The Red Conspiracy

d to decide upon a common plan of action against the Right. 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 th

ention of the Socialist Party, called for August 30, 1919, in Chicago. They feared that the credentials of the still unsuspended and unexpelled Left Wing delegates would not be recognized by the party mach

ediate organization, claiming that it would be much more prudent to wait till the meeting of the National Emergency Convention, 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

r to the minority faction, which included the Michigan State organization and the Russian-speaking federations. A compromise had been reached whereby the aforesaid members of the National Council agreed not to insist upon

e 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 Commun

founded upon the fo

pitalist world system, which will mean the collapse of world culture, if c

in organizing and training itself for t

nd agricultural, this dictatorship constituting the instrument for the taking over of property

ate property in the means of production and distribution, by transfer to t

he closest relation between the revolu

nited States only with the Communist groups of other countries,

onism, and shall carry on party activity in cooperation with

he Communist" of Chicago. In its issue of August

n. Every state has a 'Socialism' of its own brand, and even dues are not uniform throughout the country. '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

hip 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, constituted a first-class

s issue of August 29, 1919, devotes nearly two of its eight pages to bitter attacks on the

adership. The so-called Communist Party, as it is now constituted 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

so quote an open letter to Louis C. F

quad' is constantly on the job expelling members and branches from the Federation wh

vice system is being employed by these

hes 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

, including John Reed, I. E. Ferguson and Rose Pastor Stokes, were present. The Left Wing delegates, to the number of about 84, arrived early at the place of meeting, Mach

n the police, who cleared the hall. "The Chicago Tribune" of the same day tells us that everybody was exchanging fisticuffs when the police arrived. Detective Sergeant Lawrence McDonough, head of the anarchist squad, with the aid of a dozen uniform

morning which every Revolutionary Socialist on t

raska, California and other states entered the convention floor an

nd attempted to refuse the above named delegates admission, called the police and these d

ts, said: "They're just a lot of anarchists; we are the party." Berger did not say whether or not by the word "we" he meant the old National Execut

esult the Left Wingers next met by themselves downstairs, on the first floor of the hall, while the Right Wingers remaine

fornia delegates then threw a bomb into the Right Wing Convention by announcing that they would not take their seats until all of the contested delegations were seated and the police were

Island Avenue, Chicago. Red flags were displayed and Bolshevist songs were sung until the polic

signed from the emergency committee of the convention, Louis C. Fraina, C. E. Ruthenberg, I. E. Ferguson, Maximilian Cohen, S. Elbaum and A. Selakowich, and, from other offices, A. Paul of Queens and Fannie Horowitz. It seems that thes

ne of the principal leaders of

rnment, seems destined 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.H It seemed likely, too, that Fraina, Fergu

ecidedly more in favor of the I. W. W. than the Communist Party; but the main differences between these two pa

with the two new parties, the Communist Party and the Communist Labor Party, there are four parties of rebels, all

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 principles 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

w 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 meani

o Bolshevism. This is nonsense. The Socialist papers of the country, Right and Left, with the possible exception of the once powerful "Appeal to Reason," which in recent years has fallen into great

lished in "The Call," July 19, 1919, informs us that the Socialist P

f the cause of our Russian Comrades. Mass meetings were held, demonstrations in behalf of Soviet Russia were arrang

an ardent Bolshevist. Listen to these words of his in his article, "The Day of the People," published in many Socialist papers in the

o boundary lines. They are setting the heroic example for world-wide emulation. Let us, like them, scorn and repudiate the cowa

the soles of my feet I am Bo

onal Emergency Convention, and here quoted from "The Call," September 3, 1919, contains the following defense of their

of the National Executive Committee held since the second revolution in Russia [the revolution which put Lenine and Trotzky

ntage of it to present the claims and achievements of the Russian revolution. The party's

f the party Constitution and without granting a trial or the right of self-defense to those thus dealt with; who had maintained themselves in office after July 1, 1919, in express violation of the party Constitution, having suppressed announcement of the result of the referendum vote by the rank and file to elect executive committeemen, by which vote Left Wing co

eft Wing charge that this majority of the Executive Committee had allied itself

of this year [1919], when the National Executive Committee elected delegates to the Berne Conference owing to the fact that the delegates elected by ref

n, nominating and voting for candidates. None of their nominees were elected, and shortly after

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 affiliate wi

failed to respond to its opportunity.... Learning this, the National Executive Committee decided to send one delegate

claimed that the party is allied with the Berne Conference.... They have denounced the party and its officials as an organization of 'Scheidemanns

mbers of the National Executive Committee, have been charged with being 'Kolchaks' and 'counter-revolutionists,' the implication

party in general have opposed intervention in Russia or support of Kolchak and have supported

uoted by the Left Wing to support these slanders. The Comrades may rest assure

"Call" and "Leader"--"The Call" as characterizing 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 leader

fool the voting public and our Government officials by a pretense of moderation in papers and electioneering speeches,

nto the open course of revolutionary violence adopted by the Communist Party of America and the Communist Labor Party, and the fact that the more manageable 40,000 remaining with these leaders were so much like their seceding Comrades that their le

rthrow 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 wit

ak; yet they are sowing the seed of revolution 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,

aken form, it strikes forward, borne on by the despair of the masses and the shining example of the martyrs. Its spread is irrepressible. The bridges are burnt behind the old capitalist society and its path

ver the war of nations has been followed by the war of the classes. The class struggle is no longer fought by res

s an example of the openness with which the Left Wing or Communist papers instigate rebel

e on November 7, 1918, first anniversary of the Russian Soviet

ious 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

o greeted the news of peace and revolution in Germany with what may be safely described as the greatest spontaneous expression of mass sentiment ever witness

ist, William Bross Lloyd, at its head, b

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 campaigns that it was merely

ample opportunity for selecting an organization of rebellion in which there is "no political corruption." The members of these parties find fault with everything under the Stars and Stripes, and yet hesitate to pass over to Russia and live under the bloody standard

and legal departments, while startling wholesale arrests, deportations 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 fu

mazing ignorance concerning American Socialism among our most intelligent citizens. The confusion of the public mind was still further increased by the Attorne

annot be construed to fall within the same category as the Socialist Party of America, which latter or

pt their old party name and the 70,000 or 72,000 who separated from them in September, 1919? Up to the moment of separation were not all alike under the same

ational Executive Committee and the party in general" had "supported the Russian Comrades at the head of the Soviet power." Yet in spite of this defense the old National Executive Committee of the Soci

n the form of an amendment to the original motion to

ressed the general sentiment

cutive Committee, but we must go back to our constituents and

and have "made a good thing" out of Socialism by carrying water on one shoulder for gullible voters, and on the other for their credulous disciples. This is not the

ile of the Socialist Party in the report of the committee which investigated the referendum vote of

of New York, Charles E. Ruthenberg of Cleveland, Seymour Stedman of Chicago, Patrick S. Nagle of Oklahoma and L. E. Katterfeld of Cleveland was elected. The returns a

was distinctly Bolshevist, as we learn from the "Call's" explanati

membership to decide whether the party should record itself as being opposed to entering any other international Social

nternational conference from which the Bolsheviki of Russia and the Spar

and the German Spartacides, who held the powers of approval and veto in deciding what internationals the members of the Socialist Party o

s inclusion 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 constituted, thus hanging the Socialist Party of America in the air, without fellowship with Moscow, Berne or any other thing--a trapeze performance truly Bergere

pulation 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 eithe

consisting of the various changes in the party Constitution which were decided upon

re the Socialist Party. The two reports which emanated from the convention, known as the majo

n laid down for the International, with which the Socialist party

nd Internati

nce hopelessly failed in its indeav

ional must consist o

the revolutionary International

with bourgeois parties and are o

ference 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 tangibl

refused to go with those elements who have either betrayed or were unwilling to remain true to their professions. It belongs among those

ion to what they have professed and believed in during the past c

the "Call" of December 4, 1919, from which we take extracts show

and minority reports on international relations. Comrade Trachtenberg has argued in the columns of 'The Call' in

concerned 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 P

is right or not, but rather what will the effect be at the next election.

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 Soc

ort of the Bolsheviki. In our meetings and in our literature we have taken our stand solidl

itate to affili

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 Par

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 effrontery in posin

hos of his martyrdom sketched into the Executive Committee report he signed, "Victor L. Berger, in addition to a sentence of 20 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

been two very distinct tendencies apparent--the Social D

had a peculiar psychological effect on many of the rank and file of the party, especially upon those w

iliated with the Socialist party of America and gave the Anarcho-Syndicalists, who have joined us in gre

o aid the old ideals of Social Democracy, even though there

sterical men and women, who try to bring about a Russian revolution or

venic races and other foreign federation members, who have been suspended for stuffing ballot boxes in the last refer

of which we present in the words of the organ of one of the chief conspirators, Hillquit's "Call." The issue of August 31, 1919, declared: "The convention will adopt a stand, express

the former members and organizations of the party who have read themselves out and will remain suspended in

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

alist Party unanimously 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 b

-"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

of the Communist and Communist 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 th

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" leadership, "to educate them to an enlightened understanding of their own class interests, and to train and assist the

arties of the possessing class" and "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 rea

s that they will shy at a word like Bolshevism, but are unable to understand the plain, bold English of a conspiracy to bring about industrial organization "to wrest the industries and the control of the gover

owledged in testimony at the trial of the five Assemblymen at Albany that affiliation with the Third (Mosco

ave been discussing we must call attention to another piece of evidence--Morris Hillquit's lett

organization?" His letter answering this important question was read out of the "Call" into the record of the New York Assembly's inquiry into the qual

problem must take into account

recent convention in Chicago. It had become an accomplished fact months

differences on vital questions of principles.

heir estimate of American conditions, their theoretical conclusions and practical methods, but they have not deserted to the enemy. The bulk of the

erica 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

uctive work of the Socialist movement is before us. Let us give it all of our time, energies and resources. L

uestions 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 Rebellion--"str

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 Wingers' writings, the Communist and Communist Labor manifestoes and programs, and the principles and tactics of

sible for the prevailing chaos. The events of recent years have conclusively demonstrated that capitalism is bankrupt, and has bec

orkers 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 system

tate of unprecedented unrest. In different ways and by different methods, either blindly impelled by the inexorable conditions which confront them, or clearly recognizing their

m the war more reactionary and aggressive, more

,000 railway workers to control their industry, sporadic formation of labor parties, apparently, though not fundamentally, in opposition to the political parties of the possessing class, are promising indications

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 'nat

e radical Socialists of Germany, Austria and Hungary in their efforts to establish working class rule in their countries, and with those Socialist organizations in

e United States from the capitalists and their retainers. It is our purpose to place industry and government

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 harmon

derstanding of their own class interests, and to train and assist them to organize politically and industrially on cl

we call for the support and co-operation of the workers of America and of all other persons desirous of ending the insa

Socialist Revolution, the onl