PARTY MEMBERS ON DETROIT DECLARATION
Party Members on Detroit Declaration Hendin Writes Open Letter To the Party's N. E.T. National Executive Committee Socialist Party of the United States Chicago, 111. fJaif Comrades: I...
...Fraternally yours, Louis A. Hendin...
...I pleaded at \he convention to be permitted to amend the declaration to make It acceptable to Socialists.' This was refused me...
...You have not asked me whether or not I accept your appointment...
...Ordinarily I would be only too glad to accept the designation as member of the National Labor Committee...
...In the second place, if an essential element to make such seizure successful, is "confusion and chaos," it is fair to assume that it would be Thomas' task, as well as that of the Socialist Party,- to help create as much chaos and confusion as possible...
...I am excluding Norman Thomas because he is no longer the leader of the party, but unwittingly has come under the influence of the above triumvirate...
...As yet, I cannot decide for myself whether we have to deal here with political Utopians or disguised Communists to destroy our party...
...If the Socialist Party accepted such doctrines, it would cease to be a Socialist Party, since it is alien to everything for which the party has stood and stands...
...lot workers are still following jffjjj^ of the two major capitalist Mtttlfe such inflammatory babble 'jWupom'ua to sterility and stagjiJJWe' 14 no room for im ObmPwt parties in the United States...
...But It is not a question ef numbers, but of principles, As between the program of orderly, peaceable, constructive and Intelligent political action, and the insurrectionary, destructive and violent methods proposed by the left wing, Socialists will have ne difficulty In making their' choice...
...Thi American workers do not go to the Communist Party...
...We cannot accept now what we repudiated then and pretend to be true to our mission of seeking social changes by political and orderly means...
...Comrades, let us be frank about it...
...The issue therefore must be met...
...This proposal has had its , advocates in the Socialist Party In ' former years...
...The declaration seeks to pledge the Socialist Party to the use of the general strike for the purpose of carrying "the revolutionary struggle into the camp of the enemy...
...I don't t -think American labor will follow ['•as on such a program...
...Had the be intelligent...
...They will surely not go to a Socialist-Communist Party controlled by Kreuger...
...Responsible leaders owe a greater duty to their following than the left...
...js..i.*'i...
...It is found in every Communist declaration, except the Communists believe it will lead to Communism...
...With all of itt defects and weaknesses, the Socialist Party believes that the democracy which the left wing leaders consider "bogus" constitute* . the one...
...We object particularly to the following pledges and statements Thomas and his allies at the convention voted to incorporate into the (Declaration of Principles: i-*-The Socialist Party is pledged to give "loyal support" in the event of war "to any of their comrades who for anti-war activities or refusal to perform war service come into .conflict with the law...
...Under the Constitution of the Socialist Party, the Declaration of Principles adopted at national conventions is the sutpreme declaration of the party, and all state and local platforms must conform thereto...
...However, you have committed us to a policy temporarily, which encourages violence by promising in advance loyal support to those who teome in conflict with the law...
...Why antagonize millions of the potential converts we are trying to reach with our propaganda for the sake of winning, perhaps, the approval of a handful of "extremist/' whj will be with us anyway it thing* come to a showdown...
...Says Labor Won't Follow How else can one explain your commitment, "they (the Socialists) will mest war and the detailed plans if war already mapped out by the war—making arms of the government by mats war resist•Meet" I don't want to commit tayself to such a policy...
...So far as we are concerned, we did not permit the Communists to swerve tie from our purpose years ago, Numerically, they were much larger than the left-wing group la today...
...Charges Infantile Communism Moreover, the pseudo-revolutionists that now control the National Executive Commtyt^have committed us towards the left pf the Com* munistParty...
...the suggestion of violence and insurrection can merely close the hearts and minds of people to our message, because it reveals our own lack of faith in its efficacy...
...The doctrine which Thomas seeks to impose on th« Socialist Party appears to me to...
...orderly and peac^a^le weapon for the eolation 6f our social problem,. 8—-The declaration further, commits the Socialist Pert...
...We need a party of workers and not a party of irresponsible radicals and high hat reformers who don't know what it is all about...
...The left wing leadership, directed and led by Norman Thomas, have for the sake of satisfying the clamor of a group they have brought into being adopted a declaration' of principles that In no vital particular differs from the program of the Communists...
...There can be no compromise between democratic Socialism and that anarcho-Communism which the declaration of principles represents...
...For the past four years he has maintained that capitalism has collapsed...
...Furthermore, we all know that If such a war comes along the party will then call a special con* ventlen to decide IM attitude...
...2—The declaration refers to the "bogus democracy o£ capitalist parliamentarism" and proposes to replace such democracy by a "genuine workers' democracy.'' Stripped of the hypocritical concealment which is hen employed, but which we know to exist, the democracy in which the left wing leaders would like us to place our faith is to be supplanted by the kind of "genuine workers' democracy" which they, Including Comrade Thomas, have to frequently praised at the idtal towards which our efforts ought to be dirtcted...
...wing leadership is willing to give...
...Take the following pronouncements: *"If the.capitalist system should collapse jn.a general ahaos and confusion Which cannot permit of orderly r procedure* the Socialist Party, whether or not i" such case, it is a majority, wijl not shrink from responsibility by organizing and maintaining a government under the workers' rule...
...They will pluck its feathers and tear it apart...
...I confess that I am not a bit touched by your magnanimity in bestowing upon me the honor of your appointment...
...The tragedy of it is that some of you may realize too late that by ruthlessly eliminating all the forces that built the party and carried it through the darkest period of its existence, you will have destroyed the very movement you have set out to capture...
...It can only lead to disaster...
...My request was refused by the National Executive Communists...
...The countries that are holding the fort most strongly against fascism are those where democracy has penetrated into the marrow of the bones of the population...
...I am not embittered...
...I appealed to the National Executive Committee of the party and asked that the membership be permitted to vote on the referendum paragraph by paragraph in order to defeat the communistic planka...
...In Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, England and the United States—it is there that fascism may meet its Waterloo...
...promised in advance that it would give them loyal support...
...2 Oar congressional campaign dill year will qe fought on the N*A, the trade union question and the agrarian problem, not en whet mighfrautppen in eateef w»r, \H...
...Aside from the fact that it repudiates completely the basis of the Socialist movement, which has always opposed such methods of bringing about .social and economic changes, the I proposal has two weaknesses...
...The declaration that has been adopted, which was sponsored by Comrade Thomas and his allies) commits, therefore, not only the national organization, but attempts to commit also the state and local organizations to a program which runs contrary to everything for which the Socialist Party has stood, and which . it regards as fundamental, I know that New York State Socialists will not permit themselves to be driven into a position which they consider indefensible and untenable, and I am confident that I express the sentiments of many other state and local organizations...
...If they do not know what it means—or are too cunning or too cowardly to admit it—why should they leave to every innocent and misguided enthusiast the working out of his own interpreta-*' tion of it...
...Reasons for Declining There is a more important principle reason why we cannot accept as a member of the National Labor Committee...
...I have no personal axes to grind...
...How else could one interpret your com-1 mltmerit, "they, (the Socialists) j 'would loyally support in the tragic jeventj of war axpr of the comrades jwho for anti-war activities or reyfusal to perform.war service come :iato conflict with public opinion or' |tte law...
...They are long on talk and short on constructive action...
...It seems to me that on the road to power—not to "capture" the capitalist state but to capture the control of the party—you have already proven to be good disciples of Communist method: that all means justify the end...
...If there .was ever a time when the party .should give us a constructive •policy, that time is now, The only Emergency we face now is the NRA land -building the Socialist Party...
...i3 is purely anarchistic doctrine, hag discarded...
...Would he have been willing to lead such an insurrectionary movement during that period...
...Whenever such perversions of Socialist methods and ideals were advanced, they were immediately recognized for what they are—an adulterated form of anarchism...
...Kt is one Communist Party, Rjrhtlf doton dissident Comf^tyte up...
...Even the Com¦ranists are against violence or terror committed by individuals...
...Why should we declare that we r e s o 1 ution read that if we had another war w e would ask the unions to declare for a general strike, this would will do something that we cannot do...
...The official Communist Party has Soviet Russia behind it...
...There is no reason why the union of the two groups, the Communist Party and the left wing, should be' delayed...
...fJaif Comrades: I received your letter dated June f, 1934, in which you inform me that I have been designated to the National Labor Committee of the party...
...Nothing is further from our purpose...
...For a long while they have been urging—both of them—a united front There is no reason why the organic unity should be postponed...
...There is a race now going on all over the world, particularly in the European countries, between black fascism, reaction and Socialism...
...The political romanticist is most likely to find his place with the official party because Russia is his first love...
...They included the late William D. Haywood, who, like Thomat now, believed that the , Socialist Party ought to give up itt , faith in orderly and ¦ peaceable means and become an* insurreo* tionary movement...
...In common with progressive labor end the lovers of democracy we shall go en, confident that out methods, no NOW i A a««»tr ef «eawla*«aat have tarn r*t«iv** fre* Ju.k psakea sal stairs e* tie ttselerstlte etPrta•isles whits are erewaei em ef fate let** Tarn ww eosem atftt wesfe* DON'T WARN CLASS ENEMY By Harry T. Smith Much as I like the general tone of the Declaration of Principles, I shall vote in the referendum against it as a whole, because I don't believe in telling our class enemies in advance just what we intend to do in case ef • crisis...
...Lenin was too shrewd a statesman for that He claimed the capture of power for the proletarian'class and contended that this class is an overwhelming majority...
...We are organized to convince the American people that by the use of their intelligence,'and the means that have been won for them as a result'of centuries of bitter struggle, they can make peace and plenty available for all...
...On one point there seems to be general agreement: that the reason for the advent of Fascism in some European countrie s is the hopeless division of the working .class and the failure to win over the Idwer middle class for a constructive program...
...I know of no bid to the violating of law more dangerous than the one to which thla commits the Socialist Parity...
...5 The language of this section has a familiar ring...
...I believe that Meyer London was right when he said, we do not have to be fools to be revolutionary...
...I am appraising them politically on their face value...
...Aside from the fact that this political dogmatism is a mixture of infantile Communism, it betrays a confusion of political thought...
...The rest of the Detroit declare* tion, despite Its rather unnecessary length, is all right with me...
...The Bad and the Good in the Declaration By James M. Maurer [ BELIEVE that the Detroit convention miss a good oppi rtunity, and that the Declaration of Principles is had...
...The political romanticist will not exchange his first love for a secondrate mating...
...I wonder if those who wrote the*resolution know that even a - state -federation clannot order a general strike 'ant* that even the A. F. of L. cannot', without the approval of the, internationals...
...The Socialists of New York, of California, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, Indiana and other states, who opposed this declaration, abhor war no less than all other peace-loving people, but they feel that the war against war must be waged before , the American public by an appeal to their intelligence, and not in subterranean channels into which our movement would be driven if it sought to add civil war to international war...
...to .* program of "massed war resistance, organized so far as practicable in a general strike of labor unions and professional groups, in a united effort to make the waging of war a practical impossibility and to convert the capitalist war crisis into a victory for Socialism...
...In the first place, Thomas states that he will only seize power, whether the majority is willing er not, when there has been a collapse of capital ism...
...It would be much more consistent on your part to proceed with the line you started at the Detroit convention by ruthlessly eliminating from party in-fluence and control all those that 'Stand for democratic Socialism as opposed to pseudo-communism...
...Lenin, the father of Communism, never committed himself in writing that the Communist Party should capture power whether it be a majority or not...
...My membership on the Labor Committee would obligate me to give.time, energy and service to the labor movement and Urge labor to join our party...
...We get this jumbled conglomeration of words and then heap insult on injury by asking members to vote on the whole thing, which means to vote "yes" or no...
...If the leadership of the National ExecWive Committee, which was in contool of the Detroit convention, were petted with political realism and ' 1»ion, it would have realized that Jo face of the American political IM!ltwkeri there is no single So;V-W&,repreaentatlye int Congress, fcfitof the overwhelming majority...
...The Declaration of Principles sponsored by Thomas, and which temporarUin at least, stands as the party's program, is perhaps less frank, but not one bit less dangerous than the doctrines of the Communists...
...How Question Will Be Posad The Socialist Party, that has made such remarkable strides since 1929, will become' the prey of the Communist Party and ita dissident groups inasmuch as the immediate recruits will be agents of the Conynunist factions...
...occurred...
...Instead of the Socialist Party's taking the leadership in this most :rucial period in the history of our :ountry by calling upon the workers and farmers to organize for independent political action and start toward the broad path of a mass movement, our fly-by-night statesmen have committed the party to sterility by starting a competitive race with the Communists in revolutionary lingo...
...the Detroit convention has miser'ably'failed to give JU • real con•truetire polbiy,., Waldman Sees Grave Dangers If Declaration Is Adopted Bo Leah Waldman I17E repudiate the essential fea" tures of the Declaration of Principles adopted at the Socialist national convention just held in Detroit, insofar as they depart from the traditional Socialist position and commit the Socialist Party to the use of violence and extra-legal means...
...I do not know the new leadership intimately...
...J can't see any sense in making trouble .for ourselves by trying to lay down a detailed program for action in the event of an inter* national war that may navtr happen...
...Our great danger now is that this may divide our membership and cause serious disruption, which I hope will not happen...
...For the present I cannot serve on the committee until the "mf antile Communist declaration of principles Is rejected...
...We agree that we want a workers' democracy, but as the Declaration stands and will be submitted to the- members for a vote, I cannot vote for that without also voting for "massed resistance" to war preparations, and nobody knows what that means...
...The American workers are not flocking to the official party nor are they accepting its variations...
...I am addressing myself through you to the entire party membership and particularly to the New York comrades of the various leagues organized by the Labor Committee in New York City, with whom I have collaborated and with whom I have succeeded in making revolutionary changes in the party without revolutionary babble...
...Comrade Thomas may temporarily placate some of his rebellious followers by securing the Adoption of this proposal—but he will discover that it is a dangerous compromise for a responsible leader to make...
...Leave it to the agents of the Communist groups to pose to Kreuger the problem in the same fashion as it was posed by Communist followers in the I.L.P...
...To vote yes, we would have to accept what is bad with some good, and to vote no, we would defeat some good with something bad...
...5—Finally, the declaration seeks tD commit the party to the priniple that "if the capitalist system ehould collapse in a general chaos and confusion which cannot permit of orderly procedure, the Socialist Party, whether or not in such a case it is a majority, will hot shrink from the responsibility of organizing and maintaining a government under the workers' rule...
...The action on the general strike is foolish...
...I need no apology for this lengthy reply...
...Massed war resistance" will necessarily mean different things to different people and to different groups...
...Thus, clearly and unmistakably, Thomas and his allies are willing to adopt as a Socialist Party the insurrectionary -methods by which minority governments have, through force and violence, managed to impose their will on a reluctant people...
...of England to Maxton and Fenner Brockway—"either join the Communist International or get the hell out of the way...
...We had to refer this to four lawyers to tell us what it means...
...I am certain, however, that if the Communist Party on the one hand, or capitalist reaction on the other, would decide to spend a million dollars to destroy the Socialist Party, they would not have achieved their purpose better than through Kreuger and his followers...
...If the left wing know what it means, why are they not explicit...
...J . [ Do, the-leaders of fh% National that bv adoDtlne- a declaration of principles containing the phrases about workers' rule, mast resistance and the encouragement of violence, this will serve as a "constructive program" to ward off Fascism and win the middle class for Socialism...
...Who Is to deride when that collapse has i...
...Now, why didn't we get some lawyers in the first place to decide things for us and save the expense of a convention...
...We have that opportunity...
...To them I certainly owe a reply telling why I cannot accept your designation to the Natiorfffl Labor Committee...
...I hope that If the referendum rejects the Declaration, our N. E. C. will present a new declaration practically identical with the present document, but omitting the some 200 Words following the ten* tenee, "They will unitedly teck to develop trustworthy working class instruments for the peaceable settlement of international ditputos and conflicts," and preceding the aentenco, "In its struggles for * new society the Socialist Party, seeks to attain its objectives by peaceful and orderly means...
...With a membership of tens at/thousands, consisting of people or all nationalities and creeds, such pledge,of "loyal support" to all who are disloyal to the government during war time is, a mosjUbtaten declaration, and is as, .unsound a» it is stupid...
...The decision "by the National Executive Committee to submit these declarations to lawyers does not decide the issue on the basis of principle but on the basis of cowardice...
...Through no choice of my own the Issue has been drawn...
...be undjstingiushable except by rare refinement or theological reasoning from the doctrines which we repudiated when we split with the Communists some years ago...
...Lit is true that the- Socialist ifarty has always defended its .jsembers, but'it has never encouraged or sanctioned its members to iommit acta of violence nor...
Vol. 17 • June 1934 • No. 71
