Tile Dog Days of the Left Opposition by James P

r =============March 1944 our • n erna Ion !l!!E1!2 ..' . ,;; iii TIle Dog Days of the Left Opposition By James P. Cannon • Japan Faces The Abyss II By Li Fu-Jen • Stalin's Constitutional 'Reforms' By The Editors • From the Arsenal of Marxism , Military Doctrine or Pseudo-Military Doctrinairism II By Leon Trotsky ;'.$ e some very good surv,eys of the ,---- situation. I was very interested IManager's Column I I FOURTH INTERNATIONAL and enlightened in the two ar ticles by Leon Trotsky on the Aside from the !purely busi Volume V March 1944 No.3 (Whole No. 42) report of the Comintern in the ness letters from our agents, we August and September issues. Publl.he4 moftt~. 'II tie r,eceive a minimum of material He ceI"tainly had a marvelous in regard to FOURTH INTER· Fourth Int,mctioMJ Pu&UlMft., h,odcIIfoft understanding of international NATIONAL. Occasionally a 116 University Place, New York 3, N. Y. Telephone: Alcon affairs and how each knitted in, t'houghtful reader takes time to quin 4-8547. Subscription rates: $2.00 per "eaT; bundly, 15c one with the other. You are send us his reaction to a specific for 5 copies and up. Canada and Foreign: $2.50 p,er "au; bundles, 16c for 5 copies and up. doing a great service to the ad article or the magazine in gen· vanced workers in printing this eral. For instance, a reader in Entered as second-clasa matter May 20, 1940, at tile post office at New York, N. Y., under the Act of Maroh 3, 1879. kind of material. Detroit wrote: "Would be very grateful indeed "Everyone has remarked about Editor: FELIX MORROW if you could let me have some the 'new' F.I., its interest and of <the literature you advertise choice of material." on the back Qif the October issue. CONTENTS • * * We ar;e VeI"Y short of these most A reader in Akron took the T he Month in Review essential works o'ver here." time to write us as follows: The Meaning of Stalin's Constitutional Reforms ....... 67 "I dropped a not,e to G. sug * ... * The Dog Days of the Left Opposition Scotland: "I have not yet re- gesting an artiiClefor the F.r. on By James P. Cannon 71 receIlit developments in rubber ce~ved the July issue' of FOURTH ... I thought the February issue British Women in Industry ............................ By A. Keen 76 INTERNA TIONAL nor the Sep was excellent, and note not only Japan Faces the Abyss tember issue. The latter may a good quality of subject matter II. Conditions in Large-Scale Industry yet be on the way but the for mer has apparently been held up but a r,eal improvement in~ ap- and Agriculture .......................................... By Li Fu-Jen 78 pearance." Germany's Prison Camps (Book Review) by the censor or something. One copy only appears to have By J. B. Stuart 88 • * * reached our Glasgow comrades. A reader in Virginia wrote: From the Arsenal of Marxism "As for the magazine, it too is "At the moment here, i,t is Military Doctrine or Pseudo-Military up to and beyond snuf,f. What like living on top of a volcano. especially interested me were Doctrinairism II ................................ By Leon Trotsky 90 Nothing of any magnitude is the two military articles by Is Marshal 'Tito'-Brezovich? ............................................. 95 happening on the class war front Leon Trotsky in the December" ..... 11 .. but any moment violent erup and January issues. tions can and will take place." "It so happened that in a ~he Oi viI RigMs Defense Com Fifth Avenue, New York 10, course on army organization * ... * mittee has informed us that they N. Y. England: "In conclusion, given us· at clerical school, we h'ave r,eceivedgood response to please convey our sincerest were given certain 'Principles of * • * the ad carried on the back page Letters received during the thanks to the SWP for the won War' taken from Clausewitz and of the February FOURTH IN month from our readers abToad derful files of material which the first ~rticle or parts of it at TERNATIONAL, asking for aid are a 'source of inspiration. We they sent us. At the moment any rate se,emed like almost di to the eighteen class-war pris quote from some of them: they are away for binding pur rect remarks on what we were oners and their families. We England: "As a very inter poses-'-the younger comrades ibeing taught. Perhaps I wouldn't wish to thank thos,e readers of estedrea:der of FOURTH IN are very eager to get down to have appreciated these articles FOURTH INTERNATIONAL TERNATIONAL and The Mili study ..." 80 greatly if I had read them a who have already responded to tant, Is it possible for you to few months ago, but I now f,eel • this plea and urge that all of send me these two journals? If * * impelled to shout: 'Where have For sometime now we have our readers help by contributing so I will obtain a 'Permit to pay you been keeping if,ihese? And if been wondering how we can to the Minneapolis Prisoners you for them. there are any more, for God's liven up the Manager's Column, Pardon & Relief Fund, c/o Civil "Am just reading the October salke, print them at the ,earliest how we can make this column Rights Defense Committee, 160 issue of the F.r. which gives possible time!" of more interest to our ~eaders. • * * T'he most persistent thought con A few days ago a stranger We still have in stock bound volumes cerning this problem is to turn walked into our office, asking if the column oV,er to our readers. he could buy. some copies of the of The NEW INTERNATIONAl. and But immediately on the heels of February FOURTH INTERNA· this thought comes the question, TIONAL. He wanted 15 copies FOURTH INTERNATIONAl. for the fol. how! How to encourage our of that issue. In answer to our lowing years: readers to utilize the column for suggestions, criti<:!isms, ideas for inquiry as to why ne was inter 1938 '5.00 esrted in this parUcular issue he improving the contents or circu said: "I'm interested in the ar 1939 5.00 lation of the magazine? Perhaps ticle on nationalist thought ... 1940-41 5.00 there are times you would lik.e I'm a member of the Interna to contest a point made in an tional Workers Order ... we are If you do not already have your bound article or add supplemental ma having a convention soon and I volume, get it now. terial. Why not submit these want to mail out t11is aI"ticle so Order from thoughts! Letters of such na that th,ey can read it." Busineaa Manager tUre wouM be highly valuable (The article referred to is as well as extremely interesting, "New Trends in Nationalist Fourth International not only to our readers but to Thought on the European Prob 11.6 University Place New York 3, N. Y. the Business Management of the lems" !by J. B. Stuart.) magazine as well. FOURTH INTERNATIONAL VOLUME 5 MARCH 1944 NUMBER 3 The Month in Review The Meaning of Stalin's who fear some wily ruse, there are others who incline to accept the Stalinist "reforms" at their face value. Thus, Mr. Walter Constitutional 'Reforms' Lippmann hails as "auspicious" the "decentralizing reform in Toward the end of January, less than the Soviet Union"; and goes on to speculate that this tendency STALIN AMENDS HIS two months after the Teheran con toward decentralization will as a matter of fact become world OWN 'CONSTITUTION' ference, the Kremlin suddenly issued wide. Says Mr. Lippmann: orders to convene the Tenth Session "The -centralized state is a monster even at its most benevo of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The very fact of convening lent, and just beca;use it is indispensable in war, ;peac,e will the Supreme Soviet is noteworthy inasmuch as this "highest bring a reactiDn against it. If tha1t reaction goes too far, it organ of state power in the USSR" has been virtually defunct will produce anarchy. But it must gO' a very Iconsiderable dis tance or there will be popular explosions. It is not unlikely, since Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941. One of then, that Stalin, whQl knows his Russia, has been reading cor the first actions of the Kremlin at that time was to suspend the rectly Ithe signs of the times." (New York Herald, Tribune, "Stalinist Constitution" (promulgated in 1936); all power was February 3.) arrogated by the Defense Council, a war cabinet of five ind~ If, as Mr. Lippmann correctly contends, it is "amateurish" viduals: Stalin and his four puppets, Molotov, Berya, Voroshl to reduce to simple arithmetic questions relating to a peace lov and Malenkov. During the entire intervening period, the conference, then it is no less false to conclude that far-reaching Supreme Soviet, supposed by law to meet twice a year, was changes in the Kremlin's domestic and foreign policy are in convened only once, and that was in the summer of 1942 in volved in a mere increase in the number of commissariats. order to ratify Stalin's pact with England. Sixteen handpicked sets of puppets in place of a single set But the reason for convening the second wartime session of cannot alter anything fundamentally either in the character of the Supreme Soviet is even more noteworthy. It was sum Stalin's regime or in his policies.

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