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Conference of the Opposition Communists Formation of the Communist League of America (Opposition) ^To the Open

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Conference of the Opposition Communists Formation of the Communist League of America (Opposition) ^To the Open Conference of the Opposition Communists Formation of the Communist League of America (Opposition) ^to the open. KarnestnessEarnestness without without diplomacy diplomacy The National Conference of the °PP?sltl?,? characterized the discussions and put upon the By James P. Cannon decisons finally arrived at the stamp of real conviction. The final results of the discus­ cidentals. None of them received wages or per sion showed a complete unanimity and solid­ diem. arity of the entire Conference on all the mam The entire Conference was thus earned questions, and the Opposition Communists face through with an unrivalled maximum of eco­ the heavy tasks before them as a firmly-united of Th°e Ata».. nomy. This revolutionary capacity for hard­ body. , , p ro S n S its M l solidarity «M* * ' ship triumphed over the handicap of the meag­ The agenda of the Conference was as tol- and International Opposition under er financial resources of the Oppostion, which lows chin of Trotsky and undertook the task oi 0 1 works without subsidies of any kind, and made 1. The Situation in Russia. —Reporter Com­ S 't L i n / ASeican Communists tod,ytnd our National Conference possible. For a move­ rade Shachtman. outside the Communist Party of the Unitea ment less vital and less confident of its future, 2. The Crisis in the Communist International- States on the Platform of the Opposition. A the circumstances would have completely pro­ Reporter comrade Spector. constitution for the Communist hibited such a National gathering. 3. The American Situation and the Tasks of adopted embodying the prmc.ple of democratm The sessions of the Conference were con the Opposition Communists—Reporter centralization as laid down in the theses oi tne ducted throughout with a business-like effic­ comrade Cannon. Second Congress of the Communist Interna­ iency and precision in sharp contrast to the de­ 4. Trade Union Questions—Reporter comrade tional A National Committe of seven mem­ sultory, dragged-out and time-wasting affairs Swabeck. bers was elected to direct the work of the or­ which have become the rule in recent years 5. The Organization of the Communist Oppo- ganization. The following constitute the under the regime of “ petty bourgeois politician- ition—Reporter comrade Abern. National Committee: James P Cannon Maur- dom” . Being firm ly united on mair lines of 6. Youth Q ue stion s— Reporter comrade G lo t- ice Spector, Martin Abern, Max Shachtman, principle and free from the factional intrigue zcr. Arne Swabeck, Carl Skolund and Albert Glot- which arises from the lack of it, there was no 7. Press and Literature publication program— zer. Membership cards are to be issued and need for the Conference sessions to be held up Reporter comrade Shachtman. the monthly dues rate was fixed at 50 cents and delayed for the deliberations of rival cau­ A ll the reports were expositions and ela­ with an initiation fee of the same amount. 1 h cuses. It began promptly on time the first day borations of the various sections of the Plat­ chartering of local branches w ill begin at once. and conducted all the following sessions pre­ form which represents the settled view of the For the time being Canadian braches w ill be cisely according to schedule. Oppositionists on all the important questions directly affiliated and will function as a part The Conference was marked by a freedom confronting the American Movement. The nat­ of the single organization. of discussion on all questions which enabled ure of these tasks has not changed since the The Communist League w ill carry on a pro­ all points of view to be brought fully^nd fairly Platform was drafted for submission to the gram of independent activities in the class before the body. Collective judgement, not cau­ Convention of the Party a few months ago struggle and w ill also continue to work as a cus manipulation, was the aim sought and and, consequently, the Conference saw no ne­ achieved. ■'Conflicting opinions which arose cessity for the writing of a, new one. After faction within the Party. over secondary questions were brought out in- The Conference consisted of 31 delegates the discussion on all the main reports had been with voting rights and 17 alternate delegate» concluded the Platform was adopted by una­ with voice but nq vote. Twelve cities were nimous vote. Editorial revision and reform­ represented as follows; ulation of some sections were made in order Delegates Alternates Opposition Progress to express the decision of the Conference to New York 5 j, pass over from the stage of . a purely internal Philadelphia 2 1 in Minneapolis Vote faction of the party to a National Organization also conducting independent activities and re­ Cleveland 1 ^ G. R. Hedlund, candidate for mayor of the Communist O p­ cruiting non-party communists, without alter­ Detroit - |r position, now the Communist League of America (Opposition), Youngstown ■ “ recWed a vote of 896 to 827 for the Communist Party candi­ ing the line of the document. The Youth sect­ date in the mayoralty election campaign held in Minneapolis, ion of the Platform was also rewritten to deal Chicago J Minn., on May 13th. The Communist Opposition and Party St. Louis 3 1 more comprehensively and concretely with the candidates were the only ones running on a labor ticket; all problems of the Communist Youth. Kansas City } “ others were out ond out supporters of the capitalist class. Springfield. 111. - ® The Minneapolis Opposition group campaigned for comrade Hed- The Conference adopted resolutions on the Minneapolis ? 5 lund on the platform of the International Opposition led by Class War prisoners of America, on the im­ St. Paul 2 0 comrade Trotsky and espoused the fundamental principles of prisoned and exiled Bolshevik-Leninists of the the Communist movement and the Comintern founded by Soviet Union, and messages of greetings to Toronto, Canada 2 1 Lenin. (The local platform of the Minneapolis Opposition was printed in the previous issue of The M ilitant.) In seven of comrade Trotsky and to comrade Malkin. the thirteen wards, comrade Hedlund (a railroad Worker, ex­ The report and discussion on the trade union Total 31 ^ pelled by the Stalin bureaucrats for supporting the Opposition question were a prominent feature of the Con­ Groups in a numbe of other cities which platform) defeated the Party candidate. Meetings were held ference. A constructive line of Communist throughout the campaign and special leaflets were distributed were unable for financial reasons to send de­ among the workers, as well as The Militant. policy on this question, restating fundamental legates sent greetings and pledges of support. The Minneapolis Opposition unquestionably commands leader­ conceptions derived from American and world A letter from comrade Trotsky was read to ship over the majority of the revolutionary and Communist experience and sharply opposing the present the conference amid great enthusiasm. L i ­ workers of Minneapolis. Their steadast allegiance to the prin­ false line of the Party, was unanimously de­ ciples of revolutionary Communism and their fight on behalf ters were also read from comrade Malkin in of the workers in the daily battles in the shops, trade unions, manded. The policy outlined in our Platform Comstock Prison, from the Opposition groups etc., has won them that support by the class conscious work­ on the Trade Union Question, as concretely, in France, Czechoslovakia and other coun­ ing men and women. It is the Minneapolis Opposition comrades elaborated in a number of articles in The M i­ tries. who built and gave prestige to the Comunist Party there. And litant and in the report of comrade Swabeck, it is the healthy tradition of the Party built by our comrades The conference was permeated through and before their expulsion which enabled the candidate of the Party was supported by all the delegates. The dis- through with the pioneer spirit of self sac­ bureaucrats to receive even the votes he did. Despite slander cusssion on this point was enriched by the rifice and determination in the struggle fob by the Party officialdom and the advantage of the Party in speeches of comrades from all parts of the principle. The delegates were almost entirely running “on ’l’*the official ticket, with its *—greater....... resources,........... press,. country and from Canada who have years of the Opposition candidate received the greater vote. The Minn­ workers who came direct from their jobs. A eapolis elections testify to the firmness and determination of experience in the trade union struggle behind large percentage of them beat their way to the the Communist Opposition to hold aloft the banner of Com­ them. The “ new line” of the Party, outlined Conference; others came crowded together in munism under the leadership of the greatest living teacher in the preparation for the T. U. E. L. Confer­ battered automobiles borrowed for the oc­ of Bolshevism, Leon Trotsky. The Minneapolis comrades in­ ence and in its recent activity, was refuted and tend to conduct a sticker campaign for comrade Hedlund in casion ; three or four only paid bus fare and one the general elections on June 10th. AU class conscious and condemmed on theoretical and practical delegate rode a train—on a railroad worker’s revolutionary workers in Minneapolis are urged to write in the grounds. pass. Lodgings for the out-of-town delegates name of C. R. Hedlund on the ballot then. The Minneapolis It was clear to all that the future activity of were provided at the homes of Chicago com­ comrades by their work are putting a spoke in splitting tactics the Opposition is indissolubly bound up with of the Stalin bureaucrats and are working for the unity of the rades and sympathizers.
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