Is There Socialism in Russia?
Is There Socialism in Russia? An Analysis of Social and Economic Conditions Under Communist Dictatorship in the Light of Socialist Principles By Raphael Abramowitsch Member, Executive, ...
...that when exigencies of the time so required the written constitution of that day- was discarded without a tear and without a blast from Grass Rooters of that time...
...But let us put polities aside...
...The condition of the Russian working class, not only in political life bnt in industry, is not the condition 'presupposed under a collectivist, Socialist order...
...s> We now learn from the London Daily Herald, official organ of...
...the British Labor Party, that forty-one national unions have indorsed the stand of the general council, while only ten such onions have expressed themselves against it...
...The question, however, is: where will the ship actually land ? t Before we undertake to answer the question as to what we do find1 in Russia let us first determine what we do not find in Russia...
...Hamilton presented his plan that provided for a thinly ,'k* guished monarchy, and WiQiaat Patterson of New Jersey likewise presented a plan...
...At a great demonstration held in connection with the congress, Miss Bacon, of England, declared it was fitting that the Congress of Socialist Youth should be held in a part of Europe where democracy was safe.'' "I hope that very soon Great Britain will have a Socialist government and be able to cooperate with the governments of Scandinavia and all Socialist governments working for the cause Of peaes between nations," Miss Bacon said, pointing oat that a Socialist government in Great Britain would prove of great help in the League of Nations in the peace of Europe...
...The decisive factor, so far aa history is concerned, is not the will or the wish of individual leaders or parties bet the result of events, the actual consequence of events, M you had asked Robespierre, Marat and other leaders of the Great French Revolution, and even the people who danced about the guillotine as the heads of aristocrats were falling into basket beneath it, they would have told yoa they were building a republic of "Bbertjt, equality, fraternity...
...The stand taker, by the British trade unions is a vindication of the stand of the American Federation of Labor, safe tuning any such vindication was necessary...
...Delegates from England, Belgium, France, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Latvia and other countries took part in the debate...
...And this lasted forty years...
...that the times were changing rapidly...
...But the main body of delegates, over whom Washington presided with a grave dignity, went to work...
...It will he a field day for the Grass Rooters and the reactionaries of all complexions...
...Our policy fat tail debate should be the liquidation of all Communist parties and rejection of any negotiations an unity," Hansen advised, a policy approved overwhelmingly by the congress...
...I shall oppose with my whale being any unity with the Communists...
...The legislatures elected the delegates, therefore, to draft amendments to make the Constitution "adequate to the exigencies of the time...
...NOR is there any possibility of these groups and classes ever again arising in Russia...
...Other delegates, like Luther Martin of Maryland, likewise opposed everything that was done there...
...Hansen led the fight against the united front...
...Merchants of Virginia and Maryland met in Mount Vernon in 1785 as guests of General Washington to discuss what could be done to safeguard their own interests...
...Not that these things matter very much, except to give point to the fact that the Constition was a result of conditions and circumstances of a particular time...
...R it merely an instrument of consumption, not of production...
...The Constitution as it standi and is worshipped today contains many obsolete provisions, such « provisions regulating tee slave trade, the fugitive slave law, a section referring to piracy, and another allotting representatives to slave-holding states by counting all slaves, taking three-fifth* of that number and to be added to the number of free people Farther, the provision for the election of the President became obsolete within eight years...
...no people living on their capital, on interest, income from stocks, bonds, shares or loansThere are no great landowners in Russia—not even small landowners...
...and no landlords in the cities living on rent...
...French and Belgian delegates found little support for' their position favoring united front negotiations...
...It is necessary for democratic countries to show the teat of Europe that democracy can he more successful than any other form of government," Miss Bacon said to the accompaniment of cheers from tiie many thousands of her audience...
...Friedrich Adler, secretary of the Labor and Socialist International, was greeted with prolonged cheers as he rose to great the congress...
...Hence the attitude of the British trade unions which is completely in harmony with that of the American Federation of Labor...
...the Bolsheviks what they are aiming at...
...Reviewing what he termed the record of destruction and treachery piled op by the Communists, Hansen declared that the Communist parties in all countries were to be regarded as instruments of nationalist Soviet foreign policy, which was net the same aa the policy of the international labor movement...
...Of the more than 300 trades councils, 283 declared themselves unanimously in support of the general council...
...AJ1 these groups and classes no longer exist in Russia...
...f Let us begin with the workers...
...The proletarian in Soviet Russia is a human being without property who sells his labor to the state, who works at piece rates, who is subjected to a complicated system of premiums and bonus ew (the most objectionable form of capitalist exploitation, abolished everywhere where free and independent trade unions are powerful enough to put an end to ft), of groups receiving varied rates of pay, some less some more, of "shock brigades,'' contests, competitions, etc- etc He is compelled to sell his labor power for a piece of bread and a dish of kasha without having any voice either in the management and operation of the plant in which he works or in the general development of industrial life...
...It is forbidden to private individuals to open a bank or start a big business It is impossible to buy a house...
...He denounced Mussolini's war plot against Ethiopia, saying: "The enemy of Italy is not hi Adda Ababa bat in Roane, and fascism is responsible for the present world crisis...
...We have only the poet from which to judge, and our experiences with the Communist* ore not good...
...In short, a Socialist collectivity is a republic of free, equal, contented citizens, among whom social differentiations no longer exist...
...In 1781 the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, commonly referred to then as the Constitution, was adopted and put into operation...
...a Constitutional convention » which the working masses wffl...
...The economic sources which might give rise to a new class of private capitalists are definitely closed...
...there are no proprietors of coal and iron mines, oil wells, etc., etc...
...a_l t ,i if ii ---¦ ¦ ¦ VD|evTI v os ono fTeSUfTS There is a big difference between the ilptiihwimlmmm •Wangs and the actual results of their actions...
...Ua delegates signed (you con see the original parchment with the 56 signatures in the Library of Congress today), Secretary William Jackson burned the books, minutes and papers, and the document was sent over to Congress...
...When the convention net on May 5th, 1787, General Washington was elected President, and It was promptly voted to hold sessions ia secret and to destroy all the records at the close of the sessions...
...Similar results will be observed in following the course of other revolutions...
...The Copenhagen meeting waa adjourned amid scenes of groat enthusiasm and solidarity, with the strains of the "International" resounding through the hall...
...This was also the view of the entire British delegation, reftecfiag the position taken by the British Trades Union Con gross at MsnOote last week...
...To be sure, their objective is the land of Socialism, Just as India waa the desired destination of Columbus...
...It has suited our reactionaries to take that position, and today it appears that they are planning to use the Constitution as their major plank in their attempt to win America back to the good old idealism of Hoover, Coolidge and Harding...
...On this point we are immediately confronted with the question: what Is Socialism...
...First, it must be stated that there ia of capitalism in Russia in the conventional sense of the word...
...It is well that the American workers know these facts, in order not to be moved by the lachrymose piety of reactionaries like Borah, for example, who has so often flooded the floor of the Senate chamber with tears for the downtrodden and oppressed wishing he could do something for them if only the letter of the Constitution permitted...
...It is care'sHy to amine the Constitution, to renhsa that it is no more "sacred" than « city charter or the byrlaws of a trade union, that its purpose is to serve people, not to enslave thenK and to do whatever is necesaatf E"render it adequate to the e«> ncies of the time...
...Burning problems of the day, particularly the problems Of war and fascism, occupied much attention of the congress...
...The time for argument with fascists and Communists is passed...
...Ai amendment passW to safeguard the legal and rejaostitational rights of the recently em am pa ted slaves has been widely used to safeguard the property of .exploit, ng corporations and "protae.^.them from trade unionism...
...Within a short time it was realized that it was an unworkable instrument, and that under it there were 13 autonomous nations rather than a unified state...
...They there decided that a national conference should be held, and through their powerful influence induced a number of state legislatures to send official delegates to a convention that met in Annapolis in 1786...
...An eventful day of the congress was the Sunday when all delegates took the boot across to Mahnd, Sweden, where a demonstration attended by 60,000 young Socialists was held...
...Referring to what he termed Moscow's belated change in deciding to give support to democracy wherever it is threatened by fascism, Adler declared: "The Soviet leaders have changed their views, tat we hare sot, aad oar slogan to Moscow ia: 'Hands off the labor Abung Andersen, president of the Danish Socialist Party, welcomed the congress to Denmark and described the great strides made by "Socialism in that country, where a government headed by Socialists is in power...
...Although his aim was to reach India, Columbus arrived in an entirely different world, of which be knew nothing and which was not his destination...
...A collectivist economy implies definitely liberty and equality for all who work, a I high standard of living (not equality in misery but equality in a higher aad finer level of living), self-government for all who work and produce...
...Hamilton thereupon proposed that all state legislatures elect delegates to a convention to meet in Philadelphia the following May, there to propose amendments to So submitted as suggestions to Congress...
...jf heard, as they were not in 1787...
...A Secret Convention The most, active delegate was Alexander Hamilton of New York...
...On this point the analogy made by a Russian frrfaqsnr is particularly appropriates t>hanahns, he pointed out, sailed forth to discover a sea route to India, list he discovered...
...What we know about that convention is from full notes taken for bis own use by James Madison, later published by the Government...
...First, the militarist empire of Napoleon and, then, a capitalist monarchy of bankers, financiers and industrialists in which the people were stripped of all rights...
...Congress was given the power to draw OP legislation governing post offices and post roerls...
...The worker in Soviet Russia is hired in the same manner in which he would be hired by a capitalist, but with this big difference: against the private capitalist he may fight through his trade union but against the dictatorial state be is helpless...
...Perhaps^ conditions are Uuproyiag, so m there ia hope that eventually they will become quite satisfactory^ Those who know anything about conditions in Russia know that the opposite is true...
...aad twer.ty-on* amendments have likewise mads other sections obsolete...
...Only thirteen trades councils expressed opposition...
...But, the reader will ask, perhaps all this is temporary...
...The Workers Abroad i !¦ ¦ ¦ ii...
...The labor anions are not interested in the political views of their members provided they apt and behave as loyal trade unionists, but in self-protection and for the protection of the higher interests the labor movement seeks to serve it cannot afford to pass without resistance the efforts of those whose aim is rule or ruin...
...Br*- as as* paid any attention to that...
...Several states ratified at once...
...The "Sacred" Boa not sat This is a general picture of how the Constitution came to be draftad, bow it came to be adopted, and what it means today...
...Superficially, it appears that this prerequisite for Socialism exists in Russia...
...Only 11 states sent delegates...
...For this reason there is no capitalism in Rusfia of the kind existing in other countries...
...It would be ridicolons to argue this point, far it is no longer necessary to emphasize that there is no intellectual or political freedom in Russia, that the Russian people are ruled by an unbridled Communist despotism, that the Communist Party* itself is dominated by the absolutist dictatorship of Stalin...
...I do not speak here of professional Communist bluffers, of paid and unpaid agents who ,Mttaja_BB—' alaa__L- ataWa_a_B_a__ _an> aW_b_B_aBj_t*B_ e_BBt_n_LV swear tnat itussia m heaven, max the Russian workers live in palaces, that misery, suffering and need do not exist in Russia...
...Any such negotiations will net have the approval of the Socialist Youth International...
...We would do all we could to press our government in hob/1 that democratic country against the aggressor...
...If Congress accepted them thy were to be referred to the stat legislatures...
...Has us* clearly in violation of tke sreri*ion requiring unaitimous jraUtotion of amendments...
...Socialism presupposes, first, elimination of private property rn the means of production and with it the abolition of capitalist classes living on profit aad "surplus value" extracted from the labor of the working classes...
...There are no capitalist classes in Russia: no industrialists controlling the means of production in the form of private property...
...There was an impressive parade through the streets of the town, culminating in a spectacular mass meeting...
...Freedom in Russia has been circumscribed more and more with each year of Communist rule...
...He is shackled to his Job by severe laws and penalties, not excluding imprisonment, and he ass had no say whatever in the* determination of his working conditions...
...On the other hand, we find outstanding Socialist theoreticians Itae Karl Kantsky or the recently deceased Boisiaa Marxist Potresoff who insist that What is taking place ha Russia is pare counterWhat is the truth...
...Referring to the horotr rising of the Socialists in Vienna in 1934, Hansen said: "We hosed that that would destroy all differences, tat the Communists still attack the Austrian Socialists...
...Bat doss that fat soy way imply that Socialism is actually being born in Russia...
...Intelligent, honest stndtnts of the situation know all this to be a fact...
...Even in the period of 1921 to 1924 the influence of the Russian worker in the administration of industry through his trade unions was immeasurably greater titan it is today- Through the Communist •_M_y JftpP anil as a result of dustrtahzation the enslavement of Jgjp J^jgMggb worker lias become more and store unbearable, and his social position has grown increas/ isurlv unenviable...
...Some Origins It will come as a surprise to worshippers of the Constitution to learn that the Constitution as adopted by the Convention September 17th, 1787, was merely a set of amendments to an earlier constitution supposed to be still in force, and that when it was put into operation and George Washington elected President it was— at least technically — illegally in operation...
...no bankers controlling large capital, no bourse magnates, no big business men—not even small business men...
...Private accumulation of capital is no longer possible in Russia, and the flow of capital, profit and "surplus value" can no longer be diverted into the pockets of private individuals...
...What could we do if war came and a democratic country is "attackecTT^-Miss Bacon, who took a prominent port hi the debate, asked...
...And if these attributes are net yet fully developed, to what extent, if any, are they being developed, and want ia the jwanfgS tar their development ? -tot only Socialists bat many honest Communists are compelled Russia...
...At the same time the congress tepntd down by overwhelming majority a proposal for united front negotiations with the Communist Youth International on the ground that any united front with the Communists would facilitate not the cause of peaes and antifascism bat the Communist teak of destroying the Socialist and labor After approving the report of the Executive rejecUng^thq proposal, the congress defeated amendments authorising individual sections in the respective coon tries to enter hrte separate united front negotiations...
...A political party »Just net be judged by What its leaders believe and desire...
...The delegates decided at the outset to throw the Articles into the waste basket, and to draw up an entirely new Constitution...
...What is the role of the working class as a whole in the social aad economic construction of presentda y> Russia...
...NOT only among Corrrrnuriists but also in certain Socialist circles it is asserted that Socialism is being built ia Russia, There are serious S o c i a 1 i at writers who bcKevc that the stones of a future Socialist society are being laid one by one in Russia...
...Is every form of state ownership of production conducted by paid employees, deprived of freedom, a collectivist form of production in the Socialist sense of the word...
...Scenes of great enthusiasm marked the opening and proceedings of the congress...
...a An International Review trf the Socialist and Labor Movement of the Work...
...And this is as good a time as any to recall that the Constitution grew out of the tunes in which it was drafted, that a large portion of it is obsolete, and an even larger portion has been set aside by amendments...
...Everything is nationalized, everything is in the bands of the state, -the sole master of production, transportation aad exchange...
...To be sure, these principles of Socialism have been realised in Russia...
...latter, too, there was little evidence of "liberty, equality, fraternity...
...But is this true...
...An Analysis of Social and Economic Conditions Under Communist Dictatorship in the Light of Socialist Principles By Raphael Abramowitsch Member, Executive, Labor and Socialist International...
...But what is the actual fact...
...Any people in Russia possessing money, jewelry or any article at value cannot utilise them for economic purposes...
...Everywhere the organized workers are determined to meet the assaults of fascism with cold steel...
...The same principle applies to Russia: What is Russia ? What is its social order...
...Nor may private individuals build houses (except small houses for their own use) etc., etc...
...The debate on the struggle of youth against fascism and war revealed a strong opinion in favor of stopping fascism by force and giving support to democratic countries attacked by fascist regimes...
...Socialism presupposes not only the elimination of private capitalists tat also the presence of certain positive factors...
...Tanner, chairman of the Finnish Labor Party, and other outstanding leaders of international Socialism...
...Money held by private individuals is no longer capital in Russia in the economic sense of the word...
...Because of this attitude the British labor movement, like the American labor movement, is determined to rid itself of these internal enemies...
...No question of political views is involved...
...Such, for 11 ¦itfflflf, is the opinion of Otto Bauer...
...Their can spend the money or squander it on drink and high living bat they cannot Invest it in commercial or industrial enterprises...
...under that provision the Interstate Commerce Law, governing railroa.U, was passed as well as laws gov<: ting radio...
...But this alone is not Socialism...
...British Unions, Communists and Fascists By overwhelming majority British trade unions have struck a telling blow at both fascists and Communists...
...What is the direction being taken by the Russian Revolution, so brilliantly begun in 1817 ? What Is the social sijwtaui being born in the depths of Russian life...
...By John Powers Congress of the Socialist Youth International AGREAT demouatoatien of the growth of Socialist ideas among the youth was given by the eengrom "of the Seeiahst Youth International, which met at Copenhagen from Angoot 24 to 27...
...The stand taken by the British labor movement,-like that of the American Federation of Labor, is that fascists and Communists enter labor organizations not for the purpose of promoting the legitimate purposes of trade unions tat in order to capture them for their own political purposes, and that failing to do that they invariably strive to wreck and destroy the unions...
...But the Articles provided that amendments could be proposed only by Congress (The Second Continental Congress then in session) and ratified by all the state legislatures...
...To answer the question we must first determine what Socialism is not...
...The first of these positive factors must be the transfer of the ownership of the moans of production, of land, transportation, etc., to the community, to the state, and their administration and management on a collective basis—by society as a whole...
...Indeed, Constitution Day has been set aside as the occasion for an attack all along the line upon all thoughts,' all ideas and all political conceptions more recent than 1787...
...The labor movement Js determined to guard its organisations and unity against the ass salts, of enemies, no matter from what camp they emanate...
...Only by stretching its provisions all out of shape can it be made to apply to an age of mass production, finance capital, railways and airplanes, radio and water power...
...By way of emphasizing its disapproval of any united front with, the Communists, the congress elected H. Hansen of Denmark president of the Socialist Youth International...
...five states were there represented...
...He receives wages for his labor (and very poor wages...
...The condition of the working class under the Bolshevik regime is becoming increasingly worse...
...The united front means the breakup of the democratic labor movement," Hansen declared...
...Three "plans" were submitted: The "Virginia plan," drawn up by Madison and presented by Edmund Randolph, formed the basis of the Constitution that was finally adopted...
...Ever since the Senatorial debates participated in by Daniel Webster there has been a tendency to exalt the Constitution as a sacred instrument, only a little less divine than Holy Writ, to criticize which is sacrilege...
...The Constitution—which, it must be remembered, waa technically only a set of suggested smoHBments later to be adep od as its own by Congress—prjnded^OQT it would be in force at <to*s at nine states ratified...
...That ia its doty to itself and to the working sUas...
...Let us look into the economic and social life of the people...
...A stirring address was made by Jacob*en, who greeted the congress in the name of the International Federation of Trade Unions...
...We cannot obtain the true aaaoners to this question by a "kins...
...Speakers included Per Albin Hansson, Socialist prime minister of Sweden, Socialist Premier lohann Nygaardvold of Norway...
...The honest admirers of the Soviet regime of whom I speak say that all these positive attributes of Socialism are in process of being born, that the y are developing, and that Russia is surely advancing to the realization of these attributes of Socialism...
...Under, his leadership the convention decided that the time bad come "to amend the Constitution (that is, the Articles of Confederation) to render it m&re adequate to the exigencies of the time...
...Baldwins ton, president of the Icelandic Parliament...
...V« With this history* TiL» of it, the American workers of llf& know their duty...
...Hansen continued...
...America...
...The scores of thousands participating in the demonstration pledged themselves to unrelenting war on fanrjawi and rhrfmar of freedom and democracy as the^foundation stones of Socialism...
...It will be- noted that the, Articles had been in force only five years, and had already been found obsolete...
...But What was the actual upshot of the Great French Revolution...
...There are Socialists who share the Communist view that social equality and fraternity can be brought about through abolition of political liberty .Let us admit this, for the sake of argument, and examine the social and economic development of Russia as it has unfolded itself under a ruthless dictatorship aiming at the realisation of Social-' ism...
...The Delegates' Work With modifications, largely influenced by Hamilton, the "Vixgbm plan" was adopted...
...The General Council also informed all trades councils (analogous to the central trades and labor councils in the United States) that any council admitting fascist or Communist delegates would be excluded from the British Trades Union Congress (analogous to our American Federation of Labor...
...It resembles much more the condition of the workers in ra pita list countries: in the early jjdannfl' of .httenae capitalist development seventy or' eighty years ago...
...The debate on the united front with the Communists won eery lively...
...Thereupon two New York delegates, ' Yates and Lansing, withdrew, refusing to have anything further to do with the business, and Hamilton spoke and later signed upon behalf of the state...
...When be landed on San, S-hinfkn he was convinced be was in India, and so firm was his conviction that he was 1st India tha he called the Infawlnlllllii *I.llin.»i The term has persisted to this day, although the Red Indians Columbus saw bod nothing to do with India...
...Much more difficult to answer is the question: is there Socialism in Russia...
...What of the future...
...Some time ago the' General Council of the British Trades Union Congress sent out a circular to all affiliated labor organizations suggesting that they change their by-laws so as to exclude members of finest or Communist organizations from occupying official posts in the trade unions or participating as delegates in trade union meetings and conventions...
...Same Socialists believe that the basic principles of Socialism have already been realised in Russia because there are no capitalists and because the nation's economic life is conducted not upon a private bnt state basis...
...osjy a threat by the merchants of No* York City to secede from the state, organize a now state asd ratify independently brought tbt New York legislature into line, sal finally General Washington was elected President of s nation ff only 11 states, two baring failed to ratify until after his election...
...Can this be demonstrated to be a fact...
...w.e Hillquit amendment...
...i The first step :s the P*"8...
...Then the storm broke loose...
...Among the positive attributes of Socialism—and no one will dare deny this—is the collective management of economic life...
...After thftf...
...That at the time it was adopted it was known to be merely a compromise, the best that could be secured in the face of conflicting political and economic /interests, and that no one expected that it would -be elevated into a sacred document, the core of what has become almost a state religion...
...The discussions revealed increasing determination to fight fascism to the death...
...I will not speak here of liberty and equality in the political sense...
...Kern of Austria and Papanek of Czechoslovakia presented exhaustive reports on the question...
...The question is: .are these positive attributes of Socialism to be found in Russia—liberty, plenty for all, a higher standard of living, social organization and culture, and a sense of solidarity...
...Our Sacred Constitution The Tories Would Make a State Religion Of Its Worship—But Its Real History and Origins Are Scarcely Known By William M. Feiaenbanm SEPTEMBER 17th in the 148th anniversary of the"signing of the Constitution of the United States, and the day has been seised upon by our Tories to utter pious statements upon that sacred document...
...That is the question...
...The Senate a* placed outside the influence of "popular passions," the President was removed as far as squash from popular influence, and according to Gouverneur Morris, who asa Committee on Style actually wrote the Constitution, the sections on the Judiciary were made purposely vague...
...Fascists and Communists work under instruction from their parties to follow this policy and failure to do so means expulsion from their respective parries...
...For these reasons Russia is no longer a capitalist country...
...1$ There Socialism In Russia...
...On paper the working class is master not only of the entire nation but also of its economic life...
...Especially did the merchants and manufacturers of that time feel the lack of a centralized government and of a unified'set of tariff laws, currency legislation and other laws affecting business...
Vol. 18 • September 1935 • No. 37
