria and Baden who does not look beyond his church spire, the small French wine-grower who has been ruined by the adulterations practiced by the big capitalists, the small farmer of America plundered and betrayed by bankers and legislators — all these social ranks which have been shoved aside from the main road of development by Capitalism, are called on paper by the regime of political democracy to the administra- tion of the State. In reality, however, the finance-oligarchy decides all important questions which determine the destinies of nations behind the back of parliamentary democracy. . . . "The proletarian State, like every State, is an organ of suppression, but it arrays itself against the enemies of the working class. It aims to break the opposition of the despoilers of labor, who are using every means in a desperate effort to stifle the revolution in blood, and to make impossible further opposition. The dictatorship of the proletariat, which gives it the favored position in the community, is only a provisional institution. As the opposition of the Bourgeoisie is broken, as it is expropriated and gradually absorbed into the working groups, the proletarian dictatorship disappears, until finally the State dies and there are no more class distinctions 48 THE RED CONSPIRACY " In an empire of destruction where not only the means of production and transportation, but also the institutions of political democracy have become bloody ruins, the proletariat must create its own forms, to serve above all as a bond of unity for the working class and to enable it to accomplish a revolution- ary intervention in the further development of mankind. Such apparatus is represented in the Workmen's Councils. The old parties, the old unions, have proved incapable, in person of their leaders, to understand, much less to carry out the task which the new epoch presents to them. The proletariat has created a new institution which embraces the entire working class without distinction of vocation or political maturity, an elastic form of organization capable of continually renewing itself, expanding, and of drawing into itself ever new elements, ready to open its doors to the working groups of city and village which are near to the proletariat. This indispensable autonomous organization of the working class in the present struggle and in the future conquests of different lands, tests the proletariat and constitutes the greatest inspiration and the mightiest weapon of the pro- letariat of our time. Wherever the masses are awakened to consciousness. Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Councils will be formed " The outcry of the bourgeois world against the civil war and the red terror is the most colossal hypocrisy of which the history of political struggles can boast. There would be no civil war if the exploiters who have carried mankind to the very brink of ruin had not prevented every forward step of the laboring masses, if they had not instigated plots and murders and called to their aid armed help from outside to maintain or restore their predatory privileges. Civil war is forced upon the laboring classes by their arch-enemies. The working class must answer blow for blow, if it will not renounce its ovni object and its own future which is, at the same time, the future of all humanity. " The Communist parties, far from conjuring up civil war arti- ficially, rather strive to shorten its duration as much as possible — in case it has become an iron necessity — to minimize the num- ber of its victims, and, above all, to secure victory for the pro- letariat. This makes necessary the disarming of the bourgeoisie at the proper time, the arming of the laborer, and the formation of a communist army as the protector of the rule of the pro- letariat and the inviolability of the social structure. Such is the Eed Army of Soviet Kussia which arose to protect the FIGHT OF RIGHT AND LEFT WINGS 49 achievements of the working class against every assault from within or without. The Soviet Army is inseparable from the Soviet State. " Seizure of political power by the proletariat means destruc- tion of the political power of the bourgeoisie. The organized power of the bourgeoisie is in the civil State, with its capital- istic army under control of bourgeoisie-junker oiScers, its police and gendarmes, jailers and judges, its priests, government offi- cials, etc. Conquest of the political power means not merely a change in the personnel of ministries, but annihilation of the enemy's apparatus of government; disarmament of the bour- geoisie of the counter-revolutionary oflBcers, of the White Guard ; arming of the proletariat, the revolutionary soldiers, the Red Guard of workingmen; displacement of all bourgeois judges and organization of proletarian courts; elimination of control by reactionary government officials and substitution of new organs of management of the proletariat. . . . Not until the proletariat has achieved this victory and broken the resist- ance of the bourgeoisie can the former enemies of the new order be made useful, by bringing them under control of the Com- munist system and gradually bringing them into accord with its work " The Dictatorship of the Proletariat does not in any way call for partition of the means of production and exchange; rather, on the contrary, its aim is further to centralize the forces of production and to subject all of production to a systematic plan. As the first steps — socialization of the great banks which now control production; the taking over by the power of the proletariat of all government-controlled economic utilities; the transferring of all communal enterprises; the socializing of the syndicated and trustified units of production, as well as all other branches of production in which the degree of concentration and centralization of capital makes this tech- nically practicable; the socializing of agricultural estates and their conversion into co-operative establishments "As far as smaller enterprises are concerned, the proletariat must gradually unite them, according to the degree of their importance. It must be particularly emphasized that small properties will in no way be expropriated and that small prop- erty owners who are not exploiters of labor will not be forcibly dispossessed " The task of the Proletarian Dictatorship in the economic field can only be fulfilled to the extent that the proletariat is 50 THE KED CONSPIRACY enabled to create centralized organs of management and to insti- tute workers' control. To this end it must make use of its mass organizations whicli are in closest relation to the process of production. . " As in the field of production, so also in the field of distri- bution, all qualified technicians and specialists are to be made use of, provided their political resistance is broken and they are still capable of adapting themselves, not to the service of capital, but to the new system of production. . . Besides expropriating tlie factories, mines, estates, etc., the proletariat must also abolish the exploitation of the people by capitalistic landlords, transfer the large mansions to the local workers' councils, and move the working peojale into the bourgeois dwellings " The capitalistic criminals asserted at the beginning of the World War that it was only in defense of the common Father- land. But soon German Imperialism revealed its real brigand character by bloody deeds in Eussia, m the Ukraine and Finland. ISTow the Entente States unmask themselves as world despoilers and murderers of tlie proletariat " Indescribable is the White Terror of the bourgeois cannibals. Incalculable are the sacrifices of the working class. Their best — Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg — they have lost. Against this the proletariat must defend itself, defend at any price. The Communist International calls the whole world proletariat to this final struggle. " Down with the imperialistic conspiracy of capital ! "Long live the International Eepublic of the Proletarian Councils ! " As will be seen when we study the I. W. W., the above is the program of the world-wide conspiracy of a single class, a minority of society, to carry out the cynical purpose of I. W. W. 'ism — to " take possession of the earth and the machinery of production." Morris Hillquit, a Right Wing leader of the Socialist Party of America, declared that " The Communist Congress of Moscow made the mistake of attempting a sort of dictatorship of the Russian proletariat in the Socialist International and was con- spicuously inept and unhappy in the choice of certain allies and in the exclusion nf others."* * Tlius Hillquit seema to have had his eye on the " call " to the Moscow Conference, although he swore on the stand at Albany, in February, 11120, that he had not read the Moscow manifesto when he wrote 90 per cent, or more of his Party's Chicago manifesto of Septem- ber, 1919. FIGHT OF EIGHT AND LEFT AYINGS 51 Quoting this. Max Eastman, in the article from which we have taken so much, makes the following reply: " How can he expect them to be any more indefinite and gener- ous in their invitation than they were ? In every country where there was a doubt as to what groups had stood true to the revolutionary principle and the principle of Internationalism, they so indicated the alignment as to leave every Socialist free to consider himself their ally who seriously and courageously desired to. This was what they did in America. The S. L. P. (Socialist Labor Party), the Socialist Propaganda League, the I. W. W. and in the Socialist Party ' the followers of Debs ! ' Could they in a brief word open the door wider to American Socialists, unless they wished to admit prominent members of the Socialist Party who were known to have repudiated them, as Berger did, declaring his solidarity with the Mensheviks who were waging war on them?" CHAPTER V BIRTH OF THE COMMUNIST AND COMMUNIST- LABOR PARTIES On June 34, 1919, the Left Wing Conference assembled in New York City. The purpose of the Conference was for the first time to unite the forces of the Left Wing throughout the country and to decide upon a common plan of action against the Eight. For some time there had been a growing desire among the members of the Left for the formation of a new party to be known as the Communist Party. The Michigan State organization and the difEerent Eussian-speaking federations, which had either been expelled or suspended, were particularly anxious for a new party. Then, too, many members of the Left Wing throughout the country believed that, even though they were more numerous than those of the Eight, it would be useless to try to control the National Emergency Convention of the Socialist Party, called for August 30, 1919, in Chicago. They feared that the credentials of the still unsuspended and unex- pelled Left Wing delegates would not be recognized by the party machine in the hands of the Eight Wing, and, moreover, that even if they were, these Left Wing delegates would not be in the majority because so many other Left Wing delegates had been expelled from the Party. Almost at the beginning of the National Conference of the Left Wing the Michigan State delegates and the delegates of the foreign-language federations insisted on the immediate organi- zation of a new party to be knovra. as the Communist Party. The majority of the delegates, however, were opposed to imme- diate organization, claiming that it would be much more pru- dent to wait till the meeting of the National Emergency Con- vention, at the end of August, as many Left Wing Socialists would refuse to leave the mother party until it became evident that the Convention could not be captured by the Left Wing. The majority of the delegates decided to call a Communist Party Convention on September 1, 1919. The Michigan State delegates and the Eussian-speaking federation delegates there- upon TDroke with the majority of the Left Wing, causing a serious split, which continued till about the end of July, 1919. 53 BIETH OP THE COMMUNIST PARTIES 53 In that month, however, most of the members of the National Council of the Left Wing who had been leading the faction of the Left Wing which had refused the call for the immediate formation of the Communist Party, went over to the minority faction, which included the Michigan State organization and the Eussian-speaking federations. A compromise had been reached whereby the aforesaid members of the National Council agreed not to insist upon attendance at the National Emergency Con- vention of the Socialist Party, while the Michigan organization, together with the federations, were willing to wait till Septem- ber 1, 1919, for the convention of the Communist Party. Even on these terms John Eeed, Ben Gitlow and some other leading members of the Left Wing refused to go over to the Communist Party, having decided to fight for the rights of the Left Wingers in the National Emergency Convention of the Socialist Party. This group of Left Wingers later on, as will be seen, became the nucleus of a third party, the Communist Labor Party. Several statements from the joint call for the convention of the Communist Party, cited from " The Eevolu- tionary Age," August 33, 1919, will interest the reader: " The party will be founded upon the following principles : " The present is the period of the dissolution and collapse of the whole capitalist world system, which will mean the collapse of world culture, if capitalism with its unsolvable contradic- tions is not replaced by Communism. " The problem of the proletariat consists in organizing and training itself for the conquest of the powers of the state. " This new proletarian state must embody the dictatorship of the proletariat, both industrial and agricultural, this dictator- ship constituting the instrument for the taking over of property used for exploiting the workers, and for the reorganization of society on a Communist basis " The dictatorship of the proletariat shall carry out the aboli- tion of private property in the means of production and distri- bution, by transfer to the proletarian state under Socialist administration of the working class "The present world situation demands the closest relation between the revolutionary proletariat of all countries "We favor international alliance of the Communist Party of the United States only with the Communist groups of other countries, such as the Bolsheviki of Eussia, Spartacans of Ger- many, etc 54 THE RED CONSPIRACY " The party shall propagandize elass-conscious industrial unionism, and shall carry on party activity in cooperation with industrial disputes that take on a revolutionary character." The national organ of the Communist Party was " The Com- munist" of Chicago. In its issue of August 23, 1919, it thus criticises the Socialist Party: " The majority of the readers of ' The Communist ' are familiar with the form of organization of the old Socialist Party, with its state autonomy and its bureaucratic officialdom. Every state is practically organized as an Independent Socialist party. ' Official socialism ' of Milwaukee is entirely different form ' official socialism •" in Ohio, both in regard to platforms and form of organization. Every state has a ' Socialism ' of its own brand, and even dues are not uniform throughout the coun- try. ' Official papers ' of the party are in most cases organs of independent associations, not at all affiliated with the central party organizations. Such important weapons in the struggle of the proletariat are left in the hands of the petty bourgeois ideologists who, in reality, prostitute the labor press. As examples, we have, for instance, ' The Milwaukee Leader,' the 'New York Call,' the Jewish 'Daily Forward,' the 'Appeal to Eeason,' and many others scattered throughout the United States, and each contradicting not only the others, but containing in each issue glaring contradictions that an intelligent person who reads them becomes disgusted with the whole muddled mess." The fight among the revolutionists was a fight to the finish. The leaders all wanted to become Trotzkys and Lenines, all wanted to be bosses. It seems reasonable to conclude that if Bolshevism were ever introduced into the United States, either by the mother Socialist Party or by its offspring, the Communist Party or the Communist Labor Party, the dictatorship of the proletariat, that wonderful piece of nonsense which we hear so much about, would be grasped at by an amazing number of competitors. In Russia Lenine and Trotzky seem to constitute the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. In the Socialist Party of the United States Berger and Hillquit, of the old National Executive Committee, consti- tuted a first-class dictatorship. In the Communist Party, Den- nis Batt, lately jailed, and Alexander Stoklitsky would surely give the Communist rank and file plenty to do — everything of course being done according to their wills. John Eeed and Ben Gitlow would make an ideal " dictatorship of the proletariat," if the Communist Labor Party ever made Bolshevism the law of the land. BIRTH OF THE COMMUNIST PARTIES 55 " Truth," one of the organs of the Communist Labor Party, published in Duluth, Minn., in its issue of August 29, 1919, devotes nearly two of its eight pages to bitter attacks on the Communist Party. Two short quotations will suffice to show the spirit of envy that exists : " 'Tis said that distance lends enchantment, and perhaps that is the reason why some of you in the East have responded to the cuckoo-call of Michigan-Federations. Frankly, we see noth- ing hopeful in the alignment presented by the Michigan-Federa- tion combine. We are fearful of the consequence of such lead- ership. The so-called Communist Party, as it is now consti- tuted and especially with the accretion of a part of the National Council, presents the prettiest bunch of 'eligibles' that man ever laid eyes upon. And as I gaze upon this august array of talent, I wonder where the working class is going to get off at. We of the left wing of Cook County are reluctant to join with an organization under the guidance of a few doctrinaires from Detroit and the would-be Lenine of the United States.* We do not consider that the welfare of the revolutionary movement would be zealously guarded in their hands." Prom " Truth," of the same date, we also quote an open letter to Louis C. Fraina, which reads in part as follows : " Do you know how the Eussian Federation is being ruled ? Do you know that a 'firing squad' is constantly on the job expelling members and branches from the Federation who dare to disagree on anything with the would-be bosses of the Eussian Federation? .... " Do you know that a regular secret service system is being employed by these 'bosses' to hunt down the undesirables? " Do you know that a worse than military censorship is being maintained in the domain of Stocklitzky (the Northwestern States), where it is prohibited to the branches to communicate with each other or to send out or receive any correspondence otherwise than through the hands of the censors, the Executive Committee, and that this censorship committee, like the impe- rialists in the world's war, are holding up the mail of these branches and do not deliver at all the ' undesirable ' mail ? " August 30, 1919, the day for the assembling of the National Emergency Convention of the Socialist Party, at last arrived. Delegates of the Eight Wing, and many of the Left, including John Eeed, I. E. Ferguson and Eose Pastor Stokes, were present. The Left Wing delegates, to the number of about 84, arrived * The reference is to Alexander Stoklitzky. 56 THE RED CONSPIRACY early at the place of meeting. Machinists' Hall, 113 South Ash- land Boulevard, Chicago. Trouble immediately began, for the seats being occupied by the Left Wingers, the menibers of the Right were crowded out. Germer and Gerber of the Eight seem to have lost their heads. "The Chicago Herald and Examiner," of August 31, 1919, informs us that Adolph Germer, National Secretary of the Socialist Party and one of the leading members of the Eight Wing, called in the police, who cleared the hall. " The Chicago Tribune " of the same day tells us that everybody was exchang- ing fisticuffs when the police arrived. Detective Sergeant Law- rence McDonough, head of the anarchist squad, with the aid of a dozen uniformed policemen, seems to have saved the day for the Right Wingers. John Reed, of the Left Wing, was furious, and "The Call," New York, August 31, 1919, tells us that he issued a statement which he addressed to the delegates of the Emergency Convention: " We address you to inform you of occurrences this morning which every Revolutionary Socialist on the floor of this conven- tion will protest against. " Delegates from Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, Ohio, Nebraska, California and other states entered the conven- tion floor and took their seats in readiness for the opening of the convention. " At nearly 10 o'clock Gerber of New York and Goebel of New Jersey, who were at the door and attempted to refuse the above named delegates admission, called the police and these delega- tions were ejected from the hall by police power, many of them being roughly handled." Press reports inform us that after the belligerents had calmed down the meeting was again convened, and that Victor Berger, in referring to the Lefts, said: " They're just a lot of anarch- ists; we are the party." Berger did not say whether or not by the word " we " he meant the old National Executive Com- mittee, which should have gone out of office in July,* but seemed to have given itself a " mandate " to run the National Emergency Convention. •Article 3, Section 3 (a), of the "National Convention and Plat- form of the Socialist Party, 1917," as officially published, reads: "The call for the regular election of members of the National Executive Committee shall be issued on the first day of January, 1918, and on January first of each odd numbered year thereafter. Members elected in 1918 shall retire July first, 1919." But why should their own Con- stitution bother plotters who wish to dynamite that of the United States? BIRTH OP THE COMMUNIST PAETIES 57 On August 31, 1919, the hot-heads and sore-heads again assembled, and a dispute arose as to who called the "cops." As a result the Left Wingers nest met by themselves down- stairs, on the first Hoor of the hall, while the Eight Wingers remained higher up on the second floor. On the same day the Minnesota group was seated by the Convention, but was denied a vote. On September 1st the high climbers of the Eight Wing purged the party still more by unseating the Washington State delegation and expelled Katterfield " for the good of the party." The California delegates then threw a bomb into the Eight Wmg Convention by announcing that they would not take their seats until all of the contested delegations were seated and the police were withdrawn from the hall. These delegates finally went down to the first floor and joined ranks with the Left Wingers there, this section henceforth being known as the Com- munist Labor Party. On the same day the Convention of the Communist Party assembled at Smolny Institute, 1221 Blue Island Avenue, Chi- cago. Bed flags were displayed and Bolshevist songs were sung Until the police of the anarchist squad finally demanded the removal of the blood-colored standards of revolt. " The Call '"' informs us that on the next day, September 2nd, the Communist Party, composed of the Michigan crowd, the Eussian Pederation and the former Left Wing National Coun- cil, nearly split in two when, at a concerted signal, there resigned from the emergency committee of the convention, Louis C. Fraina, C. E. Euthenberg, 1. E. Ferguson, Maximilian Cohen, S. Elbaum and A. Selakowich, and, from other ofSces, A. Paul of Queens and Fannie Horowitz. It seems that these members were anxious to have the Communist Party amalgamate with the Communist Labor Party, but that the foreign federations, fearing that they would be outnumbered by the English-speak- ing members, were very much opposed to the union. On this same day Dennis Batt, one of the principal leaders of the Communist Party, was jailed. Moreover, on the 2nd of September the Communist Labor Party — the group that had first met with the Eight Wing, and, later on, down stairs on the first floor of the hall on South Ash- land Boulevard — assembled at the I. W. W. Hall at 119 Throop street. This party, heart and soul, is in favor of the propaga- tion of Bolshevism and I. W. W. 'ism in the United States, and if not completely broken up by the Government, seems destined 58 THE KED CONSPIEACY to become more numerous than either the rapidly disintegrating Socialist Party or the Communist Party, which is principally made up of foreigners who speak the various Russian languages. The principal leaders of the Communist Labor Party are John Reed, William Bross Lloyd, formerly known as the millionaire Socialist, and Benjamin Gitlow.* It seemed likely, too, that Fraina, Ferguson, Ruthenberg and Cohen, prominent " Reds," who resigned from the emergency committee of the Communist Party, would soon be found among the leaders of the Commun- ist Labor Party. At the time of the convention no national organ of the Communist Labor Party had yet begun publica- tion, but " The Voice of Labor," edited by Reed and Gitlow, and " Truth," formerly the Socialist paper of Duluth, were local organs. Both the Communist Party and the Communist Labor Party are strongly Bolshevist. The Communist Labor Party is decidedly more in favor of the I. W. W. than the Communist Party; but the main differences between these two parties seem to be a matter of race, language, and especially of personal jealousy and dislike among the leaders. For years the Socialist Party and the Socialist Labor Party have remained separated from each other, so that now, with the two new parties, the Communist Party and the Communist Labor Party, there are four parties of rebels, all plotting a revo- lution against our National Government, while the great body of the American people sleep and dream. Quite a number of educated people in the United States, including the editors of some of our leading dailies, seem to think that the remnant of the Socialist Party is not at all a Bolshevist organization and not at all revolutionary in charac- ter. They are very much deceived, having let the crafty, decep- tive, hypocritical leaders of the Right Wing fool them badly. The Left Wingers have indeed been much more open in admitting their intentions to overthrow our government by force of arms. They are dangerous, but perhaps not nearly so much so as the slippery " Yellows," cunning weasels of the imported Russian Hillquit type, who, though they do not talk as openly as the " Reds," are spreading their subversive prin- ciples on every side, and especially among the less educated classes of our people, into whose minds they instil the spirit of hatred between employers and employees, while at the same time * Gitlow WHR tried, cnnvicted and sentenced in New York City early in 1920, for inciting to anarchy. fil'KTH OP 'IHE COMltUNISt PARTIES 59 encouraging strikes, wherever they can, with the hope of over- throwing our Government when conditions become sufSciently criticaL Both parties of the Socialists and both parties of the Communists, along with the I. W. W., are all revolutionary in the strictest sense, and the sooner the American people wake up to the fact and take some intelligent action to stamp them out, the better it will be. It is not yet too late, but soon may be. The Bolshevist Socialists of Eussia and the two new parties of Socialists that at Chicago in September, 1919, seceded from the mother party, have all adopted the name, " Communist," which " The Call," New York, July 24, 1919, informs us was used by Marx and Engels, the founders of modern Socialism, adding that though the name is somewhat confusing, inasmuch as the word has another and a distinct meaning in English, still, " wherever it is used it means revolutionary Socialists as distin- guished from Social patriots and mere parliamentary Social- ists." Is this definition an alibi for Hillquit and Berger? Many persons have hastily assumed that the main reason why the Left and Eight Wings of the Socialists fought each other like eats and dogs was that the Eight Wing members of the party are opposed to Bolshevism. This is nonsense. The Socialist papers of the country. Eight and Left, with the pos- sible exception of the once powerful " Appeal to Eeason," which in recent years has fallen into great discredit among Socialists because it favored our entrance into the World War — have been and still are advocating Bolshevism every day. If anyone has any doubt, let him read any of the rebel sheets. The Socialist Party of St. Louis, in its appeal for party unity, published in "The Call," July 19, 1919, informs us that the Socialist Party is whole-heartedly with the Eussian Bol- shevists and their cause: " Promptly, and notwithstanding all obstacles and persecu- tion, the Socialist party hurried to the front in defense of the cause of our Eussian Comrades. Mass meetings were held, demonstrations in behalf of Soviet Eussia were arranged, our Socialist press gave all possible support to counteract the sinis- ter work of the American capitalist press." Eugene V. Debs, many times the presidential candidate of the Socialists and the idol of "Eeds" and "Yellows" alike, has all along been an ardent Bolshevist. Listen to these words of his in his article, " The Day of the People," published in many Socialist papers in the early part of 1919, and taken by us 60 THE RED CONSPIRACY from the March number of " Party News," the oflScial organ of the Socialist Party of Philadelphia: " In Eussia and Germany our valiant Comrades are leading the proletarian revolution, which knows no race, no color, no sex and no boundary lines. They are setting the heroic example for world-wide emulation. Let us, like them, scorn and repudi- ate the cowardly compromisers within our ranks, challenge and defy the robber-class power, and fight it out on that line to victory or death ! " From the crown of my head to the soles of my feet I am Bolshevik, and am proud of it." The report of the Eight Wing majority of the old National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party, made to the National Emergency Convention, and here quoted from " The Call," September 3, 1919, contains the following defense of their Bolshevism, against the aspersions of the Left Wing leaders who had challenged the committee's attitude toward Eussia : " Ever since the revolution in Eussia, the party has hailed it as the first great gift of the International. At every meeting of the National Executive Committee held since the second revo- lution in Eussia [the revolution which put Lenine and Trotzky in power] the committee has issued some ringing declaration in favor of the workers' and peasants' government in Eussia. " Rarely has a meeting been held under party auspices that our speakers have not taken advantage of it to present the claims and achievements of the Eussian revolution. The party's posi- tion may be easily ascertained by consulting the party bulletins and the party press." The Executive Committeemen who signed this defense of the committee's Bolshevist complexion were Victor L. Berger, Sey- mour Stedman, James Oneal, A. Shiplacoff, Dan Hogan, John M. Work, Frederick KrafEt and George H. Goebel. These, with Morris Hillquit, were the men who had violently expelled or sus- pended tens of thousands of members of the party without war- rant of the party Constitution and without granting a trial or the right of self-defense to those thus dealt with ; who had main- tained themselves in office after July 1, 1919, in express viola- tion of the party Constitution, having suppressed announcement of the result of the referendum vote l3y the rank and file to elect executive committeemen, by which vote Left Wing committee- men had been elected, as the report to the National Emergency Convention of the Eight Wing committee appointed to investi- BIKTH OF THE COMMUNIST PARTIES 6l gate this referendum had to acknowledge; and who, by these devices and a similar high-handedness committed by themselves and friendly delegates had seized control of the National Emer- gency Convention and organized it in their own interest. In their report to the convention they further defended them- selves against the Left Wing charge that this majority of the Executive Committee had allied itself with the Berne Confer- ence. Under this head the above-mentioned committeemen say : " While no definite date may be set for the beginning of the present party dissension, it is certain that they began to be generally noticeable in January of this year [1919], when the ISTational Executive Committee elected delegates to the Berne Conference owing to the fact that the delegates elected by refer- endum could not serve, and the assembling of the Berne Confer- ence in ilarch made necessary the election of delegates by the ISTational Executive Committee. " The so-called Left Wins: members of the National Execu- tive Committee participated in the election, nominating and vot- ing for candidates. None of their nominees were elected, and shortly after the election an organized attack was made against the international delegates by the Left Wing " The National Executive Committee, in session, decided that if our delegates arrived at Berne in time and the conference failed to take the position of the party on war and imperialism, we were to withdraw with any other elements favoring a genuine working-class International. It was agreed that we would not aiBliate with any International that excluded the Eussian Com- rades, who were fighting world imperialism, or the Comrades opposed to the Ebert-Scheidemann regime in Germany. " Before our delegates could leave the country, the National Executive Committee learned that the Berne Conference had failed to respond to its opportunity. . . . Learning this, the National Executive Committee decided to send one delegate abroad to impart information to the Comrades in Europe, informing them of our attitude on international questions."* " Yet, despite all this, a systematic campaign of falsehood has been waged against the party by a faction within the party. This faction has falsely claimed that the party is allied with the Berne Conference. . . . They have denounced the party * The report brought back by this delegate, Jamee Oneal, was the basis of the straddle resolution then adopted by a majority of the Executive Committee, the text of which we have given near the close of Chapter II. 63 tHli RED CONSMHAC? and its officials as an organization of ' Scheidemanhs ' and ' Noskes/ asserting that if tlie party were intrusted witli public power it would murder our own Comrades with machine guns and hand grenades " These slanders have been accompanied with a similar propa- ganda regarding Eussia. The party and its officials^ especially the members of the National Executive Committee, have been charged with being ' Kolchaks ' and ' counter-revolutionists/ the implication being that the party has been committed tO counter-revolution in Eussia, allied intervention, and support of Kolchak in Siberia. " As in the case of Germany, so in the case of Eussia, the ISTational Exec^itive Committee and the party in general have opposed intervention in Eussia or support of Kolchak and have supported the Eussian Comrades at the head of the Soviet power against a campaign of international lying. " There has never been a single utterance of the National Executive Committee quoted by the Left Wing to support these slanders. The Comrades may rest assured that this faction would quote the National Executive Committee if it could." It is technically true that the Left Wing visiters were not able to quote the Executive Committee as such ; but they could and did quote the dominating leaders of the Eight Wing majority of the Executive Committee, Hillquit and Berger, through their organs, the " Call " and " Leader " — " The Call " as character- izing the Bolsheviki as " anarchists " and Berger as proclaiming his solidarity with the Mensheviki — and we have nowhere seen any evidence that these leaders could purge the record of these charges. That these leaders were the Executive Committee, to all intents and purposes, seems abundantly shown by their ruth- less use of it to smash the party, going so far as to cast out nearly two-thirds of the entire party membership to get rid of their accusers, the Left Wing leaders. This scandal and disaster to a cause they pretended to serve are logical outcomes of a double hypocrisy — an effort to fool the voting public and our Government officials by a pretense of moderation in papers and electioneering speeches, while at the same time fooling the dues-paying rank and file of their party with expressions of loyalty to radicalism. The significant facts in estimating the revolutionary charac- ter of the American Socialist Party, as recruited and indoctri- nated by its double-faced leaders are two : the fact that as lately as September, 1919, some 70,000 of their pupils graduated into BIRTH OF THE COMMUNIST PARTIES 63 the open course of revolutionary violence adopted by the Com- munist Party of America and the Communist Labor Party, and the fact that the more manageable 40,000 remaining vi^ith these leaders were so much like their seceding Comrades that their leaders were compelled to defend their own radicalism in the fashion above shown, and were also compelled, as we shall soon see, to take an open stand for revolution and I. "VV. \V. 'ism in order to keep even the remnant of the party from deserting them. Thus a serious mistake has been made by the many who fancy that the "Yellow" Socialists — Hillquit's Eight Wing which still constitutes the Socialist Party of America — are not plot- ters who work for a revolution to overthrow our Government. Of course they are, and any one who has read the Socialist papers and publications, even to a very limited degree, may easily see that these alleged " moderates " appear such only in contrast with the more rabid " Eed ■" rebels of the Left ; and that the one object of Right and Left alike is to stir up discontent and foment hatred of class against class precisely in order that a rebellion may some day break out. True it is that the crafty leaders of the Eight do not act as imprudently as the hot-headed leaders of the Left, for they fear lest rashness should precipitate them in a premature and unsuccessful outbreak; yet they are sowing the seed of revolu- tion as certainly as are the Communists, and perhaps with much more success, because they proceed more prudently. Once in a while, when they are off their guard, the " cat escapes from the bag." As an example we quote from an article that appeared in the May Day, 1919, issue of " The Call," the paper founded and controlled by Hillquit, the foxy leader of the Eights : " The world revolution, dreamed of as a thing of the distant future, has become a live reality, rising from the graves of the murdered millions and the misery and suffering of the surviv- ing millions. It has taken form, it strikes forward, borne on by the despair of the masses and the shining example of the mar- tyrs. Its spread is irrepressible. The bridges are burnt behind the old capitalist society and its path is forever cut off. Capi- talist society is bankrupt, and the only salvation of humanity lies in the uprising of the masses, in the victory of the Socialist revolution, in the revolutionary forces of Socialism. " The World War, which is now about to be officially closed, has slid into a condition neither war nor peace. However the war of nations has been followed by the war of the classes. The 64 THE RED CONSPIEACY class struggle is no longer fought by resolutions and demonstra- tions. Threateningly it marches through the streets of the great cities for life or death." Yet the Eight Wing papers, on the whole, are much more reserved than those of the Left. As an example of the openness with which the Left Wing or Communist papers instigate rebel- lion, a quotation from " The Communist," Chicago, April 1, 1919, will interest the reader: " The Communist Propaganda League of Chicago came into existence on November 7, 1918, first anniversary of the Eus- sian Soviet Socialist Eepublic, and the very day of the German Eevolution. " A group of Socialist Party officials and active party mem- bers came together for consultation as to ways and means for giving the American Socialist movement a revolutionary char- acter in harmony with all the significance of November 7th, the most glorious date in all history. At the hour of that little meeting bedlam reigned in the streets of Chicago by premature celebration of peace. The calling of this meeting during the mass tumult of November 7th is prophetic of the revolutionary vision which brought these Comrades together. On that day the seething proletariat ruled Chicago by sheer force of numbers. One thing alone was needed to give this mass expression identity with the proletarian uprisings of Europe — • one thing : the revo- lutionary idea! " The Communist Propaganda League is an organization for the propagation of the revolutionary idea. The civilization of tomorrow is with unorganized masses who greeted the news of peace and revolution in Germany with what may be safely described as the greatest spontaneous expression of mass senti- ment ever witnessed in America. To give direction and inspi- ration to the advancing and irresistible army of the preletariat is the mission to which this League is dedicated." This League, with the millionaire Socialist, William Bross Lloyd, at its head, became part of the Communist Labor Party. The indications are that the Communist Labor Party, had it been left undisturbed by our Government, would soon have sur- passed in numbers the remnant left in the old Socialist Party, whose dues-paying membership dwindled from 109,589 in January, 1919, to 39,750 by July of the same year. Evidently, when the Left Wing secession occurred, a few real rebels came out of the Socialist Party, which used to boast in election cam- paigns that it was merely a party of evolution, not of revolution. BIRTH OF THE COMMUNIST PARTIES 65 Those who still remain in the old party are rebels, too, but the rank and file is restrained by seasoned leaders, who are more prudent but less honest than the hot-headed Communists. The Socialists now have in the country four revolutionary organizations: the Socialist Party, the Socialist Labor Party, the Communist Party and the Communist Labor Party. The scum of the land, the wrecks and wreckers of civilization, deluded ignoramuses, thus find ample opportunity for selecting an organization of rebellion in which there is " no political cor- ruption." The members of these parties find fault with every- thing under the Stars and Stripes, and yet hesitate to pass over to Eussia and live under the bloody standard of Lenine and Trotzky. If these four rebel parties do not sufSce for some of the rebels, there still remains the I. W. W. All are pretty much the same, their principal differences being the varying degrees of hypocrisy, boldness and lust for power of their leaders. The open and pronounced revolutionary character of the I. W. W., Communist Party and Communist Labor Party, evi- denced in their inflammatory utterances and tactics, had estab- lished their criminal status with our National and State police and legal departments, while startling wholesale arrests, deporta- tions and indictments of these three classes of law-breakers soon impressed a recognition of their criminal status upon the public mind. It is important to establish the further fact, if it be one, that the only difference between the rank and file of these organizations and the rank and file of the remnant still attached to the Socialist Party of America is the difference between tweedledee and tweedledum. The late inquiry into the qualifications of five suspended Socialists to sit as law-makers in the Kew York Assembly cre- ated an astonishing furore, disclosing amazing ignorance con- cerning American Socialism among our most intelligent citizens. The confusion of the public mind was still further increased by the Attorney-General of the United States, whose convincing characterization of the two Communist parties, given out on January 23, 1920, contained the following sentence : " Certainly such an organization as the Communist Party of America and also the Communist Labor Party cannot be con- strued to fall within the same category as the Socialist Party of America, which latter organization is pledged to the accom- plishment of changes of the Government by lawful and rightful 66 THE RED CONSPIEACY But can the facts so far brought out in this book " be con- strued " as indicating any substantial difference between the 39,000 or 40,000 Socialists wlio have kept their old party name and the 70,000 or 72,000 who separated from them in Septem- ber, 1919? Up to the moment of separation were not all alike under the same " pledge " to use " lawful and rightful means ? " But if this public profession of lawfulness meant nothing to 70,000 of them, why think it means more to the rest? We have the further striking evidence, shown above, that the leaders who had compromised their attitude toward Bolshevism felt compelled, in order to hold any of the rank and file, to argue that " the National Executive Committee and the party in general " had " supported the Eussian Comrades at the head of the Soviet power." Yet in spite of this defense the old iSTational Executive Committee of the Socialist Party was rebuked and kicked out of office during the Emergency Conven- tion, even by delegates who vs^ere friendly to the compromised leaders. The " Call," Sei^tember 5, 1919, gives some of the details: " The rebuke of the National Executive Committee was in the form of an amendment to the original motion to adopt its report. The amendment carried by 63 to 39 " Perhaps Frederick Haller expressed the general sentiment of the convention when he said : " ' We must endorse this supplemental report of the National Executive Committee, but we must go back to our constituents and tell them that we gave the National Executive Committee hell.' " These " constituents," the rank and file, determine the char- acter of the party, and not the thimble-rigging games of their political leaders, who support themselves and have " made a good thing " out of Socialism by carrying water on one shoulder for gullible voters, and on the other for their creduloiis disci- ples. This is not the first time that self-serving, hypocritical teachers, in compassing sea and land to make proselytes, have made them twofold more the children of hell than themselves. The National Emergency Convention of 1919 affords still other evidence of the mind of the rank and file of the Socialist Party in the report of the committee which investigated the referendum vote of 1919 which the old National Executive Com- mittee had suppressed. The "Call," September 1, 1919, says: " The report states that on the face of the returns, referen- dum B and D were carried by large majorities, and a National BIRTH OP THE COMMUNIST PARTIES Q'^ Executive Committee, consisting^ of Louis Praina of New York, Charles E. Euthenberg of Cleveland, Seymour Stedman of Chi- cago, Patrick S. Nagle of Oklahoma and L. E. Katterfeld of Cleveland was elected. The returns also showed on their face that John Reed and Louis Fraina had been elected as the party's international delegates and Kate Eichards O'Hare its interna- tional secretary." Thus the party was " Eed " or Lef t-Wingish " by large majorities," and was distinctly Bolshevist, as we learn from the " Call's " explanation of " referendum B and D," which " were carried by large majorities." " Eeferendum B put the question of holding a National Emergency Convention up to the membership. Eeferendum D asked the membership to decide whether the party should record itself as being opposed to entering any other international Socialist alignment than that of the Third National [Interna- tional?] which held its first conference at Moscow early in JIarch. "Its adoption means that the Socialist party will not take part in any international conference from which the Bolsheviki of Eussia and the Spartacans of Germany are excluded, or in which they refuse to participate." Thus at the Emergency Convention of August-September, 1919, the Socialist Party of America was tied to the will of the Eussian Bolshevists and the German Spartacides, who held the powers of approval and veto in deciding what internationals the members of the Socialist Party of America might associate with! A more anomalous product of the double-faced general- ship of Berger and Hillquit it would be hard to imagine. But this is not all. The Moscow Manifesto of March, 1919, was before the Emergency Convention. This Eussian Com- munistic Manifesto is addressed " To the proletariat of all coun- tries" (see Chapter IV) and reads: "We Communists, repre- sentatives of the revolutionary proletariat of the difEerent coun- tries of Europe, America and Asia, assembled in Soviet Mos- cow." Would the Socialist Party of America accept its inclu- sion among those in " America " thus designated, or refuse ? The committee which considered the matter split, bringing in majority and minority reports. The majority report, favored by Berger, considered the Third International as not yet consti- tuted, thus hanging the Socialist Party of America in the air, without fellowship with Moscow, Berne or any other thing — a trapeze performance truly Bergeresque. The minority report, 68 ■ THE EED CONSPIRACY voted for even by a third of the machine delegates in the Emer- gency Convention, favored affiliation with the associates of the Moscow Conference as constituting the Third International. It was decided to submit both reports to a referendum vote of the party, which should have been taken in January or February, 1930, if the requirements of the party Constitution were followed. The concern of the Socialist Party managers to keep the facts from the general public, evidenced by their tactics in the case of the five suspended Socialist Assemblymen at Albany, might have led to another unconstitutional delay or manipulation of a referendum. But this was immaterial in determining the mind of the rank and file, as we have documentary evidence showing that the only opposition within the party to a clear-cut Bolshevik committal sprang out of fear either of legal prose- cution or of the loss of votes through public condemnation. The following illuminating discussion is extracted from a letter of Alexander Trachtenberg, a conspicuous Socialist, as printed in the " Call " of November 26, 1919 : " The members of the Socialist Party now have before them two referenda — Eeferendum B, consisting of the various changes in the party Constitution which were decided upon at the Chicago Convention, and Eeferendum F, on international Socialist relations " The question of international affiliation is at this moment probably the most important before the Socialist Party. The two reports which emanated from the convention, known as the majority and minority reports, will no doubt receive very care- ful consideration by the members " A close examination of the two reports reveals that the con- dition laid down for the International, with which the Socialist party cares to affiliate itself, are the same. Both reports agree that: "a. The Second International is dead. '' b. The Berne International Conference hopelessly failed in its indeavor to reconstitute the International. ''c. The New International must consist only of those par- ties: " 1. Which have remained true to the revolutionary Interna- tional Socialist movement during the war. " 2. Which refused to co-operate with bourgeois parties and are opposed to all forms of coalition. BIRTH OF THE COMMUNIST PARTIES 69 " In short, both reports agree that the Socialist Party will go only into such an International the component parties of which conduct their struggle on revolutionary class lines. The differ- ence between the two reports is, that while the majority report leaves the matter of the reconstruction of the International hang in the air, the minority report has something tangible to offer. It also more specifically outlines the Socialist policy on the question of international aiSliation, and gives several rea- sons for joining the Third (Moscow) International '•' The Socialist Party of America cannot afford to remain amorphous at the present stage of the building of the new International. It has refused to go with those elements who have either betrayed or were unwilling to remain true to their professions. It belongs among those parties which have remained true to International Socialism and who alone have the right to build the edifice of the new International. "By voting for the minority report the Comrades will give expression to what they have professed and believed in during the past critical years in the life of the international Socialist movement." A letter on the same subject, by Benjamin Glassberg, appears in the " Call " of December 4, 1919, from which we take extracts showing the Bergeresque argument of Hoan, Berger's mayor of Milwaukee : " The most important question before the members of the Socialist Party just now is the referendum on the majority and minority reports on international relations. Comrade Trach- tenberg has argued in the columns of ' The Call ' in favor of the minority report, and Hoan of Milwaukee for the majority, and Comrade Warshow has argued against both. " A careful examination of the position taken by both Hoan and Warshow fails to reveal why the minority report should be voted down. Comrade Hoan is naturally very much con- cerned at the possibility that 'in the coming political battles the capitalistic henchmen will flaunt in your face that the above is the program of the Socialist Party' (referring to the state- ment in the governing rules of the Communist International that the revolutionary era compels the proletariat to make use of mass action). " The important thing, according to Hoan, is not whether the minority report is right or not, but rather what will the effect be at the next election. In this respect he is typical of the pure and simple political Socialist ■^0 iTHE RED CONSPlEACt " In one breath Comrade Warshow calls for a new Interna- tional to which shall be admitted all Socialist parties of the world who believe in the class struggle, and in the next he defends the Socialists supporting a coalition government. How can one subscribe to the doctrine of the class struggle and at the same time approve of Socialists joining in a coalition gov- ernment, which of necessity will not be the agent of the work- ers but of the class with which the workers are at all times at war? .... " In all our official declarations, including the Chicago mani- festo, we have voiced our support of the Bolsheviki. In our meetings and in our literature we have taken our stand solidly with our Eussian Comrades, our friends, the Left Wingers to the contrary notwithstanding. " Why, then, hesitate to affiliate with them ? " Thus, whether or not Berger's policy of dissimulation pre- vailed — and his wholesale slaughter of dues-payers with the ax of tlie Executive Committee had shown all who opposed him what they might expect — it remained true that identification with the Bolshevist principles and tactics of Lenine and Trotzky was what the present members of the Socialist Party in America " have professed and believed in during the past critical years " and was in accord with " all " their " official declarations," their " meetings " and their " literature." The base ingratitude of Berger toward those who have fol- lowed and supported him; the gross, incredible savagery of his egotism in turning to rend those he had discipled into revolu- tionaries the moment their allegiance to the principles he taught them stood in the way of his cowardice and ambition; his butcher insensibilities in making his party's Constitution a " scrap of paper " and the party a shambles for the hewing down of two-thirds of his " Comrades ; " his burlesque efErontery in posing in the convention as a law-and-order man, railing at his own victims as " anarchists " — these daubs of color paint the cubist portrait of Wisconsin's mock hero, one of the meanest caricatures of human life that ever swaggered on a political arena. "^^Tien the two Wings of the Convention raised the question, " WIjo called the cops ? " Berger's pale and innocent figure rose with the trembling remark : " If they had not been here yes- terday morning we would not be here now. The two-fisted Reed and the other two-fisted Left Wingers would be here." He took pains to have the delicate pathos of his martyrdom BIETH OS THE COMMUNIST PARTIES ,71 sketched into the Executive Committee report he signed, " Victor L. Berger, in addition to a sentence of 30 years, has four more indictments pending against him, besides being refused his seat in Congress. All the Socialist candidates for Congress in Wisconsin and the State Secretary also are under indictment. No mail whatever is permitted to be delivered to the ' Leader,' the party daily in Milwaukee," etc. On the other hand, against the terrible " anarchs " who had so outraged his own gentle spirit and sense of order, he even fulminated outside the Convention Hall, as in the interview which we take from the "Call" of September 4, 1919: " Ever since the Socialist movement has existed there have been two very distinct tendencies apparent — the Social Demo- cratic tendency and the Anarcho-Syndicalist tendency "But the revolution in Eussia and Hungary, which had been predicted by us, as well as in Germany, has had a peculiar psychological effect on many of the rank and file of the party, especially upon those who had come from Eussia and Hungary. They really believe this revolt can be repeated today in America. " The revolution in Eussia and the psychological effect of it penetrated into the foreign federations affiliated with the Social- ist party of America and gave the Anarcho-Syndicalists, who have Joined us in great numbers in the last six months, a chance to split up the Socialist party of America into three groups. "First, the old Socialist Party, which will remain longer to aid the old ideals of Social Democracy, even though there may be a change in tactics required by changed conditions. " Then there are the Communist Socialists, led by John Eeed and a few hysterical men and women, who try to bring about a Eussian revolution or God knows what other things, they them- selves don't know tomorrow morning. " And, finally, there is the Communist Party, led by Louis Fraina, which consists mainly of Eussians, Ukrainains, Slovenic races and other foreign federation members, who have been sus- pended for stuffing ballot boxes in the last referendum, and who also want revolution of some kind, the wherewith and howwith they haven't been able to explain so far." Do we exaggerate the humbuggery of leadership uncloaked in this Emergency Convention of the Socialist Party of Amer- ica ? Let the reader judge from the supreme example of it, the motive of which we present in the words of the organ of one of ii THE RED CONSPIEACY the chief conspirators, Hillquit's " Call." The issue of August 31, 1919, declared: "The convention will adopt a stand, expressed in a manifesto that is expected to satisfy all those in the Left Wing who are contending for what they believe to be revolutionary principles." In the issue of September 3 we read: " There will be a restatement of party principles which is expected to cut the ground from under the feet of the former members and organizations of the party who have read them- selves out and will remain suspended in mid-air between the newly formed and still more newly revised Communist-Labor Party and the Communist Party." In the " Call " of September 5, which published the manifesto, we also have this comment on it by James Oneal : " The American movement can congjratulate itself on having produced such a splendid document. It will tend to rally members who have been uncertain of the outcome of the convention, and will eventually bring to us many who are sick of the hypocrisies, the shams and the illusions that have held them in chains for nearly three tragic years." What hypocrisies, shams and illusions are referred to ? Who were their authors? In another column of the same issue we are told: "With every delegate on his feet and cheering, the National Emergency Convention of the Socialist Party unani- mously adopted its manifesto this afternoon. [September 4th.] It was the big moment of the convention. The document is regarded as the most revolutionary the party has ever drawn up, and one certain to bring back into the organization thou- sands of members temporarily outside of it, either because their local organizations were expelled or by reason of what Lenine has called ' the intoxication of the revolutionary phrase.' " Thus this manifesto was adopted by the wreckers of the Socialist Party to hold the "revolutionary" rank and file still left them and to draw back the revolutionary seceders — minus their leaders, of course. Nevertheless the manifesto is truly revolutionary — " most revolutionary " — the revolutionary creed of a revolutionary organization. It is, of course, carefully worded, so as to deceive if possible that public whose intelligence the cynical Socialists despise at the same time that they appeal to it for votes, and this carefiil wording we can understand from a comment in the " Call " of September 5, 1919 : " Before reading the manifesto, Block told the convention the mani- BIRTH OF THE COMMUNIST PARTIES 73 festo was largely based upon one suggested by Morris Hillquit, now ill at Saranac Lake, N. Y."* Seen through its mask of verbiage, however, the manifesto of the Emergencj Convention of the Socialist Party of America joins with the famous Preamble of the I. W. W. and the manifestoes and programs of the Communist and Commun- ist Labor Parties in advocating the plundering of mankind by proletarians, the elimination of the private ownership of natural wealth and the machinery of production, and the wresting of " the industries and the control of the government of the United States" out of their present ownership and control so as "to place industry and government in the control of the workers." This revolutionary document incites " American labor " to '' break away " from its present leadership, called " reaction- ary and futile," and " to join in the great emancipating move- ment of the more advanced revolutionary workers of the world " — the I. W. W.'s and Bolshevists. It is "the supreme task" of " the Socialist party of America," its " great task," to which its members "pledge all" their "energies and resources," to " win the American workers " from their " ineffective " leader- ship, " to educate them to an enlightened understanding of their own class interests, and to train and assist them to organize politically and industrially on class lines, in order to effect their emancipation" namely, " to wrest the industries and the con- trol of the government of the United States from the capital- ists and their retainers " and " place industry and government in the control of the workers." Furthermore, "to insure the triumph of Socialism in the United States the bulk of American workers must be strongly organized politically as Socialists, in constant, clear-cut and aggressive opposition to all parties of the possessing class " and "must be strongly organized in the economic field on broad industrial lines, as one powerful and harmonious class organi- zation, co-operating with the Socialist Party, and ready in cases of emergency to reinforce the political demands of the working class hy industrial action." (See, a few pages further on, the manifesto itself, from which we have quoted in the three last paragraphs.) Is this the thing which Berger and Hillquit have let loose — after blocking a much less compromising resolution of long- * As we have seen, the testimony of Morris Hillquit, February 19, 1920, at the trial of the five Assemblymen at Albany, was, "At least ninety per cent, of the manifesto is my authorship." '^4 IHE RED CONSPIRACY distance affiliation with Moscow ? Does Berger think the people of Wisconsin such blockheads that they will shy at a word like Bolshevism, but are unable to understand the plain, bold Eng- lish of a conspiracy to bring about industrial organization "to wrest the industries and the control of the government of the United States " out of the hands of the American people and into the hands of a special class ? Indeed, if the " workers " take everything, what will become of the drones — the Social- ist political hacks? While we reserve the details for Chapter XVI, we add here in passing that on February 10, 1920, it was acknowledged in testimony at the trial of the five Assemblymen at Albany that affiliation with the Third (Moscow) International had been carried by referendum vote in the Socialist Party of America with a large majority. Before giving the reader the text of that part of the Emer- gency Convention manifesto which we have been discussing we must call attention to another piece of evidence — Morris Hill- quit's letter in his paper, the "'New York Call," shortly after the Emergency Convention, in which he says : " The split in the ranks of American Socialism raises the question: What shall be the attitude of the Socialist Party toward the newly formed Communist organization ? " His let- ter answering this important question was read out of the " Call " into the record of the JSTew York Assembly's inquiry into the qualifications of the five suspended Socialists to act as law-makers and will be found in the " New York Herald " of January 39, 1920, from which we take it: "Any attempted solution of the problem must take into account the following fundamental facts : " First — The division was not created arbitrarily and delib- erately by the recent convention in Chicago. It had become an accomplished fact months ago, and the Chicago gatherings did nothing more than recognize the fact. " Second — The division was not brought about by differences on vital questions of principles. It arose over disputes on methods and policy. " Third — The separation of the Socialist Party into three organizations need not necessarily mean a weakening of the Socialists. They are wrong in their estimate of American con- ditions, their theoretical conclusions and practical methods, but they have not deserted to the enemy. The bulk of their follow- ing is still good Socialist material. Wlien the hour of the real BIRTH OF THE COMMUNIST PARTIES 75 Socialist fight strikes in this country we may find them again in our ranks. " Our quarrel is a family quarrel, and has no room in the columns of the capitalistic papers, where it can only give joy and comfort to the common enemy. The unpardonable offense of the Simons-Eussell-Spargo crowd [which withdrew from the Socialist Party of America on account of its unpatriotic and un-American opposition to the people and Government of the United States at war, as expressed in the Socialist Party's St. Louis Convention utterances in April, 1917] was not so much their social-patriotic stand during the war as the fact that they rushed into the an ti- Socialist press maliciously denouncing their former comrades as pro-German and deliberately added fuel to the sinister flame of mob violence and government persecution directed against the Socialist movement. " We have had our split. It was unfortunate but unavoid- able, and now we are through with it. Legitimate constructive work of the Socialist movement is before us. Let us give it all of our time, energies and resources. Let us center our whole fight upon capitalism, and let us hope our Communist brethren will go and do likewise." Thus all three organizations. Socialist Party of America, Communist Party of America and Communist Labor Party, have merely had " a family quarrel " and are still one kin, one blood, one " family," without " fundamental " " differences on vital questions of principles," so that the Socialist Partyites and their " Communist brethren " can go on doing " likewise " against our present Government and institutions until, " when the hour of the real Socialist fight " — the Great Sebellion — " strikes in this country " the members of the Socialist Party " may find " the members of the two Communist parties " again in " their " ranks." Thus by Hillquit, at least, all three parties can only " be construed " to be in one and the same " category." We end this chapter by reproducing from the " Kew York Call " of September 5, 1919, a considerable part of the Socialist Party's Emergency Convention manifesto. This offspring of Hillquit's brain declares " solidarity with the revolutionary workers of Eussia " and " radical " Spartacides of Germany and Communists of Austria and Hungary. Let the reader carefully weigh this document's meanings, comparing them with the call for and manifesto of the Moscow Conference, the definition of " industrial unionism " and " mass action " in the Left Wing- '('6 THE BED CONSriEACY ers' writings, the Communist and Communist Labor manifes- toes and programs, and the principles and tactics of I. W. W. 'ism as set forth elsewhere in this volume, and then ask him- self if the latest ofBcial utterance of the Socialist Party of America can in any way " be construed " as placing that party in any " category " which does not also contain the Communist organizations and the I. W. W. The salient parts of the mani- festo follow: " The capitalist class is now making its last stand in its his- tory. It was intrusted with the government of the world. It is responsible for the prevailing chaos. The events of recent years have conclusively demonstrated that capitalism is bank- rupt, and has become a dangerous impediment to progress and human welfare. The working class alone has the power to redeem and to save the world " It now becomes more than ever the immediate task of inter- national Socialism to accelerate and organize the inevitable transfer of political and industrial power from the capitalist class to the workers. The workers must recognize the economic structure of human society by eliminating the institution of the private ownership of natural wealth and of the machinery of industry, the essence of the war-breeding sj'stem of international commercial rivalry. The workers of the world must recognize the economic structure of human society by making the natural wealtli and the machinery of industry the collective property of all " The workers of Great Britain, Prance and Italy, the work- ers of the newly created nations, and the workers of the coun- tries which remained neutral during the war, are all in a state of unprecedented unrest. In different ways and by difEerent methods, either blindly impelled by the inexorable conditions which confront them, or clearly recognizing their revolutionary aims, they are abandoning their temporising programs of pre- war labor reform. They are determined to control the indus- tries, which means control of the governments. " In the United States capitalism has emerged from the war more reactionary and aggressive, more insolent and oppressive than it has ever been " But even in the United States the symptoms of a rebellious spirit in the ranks of the working masses are rapidly multiply- ing. Widespread and extensive strikes for better labor condi- tions, the demand of the 3,000,000 railway workers to control their industry, sporadic formation of labor parties, apparently. BIETH OF THE COMM0NIST PARTIES 77 though not fundamentally, in opposition to the political par- ties of the possessing class, are promising indications of a definite tendency on the part of American labor to break away from its reactionary and futile leadership and to Join in the great emancipating movement of the more advanced revolution- ary workers of the world. "Eecognizing this crucial situation at home and abroad, the Socialist Party in the United States at its first national conven- tion after the war, squarely takes its position with the uncom- promising section of the international Socialist movement. We unreservedly reject the policy of those Socialists who supported their belligerent capitalist governments on the plea of ' national defense,' and who entered into demoralizing compacts for so- called civil peace with the exploiters of labor during the war and continued a political alliance with them after the war. " We, the organized Socialists of America, declare our soli- darity with the revolutionary workers of Eussia in the support of the government of their Soviets, with the radical Socialists of Germany, Austria and Hungary in their efforts to establish working class rule in their countries, and with those Socialist organizations in England, Prance, Italy and other countries, who, during the war as after the war, have remained true to the principles of uncompromising international Socialism. " The great purpose of the Socialist Party is to wrest the industries and the control of the government of the United States from the capitalists and their retainers. It is our pur- pose to place industry and government in the control of the workers with hand and brain, to be administered for the benefit of the whole community. " To insure the triumph of Socialism in the United States the bulk of the American workers must be strongly organized politically as Socialists, in constant, clear-cut and aggressive opposition to all parties of the possessing class. They must be strongly organized in the economic field on broad industrial lines, as one powerful and harmonious class organization, co- operating with the Socialist Party, and ready in cases of emer- gency to reinforce the political demands of the working class by industrial action. " To win the American workers from their ineffective and demoralizing leadership, to educate them to an enlightened understanding of their own class interests, and to train and assist them to organize politically and industrially on class lines. 78 THE RED CONSPIRACY in order to effect their emancipation, that is the supreme task confronting the Socialist Party of America. " To this great task, without deviation or compromise, we pledge all our energies and resources. For its accomplishment we call for the support and co-operation of the workers of America and of all other persons desirous of ending the insane rule of capitalism before it has had the opportunity to precipi- tate humanity into another cataclysm of blood and ruin. " Long live tlie International Socialist Eevolution, the only hope of the suffering world ! " CHAPTEE VI SOCIALISM IN THEORY Morris Hillquit, a ring-leader among Socialists of the United States, writing in "Everybody's," October, 1913, page 487, informs us that the term Socialism is used indiscriminately to designate a certain philosophy, a scheme of social organization and an active political movement. Socialism, used to designate a certain philosophy, may better be distinguished by being called Socialism in theory. Socialism as an applied scheme of social organization may be termed Socialism in practice, and means nothing other than a form of government according to the principles of Socialist philoso- phy. Socialism, as an active political movement, means the Socialist Party. Thus, when we say that Socialism won several times in Milwaukee, we do not mean that the system of Social- ist philosophy was voted upon and accepted by the majority, for most of the voters knew practically nothing about the philosophy of Socialism; nor do we mean that the form of gov- ernment in accordance with the principles of Socialist philoso- phy was adopted at the polls, for, as a matter of fact, we know that the government of Milwaukee has never been in accordance with the Marxian principles; but we mean this, and only this, that the active political movement of the Socialists, in other words, the Socialist Party, elected its candidates. No doubt the victorious candidates would have ruled Milwaukee according to the philosophy of Socialism, applying the Marxian principles to their government, if they could have done so, but the Con- stitution of the United States as well as that of the State of Wisconsin would have stood in the wa}^, as will be seen when Socialism is explained more in detail. The first form of Socialism to be explained in detail is Socialism in theory. There seem to be about 57 hundred times 57 hundred varieties of Socialists, owing to the conflicting views that members of the party hold on different subjects which they wish to include in Socialism, and also because of their different interpretations of the fundamental principle of Social- ism. There is, however, one underlying principle that seems 79 So THE EED CONSPIRACY to be held quite generally by Marxians the world over. No matter what other radical measures individual Socialists may favor or wish to see included in the Socialist philosophy, and no matter how many different interpretations are given to the principle of Socialism, the basic principle that stands out above all others and is accepted generally by Socialists the world over may be said to be the demand for a government, democratic in form, under which all the citizens would collectively own and manage the principal means of production, transportation and communication. The Industrial Workers of the World form one of the few classes of Socialists who object to the generally accepted funda- mental principle just mentioned. " The One Big Union Monthly," March, 1919, prefers to drop the words " democratic form of government," because the I. W. W.'s are not sure that ownership by the people as a whole would succeed better under a democratic form of government than under a dictatorship of the proletariat. " The Labour Leader," the organ of the Socialist Independent Labor Party, Manchester, England, February 6, 1919, declares that Socialism is " the complete ownership and control of the means of life by the people, and the development of industry and the distribution of its fruits under a genuine and absolute democracy." In explaining Socialism, it says that " it means that the land shall become the property of the people, not of private individuals. It means that the great industries shall become the property of the people. It means that the railways and the canals shall become the property of the people. It means that the shipping shall become the property of the people. In short it means that everything essential to the life of all shall become the property of all, and shall be administered not for the profit of the few, but for the use of all. And it demands intelligent control of public affairs by the people, women as well as men." Practically the same ideas are expressed in other words by Jaures in " Studies in Socialism," page 32 of 1906 edi- tion, translated by Minturn. This great leader of the French Socialists, who was assassinated at the beginning of the World War, and in whose honor there was a tremendous demonstration in Paris on April 6, 1919, prophesied that " the time is not far off when no one will be able to speak to the public about the preservation of private property without covering himself with ridicule and putting himself voluntarily into an inferior rank. SOCIALISM IN" THEORt 81 'That which reigns to-day under the name of private property is really class property, and those who wish for the establish- ment of democracy in the economic as well as the political world should give their best effort to the abolition and not to the maintenance of this class property." In " The Eevolutionary Age," Boston, January 11, 1919, page 4, we read: " What is Socialism ? It is the public ownership of all the wealth, the mills, the mines, the factories, the railroads and land. Things that are used in common, must be owned in common, by the people and for the people under democratic management by the people, instead of the present system of private ownership for profits." According to Morris Hillquit in " Everybody's," October, 1913, page 487: " The Socialist program advocates a reorganization of the existing industrial system on the basis of collective or national ownership of the social tools. It demands that the control of the machinery of wealth creation be taken from the individual capitalists and placed in the hands of the nation, to be organized and operated for the benefit of the whole people." Hillquit, in his various articles, has, of course, like many other Socialists, given his explanation of the detailed method of organization and operation of industries under a Socialist form of government. It reads very nicely and appears attractive, as his statements do till truth's searchlight falls on them, but it does not seem worth while to present his views, for very many of the leading Socialists of the world not only differ with each other as regards the method of organization and operation that they advocate for the Marxian state, but they are also very much at variance with the plan of organization and operation that Hniquit describes. Eugene V. Debs, in his "Daily Message from Moundsville Prison," published in "The Call," N"ew York, April 31, 1919, tells us what Socialism is : " The earth for all the people ! That is the demand. "The machinery of production and distribution for all the people ! That is the demand. " The collective ownership and control of industry and its democratic management in the interest of all the people ! That is the demand. 8S THE RED CONSPIEACt " The elimination of rent, interest and profit and the produc- tion of wealth to satisfy the wants of all the people ! That is the demand. " Co-operative industry in which we all shall work together in harmony as the basis of a new social order, a higher civiliza- tion, a real republic ! That is the demand. " The end of class struggles and class rule, of master and slave, of ignorance and vice, of poverty and shame, of cruelty and crime — the birth of freedom, the dawn of brotherhood, the beginning of MAN ! That is the demand. " This is Socialism ! " In the Preamble to the American Socialist Party Platform, adopted by national referendum, July 24, 1917, we are told: " The theory of a democratic government is the greatest good to the greatest number. The working class far out-numbers the capitalist class. Here is the natural advantage of the working class. By uniting solidly in a political party of its own, it can capture the government and all its powers and use them in its own interests. " The Socialist Party aims to abolish this class war with all its evils and to substitute for capitalism a new order of co-opera- tion, wherein the workers shall own and control all the economic factors of life. It calls upon all workers to unite, to strike as they vote and to vote as they strike, all against the master class. " Only through this combination of our powers can we estab- lish the co-operative commonwealth, wherein the workers shall own their jobs and receive the full social value of their product. The necessities of life will then be produced, not for the profits of the few, but for the comfort and happiness of all who labor. Instead of privately owned industries with masters and slaves, there will be the common ownership of the means of life, and all the opportunities and resources of the world will be equal and free to all." The fundamental principle of Socialism, namely, a govern- ment, democratic in form, in which all the citizens would col- lectively own and manage the principal means of production, transportation and communication, will be more clearly under- stood if the several component parts of the basic principle are explained. A government, democratic in form, would, of course, require the overthrow of all limited monarchies as well as the annihila- tion of those that are despotic. Even a republican form of SOCIALISM IN THEORY 83 governmont, like that of the Unitecl States, is very far from being satisfactory to the Eevolutionists, for they demand that the citizens have as direct a voice as possible, first in the election of all public officers, secondly in the framing of the laws, and thirdly in the management of the many industrial departments of the proposed government. By the citizens' collective owning of the different things enumerated is meant that they would own them just as the citizens of the United States, as a body, to-day own the post- offices, arsenals, navy and public lands. Of course, collective ownership does not imply that, after the state should have taken over the things referred to, each citizen would be entitled to an equal share of them as his own private property, to be used by him according to his desires. The management of the property of the Socialist state and the renumeration for labor would not be in the hands of private individuals acting independently, but would be subject to the will of the majority of the citizens. By the principal means of production, transportation and communication is meant any instrument of production, trans- portation or communication that would be used for purposes of exploitation, in other words, for making profit through the employment of hired labor. To illustrate this, several examples will be given. Mines, factories and mills of all kinds, large business houses and stores, together with those farms, whose owners would employ hired labor for the production of goods to be sold at profit, would all be looked upon as being among the principal means of production. On the other hand, a sewing- machine used for family needs would not be included in the list. There are many Socialists who have held that their intended state would allow the private ownership of very small farms, pro- vided that the products were raised without the employment of farm hands. But it seems likely that such a plan of private ownership would not be tolerated under a Socialist government, for, first of all, a very large number of Socialists are opposed to such a plan, and, secondly, the political actionists who have favored it either have sacrificed thereby the principles of their party, or else by advocating the private ownership of small farms, have done so with the intention of deceiving farmers and small land owners in order to win their votes. More will be said about this further on. 84 THE EED CONSPIEACT Railroads, street car lines, express and steamship service would be among the principal means of transportation; while included in the list of principal means of communication there would be the public telephone and telegraph systems. Auto- mobiles, horses and carriages, if used without the assistance of hired labor, would not be considered as being principal means of transportation. So, too, under similar conditions, a private telephone or telegraph line running to the house of a friend would be excluded from the principal means of communication. The state would, of course, own all the goods produced in its mines, factories, shops, etc., until they were purchased with money or labor certificates. The people would then retain these goods as their own private property, and would not, according to the leading American Socialists, be compelled to divide them up with their fellow countrymen. The Socialist plan looks very nice on paper, allures many impoverished workingmen of the present day, appeals strongly to the uneducated, and offers great inducements to the " downs and outs " of society. It is, however, a deadly poison, and this will be proven conclusively in the chapter on " Socialism a Peril to Workingmen." There it will be shown not only that a Socialist state cannot possibly be a success, but that it would be a source of continued civil strife and discord, thor- oughly unsatisfactory to workingmen, whom it would overwhelm with all the evils attendant on crime, strife, rebellion and chaos. In the Marxian state the industrial establishments, land, and business enterprises would be confiscated; neither interest, rent nor profit would be tolerated; the wage system would be abolished; no satisfactory plan could be devised for assigning so many millions of workingmen to the different positions, while at the same time satisfying them with remuneration for their daily toil; religions of all kinds would be the object of persecu- tion ; free-love would be legalized ; and political corruption would be much more widespread than today. These are but several of the factors that would make a successful Socialist state an impossibility. It may interest the reader to know that Socialists of the highest authority inform us that in the new state women would be called upon to work. The late August Bebel, one of the foremost of German Socialists, says that as soon as society is in possession of all the means of production, "the duty to work, on the part of all able to work, without distinction of sex, becomes the organic law of socialized society." [" Woman SOCIALISM I]Sr THEORY 85 Under Socialism," by Bebel, page 375 of the 1904 edition in English.] Frederick Engels, in his book, " Origin of the Eamily," teaches that the emancipation of women is primarily dependent on the reintroduction of the whole female sex into the public industries. [" Origin of the Family," by Engels, page 90 of Untermann's 1907 translation into English.] In "The Call," New York, February 27, 1910, it is stated that " the man who professes himself to be a Socialist, and then says that under Socialism men will provide for women, is wide of the mark." Keeping clearly before their minds the fundamental principle of Socialism, the people of America must be careful to distin- guish between Socialists ruling under our present form of gov- ernment, and Socialists ruling in a Socialist state. Possible success in the first case would by no means indicate success in the latter. If our citizens are cautious in this respect, the enemies of our country will not dare to boast of the so-called success of Socialism in those places in which the members of their party, elected to public office, may have given a good administration under our constitutional system of government. Though Socialism, in the strictest sense of the word, is concerned exclusively with economics, still this does not mean that those who profess it do not advocate, as part of their program, many pet projects not appertaining to economics. By a vast majority, the members of the Socialist Party either advocate atheism and opposition to religion, or at least do not oppose those Socialists who do. Most of them, too, in their cravings for what is base and low, are by no means adverse to seeing free-love reign supreme in their contemplated state. The word Socialism is, therefore, frequently used in a broader sense, and is made to include not only the common doctrine advocating the democratic form of government under which the citizens would collectively own and manage the principal means of pro- duction, transportation and communication, but also those other doctrines that are taught or silently approved by the majority. It is in this broader sense, then, that the opponents of the Marxians justly claim that Socialism is atheistic, anti-religious, and immoral. We are told by Hillquit in "Everybody's," October, 1913, page 486, that " like all social theories and practical mass move- ments. Socialism produces certain divergent schools, bastard offshoots clustering around' the main trunk of the tree, large in number and variety, but insignificant in size and strength. 86 THE RED CONSPIEACT Thus we hear of State Socialism, Socialism of the Chair, Christian Socialism and even Catholic Socialism." Persons ¥/ho call themselves Socialists may be divided into two classes, in the first of which are those who are Socialists merely in name, for they go no further than to vote the party ticket. It is in the second class that we find the real Socialists, men who besides severing all connections with the other political organizations and voting regularly for the Socialist candidates, have taken out membership cards which entitle them to vote on party policies by the payment of several dollars a year into the treasury of the party. Many of the first class are, of course, not guilty of propagating atheism, free-love, and other radical doctrines. In fact, it often happens that they scarcely know that such things are taught by Socialists, for the deceitful Eevolutionary orators and writers, having blinded them with vivid pictures of their misfortunes, lead them to believe that the movement is morally upright, and that the contemplated state of the future will bring them every blessing under Heaven. But unless those who are Socialists merely in name sever their connection with the party of Karl Marx, it will not be long before many of them will lose all sense of honor, decency and morality. Indeed they often sink lower than the base character who composed the " poem " that takes up half a page of "The Call" of May 10, 1914. Though "The Call" seems to consider the " poem " an excellent specimen of literature, or else uses the large type that it does in order to attract the attention of its readers to the sublime virtues of the author, the quotation of but a small part of the production will suffice to bring out its real worth and at the same time show us the benign effects of Socialist teachings : " You who are exalted by pictures but not by people : you who worship a book and a god rather than hearts and men and women : I'd rather have my world and its flesh and its devil than your heaven and its spirit and its god : . . . . And while I don't blame man for being base or praise man for being noble, I embrace man as my brother for being man: And there you have the whole story, my man intoxication : I am drunk with man : you see how it is : You can have your bibles : I don't need your clirists : your creeds would be an insult to me : I have man ; I am drunk with man: Socialism in theory 8^ That's the secret of secrets : that's the confession of confessions : that's the inside of the inside of me : I don't expect you to take it in: drunk with man: no: that's too much like mockery to you : you shudder at it : To you man always comes last : man never comes first : gods, mountains, laws — they come first: man can take his chances : That's the rule of precedence as you have fixed it : that's the up and down and around of your cosmos : But I say no : I who am drunk with man can't give up my faith for your hlasphemy: you who are sober with god." The attention of the reader must now be drawn to something of vital importance. There is no doubt that '' Knights of the Eed Flag " have advocated many excellent social reforms, such as higher wages, shorter working hours and greater safety for laborers, legislation against trusts, and the prevention of child labor and political corruption. Great credit would they deserve if their real object were not to gain votes to secure the estab- lishment of a Socialist form of government. It is probable that before long, voting with true social reformers, they will see the materialization of many of the immediate demands enumerated in their platform. But it is to be remembered that no matter how many beneficial reforms Socialists may help to procure under our present constitutional system, they thus in no way prove the superiority of a Socialistic government, democratic in form, in which the citizens would collectively own and manage the principal means of production, transportation, and communi- cation. The reason is that our constitutional government would still be in vogue, and the contradictory fundamental principle of Socialism could not be applied by the ruling Marxians. Persons who judge the Socialist movement solely by the immediate demands of its political platform, or by social reforms instituted after a political victory, understand very little either about Socialism or the methods and purposes of the Marxians. Yet this was the short-sighted manner in which the press per- sistently, and for a long time, viewed the tactics of Socialist politicians. Only a revolutionary movement far enough advanced to neglect gradual transformation by means of immediate' demands would be able to sweep away by force, at a single stroke, all the old conditions of production, together with our present form of government, and tlie existing order of society. 88 THE RED CONSPIRACY The so-called " Immediate Demands " of the Socialists may be termed political campaign Socialism or vote-catching Social- ism. They are the sugar coating of the poisonous pill of Socialism itself. Their object is to attract and interest the voter, and at the same time keep his mind off of the fallacies of Socialism proper. They keep him from asking too many unanswerable questions about the detailed method of organ- ization under a Socialist form of government — for instance, how the millions upon millions of government employes would be assigned to positions that would suit them, and at the same time receive satisfactory remuneration for their labors. These same immediate demands also give the voter a chance to find fault with our present system of government and to criticise it, thereby rendering it less able to withstand succes- sive Socialist assaults. The immediate demands are, of course, meant for the present day and even if they should materialize, under our present system, they could not be continued in a Socialist state, that would be necessarily weak, poverty-stricken, strife-ridden, politically corrupt and chaotic. It is one thing to make demands, quite another thing to be able to grant them. A highway robber can demand a million dollars from the person whom he attacks, but that doesn't make the one assaulted able to surrender the sum ; nor would it prove that the robber himself could afford to pay a like amount if he should afterwards be held up for a million. The immediate demands of the 1918 Congressional Platform of the Socialist Party are entirely too many conveniently to enumerate. They are classed under A — International Eeconstruction. Peace Aims. Pederation of Peoples. B — Internal Eeconstruction. Industrial Control. Eailroads and Express Service. Steamships and Steamship Lines. Telegraph and Telephone. Large Power Scale Industry. Democratic Management. Demobilization. The Structure of Government (i. e., of the present sys- tem of government). Civil Liberties. Taxation. SOCIALISM IN THEORY 89 Credit. Agriculture. Conservation of Natural Eesources. Labor Legislation. Prisons. The Negro. The immediate demands are so numerous as to require a booklet of 24 pages, published by the National Office, Socialist Party, Chicago, 111. It is very hard to find a single reference to Socialism itself in the entire 2i pages of the Congressional Platform. In a letter of Moses Oppenheimer, published in " The Call," New York, April 14, 1919, we are told that under the oppor- tunist leadership of men like Hillquit, Berger, Ghent, and Eobert Hunter the struggle for reforms has gradually over- shadowed and supplanted the demand for the abolition of wage slavery. The writer continues : " More and more it has resulted in petty tactics for vote catching. Berger's Old Age Pension bill was a glaring exhibit of opportunist incapacity. " Immediate demands are a tactical problem ! Comrade Lee knows that the tactics change with changed conditions. There was a time when the opportunists expected to win the votes of the bulk of A. P. of L. workers. Hence the sugar coating of the Socialist pill and three years of Chester M. Wright in con- trol of ' The Call' " That is now ancient history. Lee could not repeat that chapter if he would. Nay, I believe he wouldn't if he could. " The powerful impulse from the movement in Europe makes itself felt over here. There is great need for reforming our front, for recasting our tactics. The old roar of opportunism led us nowhere, except to barren failure. If nothing else the experience with our Ten in Albany and our Seven in the City Hall should open our eyes. The time for picayune politics is irrevocably gone." In an article published in " The Proletarian," Detroit, April, 1919, page 4, Oakley .Johnson thus criticises the Socialist policy of reformism as manifested in the immediate demands of the party platform: " Socialists have been dazed time and again by the glitter of reformism. In every country the question has been an ever- present one, and, as a result, the rainbows of reform have found many chasers in the ranks of the workers. Thq matter seemed. 90 THE EED CONSPIEACT up to near the end of the war, to involve more an academic dispute on tactics than a principle of vital importance. There seemed too many good reasons vfhy immediate demands for slight concessions should not be worked for, as a step in the direction of proletarian emancipation. " When, however, the Bolshevik revolution in Eussia showed the stand taken by the reformist groups — a stand in defense of capitalism when capitalism was about to fall — the uncom- promisingly revolutionary attitude of Marxian Socialists toward reform in the past was amply justified. And when, in the course of a few months, the reformistic Majority Socialists of Germany took exactly the same stand as the Kerensky crowd had taken, there could no longer be any doubt that the purpose of reform parties in capitalistic society is to function as the last obstacle to the victory of the proletariat " The fact is, there is a threefold objection to reformism as a working-class policy. In the iirst place it is a waste of effort, for the same zeal displayed by short-sighted reform-Socialists would, if applied in the propagation of straight Socialism, treble the strength of the movement in a few months' time. In the second place reformism obscures the real end in view, develops confusionists rather than revolutionists, gives capitalist political parties a chance to steal a few ' Socialist ' planks and thus bid for the Socialist vote, and, worst of all, paves the way to such tragedies as are now occurring in Germany, where Liebknecht and Luxemberg have been murdered Ijy their 'reform' comrades (?). And finally, in the third place, even if reform be the sole object in view, reformism is the poorest policy to follow to get it. A proletariat organized for revolu- tionary ends has no difficulty in securing reforms; it does not need to ask for them, for an awakened and apprehensive bourgeoisie will shower reforms upon them like the proverbial manna. If, indeed, workers want only reforms, why take the longest way around ? " "The New Age," Buffalo, April 10, 1919, page 4, rejoices that the reformists of the Socialist Party, whose policy it is to pay more attention to the immediate demands than to the prin- ciples of Socialism, have now a serious rival in the New Labor Party : " Now that the New Labor Party is established (and in Chicago recently they polled more votes than the Socialists), we wonder what the old machine will do to combat this new Qctopus that threatens the big vote that used to belong to ' US.' SOCIALISM IK THEORY 91 Answer : Teacli the working class real Socialism, tlie Socialism of Marx and Bngels." The millionaire Socialist, William Bross Lloyd, of Chicago, has a very interesting article on " Socialist Platforms " in " The Communist," Chicago, April 1, 1919 : " Confession, is good for the soul. Let the Socialist Party of the World now stand up and confess that it bears a close resem- blance to other political parties in that, like the others, its platforms are mostly bunk. " The difference between its platforms and others is that the others mean nothing while its platforms mean anything. The difference between Socialists and other politicians is that the Socialists mean what they think their platforms mean while the others mean only to get office. " This follows from the state of affairs we have had in the world since 1914, when Socialists became so diverse in words and deeds. Most of those on both sides are honest. The trouble is the vagueness of the words of the Socialist propaganda. " Socialist thought should be so clearly stated in its platforms that no one can doubt its meaning. This will eliminate from the party the reformers and compromisers who are such a source of weakness to the movement. It will also make clear to the workers that the movement really means something. " Take, for instance, the case of the party's attitude toward war. Socialists are said to be opposed to all wars • — then come the exceptions: wars of 'defense,' 'invasion,' 'emancipation,' ' liberation,' and all the meaningless tribe. Confusion results. We have the German Majority Socialists, i. e., so-called Social- ists, supporting their government in a war of ' defense ' against ' invasion ' and of the maintenance of their ' liberties ' — God save the mark — against Eussian autocracy " Without knowing the precise intention of those who drafted the St. Louis platform, I infer that it was partly written in the hope — if not belief — that the American workers would rise against their oppressors and the situation to which they have been subjected. It was a ringing declaration — a 'mass movement ' of the delegates to the convention, later endorsed by the party membership. And as these delegates separated hot-foot for home, they got cold feet as they dispersed into the cold-footed isolation of the individual Socialist scattered here and there throughout this land. The platform contained no statement of individual duty, no individual program of action 92 THE EED CONSPIEACY Each Socialist began to ask as his feet got colder and colder: ' Where are these " mass movements ; " what are the others going to do ? ' The situation was made worse by the action of the National Executive Committee which told every Socialist to read the St. Louis platform and then act as his conscience dictated. Eine business for a revolutionary mass movement eeeking to establish the co-operative commonwealth. Xo anarchist could be more individualistic. "The party's attitude toward war should be cleared up. It should definitely provide for mass action, and bind the indi- viduals of the party as units of the party mass. This war plat- form should be followed by a Workers' Mobilization plan carefully worked out in detail and laying down action in response to each step taken in approach to war. Eor instance, on the introduction of the War Declaration in Congress, a one-day general strike just to show the rulers what was in store. On passage of the War Declaration a general strike, refusal to serve in the military forces, and such other measures as may be effective." "The Appeal to Reason" some years ago was the leading Socialist paper of the United States. In 1917 it came out in favor of war with the Central Powers. Either because of this, or because it violently assailed Bolshevism for a long while, it is now outlawed by the greater part of the Socialist Party. On the editorial page of " The Call," New York, April 24, 1919, we read : " Instead of the ' Appeal to Eeason ' asking for a pardon for Debs, it should ask a pardon from Debs." In "The Bulletin," Chicago, March 24, 1919, there appears on page 12 a bitter attack on " The Appeal " by no less a per- sonage than Adolph Germer, National Secretary of the Socialist Party. In this official paper, issued by the National OfBce, Socialist Party, we read : " An Open Letter to ' The Appeal.' "March 19, 1919. " Editor Appeal to Eeason, " GiRAED, Kans. : "Sir. — In the issue of the 'Appeal to Eeason,' March 15, 1919, you publish an appeal for $30,000 CASH, for an alleged ' Amnesty and Construction Eight.' " You give yourself credit for having ' won ' the first skirmish in the amnesty fight and on the basis of this unfounded claim, you justify your appeal for $30,000 CASH. To make your SOCIALISM IN THEOEt 93 appeal seem legitimate, you use such names as Eugene V. Debs, ICate Richards O'Hare, Rose Pastor Stokes and refer to ' many of our comrades.' I happen to be one of those who is facing a prison sentence and if you have included me in * many of the comrades,' I want you to strike my name from your list. I loathe to be a ' comrade ' of yours. You and your paper helped to create a hatred against the Socialist Party and you wilfully and maliciously lied about the National Executive Committee when it refused to follow a course that would put more of our members in prison. In other words, you and your paper must bear a part of the responsibility for the prosecution and perse- cution of the Socialists and it is rank hypocrisy for you to prate about your fight for amnesty. " Others may speak for themselves, but I scorn any effort that you make in my behalf. A thousand times would I rathei spend the rest of my life behind prison bars tlian to have one word from you whom I hold responsible for the persecutions of which my colleagues and I are victims. "1 look upon your appeal for $30,000 CASH, in the name of ' Amnestj^,' as a sinister method of filling your own coffers. " You have lied to us and about us and betrayed us in the past and I resent your hypocritical prattle about amnesty. " Yours without respect, " Adolph Geriier, " National Secretary, Socialist Party/' Judging from the bitter attacks that Socialists are making upon each other, it would seem that tliere might be a little har- mony in the party if their platforms were limited to the prin- ciples of Socialism and were not concerned with " immediate demands " to the almost total exclusion of Socialism itself. CHAPTER VII SOCIALISM IN PRACTICE N"o\y that considerable has been said about Socialism in the- ory, we shall make the transition to Socialism in practice by quoting what may be called George Herron's dream of Socialist perfection. On page 38 of his booklet, " Prom Eevolution to Pievolution," we are told : " Perhaps we shall learn in time, before accentuated capitalism has intensified the universal mis- ery of labor. Socialism is already on its way to the conquest of Europe. And it may be that we shall yet behold that glo- rious uprising of the universal peoples which is to begin man's Teal history, and the world's real creation — that united affir- mation of the world's workers which Socialism foretells, know- ing boundaries neither of nations nor sects nor factions, speaking one voice and working together as one man for one purpose, filling and cleansing the world with one glad revolutionary cry. Tl'hen the peoples thus come, divine and omnipotent through co-operation, the raw materials of the world-life in their creative hands, no longer begging favors or reforms, no longer awed by the slave moralities or the slave religions that teach submission to their masters, but risen and regnant in the consciousness of their common inheritance and right in the earth and its fullness, of which they are the makers and pre- servers, then will the antagonisms and devastations of classes vanish forever, and the peace of good will become the universal fact." " Glorious," indeed, have been the uprisings of the Bolshe- viki of Eussia, the Communists of Hungary and Bavaria, and the Spartacans of Germany, all of whom are Socialists of the most pronounced type. These uprisings, instead of being the " beginnings of the world's real creation," are rather the begin- nings of its destruction and ruination. The world's workers . have been "wonderfully united" in Eussia, Hungary, Bavaria and Germany since Socialism came into power — and no better proof need be given than the way in which they have been shooting each other down and tryin