amencan socialist monthly

Symposium: Why Labor Should Support Roosevelt John L Lewis Why Labor Should Support the Socialist Party Norman Thomas The Left Wing at the Cleveland Convention Haim Kantorovitch For a National Constituent Assembly in France Marcel Fourrier Resolution on War "Fools Rush in ... Herbert Zam Jurisdictional Disputes and Labor Boards Joel Seidman Draft Program of the Spanish Socialist Party July 1936 vol. 5 no. 5 15 cents among our contributors

Friedrich Adler Sidney Hertzberg Devere Allen Daniel W. Hoan Jack Altman Sidney Hook Angelica Balabanoff Darlington Hoopes Ernest Sutherland Bates Jessie Wallace Hughan Otto Bauer Edwin C. Johnson M. V. Baxter A. Jugow Anna Bercowitz Haim Kantorovitch David P. Berenberg Maynard C. Krueger Andrew J. Biemiller Leo Krzycki Hannah M. Biemiller Harry W. La idler Henry Black Margaret Lamont H. N. Brailsford Joseph P. Lash Roy Burt Harold J. Laski G. D. H. Cole David Lasser Albert Sprague Coolidge Alfred Baker Lewis Theodore Dan Edward Levinson Franz Daniel Arthur G. McDowell Max Delson Broadus Mitchell Robert Delson Reinhold Niebuhr S. A. DeWitt Kirby Page Ernest Doerfler Marceau Pivert Harold Draper Paul Porter Mary Dublin Joel Seidman Justus Ebert Clarence Senior Ernest Erber Tucker P. Smith Harold U. Faulkner Mark Starr David Felix Rose M. Stein Ben Gitlow George Streator Elsie Gluck Norman Thomas Albert Goldman Frank N. Trager James D. Graham Glen Trimble Edward Grove August Tyler Murray Gross Vincenzo Yacirca Alice Hanson John Wheelright Powers Hapgood Herbert Zam Marvin Halvorson Jean Zyromski amencan

Table of Contents Symposium: Why Labor Should Support Roosevelt 2 John L. Lewis Why Labor Should Support the Socialist Party 3 Norman Thomas The Left Wing at the Cleveland Convention 8 Haim Kantorovitch For a National Constituent As- sembly in France 12 Marcel Fourrier Editorial Staff Resolution on War 15 "Fools Rush In—" 18 David P. Berenberg Herbert Zam Haim Kantorovitch Jurisdictional Disputes and Labor Boards 21 Devere Allen Joel Seidman Andrew J. Biemiller Draft Program of the Spanish Socialist Party 26 Roy Burt Book Reviews: Harry W. Laidler A Program for Modern America 29 by Harry W. Laidler Anna Bercowitz Reviewed by Harold U. Faulkner managing editor The Life of Friedrich Engeis 30 by Sustav Mayer Reviewed by David P. Berenberg July, 1936 Labor Fact Book III 32 Prepared by Labor Research Association Vol. 5 No. 5 Reviewed by David P. Berenberg

OfFicial theoretical organ of the Socialist Party of the U. S. of America Published monthly at 21 East 17th Street, New York by the American Socialist Monthly Subscription One Dollar and Fifty Cents a Year Entered as second class matter, November 8th, 1934, at the post office at New York, New York, under the Act of March 3, 1879. Symposum:

Why Labor Should Support Roosevelt John L Lewis

HEN George L. Berry, Sidney Roosevelt has undertaken and accom- W Hillman, and others organized plished more for the workers than any Labor's Non-Partisan League, it was with other president in the history of the the firm conviction that labor should nation, and labor owes him a debt of give its full support to the re-election gratitude that can be liquidated only of President Roosevelt, and that this by casting its solid vote for him at the should be done without regard to po- coming election, regardless of party litical party affiliations. The American labels. labor movement is not a political par- The worker need only glance at the tisan institution, it rises above all party record to be convinced that he should lines. Its purpose is to achieve for the support President Roosevelt. Consider workers those things that rightfully be- what has been offered labor by the long to them. This can best be accom- present administration under the lead- plished through the force of united ac- ership of this great humanitarian: na- tion by the entire membership of the tional recovery, public works, nation- labor movement. Employers, capitalists wide relief, social security legislation, and big businessmen are organized to old-age pensions, unemployment insur- defeat President Roosevelt, if possible, ance, aid for the blind, elimination of and labor proposes to see to it that they injunctions in labor disputes, regulation do not succeed in this destructive effort. of the coal industry, end of cutthroat They have their American Liberty business policies and practices, right of League, United States Chamber of Com- labor to organize and bargain collective- merce and National Manufacturers As- ly through representatives of their own sociation through which to carry on choosing, and many other things. their campaign. These organizations are Through Labor's Non-Partisan League working with all the venom and bitter- these eloquent facts will be brought ness at their command. But Labor's forcefully to the attention of the voters Non-Partisan League, speaking in behalf of the country that they may have a of the many millions of men and women clear understanding of the vital neces- voters who earn their living with honest sity for the re-election of President toil, stands in the way of the success of Roosevelt. His great reforms must be these three reactionary organizations, retained and maintained, and others and shouts to them the warning, "You equally important are yet to be secured. shall not defeat President Roosevelt!" We are convinced that these purposes At this critical time labor must and can be accomplished by retaining Pres- will present a united front to the de- ident Roosevelt in the White House for structive forces of reaction. President another term. [2] II. Why Labor Should Support the Socialist Party Norman Thomas

HIS article is written with special ful and genuine Farmer-Labor Party. reference to the brief and positive I suspect that Mr. Lewis' himself would statemenT t by John L. Lewis telling why admit that tl^pse cbridition^ ;were not labor should support Roosevelt. The met by an^^g.^o^lMt "that recent case I want to present is much bigger conference' a4:.•'tfeff^dtcl Morrison or by than the support, or failure to support, the program which it laid Sown. Th^re any individual. I am arguing for some- is therefore nothing except for those thing and not against someone. Least of who are convinced socialists to make all am I trying to raise the issue of the their own campaign. Anything else personal merits of myself or any other would be a kind of suicide, a confession candidate as against Mr. Roosevelt. that our socialist diagnosis and our so- Another word of preliminary explana- cialist program were wrong. Mr. Lewis, tion may be in order. I deeply appreciate I am sure, will not argue that Mr. the fact that Mr. Lewis has contributed Roosevelt has been a socialist or that a statement to the American Socialist he has offered the equivalent of Social- Monthly. It is a good omen for the fu- ism to the workers, and I suspect that ture, an evidence of a new point of view he is logical enough to agree that con- on his part, that he is willing to argue vinced socialists can scarcely support the case. I, in common with socialists with good conscience a man who is try- generally, am a hundred per cent behind ing to prolong capitalism by reforming the efforts of the Committee for Indus- it somewhat. trial Organization to organize the un- Mr. Lewis' position is that of an organized on industrial lines. We are ardent labor man who is not a socialist; very hopeful for the success of that who takes stock of the reforms of ad- movement. Some time we expect to vantage to labor which Roosevelt has work with the leaders of that movement brought about; who hopes for others and the rank and file on the political that he may bring about, and then de- front even as now we want to work with clares for the vital importance of re- them on the economic front. I am not electing Roosevelt. It will be observed taking a Socialist-Labor Party position that he has not declared for the Demo- as against a Farmer-Labor Party. I share cratic Party but only for Mr. Roosevelt. the hope of my comrades for the devel- However, he and his associates will opment of a Farmer-Labor Party that have to vote for Roosevelt and Garner, may be a genuine instrument in the and then, I suppose, pray whatever gods emancipation of the workers. there are that they may spare the Presi- The Party has declared itself officially dent's life so that we shall not get on what the conditions are for a success- Garner! Loose as political affiliation is

[3] American Socialist Monthly in the United States it is impossible to had been violated? vote for Roosevelt without voting for Mr. Lewis, to his great credit, sent an the Democratic Party, and the Demo- investigator of his own into Arkansas. cratic Party is no vehicle for effective That investigator brought back a report reform. of the desperate plight of sharecroppers Even from a standpoint of mere im- and agricultural wofkers. In many ways mediate demands of a very moderate sort they are worse, not better off, under this the position of Mr. Lewis and his friends New Deal Administration. The bene- is open to question at two points: first, ficiaries of the agricultural program of as to the value of the things done or the New Deal have been the landowners, proposed by Mr. Roosevelt; second, as the great planters. Thousands of the to the danger which threatens the coun- workers have simply been driven com- try if Mr. Roosevelt should not be re- pletely out of a job because of the re- elected. duction of acreage. Right now there is Under the first head let me briefly call a desperate strike going on in Arkansas. attention to some indisputable facts. That state is represented in the Senate Profits under the New Deal Administra- by the Floor Leader of the Democratic tion have increased far faster than wages Party, Mr. Roosevelt's personal friend or employment. There are still, accord- for whose re-election he is about to ing to labor's own figures, around twelve make an appeal at a centenary celebra- million unemployed. The percentage tion in Arkansas. But the record of the of recovery of employment is lower in state in dealing with the strike is a rec- America than in many other capitalist ord of brutality and injustice, some of it countries without the blessings of Mr. administered by mobs and some by Roosevelt. Average wages for average courts. Whatever little benevolence the workers in terms of purchasing power Administration may have intended in stood still last year. Employment in- Arkansas and other cotton producing creased 2Y-2. per cent and, according to states has been frustrated by local com- one set of figures, the profits of some 800 mittees of Democrats and not a single large corporations increased 47 per cent. promise made by the Administration for Another set of figures using a different bettering conditions has been carried list of corporations gives the average out. Evidently the President's friendship increase as 36 per cent. for labor does not extend to those who Before NRA was killed by the Su- are not yet powerful enough to give preme Court it left a great deal to be him payment with interest for anything desired. Has Mr. Lewis forgotten that that he may do. the Administration's settlements of dis- This judgment is confirmed when one putes in the steel, the automobile and considers that the President has repeat- the rubber industries were in the main edly made Florida the base of his win- very favorable to the employers. Has he ter vacation without commenting on forgotten that the Administration did flogging and murder as a weapon of the nothing to help the strikers in the Colt dominant class in a Democratic state. Arms plant in Hartford except to con- Mr. Lewis is familiar with the situa- tinue War Department orders to the tion in Indiana. In Sullivan County, a firm whose workers struck after the coal mining county, for more than two Labor Board had declared that NRA years Governor McNutt maintained a Why Labor Should Support the Socialist Party bastard but very dangerous form of be equivalent to the Liberty League. It military law. Roosevelt never protested. will not present a solid front. It will As a matter of fact Governor McNutt still be necessary and possible to or- is now the designated spokesman for ganize across party lines in Congress Roosevelt at the great Convention of for the support of more or less liberal the National Education Association in legislation. Moreover, Mr. Lewis may Portland, Oregon, in July. find that it will be easier in the face of When we turn from civil liberties to the Republican reaction to organize a mili- world peace situation, the case against tant Farmer-Labor Party than to do it Mr. Roosevelt is even more complete. in the face of Roosevelt's smile. Yet He has no real program of peace; no such a party is absolutely necessary be- real program to take profit out of war cause the Democratic Party without or preparation for war; no adequate Roosevelt is at least as bad as the Re- program for neutrality. He is giving us publican. At best it will only be four the greatest Army and Navy in our more years that the Democratic Party peacetime history. Under him we are will have Roosevelt. In anticipation of spending about a billion dollars a year the fact that this is his last term some on military and naval establishments, of his party may be pretty recalcitrant and there are men who have avowed so that his own good intentions, what- quite frankly that one purpose of the ever they may be, may not be very well larger army is to keep labor in its place. carried out. Speaking of good inten- One of the chief indictments against tions, of course I am writing before the Mr. Roosevelt is that his view of politics Democratic Convention. Possibly the makes him less than candid in dealing Platform may reveal the President's with issues. He has denounced the Su- hand. But so far all we know is that preme Court without giving us the he wants us to vote that he has done slightest hint of the kind of procedure a good job and to trust him for the rest. he would use to curb the Court or the That is not sound or satisfactory pro- kind of amendment he wants to insert cedure in a democracy. in the Constitution. It is by no means But, the alternative, Mr. Lewis may clear that his appointees to the Su- say, as Sidney Hillman did tell the preme Court bench will be a great im- Amalgamated Convention, is the Liberty provement on what we now have. One League, and the Liberty League equals of the likeliest first appointments will American fascism. That is not the case. be that of Senator Robinson of Arkansas, The Liberty League represents reac- representative of the cotton planting and tion, the type of reaction that may help public utility interests of that state, and prepare the way for fascism, or which a man as fundamenally illiberal as any- if it is successful enough will make fas- one now on the bench. cism unnecessary. One of the worst By contrast, bad as I think the Re- things that Hillman, if not Lewis, is publican Party is, I doubt its power to doing is to confuse the minds of the end Federal relief or Federal aid to re- workers on the subject of fascism. The lief or to reverse some of the useful danger of fascism does not arise chiefly New Deal legislation which has not yet from sheer stark reaction such as the been upset by the Supreme Court. The Liberty League magnates want. It arises Republican Party which wins will not from the demagogue who appeals to a

[5] American Socialist Monthly dissatisfied middle-class and wears the themselves, and that cannot be done by garments of liberalism or radicalism. whooping it up for a good man in a The Republican Party is not in any re- bad party, a good man, moreover, who alistic sense as yet fascist. It still hopes at best is doing nothing except to try to to go back more or less to the times of reform capitalism a little. The workers Coolidge. The struggle against fascism must achieve their own salvation. That is not a struggle against one or another requires them not to rally around a type of capitalism primarily. It is a benefactor or support a Messiah but to struggle for a cooperative common- organize in their own behalf economical- wealth. It is a struggle which requires ly and politically. Mr. Lewis knows that a fundamental education of workers and well enough in the economic field. He their organization in their own behalf. would never for an instant say that it This is denied or delayed by the "trust was enough on the coal fields to support Roosevelt" doctrine. When that "trust the good employer. Unless labor learns Roosevelt" doctrine is preached as in- that there is a reasonably close analogy tolerantly as Sidney Hillman preached it on the political field, labor will always to the Amalgamated Convention; when be selling itself for a cheap price. And such bitter abuse is showered on Joseph it will not always get even that low Schlossberg for not silently going along price. with the majority, the men responsible We are justified by an appeal to his- for such tactics in a labor union are tory. In 1916 there seemed to be a very helping to stir up the very mob minded- strong case for voting for Wilson be- ness to which the real fascist demagogue cause he kept us out of war. We got appeals. into war, into the same war into which Fascism in America will not call itself Hughes would have led us. Repeatedly fascism. It will doubtless denounce Eu- during the period before Hitler finally ropean fascism along with communism took power the German workers felt that and socialism. It will not talk the lan- it was necessary to take less than they guage of the Liberty League. It will not desired and to vote for a Hindenburg get the support of great business until to keep out Hitler. They elected Hin- a new economic catastrophe toward denburg but they did not keep out Hit- which we drift in spite of anything that ler. First they got Hindenburg, then Roosevelt has done or will do is upon Hindenburg helped give them Hitler, us. Then some of the magnates will then Hindenburg died and they had support fascism as a second choice or Hitler alone. By the same token, the as an alternative to a cooperative com- election of Roosevelt will neither pre- monwealth. vent reaction nor fascism. The one hope Against this danger of an American of that lies in a clear-cut socialist pro- fascism arising out of economic catas- gram. It is not the Old Deal, not the trophe or out of new war—for a new New Deal which has failed. It is the war would mean fascism at home—the capitalism of which both are the ex- election of Roosevelt will be little pro- pression. There are immediate reforms tection. Indeed, it may even weaken our worth while to labor, some of which defenses by lulling the workers to a false have been imperfectly advocated by Mr. security. The vital protection is the or- Roosevelt. But Germany which had all ganization and education of the workers reforms possible within capitalism, Ger-

[6] Why Labor Should Support the Socialist Party many where the workers had won more Farmer-Labor Party of the right sort. rights, in so far as they can have rights These are the reasons why those of us under capitalism, than they have yet who are enthusiastic supporters of the demanded in America, found that these Committee for Industrial Organization reforms were not an adequate barrier to cannot be supporters of Mr. Lewis' other fascism. It is considerations like these committee, the Non-Partisan Committee which lead me to believe that this year for Roosevelt. Instead we have to de- more than ever before it is imperative clare our positive faith in Socialism, the to have a vigorous socialist campaign, hope of the world. To declare this faith to get the maximum of labor interest, is perfectly consistent with the advocacy labor understanding, labor support, la- of measures to strengthen labor on the bor votes for the Socialist Party. Only march and to make war less likely. In so is there reasonable hope that after this spirit we enter our great campaign. the 1936 election there will emerge a

A WORD ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS

JOHN L. LEWIS is President of the United Mine Workers of America and Chairman of the Committee for Industrial Organization.

NORMAN THOMAS is the Socialist Candidate for President of the United States.

JOEL SEIDMAN is a member of the faculty of Brookwood Labor College and of the Call Institute.

MARCEL FOURRIER is a member of the Socialist Party of France and a contributor to the Left Wing organ "la Gauche Revolutionnaire".

HERBERT ZAM conducts the column on World Socialism in the Socialist Call.

HAROLD U. FAULKNER is Professor of History at Smith College.

[7] Haim Kantorovitch i. ganize the Social Democratic Federation HERE seems to be unanimous as an opposition to the Socialist Party opinion, shared by right and left because the latter went left, left, left. wingerT s alike, that the National Con- There are however indications that vention of the Socialist Party recently many left wingers, or comrades who held at Cleveland was a great victory mistakenly believe they are left wingers, for the left wing. Even before the con- also believe this legend. There is no vention had adjourned, Abraham Cahan, question, of course, that the courageous the real leader of the old guard, had pub- and decisive way in which the conven- lished what he called "preliminary ob- tion dealt with the New York old guard servations" on the convention. There clique is a victory for the left wing. We are people, he commented, who think must, however, in this case distinguish that the convention, in spite of the fact between the left wing, and left wing So- that the New York old guard delegates cialism. The victory over the New York had not been seated, nevertheless had old guard is a victory for the left wing, moved to the right. This is not true he but not a victory of left wing Socialism. exclaims. All "their" resolutions, "their" The fight between the old guard and platform, even the Declaration of Prin- the militants in New York centered not ciples as amended, are full of "left around certain opposing principles and phrases". To clarify what he means by programs, but purely around questions left he adds, left, coming from Moscow! of party democracy and party discipline. And he concludes that the convention Not that there were no deep rooted and went left, left, left. fundamental differences of theory and It is not surprising to hear Cahan tactics between the two warring fac- shout left! left! left! To Cahan and his tions. Of course there were. But the faithful disciples of the Rand School, fight was not conducted around these left connotes everyone and everything differences of fundamental principles. that Cahan disapproves. When a good Neither was the outcome of the fight de- orthodox right winger expressed the termined by them. On the contrary, the doubt whether the Forward should ac- exigencies of the fight often compelled cept the Hearst advertisements, Cahan the militants to compromise and shove looked at him scornfully and said, I no- principles into the background in order ticed long ago that you have been falling to get the support of socialists who under the influence of Moscow! The would not accept left wing Socialism, same note was struck at the first mem- but who could not endure the cynicism, bership meeting, held in New York, of arrogance and senility of the old guard. the newly organized Social Democratic Many convinced right wingers partic- Federation: We are compelled to or- ipated actively in the fight against the

[8] The Left Wing at the Cleveland Convention New York old guard. The old guard party as a whole. was to them, as indeed to everyone else, I do not minimize the victory over not a group of right wing socialists the old guard, but I want to warn com- fighting for their principles, but a clique rades against exaggerating it. It must of old people, who cared little for So- be clearly understood that this was a cialism of any kind, a group that had victory not of one concept of Socialism lost faith in Socialism as well as in the" over another, but solely of the principle future of the Socialist Party. Many of party democracy and democratic cen- right wingers and centrists felt that the tralization. party was doomed to impotence so long as this clique ruled the party. More- II. over, everyone knew that this clique had Was the time appropriate for the pre- no majority behind it, that its rule was sentation at Cleveland of the entire left maintained by purely mechanical, anti- wing program, or even part of it? Per- democratic means. haps not. I do not know.* But one thing In his speech at the Cleveland Con- is beyond doubt. The victory over the vention, Louis Waldman spent consid- New York old guard could have been erable time defending himself against utilized to further the principle of dem- the accusations that he and his follow- ocratic centralization generally, a prin- ers in New York had capitulated to La ciple of no minor importance for the left Guardia, and were ready to do the same wing. A strong effort should have been thing, nationally, for Roosevelt. Wald- made, using the New York old guard man did not really deny these charges. as an example, to amend the party con- He defended himself by pointing out stitution so as to lay the foundation for that others had done the same thing one united Socialist Party in the United but that no charges had been brought States instead of the forty-eight inde- against them. He pointed specifically to pendent autonomous parties we now Wisconsin. There is no question that in have. As the party is now organized, citing Wisconsin he had placed his finger resolutions, programs or declarations of on a very sore spot in the life of the principles are really of no great im- party. Yet the entire argument was out portance. If a state, or rather the lead- of order. The N.E.C. had not revoked ership in a state, does not agree with the charter of the State of New York this or that resolution it simply ignores because the leadership of the State Com- it; if it does not agree with this or that mittee was reformist, was friendly to La decision, it simply does not carry it out. Guardia, or was looking longingly to- What does the Socialist Party stand for? wards the Roosevelt camp. The charter It depends where. It seems to stand for was revoked solely because the old one kind of Socialism in Wisconsin, for guard had placed itself above the par- another kind in Chicago, and again for ty, had refused to abide by the party another kind in Bridgeport. I am cer- constitution, had broken every rule of tain that everybody is for freedom of party discipline and democracy, of so- opinion in the party, but freedom of cialist ethics and even common decency; opinion in a Socialist Party must be because it conducted an open and vicious * I must note that illness prevented attendance at the campaign, not against the principles of Convention. Yet, I am not basing my judgment on casual newspaper reports, but on a very careful study of revolutionary Socialism, but against the the stenographic report of the Convention. American Socialist Monthly limited by unity of action. Has the the word way. Each local may elect a Cleveland Convention done anything to local labor committee. And what is the achieve this unity of action? No. It effect of this amendment? To leave did nothing in this direction. Organiza- everything as it was. No local before tionally the party remains as decentral- the Cleveland Convention was forbidden ized as it was before Cleveland, and to have a labor committee if it so de- iedologically it seems to have moved to sired. Now, no local is obligated to have the right. a labor committee if it does not want to. And what was the left wing doing? We are just where we were before. The What was it fighting for? very comrade who amended that section It seems that after the victory over of the resolution made a good speech the old guard the left wing disappeared against his own amendment, though he as an organized force in the convention. seems not to have realized that he was There were left voices and left amend- speaking against his amendment. "If ments to be sure, but no organized left people are to be members of the So- wing. A few illustrations will suffice. cialist Party," he exclaimed, "they must In nominating a platform committee, act as socialists within the trade unions." surely a very important committee, a He knew, however, that many did not committee just where opinions would act thus. Why? Because the socialist clash, where each faction would fight for work in the trade unions was not co- its conception of political action, a left ordinated by responsible party commit- winger nominated whom? A right tees. It was left to the interpretation winger. From the point of view of the and personal whims of each individual proverbial concept of sportsmanship it socialist. The resolution would have is "nice" to be tolerant and nominate remedied this anomalous condition. His your opponent—in this case, the com- amendment, however, reduced the reso- rade nominated, a right winger, is really lution again to nothing but a pious wish. a very fine comrade and a lovable person- I do not for a moment believe that ality—but, that nomination for such an the left wing was for the amendment, important committee is a political act but the fact remains that it did not fight never occurred to our left winger. against it. Another instance. The resolution on Only one amendment to the constitu- trade union policy was discussed. The tion was proposed. This is the addition resolution provided that there shall be of a sixth section to article three. a national labor committee and that "The state organization shall have full and "each local organization shatt elect a lo- final authority over the admission and ex- pulsion of members, being responsible cal labor committee whose duty it will however to the N.E.C. and the National be to coordinate the action of the so- Convention for any abuse of state power." cialists within the trade unions in order For some reason which I cannot to carry out the policy of the party." gather, many comrades from the right, We have learned by bitter experience as well as from the left, thought this that without such labor committees no addition was a step in the direction of coordinated socialist work is possible in centralization. In reality it is another the trade unions. But lo and behold! concession to decentralization and states It was a left winger who moved an rights. The chairman of the session at amendment to change the word shall to which this amendment was discussed

[10] The Left Wing at the Cleveland Convention interpreted it as follows: with "clarifying". It also added a new "But there would be no direct appeal by section on armed insurrection. the member who is excluded. There would The question of armed insurrection is only be a question of the abuse of author- part of a larger question, the road to ity which was raised and brought before power. This was not discussed or even the N.E.C." (Stenographic report, p. 397.) mentioned at the convention. The reso- In other words, if the N.E.C. should lution reads: happen to issue an appeal to groups to "The ability of the Socialist Party to con- join the party as it once did, or if any tinue to rule and build Socialism once it state committee should decide to expell has won political power, will depend upon an individual or many individuals, as the active support of the masses of the the New York old guard tried, neither nation. The Socialist Party, therefore, firmly believes in the strengthening and the rejected nor the expelled could ap- maintenance of existing democratic in- peal to the N.E.C. The N.E.C. would stitutions through which the socialist will only have to decide whether the state of the masses may be cultivated and ex- committee had abused its power. While pressed. The advocacy of a policy of the amendment is very clear as to the armed insurrection by a minority against a stable state machinery is romantic im- rights of the state organizations, it is possibilism, entirely inconsistent with very vague as to what would constitute membership in the Socialist Party, etc." abuse of power. (Italics H.K.) Note first of all the funda- mental thesis of the resolution. III. It rejects the advocacy of armed insur- The fight betwen the militants and rection because "once it has won po- old guard in the party was centered, litical power" it will depend in its work since the Detroit Convention, around of building Socialism upon the active the Declaration of Principles. The left support of the masses, etc. In other wing never considered the Detroit Dec- words, the resolution refers to armed in- laration of Principles as really a left surrection after the Socialist Party has wing document. In my pamphlet, "So- won political power. Has any member of cialism at the Crossroads", published the committee ever heard of any so- and distributed by the militants, the cialist, no matter how revolutionary, Declaration of Principles is declared to who advocated armed insurrection after be only a first step in the development the socialists had won political power? of the party towards the left. The old Those who do advocate armed insurrec- guard saw "Communism, Bolshevism, tion do so because they believe that Anarchism and even a call to dual union- without it socialists will never win po- ism" in the Declaration. To appease the litical power. To be sure, there may be right wing the convention felt that danger of armed insurrection after the some of the vague and unclear sentences socialists have won political power. The should be clarified. With this view in defeated capitalists may resort to it in mind the resolutions committee set to order to regain power, but surely this is work to revise it. It added a few sen- not the kind of armed insurrection the tences clarifying the question of democ- Convention had in mind. racy. We will not discuss this addition And again. The resolution speaks of because it is not really important. The armed insurrection and really refers to committee was not content however "putchism". An armed insurrection by American Socialist Monthly a minority against a stable state machin- entire convention but merely of the left ery is a "putch", and "putchism" has wing at the convention. I will there- been condemned not only by revolution- fore omit discussion of some very im- ary socialists but even by communists. portant problems, — platform, Labor It therefore is simply a waste of time Party, to be dealt with in subsequent to reject what has never been accepted. issues,—but there is one point to be In any case the added section does not stressed. The Cleveland Convention has in any way clarify the Declaration of shown that a left wing is now even more Principles. It only raises anew the prob- necessary than before. There is the lem of the road to power, which it cer- great and difficult task of re-educating tainly has not settled. the party membership along the lines of revolutionary Socialism. That cannot The one real achievement of the con- and will not be done by the party. The vention of which the left wing may be party is inclusive and is, therefore, in proud is the resolution on war. Outside the battle of ideas which are natural to of this resolution the left wing seems an inclusive party, helpless. The task not to have introduced or fought for will have to be taken up by the left wing. anything. We missed our opportunity at Cleve- This article is not an analysis of the land. Let us not repeat our mistakes.

National Constituent Assembly in France

Marcel Fourrier

UR party comes to power under the State for the benefit of capitalism and O singular and disquieting circum- effect the reforms necessary to calm stances : in the most legal fashion, through momentarily the revolutionary upsurge of the operation of the parliamentary in- the masses. The bourgeoisie has no doubt stitutions themselves. The Temps and other that if the Socialist Party did otherwise, organs of big capitalism, openly encourage it could not maintain itself in power with- "Leon Blum and his friends to crown that out breaking with legality. The bourgeoisie great enterprise of the conquest of power is speculating on the "wisdom" and "com- which has always been the essential article mon sense" of the socialist leaders, as well of the Marxist program, by taking over as on the attractive power of portfolios. the government." That is, it seems, "the But the masses expect something different rules of the game." from our party. The masses want their poli- So the French Socialist Party is in its tical victory to manifest itself immediately turn going to take a flyer at the exercise through economic achievements. The of legal power. The bourgeoisie reckons, masses made their decision, not so much indeed, that faithful to the traditions of the on the program of the People's Front, as old parties of the Second International, against the present regime of economic the French Socialist Party is going to run disorder. We socialists, however, know that?

[12] National Constituent Assembly in France this economic disorder, this anarchic sys- and repeat again and again, that the ap- tem of production cannot be ended except paratus of the capitalist state leaves no by radically transforming the structure of room for possibility of truly democratic capitalist economy. Will the Socialist Party government. Far from turning the masses in power be able to do this? away from the struggle for complete It must be noted, right off, that the democracy, we must on the contrary lead victory of the People's Front is not a spe- them to such a struggle, for in the final cifically socialist victory. The Socialist analysis it is on the outcome of this struggle Party is merely the numerically strongest that the fate of the socialist revolution party of the People's Front. But at any will depend. price, it must not confuse itself with the What then is the basis for the develop- People's Front, especially before the masses. ment of the struggle for the most demo- Like the other parties of the People's cratic form of government? Front, our party has signed the program We left socialists raise the slogan of of the People's Front. Tied down by its a Notional Constituent Assembly. signature, it is therefore bound to co- To the working-class and petty-bour- operate loyally in the execution of that geois masses who turn to us for protec- program, whose inadequacy as well as pus- tion against being robbed of the fruits illanimity we have, moreover, denounced. of their victory, we must make plain that It is true that the masses are not particu- the problem of a People's Front govern- larly concerned about programs. First of ment, and still more of a socialist gov- all they expect from the People's Front ernment, is absolutely insoluble within the bread, peace and liberty which it promised framework of the 1875 Constitution. We them. It is not for the masses to de- must make plain to the masses that this termine the governmental means "to tear 1875 Constitution was historically only a the State out of the grip of industrial and compromise between the monarchical prin- financial feudalism." But we know that ciple and the republican principle, that this it means nationalization or socialization of constitution does not respect the sov- the great monopoly industries, insurance ereignty of the people. In fact, if it is and the banks, that it means transforma- the principle of democracy that all political tion of private property into collective prop- power must emanate from the people, why erty. We have never believed for a single allow the people to be deprived of the right moment that such an overthrow could be of being governed by their own repre- brought about without violent resistance, sentatives, by the operation of obsolete desperate, armed, by the possessing classes constitutional laws. We must explain to who are threatened with expropriation. the people that it is necessary to shatter So, the bourgeoisie hopes to catch our this Constitution and proclaim the "Rights party in the snare of legality. It knows of the Worker and the Citizen." that, entangled in legality, the future gov- The bourgeoisie possesses legal means ernment of the People's Front will be pow- which are powerful and effective enough erless to realize any of the economic to annihilate all governmental action con- changes for which the masses are so im- trary to its interests. It has the Senate patient. The bourgeoisie banks on this which it can counterpose to the Chamber "legal" check to bring about a change of of Deputies; it has the President of the sentiment in the masses. Republic who can exercise powers to That is why we must tell the masses. which he has never yet had to resort; it

[13] American Socialist Monthly has the Courts to sabotage social legisla- corresponds to the masses' desire for tion ; it has the administrative bureaucracy; democracy and which they would under- it has money. Every bill which threatens stand completely. The slogan of a con- the economic structure of capitalism in the stituent assembly always has a dynamic slightest degree will, first of all on the effect. field of legality, run up against the stubborn Objection might be raised that the na- resistance of the Senate and of the Presi- tional constituent assembly could be called dent of the Republic. only with the consent of the two Chambers, Then what is to be done? To temporize and that it is improbable that the Senate would be a confession of impotence. Ac- will consent to go to Versailles; that, more- ceptance of the constitutional "rules of the over, the constituent assembly can act only game" would mean decay in power, dis- on points specified in the motion of the illusion of the masses, and laying the two Chambers which voted the constitu- groundwork of fascism. tional revision. The answer to that is first, that mass pressure must force the Senate No, on the contrary, we must go boldly to yield to the calling of the constituent forward. As soon as the first conflict assembly; next, that once in session, the breaks out between the People's Front assembly constitutes a sovereign organ Chamber and the conservative Senate, it which is no longer bound by the old Con- is to the masses that the government will stitution. The constituent assembly is mis- have to appeal in order immediately to se- tress of its own acts and even if the Cham- cure the calling of a national constituent bers' motion calls for only partial revision, assembly, charged with determining the that could not limit its powers. most democratic form of the government, But it will be said finally, that to revise with recasting the civil and criminal law the Constitution from beginning to end and reorganizing justice. would in the final analysis mean a veritable It would be easy to popularize this slogan political revolution. Precisely! It is indeed of a national constituent assembly, which in this light that we understand it.

(This article appeared in "la Gauche Revolutionnaire' Translated by Harold Draper.)

The ASM will, from time to time, print documents of importance in the international socialist movement.

[14] Resolution on War Adopted at the Cleveland Convention of the Socialist Party

HE two pillars of capitalist peace in the post war era, namely, the Five Power Naval Treaty and the League of Nations, are today in a state of complete collapseT . The imperialist nature of the capitalist peace imposed by the victors upon the vanquished now gives rise to a new imperialist war for a redivision of the earth. Once more, the capitalist nationalist volcano blows off its paper cap of imperialist treaties. The treaties, the non-aggression pacts, the League of Nations, the sanctions, and the capitalist system of "collective security" have not only failed to give a firm basis for peace but have in themselves become a source of friction and war. The present international situation proves conclusively that war is inherent in capitalism. The inherent forces of capitalism leading to war are the struggle of rival im- perialisms for new markets, sources of raw material, and fields of exploitation. In the struggle to maintain or extend the power of rival capitalist states, the world has already been divided into separate camps. The next war, regardless of how it begins, regardless of whether countries are fascist or democratic, small or large, will be one of imperialist interest on both sides. The Socialist Party warns against mistaking the peace loving pose of any capi- talist state for an honest interest in ending the imperialist struggle. Such poses are intended to strengthen the immediate imperialist interest of the capitalist states and to prepare for future imperialist wars as "wars to end war." In the light of the experiences of the last war, where many working class move- ments were tricked into support of imperialist war under the guise of a holy crusade, the Socialist Party of the U. S. A. proclaims that no capitalist war can be a good war, that no capitalist device can be a basis for a policy of peace. Only when the workers take political power into their own hands in the great nations of the earth will the world have a sound basis for lasting peace.

WAR AND FASCISM Because fascism represents a concentrated form of capitalist nationalism, the spread of fascism tends to accelerate the immediate threat of war. But just as fascism intensifies the danger of war, so the coming of war hastens the coming of fascism. Dictatorial rule, based upon chauvinist demagogy, are normal attendants of all capitalist wars, necessarily exaggerated in the present era of capitalist decay and fascist reaction. The twin danger of war and fascism must be fought simultaneously as the products of capitalist nationalism. Uncompromising struggle against all capi- talist states, both before and after war is declared, is the only method of fight- ing imperialism and the threat of fascism in our own country and throughout

[15] American Socialist Monthly

the world. The Socialist Party, therefore, repudiates support of an imperialist power against a present fascist power as a means of overthrowing fascism. Sanctions, applied by one or more capitalist nations against another, are mere- ly a new form of imperialist rivalries and cannot be supported by the workers. The support of capitalist sanctions in the Italo-Ethiopian struggle served to paralyze the independent fight of the workers against fascism and imperialism and played into the hands of imperialist rivalries. The capialist countries are exploiting millions of toilers in the colonial and semi-colonial countries, thus exposing the hypocritical claims of some of these "democratic countries that they are the friends of the small nations that they wish to preserve the independence of the backward nations. The colonial people, in their struggle for freedom, have only the working class to depend upon as allies. The working class in the imperialist countries must in turn render every support to the colonial struggle so as to undermine the founda- tions of imperialism and facilitate the struggle against it. Refusing to com- promise with imperialist schemes about the "re-distribution" of the colonies, the workers must fight vigorously for their complete independence. The Soviet Union, where capitalism has been abolished, is really desirous of peace. The Soviet Union, surrounded by capitalist enemies, is in constant danger of imperialist attack, and all class conscious workers must be prepared to defend the Soviet Union against imperialist attacks. Such defense, however, can only be a proletarian defense, independent of capitalist governments and their policies and independent of the diplomacy of the Soviet Union, and carried out with the instrumentality of organized labor. Should the American government, or any other capitalist government, for reasons of its own enter into an alliance with the Soviet Union, defense of the Soviet Union does not include support for capi- talist allies of the Soviet Union in war. The Soviet Union can best be defended by vigorously carrying on the class war in all countries. The American government, while talking about peace, has greatly increased its armed forces, has adopted the largest military budget in peace-time history and the largest in the world, is busily engaged in cementing its war alliances (for example—naval treaty with England) and setting up its own sphere of diplomatic and military influence (proposal to organize a Pan-American League of Nations). The American Socialist Party recognizes that its main duty is to the victims of American imperialism at home and abroad, that our main fight is against Ameri- can imperialism and all its policies, against militarism and against jingoism. As in 1917, American socialists will refuse to support any war the capitalist government of America might undertake. Should war break out despite our ef- forts, we will continue to carry on the class struggle and the fight against war, and through mass resistance to it, through agitation for a general strike, will endeavor to convert the imperialist war into an organized mass struggle for the overthrow of capitalism and the establishment of a workers' and farmers' govern- ment. Should a war break out in any part of the world, regardless of the countries involved, socialists will fight against American participation in that war in any form. Genuine neutrality, however, is impossible for this or any other country so

[16] Resolution on War long as it is ruled by the profit motive. Without creating the illusion that neu- trality can be achieved under capitalism, the Socialist Party will fight for the following: Liberation of all American colonies and possessions; withrawal of American troops from all foreign territories; no interference in the affairs of other countries, particularly Mexico, Cuba and Central and South America, either by the government or the private individuals; prohibition of the manufacture, transportation or sale of any war materials or munitions; prohibition of loans to other countries for war purposes; withdrawal of government support of guarantees on private loans to other countries for any purpose; cancellation of all war debts and indemnities; abolition of all military training for the youth. Only a socialist government, however, supported by the broad masses of the workers, will be in a position to carry out such a program and therefore to insure peace. The struggle against war is therefore bound up with the struggle against capitalism and for Socialism. This struggle cannot be conducted un- less there is a working class party, clear in policy, consistent and vigorous in action, which never compromises the class struggle, and through all trials leads the working class to the final goal.

POLITICAL PORTRAITS by McAlister Coleman SOCIALISTS AND THE AMERICAN YOUTH CONGRESS by Maxwell Norway CONSUMERS' COOPERATIVES: A Neglected Socialist Weapon by Benjamin Wolf LABOR'S PEACE DILEMMA by Devere Allen THE CONSTITUTION AND THE COURTS by Louis B. Boudin SOCIALISM AND A LABOR PARTY by Herbert Zam AN ANALYSIS OF THE PALESTINE SITUATION FERMENT IN POLITICS by David P. Berenberg AN ANALYSIS OF THE NEW SOVIET RUSSIAN CONSTITUTION

T17] Fools Rush In . . . . Herbert 21am

HE anti-war resolution adopted at the policy should be welcomed. It is to be T Cleveland Convention of the Socialist expected that the Cleveland resolution will Party is in the best traditions of the be subject to a barrage of criticism, both international socialist movement. It applies from the right, as well as from the "left", the clear ideas of the St. Louis declaration who on this question have very much to the conditions of the present time and in common. So far the barrage has not charts a straight course through capitalist yet begun, but a few pot shots have been chaos and war ideologies to a proletarian fired. The big organizations and periodicals anti-war struggle and Socialism. Those who are probably still looking for quotations. are trying to find some "left" reasons for But the Lovestone group, engaged in its supporting war will not like the resolution. current task of laying down the line to the For the resolution tears away both the Communist Party on how to fight revolu- "left" and the "right" arguments in support tionary Socialism has already entered the of war conducted by capitalists; it shows lists. "Fools rush in where angels fear to that the capitalist "peace" schemes were tread". only intended to keep the masses believing The attack (Workers Age, June 20, that peace was being preserved while in 1936) is a pompous, confused, semi-paci- reality war was being prepared. The recent fist, semi-jingoist polemic. It endeavors experiences with capitalist sanctions, which to hide its complete departure from a revo- which were to have "saved" Ethiopia from lutionary position by talking about the Italy should be ample justification for the "complicated" nature of the question, by rejection by the resolution of reliance upon denouncing "abstract" defense of the Soviet imperialist action to preserve the indepen- Union, by inveighing against "paying dence of the small countries or to promote homage to threadbare shibboleths," by call- peace. Many workers were taken in by ing for "practicality". All this is in the sanctions because they appeared to repre- best tradition of the 1914 polemics against sent a new policy. In reality however, they Liebknecht, against Lenin. History has were merely a new form of the old policy. already answered the question whether the That has now become clear and must be "practical" socialists of 1914 were more made clear to the workers. Independent successful than the "abstract" Lenin. We working class activity on behalf of Ethiopia might even remind our critics that not so against Italy was paralyzed because of the many months ago they were also defending reliance upon sanctions. This was inevita- our position, until Thalheimer changed ble. It is childish to talk of having both. their minds for them. Nevertheless, let us Because the war question is the most glance at the "practicality" of our critics. important one which confronts the workers They want to know whether Comrade of the world, a serious discussion of this Thomas, as "chief executive" would refuse issue in the ranks of the working class for to help the Soviet Union, Egypt, China, the purpose of hammering out a correct Ethiopia, the Philippines. This is a "prac-

[18] 'Fools Rush In" tical" question for them! We can assure in Manchuria and Shanghai? Should the our comrades that a Socialist United States, Soviet Union have sent the Red Army into with Comrade Thomas as president would Soviet Hungary to help it against the Ru- not forget its international proletarian soli- manian troops and into Socialist Finland darity. Just what forms this solidarity to help against the German troops? Our would assume will depend on the concrete critics can't be on both sides of this ques- situation. We certainly can give no guar- tion. If they truly believe what they say, antee that the American Red Army would they should be the severest critics of the be sent into China to help liberate it from course of the Soviet Union, past and pre- Japan. And of course a Socialist United sent. Is it not obvious that it is not we, but States would work closely with Soviet they, who are just "mouthing phrases?" Russia, whether in the form of mutual Only another phase of the criticism need assistance pacts, or other forms. But, is be taken up in detail. Our critics want to this a "practical" discussion? Have we a "snatch" power from the capitalists during socialist government here ? Is it likely that a war (in which the country is on the side we will have one by the time the next war of the Soviet Union, that is, a "good war") is upon us ? Is it "practical" to argue over but without opposing the war. Our read- what President Thomas would do when we ing of history tells us it cannot be done. know full well that we will be operating The bourgeoisie can be overthrown during under President Roosevelt-Landon ? There a war by capitalizing on the opposition is a world of difference between what we which develops in the course of the conduct would do in power, and what we expect of the war and the inevitable mass suffering our capitalist governments to do today. and desperation it brings. But only those Our critics want us to demand that the who consistently opposed the war from the capitalist government play the role we beginning can so capitalize. This was con- would expect a socialist government to play. clusively demonstrated by the Russian ex- Our business is to tell the workers that a perience. The struggle for peace against capitalist government can play only an im- the desire of the capitalists to continue the perialist role. That is practical. That is the war therefore becomes a revolutionary objective of the section on "genuine neu- struggle. Peace can be achieved only by trality." overthrowing capitalism. Around the slo- But let us go a step further. If we are gan of peace the entire toiling masses, and asked to promise that Comrade Thomas the armed forces, rally. will have to do all the above-mentioned As against this, however, we are told that things in the name of a Socialist United in this case (a "good" war) peace is not States, does it not stand to reason that an the objective. "The job of the proletariat existing socialist government should do taking power is not to stop the war im- them today? And yet who was it who be- mediately but rather to organise revolution- came hysterical at the mere suggestion that ary warfare". That is, we will tell the the Soviet Union should not sell oil war-weary masses to overthrow capitalism, to Italy ? If a Socialist United States is ex- not to end the war, but to conduct a better pected to give "aid to China in the event war, a more efficient war, a more intensi- of her waging a war of liberation against fied war, a "revolutionary" war. And the Japanese imperialist oppression" did So- masses will listen to us! This is seriously cialist Russia commit a crime by not giving put forward as a "practical" policy. such aid when such a war was being waged It is undeniable that a victorious prole- [19] American Socialist Monthly tariet may find itself compelled to defend than proletarian aid, and no one is opposed its revolution, to carry on a war in spite of to the acceptance of such help. But a its wishes. But this would not be a matter policy cannot be based upon capitalist aid. of choice. A victorious socialist govern- Basic and permanent assistance can come ment which refused to move for peace only from the proletariat. No one objects would soon find itself with no support in to diplomacy or to treaties in general. But the country. But peace, even perhaps on the diplomacy which disorients the prole- unfavorable terms, would give it an oppor- tariat must be treated very critically. tunity to consolidate the revolutionary gains The Cleveland resolution does not deny and build for Socialism. The Brest-Litovsk that wars can be delayed by the militant Treaty and the alternative of "revolution- action of the working class, or by prole- ary war" proposed then, is not exactly tarian diplomacy, or even by capitalist analogous, but its lessons should be borne diplomacy. But the very essence of pacifism in mind. is to harp continually on such possibilities For fifteen years the Soviet Union de- and forget about the inevitability of war pended upon its own strength and upon the under capitalism. The workers had their international proletariat for defense. Now experience both with pacifism and with suddenly our critics forget the meaning of various forms of pro-war "Socialism" in "proletarian defense". They have so little 1914. It is this experience, developed in the faith in th Soviet Union that they can only light of current conditions, which consti- depend upon capitalist governments to pro- tect it. They have so little faith in the tutes the kernel of the Cleveland resolution. working class that they can only depend Not reliance upon capitalist "peace" ma- upon capitalist schemes to preserve peace. chinery, not support of "good" wars, not If the Soviet Union could, for fifteen years, alliances with capitalist governments, but follow a policy directly opposite to its pre- independent, uncompromising, militant sent one and still preserve itself, it obvious- proletarian struggle against war, against ly cannot be easily dismissed as "impracti- fascism, against capitalism and for Social- cal". It cannot be denied that the help a ism must be the road of the workers. capitalist government can give the Soviet This is the central orientation of the Union can momentarily be more effective Cleveland resolution.

READERS' FORUM

The ASM has adopted the policy of opening its pages to communications from its readers with reference to important problems in the socialist movement. It is the desire of the editors that comrades avail themselves of this opportunity. Necessarily, the length of such communications will have to be limited because of space. Beginning with this issue, resolutions adopted at the Cleveland Convention and articles discussing the resolutions will be carried. Jurisdictional Disputes and Labor Boards Joel Seidman

JURISDICTIONAL disputes have greater number in the future. It is quite ^J long been one of the chief sources possible that the present rift between of friction within the American labor the Executive Council of the A. F. of L. movement, and much of the time at and the Committee for Industrial Or- American Federation of Labor conven- ganization may lead to a split in the tions has been devoted to them. Craft Federation, and the formation of a rival unions shade into each other, as do in- trade union center by the industrial dustrial unions; and industrial lines, of union group. If that occurs there will course, cut across craft distinctions. The be no machinery for settling such dis- situation is bad enough when such dis- putes within the labor movement. The putes must be decided within the labor bitterness that will then exist will make family. It is infinitely worse, however, it certain that each group will regularly when they are presented to a govern- challenge the jurisdiction of the. other mental agency for decision. in labor board cases. ~ome such cases have already been Future board members, moreover, presented to the National Labor Rela- may be less friendly to labor and less tions Board. These cases have typically judicious in their attitude than are the arisen when an individual union asks present ones. The loose language of the to have an election conducted in an en- old Section 7a of N.I.R.A. and of the tire plant to choose representatives for present National Labor Relations Act collective bargaining, only to have one would permit a board, not only to as- or more craft unions ask to have speci- sume jurisdiction in such matters, but fied craftsmen designated a separate also to exercise other types of control unit for bargaining purposes. By its de- over internal union functions.1 At cision as to the size of the unit, in such present, of course, the entire issue is cases, the board determines whether craft or industrial unionism shall win in 1 This was hinted at by the old National Labor Re- the election. Thus far the board has lations Board in the celebrated Houde case, when it wrote into its decision these significant words: wisely refused to hold an election at all, "Nor does this opinion lay down any rule as to what the employer's duty is where the majority group im- on the ground that such disputes should poses rules of participation in its membership and gov- ernment which exclude certain employees whom it pur- be decided within the American Federa- ports to represent in collective bargaining, or where, in an election, representatives have been chosen by a mere tion of Labor itself. plurality of the votes cast, or by a majority of the votes cast but less than a majority of all employees entitled to Nevertheless real danger exists that vote; or where the majority group has taken no steps toward collective bargaining or has so abused its priv- governmental agencies will some day as- ileges that some minority group might justly ask this Board for appropriate relief." Decisions of the National sume jurisdiction in such cases, and the Labor Relations Board, Volume I, p. 44. The National Urban League, before the adoption of the National Labor cleavage between the craft unions and Relations Act, urged an amendment making it an unfair practice for a labor organization "to bar from member- the industrial unions makes it certain ship any worker or group of workers for reason of race or creed either by constitutional provision or by ritualistic that these cases will arise in much practice." [21] American Socialist Monthly academic, for the United States Supreme satisfied and withdrew. The company Court will almost certainly hold the La- continued the negotiations, after being bor Relations Act unconstitutional2 or assured through President Green of the narrowly restrict it to workers who ac- A. F. of L. that the agreement reached tually transport goods from state to would be binding upon all its plants, in- state. Nevertheless, labor must be in- cluding the Alcoa one. The agreement terested in such cases, for future boards that was reached on October 14, 1935, will be set up under future acts, and the was to run for at least one year. It pur- decisions of the current board may ex- ported to cover all the employees of ercise an important influence then. the company, and provided that during The jurisdictional issue was squarely its life the company should not enter raised in several cases decided in the into any conflicting agreement. One spring of 1936. The leading case 3 arose month later President Green gave the out of the aluminum industry. There agreement the official approval of the a federal local, No. 19104, claimed to A. F. of L. In the meantime the Alcoa represent 1,681 of the 2,600 employes of local submitted a proposed agreement the Aluminum Company of America in to the company, but the company re- its Alcoa, Tennessee, plants. The vari- fused to bargain with it. The Alcoa ous federal locals in the industry had local then asked the board to declare been combined into a national council, the Alcoa plant a unit for collective bar- to bring about joint action until an in- gaining, and to conduct an election be- ternational union was chartered by the tween it and the council. A. F. of L. In February, 1935, William The board, in its decision, observed Green reorganized the council, and ap- that the underlying question was not pointed a general organizer of the A. F. of L. as its president. The council whether the union should represent the sought to have all the aluminum workers workers, but rather who should repre- authorize it to represent them in bar- sent the union in its dealings with the gaining, but the Alcoa workers instead employer. The board wisely decided that designated their local as their bargain- such a problem, involving the internal ing agent. affairs of the A. F. of L., was best left to that body for solution. It accordingly In July the Alcoa local asked Williams dismissed the petition for an election. to call a conference of unions in Alu- minum Company of America plants to The most bitter cases are those that prepare a new agreement. Upon his re- involve jurisdictional disputes between fusal it withdrew from the council. Later rival unions. Two such cases that have negotiations were begun with the Alcoa been presented to the National Labor local present, but it soon became dis- Relations Board arose in the tobacco in- dustry. * The Axton - Fisher Tobacco 2 In its decision, handed down May 18, 1936, holding Company employed 706 workers in its the Guffey Coal Act unconstitutional, the Supreme Court observed that "Conditions in the mining industry are Louisville, Kentucky, plant,where it man- grievious and even desperate. But all the evils are local evils. The relation of the employer and the employe is a local relation." These words almost certainly seal the 4 In the matter of The Axton-Fisher Tobacco Company doom of the National Labor Relations Act. A number and International Association of Machinists, Local No. of test cases are already on their way up to the Su- 681, and Tobacco Workers' International Union, Local preme Court. In the meantime, very few employers pay No. 16; In the matter of Brown and Williamson To- any attention to pronouncements of the board. bacco Corporation and International Association of Ma- 3 In the matter of Aluminum Company of America chinists. Local No. 681, and Tobacco Workers' Inter- and Aluminum Workers Union No. 19104. Case No. R-4, national Union. Local No. 16. Cases Nos. R-5 and R-6, decided April 10, 1936. decided April 23, 1936 (both cases in one decision). [22] Jurisdictional Disputes and Labor Boards

ufactured cigarettes and other tobacco which time, not claiming jurisdiction products. Of these about nine-tenths, or over the craftsmen, it encouraged them 650 in number, were members of the to enroll in the various craft unions. Tobacco Workers' Union, the remainder By the terms of its contract with the belonging to the Machinists and other Tobacco Workers, the company does not craft unions. Since 1899 the plant has employ workers not members of the To- operated on a closed shop basis. Until bacco Workers, unless they belong to 1932 all workers belonged to the To- some other union affiliated with the A. bacco Workers. In 1932 and 1933, how- F. of L. The local of the Tobacco ever, that union recognized the Jurisdic- Workers in the plant conceded the ma- tional claims of the various craft unions, chine fixers to the Machinists, but the and the ten per cent of craftsmen in the Tobacco Workers' International Union, plant joined their respective craft organ- the parent body, asserted the claim for izations. The company entered into ver- its local at the hearing. bal agreements with the various crafts, In its decision the board observed that but its only written agreement continued this was but a typical Jurisdictional to be with the Tobacco Workers. quarrel between two A. F. of L. unions, The dispute centered about the ma- though it was phrased in terms of the chine fixers, who were claimed both by unit for collective bargaining. The Na- the Machinists and by the Tobacco tional Labor Relations Act, the board Workers, with the company supporting said, merely provided a new vocabulary the claim of the latter. A second issue in which Jurisdictional disputes might was also involved as to whether the be described. The two unions belonged machinists constituted a separate unit to the A. F. of L., which had the author- for bargaining purposes. This, however, ity to render a binding decision on the was secondary, for the Tobacco Workers dispute. The board therefore declined to did not dispute jurisdiction over the intervene, and refused to certify any rep- machinists proper. Though the company resentatives in the two cases or to de- desired the entire plant to be the unit termine the appropriate bargaining unit. for bargaining, it would doubtless have An oil case,5 decided the same day as entered into a written agreement with the tobacco case, involved a company the Machinists had the dispute over the union as well as an industrial and sev- machine fixers been settled with the To- eral craft unions. The Oil Field, Gas bacco Workers. The Tobacco Workers Well and Refinery Workers of America claimed that the tobacco workers and petitioned for an election at the Stand- machine fixers together constituted a ard Oil Company's El Segundo, Califor- proper collective bargaining unit, and nia, refinery to choose representatives that the machinists alone constituted an- for collective bargaining. It asserted that other. its claim to represent the workers was The Brown and Williamson case was contested by the Standard Employees essentially similar. Its plant, also in Association, a company union. Had no Louisville, employed 2,684 workers, of complication arisen, the election would whom 2,451 belonged to the Tobacco undoubtedly have been ordered. But five Workers, and the remainder to various 5 In the matter of Standard Oil Company of Califor- craft unions. This plant was organized nia and International Association of Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers of America. Case No. XXI-R-3, by the Tobacco Workers in 1933, at decided April 23, 1936. [23] American Socialist Monthly unions,6 all affiliated with the A. F. of L., allied with the Committee for Industrial protested against holding the election, Organization. Several of the metal craft on the ground that they had jurisdiction unions, it has been reported, want to over the craftsmen employed by the have the National Labor Relations Act company. The Oil Field Workers, con- amended to safeguard their right to the ceding the claim of the Boiler Makers, jurisdiction awarded to them by the amended its petition to exclude boiler A. F. of L. workers, welders, and helpers from the One case that raised somewhat dif- bargaining unit. The four remaining ferent, though related, issues, deserves crafts then proposed a joint council, con- mention also, because it illustrates the sisting of themselves and the Oil Field chaos that will result if the A. F. of L. Workers, to oppose the company union. should split.8 The Mechanics Educa- The Oil Field Workers rejected this on tional Society of America, which is not the ground that the four crafts actually affiliated with the A. F. of L., signed an had no members employed at the re- agreement with the Sands Manufactur- finery. The board, holding this a juris- ing Company of Cleveland, Ohio, in dictional dispute to be decided by the May, 1934, and again in June, 1935. A. F. of L., refused to intervene, and Increased work led to the hiring of some dismissed the petition for the election.7 new men, not members of the M.E.S.A. Several other cases have arisen in In August the company proposed in- which craft unions have objected to an creasing the force in the machine shop, entire plant being made the unit for col- using the new men, while shutting down lective bargaining, as requested by an the other departments. The M.E.S.A. industrial union. When the Amalga- committee, given a temporary shutdown mated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin of the entire plant as the alternative, Workers asked for an election in the chose the latter course. A notice was Portsmouth, Ohio, plant of the Wheel- posted that the plant would close August ing Steel Corporation, the International 31, until further notice. Association of Machinists asked the On August 26 or 27, officials of the board to exclude machine repair and company went to the local office of the maintenance men from the election. International Association of Machinists, The glass industry is witnessing similar and negotiated an agreement which be- jurisdictional disputes. The opposing came effective on September 3. On that unions there are the Glass Bottle Blow- day the plant .opened, after calling back ers' Association, an old-line craft union, all of those workers, almost all of them and the Federation of Flat Glass Work- new men, who were members of the ers, a younger and more vigorous group Machinists. The Machinists also helped

6 These were the International Association of Ma- to supply additional workers. Only four chinists, the International Union of Operating Engineers, the International Brotherhood of Firemen and Oilers, of the older workers, members of the the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers, M.E.S.A., were called back. Two of Iron Ship Builders and Helpers. They were combined in the Oil Industry Metal Trades Council of Southern them testified that an officer of the com- California. 7 Similar questions were presented in two other cases pany told them they could work only if by the Oil Field, Gas Well and Refinery Workers, relat- ing to the Baytown, Texas, plant of the Humble Oil they joined the Machinists. None of the Company and the Beaumont, Texas, plant of the Mag- nolia Petroleum Company. After the Oil Field Workers had filed their petition for elections in these cases, a 8 In the matter of The Sands Manufacturing Com- number of craft unions in the metal trades protested pany and Mechanics Educational Society of America. on jurisdictional grounds. Case No. C-33, decided April 17, 1936.

T24] Jurisdictional Disputes and Labor Boards four went back to work, and other and with power to settle the dispute former employes who applied were told within the union family. that their places had been taken. The Under such circumstances it is quite M.E.S.A. then began to picket the plant. possible that labor boards may inter- On or about September 10, at the com- vene, particularly if there is a change in pany's request, the contract with the board membership. If the boards do in- Machinists was cancelled by mutual tervene, their decisions as to the proper consent. The board had no difficulty unit for collective bargaining, as has in holding the M.E.S.A. to be the ex- been shown, will determine whether the clusive bargaining representative of the craft or the industrial union will win workers, and it also ordered the dis- the election. A governmental agency, charged men reinstated. the members of which are nominated by These cases are but the beginning. the president, will then be settling in The increasing bitterness between the substantial measure the most vital issue industrial unions of the Committee for confronting the labor unions. Industrial Organization and the con- servative craft unions will cause similar Such a development would be fraught cases to arise much more frequently. with the greatest dangers to labor. The Steel, automobiles, oil, rubber, and other government would then exercise an im- mass production industries will be the portant influence over the very struc- battlegrounds. If the A. F. of L. does ture of the labor movement. To have not split, the worst that will happen will a governmental agency settle the most be that the rival union forces will check- vital union issue would give it a degree mate each other, and temporarily give of control over internal union affairs victory to the employer and his com- that smacks dangerously of fascist eco- pany union. If a split occurs organized nomics. If the unions ever thus become scabbery may be the order of the day, subject to governmental supervision, the with employers enlisting the aid of one internal affairs of the unions might be union group to break the strikes of the regulated in other ways, and one of our other. Cases such as the Sands Manu- greatest bulwarks against fascism in facturing Company will multiply. America will have been greatly weak- In the event of a split, the dangers of ened. governmental intervention will be in- The alternative is for labor to put its creased many-fold. The bad feeling that own house in order, and do it quickly. will be engendered in the fight between Some way must be found to settle these the dual labor bodies will probably lead controversies peacefully within labor's each to challenge the jurisdiction of the ranks, to remove these internal union other in cases before labor boards. No issues from the jurisdiction of labor labor tribunal will then exist with boards, and to end the danger of gov- authority recognized by both groups, ernmental intervention.

The ASM assumes no responsibility for signed articles. Such articles express the opinion of the writers. The ASM strives to serve as a free forum for all shades of opinion within our movement.

[25] Digest of the Draft Program for the Spanish Socialist Party HE illusion that the socialist revo- the enslavement of the workers. And it lution can be realized by trans- inevitably leads to war so as to avoid forminT g the present system of society or postpone the social revolution at must be eliminated. There is no other home by encouraging the hope of a vic- recourse than to destroy it root and tory abroad. branch. The illusions of reformism, the The other way out of the crisis is hope that capitalist society could be revolutionary Socialism. Bourgeois de- transformed into a Socialist Society by mocracy has fulfilled its historical mis- means of gradual reforms, found its ex- sion in some countries, and elsewhere it planation in the expanding, and especial- will be difficult for it alone to confront ly in the imperialist phase of capitalism, the capitalist forces which wish to re- when the workers were able to wrest place it by a totalitarian Fascist State. increasing economic advantages and The only class which can prevent fas- more favorable conditions of life, from cism is the proletariat, not by merely the dominant classes. defending bourgeois democracy but by Today this illusion is completely chi- the conquest of political power by all merical. Capitalism is now on a de- available means, so as to achieve the scending curve. It has passed from the socialist revolution and complete democ- expanding to the restrictive or defensive racy—a classless democracy. stage. This is partly because of the During the period of transition the progressive industrialization of the co- form of government will be the dicta- lonial and semi-colonial countries, which torship of the proletariat. Dictatorship has reduced their imports of manufac- does not necessarily mean arbitrariness tured goods, and partly because of tech- and lawless violence. Bourgeois democ- nological progress, which has replaced racy is a legal dictatorship of the bour- men by machines, thus increasing un- geoisie over the other classes. Working employment in gigantic proportions, and class democracy would be a legal dic- has created over-production at the same tatorship of the proletariat over the time as purchasing power throughout others. It would thus be the most ex- the world has been reduced. tensive and perfect democracy in his- There are only two ways out of this tory. Insensibly the dictatorship of the crisis: one is fascism and the other is proletariat, or working-class democracy Socialism. Fascism is in essence the sup- would convert itself into a complete or pression of bourgeois democracy so as classless democracy. The organ of this to despoil the working class more con- dictatorship would be the Socialist veniently. It is a dictatorship of capi- Party. talism to cover its losses and avoid the Then follows an examination of the final collapse at the exclusive cost of possibility of such a dictatorship, and

[26] Digest of the Draft Program of the transition to socialism, in Spain, working-class desire to see fulfilled in leading to the conclusion that from all the present situation were set out in points of view the backwardness of cap- the May Day appeal. italism in Spain makes it more impera- The program of the People's Front, tive than in other countries for the pro- which we shall support and stimulate, letariat to conquer political power and is being carried out, and although it establish its democratic dictatorship. does not satisfy our class apirations we To this end, says the draft, it is neces- call for its rapid fulfilment and the sary to unite immediately all revolu- taking of the following measures:— tionary actions by the political and in- Energetic punishment of those who dustrial fusion of all workers' organiza- took part'in the repression of the revo- tions, and by the complete rupture of lutionary movement of October, 1934, the Socialist Party with every reformist in Asturias. Moral and economic repara- of centrist tendency. tion for the victims. Among the immediate aspirations of More humanitarian regime in the the party would be:— prisons. 1. The conquest of political power Revision of police registers. by the working class, and by any pos- Republicanization of the magistrature, sible means. the army and the civil service. 2. The transformation of the indi- Revision of the law on public order vidual or corporate ownership of the and the law of vagabonds. instruments of labor (land, mines, Repression of usury. transport, factories, machines, money, Reduction of exhorbitant rents. capital, banks and great capitalist syn- Extension of agricultural credits. dicates, trusts, cartels, etc.) into col- lective, social or common ownership. Repeal of the farm law. Promulga- tion of a new law and revision of the During the period of transition the evictions. form of government would be the dic- tatorship of the proletariat; organized Development of collective agriculture. as a workers' democracy. Immediate repurchase of communal property. 3. The organization of society on the basis of economic federations, and Property of the nobility to be taken the use of the instruments of labor over. by collective oganizations of the work- Maximum working week of 40 hours. ers, which would guarantee to all Establishment of workers' control in members the satisfaction of their needs industry. in relation to the means at the disposal State aid to trade unions to meet the of society. urgent needs of the unemployed. The draft closes with a summary of Construction of urban and rural the political, economic, financial and housing. municipal measures regarded as neces- Punishment of the offence of "wage- sary for the realization of the party's cutting" and introduction of minimum aspirations. wages. The measures which the Spanish Restoration and revision of the social [27] American Socialist Monthly legislation of the Cortes Constituyentes. Access for young workers to univer- Nationalization of the banks and sities. primary indutries. Professional education and financial Submission of the banks to the neces- assistance to young people receiving sities of the country. such education. Uninterrupted creation of primary Re-establishment of diplomatic and schools. commercial relations with the U.S.S.R.

BOOKS RECEIVED

A NOTE ON LITERARY CRITICISM, by James T. Farrell. The Vanguard Press., N. Y. $2.50. CITY GOVERNMENT, by Daniel W. Hoan. Harcourt, Brace & Company, N. Y. $2.50. RULERS OF AMERICA, by Anna Rochester. International Publishers, N. Y. $2.50. UNDER THE AXE OF FASCISM, by Gaetano Salvemini. Viking Press, N. Y. $3.00. ALIEN AMERICANS, by B. Schrieke. Viking Press, N. Y. $2.50. THIS SOVIET WORLD, by Anna Louise Strong. Henry Holt & Company, N. Y. $2.00. INTRODUCTION TO DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM, by August Thalheimer. Covici Friede, N. Y. $2.00. LABOR IN MODERN INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY, by Norman J. Ware. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, Mass. $3.48. LENIN, by W. C. White. Random House, N. Y. $ 1.50. TRAVELS IN TWO DEMOCRACIES, by Edmund Wilson. Harcourt Brace & Company, N. Y. $2.50. ZWISCHEN ZWEI WELTKRIEGEN? by Otto Bauer. Eugen Prager-Verlag, Czech. Kc 32 - sfr. 4.50.

[28] Book Reviews

A PROGRAM FOR MODERN AMERICA would "strive to aid the farmer as con- by Harry W. Laidler sumer, producer, merchant, debtor and citizen"; the conservation of public re- Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York City, sources under public ownership; a re- 1936. 517 pp. $2.50. vamping of the system of taxation based Harry Laidler's latest book appears at upon capacity to pay; social ownership an opportune time. As it becomes in- and democratic administration of rail- creasingly evident that the New Deal roads, public utilities and banking; the has failed in its supposed objective of preservation and extension of civil lib- restoring employment and establishing erties, a constitution adjusted to the decent living conditions for the masses, needs of the time; an international polity a new program which will help to do to insure peace and new political align- this is called for. If for no other reason, ment. a definite forward looking program is To each item of this program the necessary at this time to counteract the author devotes a chapter in which he forces of reaction ready to capitalize on develops the background of the problem, the failure of the New Deal. Any one ac- earlier efforts at reform, the existing quainted with the realities of American condition which makes further reform psychology knows only too well that the necessary, various proposals which have nation is unlikely in the near future to been made with an appraisal of them. swing wholeheartedly either to socialism Those acquainted with Dr. Laidler's or communism. It is consequently even earlier books, particularly Boycotts and more urgent that a program for reform the Labor Struggle (1914), A History for which there is some slight possibility of Socialist Thought (1927) and Con- of acceptance be offered at this time,— centration of Control in American In- a program upon which liberals and rad- dustry (1931) know the sanity and icals might join in a united front. scholarship which characterize his work. Briefly, Dr. Laidler's program includes This volume is in the best Laidler tradi- a Child Labor Amendment to insure a tion,—clear, interesting, sound and op- "square deal for American childhood"; portune. It contains not only a "pro- the Workers' Rights or Hillquit Amend- gram for modern America" but a mine ment to make possible adequate insur- of information concerning American ance schemes for protection against un- economic and social conditions. employment, illness and old age; a Dr. Laidler's volume serves a very shorter work week; collective bargain- useful purpose in debunking a prevalent ing between employers- and employees, idea that the New Deal is socialism. the establishment of an adequate long- A comparison of Laidler's program with range public works program, an ex- the New Deal legislation shows how fal- tensive public housing plan; "a com- tering and tentative the latter is. When mon sense agricultural program" which one realizes how far the program of this

[29] Book Reviews book falls short of complete socialism time to time been suspected. Much of and then how far to the right the New the data offered by Gustav Mayer in Deal legislation is from the Laidler pro- his biography of Engels, gives substance gram, the absurdity of the contention is to the suspicion. only too obvious. The program sug- If Mayer has correctly evaluated En- gested by Dr. Laidler is in no way in- gels, he was a great deal more than a tended as a substitution for socialism. minor partner. He thought his way It is presented simply to "furnish a through the Hegelian philosophy to so- minimum program of social change", a cialism before Marx did. He was in reform program which in a capitalist touch with the German and French com- society "would uproot many of the worst munists sooner than Marx. The basis evils of our national life." Its attain- of the famous friendship between the ment, says the author, must be followed two men lay in the fact that they had by a mobilization of the political strength independently reached similar conclu- of the masses "for an intelligent, orderly sions by similar process of thought. and courageous attack on the citadel of There has been much discussion of power—on the profit system—and must the question of the contributions of the build in its place a scientifically planned two men to their joint work the Com- society under which industry is carried munist Manifesto. "In later life," Mayer on for use not for profit." To those who tells us, "Engels used to say that both will agree that a decent civilization may Marx and he had produced drafts in- be achieved through gradual reform, dependently, and that the definitive ver- Dr. Laidler has offered an intelligent sion had been made after that." In a working program. To the pessimist who sense Mayer rejects Engels own version believes this impossible, the book at of the origin of the Manifesto. The final least provides an arsenal of information draft, he thinks, judging from its style, on contemporary America. To the stu- is that of Marx. "But although it was dent of liberal thought and reform move- chiefly Marx who coined the gold," he ments the volume furnishes an accurate says, "Engels had not been behind him picture of present day liberalism in this in collecting the ore. There is in the country. Communist Manifesto scarcely one HAROLD U. FAULKNER. thought that cannot be found in the manuscript (then unpublished) of Ger- THE LIFE OF FRIEDRICH ENGELS man Ideology. If that work had found by Gustav Mayer. Alfred A. Knopf, N. Y. $3.50 a publisher, it would have anticipated Most of us when we write of Marx the Manifesto in all its accounts of the and Engels quite unconsciously accent history and tendencies of economic life, the first of these names and pass lightly the origins and future task of the mod- over the second. This is inevitable in ern proletariat, the functions of the class- view of the greater original genius of war, the shrinkage in the functions of Karl Marx, and in the light of his pre- the state and the inevitability of the ponderant energy and the greater vol- communist revolution." ume of his writings. That it is also the Engels gave eighteen years of his life consequence of the modesty of Fried- to the conducting of a textile factory at rich Engels, who did not hesitate to be Manchester. He loathed it, although the the minor partner in the firm, has from experience gave him an insight into the

[30] American Socialist Monthly working of the capitalist system that thought Bonapartism a form of rever- he could hardly have achieved otherwise. sion to feudal forms; a victory for the Yet he continued with it for years after old aristocracy. He did not foresee that he could have retired wholly so that he it might equally be the resort of a sur- might continue his financial aid to Marx. feited and decadent capitalism in the last He recognized the importance of the stages of its struggles against the pro- work upon which Marx was engaged, letariat. What he described is fascism. and he knew that that work might be Engels feared the Lassallean influ- crippled, or even altogether abandoned, ences in the ranks of the German work- if Marx were compelled to give his time ers. The last decades of his life were to remunerative work. He helped Marx devoted to the struggle against them and with money. He wrote many of the against all tendencies that might divert articles that appeared under the signa- the proletariat from its course. This ture of Marx in the New York Tribune. struggle produced his most important He apparently never felt that he was work, ''Anti-Duhring". Diihring, a uni- playing second fiddle to a greater man. versity professor who became important Bourgeois commentators on Marx and in the German labor movement through Engels have pointed out that in nearly the instrumentality of Eduard Bern- every case their immediate prognostica- stein, had denied that "the economic tions proved unsound. It is true that in process is governed by immutable laws." 1848 and often thereafter, they expected He thought it "should leave great scope the proletariat to seize power. They for individual action." He ridiculed underestimated, as Mayer points out, Marx, and attacked the Hegelian method the vitality of the bourgeoisie. In 1857 and the materialistic conception of his- Engels thought that capitalism had no tory in particular. He was proving at- way out of the world-wide depression tractive to men like Johann Most (later then prevailing, and that the collapse of an anarchist leader in Europe and Amer- capitalism was at hand. He was wrong. ica) and even to Bebel. Only Wilhelm Capitalism had barely begun its im- Liebknecht stood out against him, and perialist phase. Yet those who take asked Engels to write a polemic against comfort in this, and in similar errors; Diihring. Engels reluctantly did so. "He those who find in these miscalculations did not suspect," says Mayer, "that he proof of the fallaciousness of the Marx- was about to strike the decisive blow ian method, are equally wrong. The for the conversion of continental social crisis in capitalism that Marx and En- democracy to Marxism." "Anti-Duhring" gels predicted has come, later than En- taught the movement the importance of gels thought, but inevitably. In this the materialistic conception of history connection it is interesting to note that (which Mayer incorrectly calls the Engels saw in Bonapartism a "state (in "economic conception"). Effective as it which) every vestige of political power was, it did not quite succeed in scotch- is withdrawn from both workers and ing the positivist ideas or the Lassallean capitalists alike, the freedom of the press ideology that later led to the decadence and the right of combination is forbid- and collapse of German Social Democracy. den and universal suffrage is cramped in Mayer's book, devoted as it is, to En- a way that makes it almost impossible gels' work, leaves us with an inadequate to elect opposition candidates." Engels picture of the man. We catch glimpses

[31] American Socialist Monthly of a vital, energetic person who (unlike entirely misleading version of the situa- Marx) did not hesitate to enjoy life. tion in China is offered. In the chapter on He was no ascetic. Like Marx he was War and War Preparations the Third arrogant and merciless to all who op- Congress of the League Against War posed him. We know his generosity to and Fascism is discussed. We are told Marx and his readiness to sacrifice him- that "To it went 2,070 delegates from self for the good of his cause. He had 1,840 organizations, representing 3,291,- his vanities, among which we may count 906 members in 30 states. There were an unwarranted belief in his ability as 209 delegates from 181 A. F. of L. local a military tactician. These and other and international unions and central facets of his person we catch here and bodies. From 65 independent unions there in Mayer's pages. Yet there is came 83 delegates." This is a typically room for another book in which the communist use of statistics. No mention deeper sources of Engels' many-sided is made here of the many overlapping personality can be tapped. organizations under C. P. control that DAVID P. BERENBERG. sent delegates; of the I.W.O., and I.L.D. units, and of the local Leagues Against LABOR FACT BOOK III Prepared by Labor Research Association. War and Fascism that represented noth- International Publishers, N. Y., 216 pages. ing but the C. P. No mention is here $1.00. made of the 30,000 locals in the A. F. of In form and in contents the Labor Fact L., in comparison with which 181 is a Book resembles the defunct American ludicrously small figure. And when we Labor Year Books, published from 1916 are told of the 604,511 unionists repre- to 1932 by the Rand School of Social sented at the Congress, we are not also Science. The present book contains a told how the figure is arrived at, and large amount of material, none of which how many of the 604,511 knew that they is particularly new or startling, but were being represented. which is very convenient for the jour- There are some interesting omissions nalist, the research worker, and the po- in the book. There is no mention of the litical worker when brought together in sale of oil by Soviet Russia to Italy, a small compass. It contains a not quite although other items in the war against adequate analysis of the New Deal, a Ethiopia are listed. There is virtually discussion of workers' conditions, a his- no discussion of fascism in Italy or in tory of recent strikes, a discussion of Germany. There is no mention of the trends in the labor movement, of farm- boycott of German goods, one of the ers and farm workers, the united front, more important items in the struggle civil rights and fascist trends, war and of the A. F. of L. against fascism. war preparations, and Soviet States. The sins of commission and omission The book is to a certain extent viti- noted above are intended merely to un- ated by a too obvious communist em- derline the fact that this an official com- phasis. So, for example, the struggle munist publication, and must therefore between the right and left elements for be checked and re-checked before it can control of the Socialist Party is treated be used. With such precautions and in merely as a facet in the "struggle" for the the absence of a book prepared by a United Front. Again in the chapter on more reliable agency, it has its uses. Soviet States, a purely communist and DAVID P. BERENBERG.

[32]