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Attempt by Communists to Seize the American ATTEMPT BY COMMUNISTS To Seize the AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT A Series of Six Articles Prepared by United Mine Workers of America and Published in Newspapers of the United States. International Union U.NITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA Indianapolis, Ind. 1923 This series of six articles was prepared by the United Mine Workers of America) disclosing the attempt that is bC'ing made by the red forces) under the direct super­ vision of Moscow) to seize control of the. organized labor movement of America and use it as the base from which to carryon the Communist effort for the overthrow of the American Government. These articles are the result of an independent searching investigation on the part of the United Mine Workers of America which led directly to original sources. NATIONAL CAPITAL PRESS, INC., WtoSHINGTON, O. C. 2 ~4 THE AMAZING SCHEME ARTICLE I The United Mine Workers of America with this article begins an expose of the Communist revolutionary movement in America, as promoted and fostered by the Communist International at Moscow, and dealing with it as it involves the welfare of the miners' union, and other similar labor organizations, and the interests of the American people as a whole. The purpose and object of the United Mine Workers of ·A merica in bringing to the attention of the American people the far-reaching and intensive activities of the Communist . organization in this country is twofold. The United Mine Workers of America wants the public to know what this thing is. It wants the public to know something about the fight which the miners' union is waging to stamp it out. First, it desires to reveal and make known the sinister and destructive groups and elements attempting to "bore from within" its own ranks and membership and to seize posses­ sion of the organization, and, through such seizure, to later gain possession of all legitimate trade unions; second, to in­ form the American people of the scope and purport of 'the 'hostile and inimical movement being carried on within their midst. Imported revolution is knocking at the door of the United Mine Workers of America, and of the American people. The seizure of this union is being attempted as the first step in the realization of a thoroughly organized program of the agencies and forces behind the Communist International at Moscow for the conquest of the American continent. The overthrow and destruction of this government, with the establishment of an absolute and arbitrary dictatorship, and the elimination of all forms of popular voice in govern­ mental affairs, is being attempted on a more gigantic scale, with more resolute purpose, and with more crafty design, than at any time in the history of this nation. The Communist regime at Moscow, bent on world con­ quest; is promoting and directing one of the best organized and most far-reaching campaigns in America that any coun­ try has ever been confronted with. The Communist organ- 3 ization on the American continent is composed of more than six thousand active leaders and lieutenants, and approximately one million members adherents and sympathizers, scattered in every state and province of the United States and Canada, and who are actively or .tacitly promoting the scheme to im­ port Bolshevism and Sovietism to this side of the 'Atlantic. This campaign affects ' the people of the Dominion of Canada as much as it does the United States. The rev­ olutionary agents of Moscow are working as actively and energetically among the people of the one country as they are among the people of the,other. Proof of this statement is found in the recent red outbreak among the misguided miners of Nova Scotia, where armed revolution was preached; where an illegal strike occurred and the red move­ ment was only broken by the vigorous and forcible action of John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America. The major points in this revolutionary program of the Communists as aimed against the United Mine Workers of America and other legitimate trade unions, and the people of the United States and Canada, are: 1. Overthrow and destruction of the Federal, state, and provincial governments, with the elimination of existing con­ stitutional forms and foundations. 2. Establishment of a Soviet dictatorship, absolute in its exercise of power, owing allegiance to, and conceding the authority only of the Communist, or Third International, at Moscow, as a "governmental" substitute. 3. Destruction of all social, economic, and political insti­ tutions as they exist at this time. 4. Seizure of all labor unions through a process of "boring from within" them, and utilizing them as a strategic instru­ ment in fulfillment of their revolutionary designs upon or­ ganized and constitutional government. 5. Invasion of the United Mine Workers of America, with the ouster of its present officials and leaders and the sub­ stitution of a leadership of Communists, that it may be used as an instrumentality for seizing the other labor unions of America, and for eventually taking possession of the country. 6. A well-organized movement is being promoted within the four railroad brotherhoods and sixteen railroad trade unions to amalgamate all railroad workers into "one depart­ mentalized industrial union," controlled by a single leader of Communist principle and affiliation, and owing allegiance to the Communist organization. 4 7. Seizure of the American Federation of Labor, with the ouster of its officials, and through such seizure gaining con­ trol of all its affiliated units and trade unions. 8. Conversion of all craft .trade unions into single units of 'workers within an industry known as "industrial unions," with coordination under a super-Soviet union owing alle­ giance to, and accepting the mandates of, the Communist International, and its subsidiary, the Red Trade Union Inter­ national, at Moscow. 9. Through conquest and subjugation of the labor unions, and conversion and mobilization of farmers and other re­ lated groups, the overthrow of existing institutions, and the creation of a condition similar to that which now prevails in Russia. The data and the facts set forth in this and the following articles represent months of careful independent research among original documents and records covering the whole of the Communist movement in America and Europe, par­ ticularly as it has been injected into the ranks of the United Mine Workers of America, the American Federation of Labor, and labor organizations in general. The movement has been traced back to 'its original pur­ poses and intents, and followed in all of its phases to- its present status in this country. Manifestos, programs of action, communications, and rev­ olutionary documents have been examined and compared. Through these factors it has been . possible to weigh and gauge the design and purpose of the Communist movement, examine .its scope and range, and to determine the extent to which it has entered into the American social, economic and political fabric, as well as to chart the major outlines of its immediate future program of action. The menace of Bolshevism in America-the United States and Canada-is not a figment of imagination or an invention of hysteria. It is not a passing fancy or a deceiving mirage. Nicolai Lenin and his group of associates at Moscow are waging a definite contest for the subjugation and seizure of the United States and Canada. They would destroy the present governments, destroy the,sovereignty and independ­ ence of the people, and, in their place, enthrone the idols and fallacies of Bolshevism. Millions of dollars are being spent in this conquest. Much , of the money is coming from continental Europe, arid the remainder is being collected through organizations and com­ mittees I created for that purpose, or by donations. and con- 5 tributions of sympathetic or well-intentioned people in the United States. Immediately before the start of the miners' strike on April 1, 1922, the sum of $1,110;000 was sent into the United States, by way of Canada, from Moscow, for the purpose' of enabling the Communist agents to participate in the strike. Behind this move was the scheme to overthrow the leader­ ship of the union and then convert the strike into an "armed insurrection" against the Government of the United States. ; , ' T he massacre of the strike-breakers at Herrin, Ill., was engineered by these Communist agents "boring from within" the miners' union. According to their own statements, they were engaged for seven weeks beforehand in their prepara­ tions for a tragic occurrence of this kind at some point in southern Illinois as a means to "arousing the workers to rev­ olutionary action." Details of this incident will be disclosed ina subsequent article of this series. ' In the coal fields of southwestern Pennsylvania, where the strike started by orderly process, mine plants, tunnels and power transmission lines were blown up, the homes of miners were wrecked, and , men were beaten or injured by these Communist agents in ' an effort, under the instructions of Gregory Zinoviev, president of the Communist International, to arouse "the revolutionary spirit of the workers and pre­ pare them for the coming revolution in America." All of these things show what American employers would have to deal and contend with if the Communist plans were to succeed and the present legitimate American labor movement were weakened or destroyed. Three times in three years the Bolshevik leaders at Moscow have attempted armed insurrection and revolution in the United States. The first instance was in connection with the steel strike in 1919. The second was in the "outlaw" switchmen's strike in 1920; and the third was in the railroad and coal strikes in 1922.
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