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Left-Wing Tragedy Or Comic Opera?: a New Look at the Demise of "The Masses "

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Left-Wing Tragedy Or Comic Opera?: a New Look at the Demise of DOCUMENT RESUME ED 191 054 CS 205 775 AUTHOR Heinze, Kirk TITLE Left-wing Tragedy or Comic Opera?: A New Look at the Demise of "The Masses ". PUB DATE Aug 80 NOTE 24p.: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the 'Association for Education in Journalism (63rd, Boston, MA, August 9-'13, 19801. EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Activism: *Censorship: Dissent: Editorials: *Freedom of Speech: Government Role: Historiography: Journalism: *Periodicals: *Political Attitudes: Popular Culture: *Press Opinion: Socialism: *United States History ABSTRACT Although the suppression in 1917 of "The Masses;" an influential Socialist magazine, has been depicted as an American tragedy, such a narrow interpretation ignores the bizarre, confused, cften comic developments and episodes that attended the magazine's end. A reexamination of the demise of "The Masses" has been made to shcw the milieu in which the proceedings occurred. Using biographical materials and original, contemporary scurces, this reanalysis has helped eluçiclate the federal government's wayward legal machinations, its Fositicn with regard to the magazine, the devil-pray-care attitudes of the left-wing editors themselves, the hilarity of the first trial, and the war hysteria of the times. More than a tragic story of a small, powerless, left-wings-publication silenced by the ruthless collusion of establishment forces, the premature end of "The Masses" is really a part of the larger history of a more youthful, less cynical America. (RL1 Magazine Division LEFT-WIM TRAGEDY OR COMIC OPERA?: A NEW LOOK AT THE DEMISE OF THE MASSES BY Kirk Heinze Doctoral Candidate Program in American Studies Department of English ' Midhigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48823 (517) 355-7570 Presented to the Magazine Division, Association for Education in Journalism Armual Convention, Boston, Massachusetts, August, 1980. Iran December, 1912, T.,hen .Pax Eastman became editor, Lentil the final issue in late 1917, The Nasses was the most influential Socialist magazine in America. A number of respected historians, including Edwin and Michael Tier and Frank Luther MOM have reserved the highest praise for The rasses.1 Even the less ebullient critics have acknowledged'the magazine's importance. Alfred Kazin, for example, ad its that although The ?'asses was "run like a circus umgon," it helped restore a 'literary consciousness to New York City.'2 The consensus among scholars is that, at the very least, The `'lasses was the best expression of the wit, gaiety, and innocence of American left-wing thought before Vbrld mar I. This view is shared by Irving Howe who notes that those who worked on The Masses "shared the ' sentirnents of their age, its characteristic lilt and bravado . they regarded themselves as soldiers ín an irregular army, which would triumph through the hover of truth, the power of beauty, and the poorer of laughter. "3 Considering. the importance of the magazine, it is su rising that no complete history of it has been published. The one unpublished study focuses more on editorial and literary content than on historical devdlorment .4 The period in the magazine's history which has received most academic attention was the censorship struggle be- tween the editors and the United States Post Office. Scholars often use .the,gov- ernment's actions açainst the magazine as a classic example of official suppression of free .et+eech. This view usually rortrays the demise of The Masses as an un- mitigated tragedy--a small, nowerless.nublication silenced by a relentless, reac- tionary establishment. One of the nrononetts of the tragic interpretation of The Masses' demise is Frederick Hoffman. For Hoffman, it was "the howling winds of war chiuvinism lashing ever more furiously at the magazine's socialist-pacifist point of view's that destrosted 1hè Masses.. Fiem~ rTav one of the foremost students of the period, views the mgazine's death as indicativè of America's loss of innocence during kbrld. War I. Neithei The Masses- or thé naive optimismof Its artists and editors could "survive then change of, climate,"and government suppression of the magazine was a small bit significant act in "a great American tragedy. "6John Allen Waite portrays the magazine:'s demise in equally dramatic terms: The Masses had stressed many of the most significant develop- vents during the war, lines of thought which would occupy the future; yet the bagazinè was dead; and the internationaiism for which it had fought was defeated bythe forces of reaction so vivify castigated by the magazine.7: In these analyses and others, the conflictbetween The Masses and the federal govern- . rent begins to assume mythic proportions --proportions which have helped engrave the story of the magazine's death in the annals of American radical legend. This is not to say that the government's use of the Espionage Act and related measures to suppress the left-wing press during Wprld I•ar I and after was a frivo- • laus matter. Manypublications were ruthlessly silenced, and their publishers and editors were sentenced to jail terms. The period fraín early 1917 until 1920 was characterized by anxiety and fear bordering on the hysterical, and journalists, along with minority groups, were arcing the easiest targets. 3 Therefore, the pessimistic view of the era taken by many historians and literary critics is justified. In the case of The MabSes; however, the tragic interpretations ignore a number of significant points. First, the tnagazine was financed by a group of wealthy, influential progressives includingkos Pinchot, E.W. Scripps, Samuel Untermever,and copper magnate , Adolph Lewisohn . As William O'Neill observes, "fera of the editors appreciated the irony of this situation."9 Second Eastman came from an old, establishedfamily of Congregational rdnisters, studied with Dewey at Columbia, and cited T•bodrow Wilson and George Creel along his rt`any acouaintances in Washington.' Third, there is also the fact that within three months after the suppression of The Masses, most of the staff was busy working on The Liberator, a magazine mach like its predecessor. Finally, neither Eastman, Floyd Dell or Art Young--three of the seven persons originally indicted for vio- lations of the Espionage Act--expressed mach sorrow over the death of The Masses; in fact, they appeared relieved to be rid of it. These considerations and others, combined with the many instances of conic relief which attended the entire epi- sode, strongly suggest that a tragic interpretation of'the magazine's death may -be too narrow. In this paper, I shall reexamine the demise of Thé Masses, beginning with the passage of the Espionage Act on June 15, 1917, and ending with the close.of the second conspiracy trial on October 5, 1918. Much of my evidence has come from the autobiographies of Eastman, Dell, and Young. I have used accounts in the New York Times to verify data in the autobiographies. The Tres, along with Ray Stamard Baker's collection of Wilson's letters, has helped elucidate the govern- meat's position in regard to The Masses. Finally, and most importantly, I have carefully drawn an The Masses and The Liberator because, while obviously biased, they are the most ca c1ete contemporary accounts of the events under considera- tion; especially those leading um to the first trial in April, 1918. II When the United States entered the war in Avril, 1917, the Wilson adminis- tration began considering the possibility of censorship. The first attempt to establish specific provisions was a failure because the newspapers decided to fight back. In the confusin, however+ , they allowed with little or no protest the passage of the Espionage Act and the creation of the Committee an Public Information under the chairmanship of George Cree1.10 Creel had the-power to,act as a censor, but he did not see his job that way: In no degree was the Carmine* an agency of censorship, a machinery of concealment or repression. In all things, from first to last, without halt or change, it was a plain publicity proposition, a vast enterprise in salesmanship the world's greatest adventure in advertising The task of enforcing the censorshin was largely turned aver to the Post Office Department raider Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson. The Espionage Act, which served as &irleson's chief authority, was passed on June 15, 1917. The firportant censorship provisions were contained in Title I, Section 13: 12 Uhoever, when the United States is at war, sháll willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to in- terfere with the operation of success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its eperies and whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully cause or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny,, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct the recruiting' or enlistment service ofd the United States, to the injury of the service or of the United States shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than tvaenty years, or both. Although intent had to be proved, it was obvious that any opposition to the war, to censorship, to conscription, could be construed as "obstructing the recruit- ing'or enlistment service." Vhen Creel was apnointed and widely thought to be a censor,, Merrill Rogers, business manager of The Masses, took a copy of the June issue of the magazine to Washington to ask of it wzts accentable for mailing, especially an anti-war advertisement written by Mrs. J. Sargeant Cram. Creel told Rogers that mailing approval was in the hands of the Post Office Department, but glanced aver the maga- zine and said he could see nothing which violated the law.13 The editors then consulted Pam VTeinberger,, a New York lawyer, before advising readers that treason was legally a matter of overt acts, not speech.
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