Legal Organizations

When the Communist party of America was officially declared to be an illegal organization in the United States, its avowed object being the overthrow by violence of the established government of this country and the inauguration of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat here, it immediately burrowed underground—and continued to function with even greater activity. But in order to carry on the propaganda for the soviet form of government in the United States, as it was under orders from Moscow to do, it became necessary to find some way of "legal expression" in order to reach the people of whom it hoped to make converts. There was no need to waste time, money and energy in spreading Communist propaganda among Communists, but it was highly important that some means be found quickly to reach the hated bourgeoisie, to show them the beauties of Communism and to raise them to the high radical estate of Russia.

It was also necessary to have organizations to secure funds from the bourgeoisie to be expended in fighting the battle of the united front, for mass action against the present order of church, home and state. For it has been from the outset, as established by the Russian Reds, the method of the Communists to extract money from the rich to finance their overthrow. This matter was the subject of much deliberation among the members of the inner circle of the Communist party underground, and experts were sent from Moscow to aid in the solution of this important problem. Finally, means were found and today there are four chief organizations, classed as "legal," by which the fight against the United States Government may be carried out and financed. There are also a number of subordinate bodies working to aid the chief "legal" branches as well as non-Communist organizations the activities of which directly lend aid to the work "in the open" of the Communists underground.

The legal organizations are definitely controlled by the Communist party of America which, in turn, is controlled by the inner Soviet circle in Moscow. The programs for work by the legal organizations are drawn up by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist party and approved by Moscow before being put into operation by the various bodies whose activities are known to the public. It was partly for the purpose of effecting the contact between the legal bodies, the Communist party of America and the directing head at Moscow that the illegal convention of the Communist party was held in Bridgman, Mich., when it was raided by the Michigan State authorities. The delegates to this convention, while influenced largely by the words and acts of the Central Executive Committee, were really the authorized representatives of the party to decide on the best means for putting into action the instructions from Moscow.

An example of the activities of the legal branches of the party is the dissemination of information regarding the interest taken by the Moscow Central Bureau of the Communist movement in the situation in the United States. Early in September, 1922, the Central Executive Committee of the Communist party of America received from Moscow an appeal to the workers of England to aid the striking coal miners of the United States. The Central Executive Committee immediately set to work translating this document and the distribution of the translation was made throughout the country to the legal organizations in order that it might be made known to as many working men as possible. By this it was hoped to attract non-Communist workers to the ranks of the Communists, as the argument was used that the Moscow Government was fighting for the American working man and woman. This document, copies of which were sent to all Communist parties in the world, translated by the Central Executive Committee, reads as follows:

FOR THE AID OF THE STRIKING MINERS OF AMERICA

"Workers of England:

"It is now four months that the fierce struggle of the American miners with the Coal Barons is going on. For several months hundreds of thousands of workers without regard to language or race are defending themselves against the attacks of the American Financial Kings. An army of hired workers from the camp of the bourgeoisie, the establishment of martial law, a whole army of provocateurs, have been unable to break their unitedness and compel them to work for the exploiters for a further reduced pay.

"THEIR HEROIC DEFENSE IS BEGINNING TO BEAR FRUITS.

"THE COAL RESERVES ACCUMULATED BY THE CAPITALISTS FOR THIS STRUGGLE ARE EXHAUSTED. AMERICAN INDUSTRY IS BECOMING EXHAUSTED; THE CAPITALISTS ARE FACING THE MENACE OF A GREAT DEFEAT.

"It is well known to the English capitalists that a defeat of the American exploiters will mean their own defeat and a strengthening of the English wage slaves. They have realized what constitutes their class interest and are coming to the assistance of American mine owners. They are loading and shipping to America a whole fleet with coal. Every steamer with coal arriving in a North American harbor strengthens the forces of the coal barons and nullifies the results which have been attained by the struggling workers.

"THERE EXISTS THE DANGER THAT THE STRUGGLE OF OUR PROLETARIAN COMRADES, UNEXAMPLED IN ITS LENGTH AND SELF-SACRIFICE, WILL BECOME LOST, THANKS TO THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF CAPITALISTS.

"This must be countered by the international unity of the workers.

"ENGLISH TRANSPORT WORKERS, HARBOR WORKERS, MINERS! IT IS YOUR TURN NOW.

"You must understand that every loading of a ship with coal being sent to America is a blow in the back to the workers who are struggling there. You must understand that you are rendering support to the capitalists to the extent of your failure to interfere with the delivery of coal to America.

"You must understand that the defeat of the American workers will inevitably react against you. The reduction of the wage scale and the increase of the working day in America will bring the same consequences in England.

"If you present against the united front of the exploiters the united front of the exploited, then your aid will greatly increase the fighting strength of the American proletarians, and will help them to achieve victory. And you, equally with your American brothers, will reap the fruits of this victory.

"This is why we call upon you to:

"HASTEN TO THE ASSISTANCE OF THE AMERICAN STRUGGLER!

"DO NOT LOAD COAL FOR AMERICA!

"LONG LIVE THE UNITY OF THE ENGLISH AND AMERICAN WORKERS!

"LONG LIVE THE WORLD SOCIAL REVOLUTION!

"LONG LIVE THE COMMUNIST INTERNATIONAL!

"ZINOVIEFF,

"President of the Communist International."

Accompanying this appeal by Zinovieff were instructions to the Central Executive Committee of the Communist party of America to promote agitation in an effort to arouse the striking miners to a point of armed insurrection. No opportunity is ever lost by the leaders of the world Communist movement to make of any trouble or disorder the spark to set off armed violence by which they hope to accomplish the overthrow of the government. These instructions are verbatim as follows:

"The Central Committee of the Communist party of America must direct its particular attention to the progress of the strike of the miners of America.

"Agitators and propagandists must be sent to the strike regions.

"It is necessary to strive to arouse the striking coal miners to the point of armed insurrection. Let them blow up and flood the shafts. Shower the strike regions with proclamations and appeals. This arouses the revolutionary spirit of the workers and prepares them for the coming revolution of America.

"ZINOVIEFF,

"President of the Communist International,"

With this background it is possible to understand some of the work that is being done by the "legal" organizations through which the Communist party of America is able to spread the propaganda looking toward the overthrow by violence of the Government of the United States under orders from Moscow. It should also be borne in mind that these organizations frequently change their names in order to mystify the authorities and fool the public. First, probably, in importance among the various legal organizations is the Workers' party of America, ostensibly a political party of the laborers. The documents found at Bridgman, Mich., demonstrate beyond the question of a doubt that the Communist party controls and directs every action of the Workers' party. By gathering the laborers of this country into a single political party and keeping them steeped in Communist propaganda the leaders believe they can make converts of them.

The Workers' party of America was born December 24, 1921, at a convention called by the American Labor Alliance, secretly organized by the Communist party as a "cover." The convention call invited delegates from such organizations as the Finnish Socialist Federation, the Hungarian Federation, the Irish-American Labor Alliance; and the majority of the delegates to this convention was hand-picked by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist party of America. The delegates represented, besides those organizations just mentioned, the Italian Workers' Federation, the Jewish Workers' Federation, the Jewish Socialist Federation and the Workers' Educational Association. They came from Massachusetts, New York, Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Virginia, New Jersey, Michigan, Colorado and Kansas. There were 164 delegates besides about one hundred fraternal delegates. One represented the Industrial Workers of the World and two the African Blood Brotherhood.

J. Louis Engdahl, in opening the convention, said that it had been called for the purpose of establishing in this country a real revolutionary political party "to wage successful combat against and finally to achieve the overthrow of American capitalism." J. P. Cannon, at that time a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Cincinnati Communist party of America, told this first convention of the great victory that had been won by the workers in Russia, endeavored by inflammatory sentences to stir the delegates to revolutionary enthusiasm, and bitterly attacked capitalism. Caleb Harrison, one of the delegates to the Bridgman, Michigan, convention, was elected permanent chairman of the Workers' party meeting; Margaret Prevey, vice chairman, and Elmer T. Allison, J. Louis Engdahl and W. W. Weinstone, another Bridgman delegate, secretaries.

Christmas day was devoted to drafting the constitution of the Workers' party. Efforts were made by some of the ultra-radicals to call for immediate revolution, and much time was wasted by violent debates and virulent attacks upon the United States. But as the inner circles of the Communist party had prepared in advance the constitution these debates were merely in order to give the rabid radicals an opportunity to work off their beat. The following day William F. Dunne, then of Montana and now of that State and New York, and candidate for governor of New York in the 1922 elections on the Workers' party ticket, made an impassioned address on the activities of the I. W. W. in the West. The Sacco and Vanzetti case was also token up and condemnation of the United States was voiced in resolutions adopted. The convention delegates then stood while the Red Flag was sung. The purpose of the Workers' party was described accurately in an editorial in Uj Elore, the Hungarian Communist paper:

"For the last two years the great mass of the American proletariat stood without a direct political leader. Persecution has forced the only revolutionary political organization, the Communist party, under the ground and it could continue its activity only as an illegal organization. As an illegal organization it could reach the mass only indirectly; therefore it could not exercise upon the mass such moral effect as is absolutely necessary in order to assert its leadership of the mass. The party itself never could have gained a bigger moral influence over the mass because with its organizations it never could step to the front rank of the mass. However, in spite of the most severe 'legal' persecutions, the Communist work cannot stop; therefore, it is necessary to place a party at the head of the mass which, although revolutionary, cannot be persecuted. The Workers' party will fulfill this task.

"The Workers' party will meet the requirements of the American proletariat. It will be a powerful weapon for class struggle which cannot be knocked out of the hand of the proletariat with the slogan of 'lawlessness.' This party will take its stand at the head of every movement of the proletariat in order to lead it with revolutionary bravery and with Communist realism.

"The Workers' party will be based entirely upon the principles of the Third International. The organization of the Workers' party is the first step toward a big and strong revolutionary mass movement.

"The formation of this party proves, too, that, in spite of the persecutions on the part of the bourgeoisie, the proletariat can still find means with which to continue its attacks against the capitalistic order. There is now such persecution as to make it impossible for us to continue the fight. The working class looks with confidence into the future; it will be led by a political party which uses the well-tried tactics of the Third International, a political party which knows no compromise."

The Workers' party counts largely on support from the women voters. Great care was taken in effecting an organization which would reach all classes of working women, including, as the program states, "millions of workers, and farmers' wives isolated from the general field of the organized working class struggle," for it was deemed an absolute necessity to "win the women of the working class to the party's ideal" and to "unite them for and link them to the general proletarian struggle." Accordingly women's branches were started in various parts of the country with leaders whose duties included spreading propaganda, the substance of which, subversive of the constitution, is dictated through the Workers' party by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist party of America.

At the beginning of the railroad and coal strikes, when it was thought these troubles might lead to the longed-for General Strike which was to effect the violent overthrow of the Government of the United States and the establishment of the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, it was quickly seen that the women's committees of the Workers' party could do some excellent agitational work among the families of the strikers. Accordingly, the National Women's Committee, which is a secret body, on April 1, 1922, adopted and set in motion a program for women's emergency work in the mining districts. A form set of resolutions was sent out to all women Communists in the districts to be adopted by the women committees to be formed, and specific instructions were given the Communists of which the following are portions:

"Before bringing this resolution to a vote, the members of the nuclei [that is, the inner circles of Communists] and the Number One women [that is, the women members of the illegal organizations of Communists] should do a thorough piece of agitational work to insure its enthusiastic acceptance."

"As soon as the vote is taken, a meeting of women should be held under the auspices of the union. A working committee should be appointed. NUMBER ONE WOMEN SHOULD SEE TO IT THAT THEY ARE ON THE COMMITTEE. The Chairman, however, should be the local woman who has the most experience and been most active in past strikes, irrespective of her being a member of Number One. This is important.

"Other working women in the locality, who are sympathetic, should by all means be encouraged to attend meetings and participate in the work.

"Number One women must not use this committee for propaganda UNCONNECTED WITH THE STRIKE. The efforts of Number One must be to create solidarity and morale. Plenty of opportunity for propaganda on issues directly related to the strike can be found.

"Number One women should suggest to the women's committees the forming of a literature committee with a view of publishing a leaflet for house-to-house distribution. The text of such a leaflet will be by the National Woman's Committee. THIS SHOULD BE PRESENTED AS THE WORK OF A LOCAL WOMAN. It may be modified or enlarged to fit local conditions.

"The National Women's Committee urgently recommends that this emergency project, unanimously passed upon, SHALL REMAIN SECRET AND NOT SENT OUT TO THE MEMBERSHIP AT LARGE."

Finally, the last paragraph of the "Principles and Aims of the Workers' party," definitely and positively links this political organization with the Communist party. This document was found buried at Bridgman when the convention of the Communist party was raided, and the last paragraph reads as follows:

"The Workers' party declares itself in sympathy with the principles of the Communist International and enters the struggle against American capitalism, the most powerful of the national groups of capitalists, under the leadership of the Communist International. It rallies to the call, 'Workers of the World Unite.'"

The whole work of the Workers' party is aimed to educating the working class and mass in Red Trade Union International ideas through active participation in the political life of the country. Tire subtlety of this method of preparation for future political action is cleverly conceived, and but for the fact that the connection between the Workers' party and the Moscow authorities is now known, the results of the methods employed would have been the source of much trouble in the future. This may yet result.

Next in importance, probably, in the legal organizations of the Communist party is William Z. Foster's Trade Union Educational League. This is aimed chiefly at the industrial life of the nation and is constantly at open warfare as a minority organization with the American Federation of Labor. Its militant and uncompromising attitude toward capital and its power within the American Federation of Labor show that it has large influence in that organization and is constantly making gains within the Federation membership. It was organized by Foster in 1920 and embraced at the outset the more radically inclined labor unions. Shortly after this organization was formed the Communist International promulgated the policy of "boring from within" the trade unions with a view to wrecking the trade union movement in this country. Foster was approached by the Communists and as a consequence he attended the Congress of the Communist International and the first congress of the Red Trade Union International held at Moscow in July, 1921.

Upon Foster's return from Moscow the Trade Union Educational League immediately became a propaganda agency for the Communist International and affiliated with the Red Trade Union International. Foster has repeatedly denied this, and has declared that no connection existed between his organization and the Communists. But, thanks to the Bridgman raid, absolute proof of his connection is now available. The Labor Herald is the official organ of the Trade Union Educational League. The principles and program of Foster's League were distributed widely throughout the country early in 1922 and the following sentences from it are significant:

"The Trade Union Educational League proposes to develop trade unions from their present antiquated and stagnant conditions into modem, powerful labor organizations capable of waging successful warfare against capital. To this end it is working to revamp and remodel from top to bottom their theories, tactics, structure and leadership. Instead of advocating the prevailing shameful and demoralizing nonsense about harmonizing the interests of capital and labor, it is firing the workers' imaginations and releasing their wonderful idealism and energy by propagating the inspiring goal of the abolition of capitalism and the establishment of a workers' republic.

"The Trade Union Educational League groups the militants in two ways; by localities and by industries. In all cities and towns general groups of militants of all trades are formed to carry on the work of education and reorganization in their respective localities. These local general groups, to facilitate their work, divide themselves into industrial sections. . . . All the local general groups are kept in touch and cooperation with each other through a national corresponding secretary. Likewise all the local industrial educational groups are linked together nationally, industry by industry, through their respective corresponding secretaries. Every phase and stage of the trade union movement will have its branch of the life-giving educational organization."

The entire work of the Trade Union Educational League is based upon the following decisions of the Red Trade Union International:

"1.—Workers' Control is the necessary school for the work of preparing the masses for the proletarian revolution.

"2.—Workers' Control must be the war-cry for the workers of every capitalist country and must be utilized as a weapon to disclose financial and commercial secrets.

"3.—Workers' Control must be largely used for the reconstruction of the outlaw trade unions and the industrial factions, the former being harmful for the workers' revolutionary movement.

"4.—Workers' Control is distinct from capitalist schemes, and to the dictatorship of the capitalist class it opposes the dictatorship of the working class. In the various activities within the shops the so-called revolutionary nuclei perform the various functions promulgated by the Trade Union International."

Who is William Zebulon Foster, familiarly known as "Bill" Foster? The authorities have known that he was a "radical" for a long time, and he has been accused of being "Red," but there has not been much proof offered the public on the matter. Foster himself has denied repeatedly that he was anything but an honest working man, devoted to bettering the conditions of his fellow-workers. He has denied that he was a Communist, but at times has admitted that he was affiliated with the Communists. When he went to Moscow he attempted to make the trip in secret, but it became known, and after that he was a bit more frank about his sympathies with the Red movement.

Now it is possible to establish definitely that Foster is a Communist, a paid employee of the Communist party of America, and that the Trade Union Educational League, of which he was the founder and is the head, is a branch of the Communist party designed to "bore from within" the labor union branches of the American Federation of Labor and destroy that organization.

That Foster is not only a paid agent of the Moscow government but is also a paymaster is shown by the fact that when he returned from his secret trip to Russia, he brought with him, presumably to carry on Communist propaganda in this country the sum of $40,000. On another occasion, in April, 1923, the Trade Union Educational League, of. which Foster is the organizer and head, received the sum of $90,000 from Moscow. In August, 1922, Lozovsky attended the secret illegal convention of the Communist party of America at Bridgman, as a delegate from Moscow, and turned over to Foster for the use of the Trade Union Educational League the sum of $35,000, making a total of $165,000. It is not to be inferred from this that this is all the money that the Moscow government or the Third International has sent to this country for the purpose of forcibly overthrowing this government, as undoubtedly many sums have been sent of which none but the immediate parties concerned have knowledge.

Foster has repeatedly denied that this League had any connection with the Communist party, but we have seen how he has discussed it openly in the inner councils of the party at their convention at Bridgman, Mich. Among the documents left buried on the Bridgman farm August 22, 1922, when the convention was broken up by the raid of the authorities, were the questionnaires, answered by the delegates in their own handwriting and turned over to the grounds committee for safe keeping.

Foster gave his age as 41, stated that he was born in the United States and was married—each in answer to questions submitted in mimeographed form. He said that he used English "in the main," but that he could speak German and French imperfectly. "When not in party employ," he said, his occupation was railroading. He said he once belonged to the Socialist party, and "has been active in the revolutionary movement" twenty-one years. His present position, he said, was the only office he had held, however, in the revolutionary movement. He had been "active in the Communist movement" one year and was at that time a paid employee of the Communist party of America, his office being given as "industrial director".

In response to the question, "How many times arrested?" he answered, "many times in trade union work", but gave two months as his longest term of imprisonment. He said he had never been deported and was not under indictment. This questionnaire having been filled out before the raid, his statement that he was not under indictment was true at that time. He stated that he was inclined to industrial work in the party, and that he had been a member of a labor union twenty-one years. It will be noted that his labor union experience coincides exactly with his time of activity in the revolutionary movement in his own opinion. He said he was still a member of the Railway Carmen's Union, and was formerly a member of the "Seamen, Street Carmen, I. W. W. etc.," and had held the offices of business agent, secretary and president in unions. He admitted that he had participated in scores of strikes in which he had "held a position of leadership." And he printed in capital letters, as if to emphasize his reply, that he had never belonged to the Army or Militia.

So much for Foster's own story of his life, as told by himself. In addition it may be said that he was born in Taunton, Mass., Oct. 25, 1881. From 1906 to 1911 he was a reporter on the Socialist Call, and when detailed to cover the activities of the I. W. W. he became so interested in the organization that he joined it. In 1911 he represented the I. W. W. at the Syndicalist Congress in Toulouse, France, and announced that he was a syndical-anarchist. He also attended the anarchist conference in Barcelona, Spain, on this trip and visited Germany before returning to America. Prior to this, his first trip to Europe, he took an active part in the free speech fight in Spokane, Washington, and was arrested and imprisoned for a short term for his participation.

At the Barcelona anarchist conference the policy of "boring from within" was stressed, and Foster immediately adopted it as his own, to be used in his future battles in America. When the Russian Revolution came and Lenin and Trotsky told of their plans for a great Dictatorship of the Proletariat to embrace the whole world, Foster evolved his scheme for "one big union." These two expressions have been great favorites of his, —his pet slogans for years. The "boring from within" policy he has applied to the American Federation of Labor, planting men within the organization to alienate as many members as possible from the strictly labor features of the Federation and convert them to the idea of "one big union."

As a member of the I. W. W. and the American Federation of Labor, Foster was active in the strike of the Standard Steel Car Company, in Butler, Pa. He was general secretary of tire Steel Strike Organizing Committee, principal organizer of the steel workers in Pittsburgh, and in 1912 was a member of the Home Colony of Anarchists in the State of Washington. He organized the Stock Yards Labor Council in July, 1917, and endeavored to unite that body with the I. W. W. The following year he left Chicago for Pittsburgh to become secretary-treasurer of a special organizing committee of the American Federation of Labor in the Pittsburgh district. He represented the Electrical Workers at the conference to organize the Iron and Steel Workers, in Washington, in September, 1919, and in January, 1920, he promoted the railroad strike.

Foster is a believer in direct action, in force instead of the ballot to bring about changes in government, and in ownership of industries by Labor. He is secretary of the Syndicalist League of North America, a member of the National Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union, one of the trustees of the Garland Foundation, and is a frequent contributor of extremist articles to the many radical papers in this country. He is the author of several books intended to incite the workers to violence against society.

Before 1910 Foster was working to form the greatest revolutionary movement the world has ever seen, and so the plans of Lenin and Trotsky fitted in exactly with his plans. The Russians had a better opportunity to put their revolutionary plans into effect, with the aid of Germany, but they found an able aid on this side of the water in Foster. By 1919 he was working to overthrow Gompers in the American Federation of Labor anJ completely to destroy that organization. In Chicago, when members of the I. W. W. were on trial he urged them not to attempt to fight the Government openly, but to join the American Federation of Labor and "bore from within."

After becoming a leader of the I. W. W. and touring Europe as the representative of that organization, he became so pronounced in his stand for the overthrow of the Government by force and so insistent about "boring from within" as a fixed policy of any organization that could be used to further his ambitious ends that the I. W. W. disagreed with him and he left that party. From the beginning his plans have been consistent, with the one aim of doing away with all organized government and giving Labor control of the world. His ideas were so radical that the I. W. W. paled by contrast, and even Solidarity refused to publish his articles. Little by little he has organized the radicals and Reds in all branches of industry, gathering them into the American Federation of Labor, until, through their influence and support, he has put himself into a position of importance rivaling that of Gompers.

In August, 1920, Foster met with representatives of twenty-four internationals at Youngstown, Ohio, to vote for a proposed general strike of steel industry workers. The strike was carried by 98 percent, chiefly through the efforts of Foster. He has always been interested in negro activities and in 1919 he promised Lee Fort Whitman, the negro radical, that he would aid him in bringing the negroes into the steel workers' union. It is alleged that he was connected with a free speech campaign having to do with the Inter-Church World Movement in April, 1920. In November of that year he left the staff of The New Majority, with which he had been identified for some time, and organized the Trade Union Educational League for the avowed purpose of hastening the evolution of labor from craft to industrial.

In December, 1920, at a meeting of the Executive Board of the Meat Cutters' Union, held in New York City, he explained to the meat cutters how they could strike to force the surrender of all the capitalists and defeat the wage reduction and open-shop movement. He attended the first Congress of the Red Trade Union International, at Moscow, in June, 1921, as a representative of the Amalgamated Textile Workers of America. Foster is now advocating on all occasions, as a preliminary to centralization of all power in the workers' hands, the amalgamation of all unions into the same craft. In April, 1922, he stated in a speech in Chicago that if the workers receive all they were entitled to it would mean the elimination of the employer class, and referred to the coming struggle between capital and labor as the most brutal war the world has ever known.

In advocacy of violence in the fight against capitalism Foster has written volumes. He was very much impressed with the French workers' struggles and the destruction of property accomplished by them in their strikes. It was during one of his visits to Europe that he had an opportunity of studying sabotage at first hand, and on his return to America he wrote:

"Next to the partial strike, the most effective weapon used by the Syndicalists in their daily warfare on capitalism is sabotage.

"Perhaps the most widely practiced form of sabotage is the restriction by the workers of their output.

"The most widely known form of sabotage is that known as 'putting the machinery on strike.' If he is a railroader, he cuts wires, puts cement in switches, signals, etc., runs locomotives into turntable pits and tries in every possible way to temporarily disorganize the delicately adjusted railroad system. If he is a machinist or factory worker, and hasn't ready access to the machinery, he will hire out as a scab and surreptitiously put emery dust in the bearings of the machinery or otherwise disable it. Oftentimes he takes time by the forelock, and when going on strike 'puts the machinery on strike' with him, hiding, stealing or destroying some small indispensable machine part which is difficult to replace.

"Another kind of sabotage widely practiced by Syndicalists is the tactics of either ruining or turning out inferior products. Thus, by causing their employers financial losses, they force them to grant their demands.

"Sabotage is peculiarly a weapon of the rebel minority. Its successful application, unlike the strike, does not require the cooperation of all the workers interested. A few rebels can, undetected, sabotage and demoralize an industry and force the weak or timid majority to share its benefits. The Syndicalists are not concerned that the methods of sabotage may be 'underhanded' or 'unmanly.' They are very successful and that is all they ask of them." (Syndicalism, pages 15, 16, 17 and 18.)

In advocating direct action as against political action, Foster wrote:

"The superiority of direct action to political action in winning concessions from capitalism is clearly seen in a comparison of the achievements to date of the direct action and political action movements.

"The chief cause for the greater success of the labor unions than the political party is found in the superior efficacy of direct action to political action. The former is a demonstration of real power, the latter merely an expression of public sentiment.

"The campaign for 'law and order' tactics that is continually carried on in the unions by various kinds of legalitarians and weaklings exerts a bad influence upon them. It must cease" ( Syndicalism, pages 20, 22, 23, 24s 25, 26 and 49.)

Regarding society in general and his utter disregard for it, Foster writes in Syndicalism, pages 27 and 28:

"The Syndicalist takes no cognizance of society. He is interested only in the welfare of the working class and consistently defends it. He leaves the rag-bag mass of parasites that make up the non-working class part of society to look after their own interests. It is immaterial to him what becomes of them so long as the working class advances. He is not afraid of turning the wheels of progress backward, in thus constantly confining himself to the interests of the working class, as he knows that by freeing the working class entirely he will give social development the greatest stimulus it has ever known."

Later on, condemning patriotism, Foster writes:

"The Syndicalist is a radical anti-patriot. He is a true internationalist, knowing no country. He opposes patriotism because it creates feelings of nationalism among the workers of the various countries and prevents cooperation between them, and also because of the militarism it inevitably breeds." (Syndicalism, page 29.)

All the doctrines expressed in the book, Syndicalism, Foster used in a book published later and called Trade Unionism. This latter book he distributed by the thousands of copies when he was lining up the forces for the great steel strike in 1919. In one place Foster, after having pictured the world with the workers in control, has written:

"Under the new order as pictured above, Government, such as we know it, would gradually disappear. In an era of Science and Justice, this makeshift institution, having lost its usefulness, would shrivel and die.

"Today a large branch of Government relates to war. The abolition of the profit system would render this useless. It would make impossible the fatal rivalry between the nations over markets, and thus destroy the very foundations of war. A friendly, spontaneous, international cooperation like that between the various states in the Union would supersede the present elaborate war departments.

"Criminal courts, police, jails and the like would go also. Crime is due almost wholly to poverty. In a reign of plenty for all it would practically disappear. The few criminals remaining would be subjects for hospitals rather than jails. Likewise the civil courts, with their hordes of officials, would vanish. People would no longer have to wrangle over property rights.

"The industries now in the hands of national, state and municipal governments would be given over completely into the care of the workers engaged in them. Unlike in our days of graft these workers would then have every reason to give the public the best possible service. The teachers would have full control over education, the doctors over sanitation, the postal workers over the transmission of mail, etc. This would certainly make for efficiency, for no other body would be so competent to control an industry as the workers directly employed in it. Surely no mere legislative assemblies could hope to be in possession of sufficient knowledge to even intelligently advise such groups of scientifically organized producers, much less control them.

"With war, crime, class antagonisms and property squabbles obliterated, and the management of industry taken from its care, little or no excuse would exist for government. What few extraordinary occasions arose requiring legislative action to arrive at some sort of solution could be handled by the Trade Unions, which would still contrive to have many uses." (Trade Unionism, pages 24 and 25.)

As the Workers' party functions in politics and the Trade Union Educational League in industry, so the "Friends of Soviet Russia" is the "legal" financial branch of the Communist party of America. A member of the Central Executive Committee of the Communist party is known to have said that but for the funds collected by the Friends of Soviet Russia for the ostensible purpose of relief, the party would hardly be able to function in this country as a great portion of the relief money never leaves the United States but is used for propaganda. This organization was formed in 1921 by the Central Executive Committee of the Communist party for the purpose of securing funds for the relief of Soviet Russia and also "to expose and refute the lies which are constantly being circulated about her in the capitalist press and to present the real facts about Soviet Russia to the American people, and create a demand for the lifting of the blockade against her and the resumption of trade."

Article one of the constitution of the society provides that the funds collected shall be sent "to Russian Soviet authorities." The organization of this body was brought about by Caleb Harrison, one of the official delegates to the illegal Bridgman convention, and Dr. Jacob W. Hartman. The names of the first executive committee and advisory committee will prove its connection with the Communist party. The first-named committee comprised Dr. Hartman, Caleb Harrison, Edgar Owens, Allen S. Broms, Dr. J. Wilenkin, Dr. William Mendelsohn and Dr. Leo S. Reichel. The advisory committee included William Z. Foster, William F. Dunne, Rose Pastor Stokes, Caleb Harrison, Robert Minor and Ella Reeve Bloor, all of them delegates at Bridgman; Dennis Batt, Elmer T. Allison, Jack Carney, Ludwig Lore, Edgar Owens, Mary W. Vorse, Hulet M. Wells, Max Eastman, Allen S. Broms, Joseph P. Cannon, Dr. Wilenkin, Dr. Mendelsohn and Dr. Reichel.

The activities of this organization have spread rapidly throughout the United States and Canada. Branches have been established, propaganda spread by means of pamphlets, mass meetings and moving pictures. Affiliations with labor organizations, societies and associations have increased and new relief bodies have been organized. A subsidiary branch known as the "American-Federated Russian Famine Relief Committee" has been organized to purchase supplies with the money secured by the Friends of Soviet Russia. Speakers from radical unions, I.W.W. and Communist organizations are touring the country in the interests of this society. Among the organizations affiliated with the Friends of Soviet Russia are the following, all legal bodies:

LIST The Workers' party, Society for Technical Aid to Soviet Russia, Finnish Workingmen's Association, Socialists Consumers' League, Russian-Ukrainian Workers' Educational Society, Lithuanian Relief Committee, American-Lithuanian Workers' Literary Society, American-Hungarian Workers' Federation, New England Workers' Association, Czecho-Slovak Workmen's Council of America, National Croatian Society, World War Veterans, Toronto Trades and Labor Council, Montreal Trades and Labor Council, Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America, Chicago Federation of Labor, Detroit Federation of Labor, Seattle Central Labor Council and Tacoma Central Labor Council.

The contribution list, a printed form used by the Friends of Soviet Russia at its inception bore the interesting and illuminating legend, "Endorsed by the official representative of L. C. A. K. Martens," the official representative of the Moscow Communist Government who was obliged to leave the United States, through fear of deportation, papers already having been issued.

The next legal branch in importance in the work of furthering the interests of the Communist party of America in the United States is perhaps the Young Workers' League, which is one of the pets of Robert Minor, the active Communist who wa9 a delegate to the Bridgman convention. Minor's treachery during the war which would have resulted in his execution but for the influence exercised in his behalf is well known. The aim of this organization is to place the ideals of Communism before the youth of this country in a most subtle manner so that when they attain maturity they will be thorough Communists ready for the work of moving toward the overthrow by violence of the Government under which they now live. Thi9 is an outgrowth of the Young People's Communist League and the Young People's Socialist League. It was recently reorganized for "legal" propaganda purposes by the Executive Committee of the Workers' party. The installation of the various circles is in charge of the national secretary, Oliver Carlson, alias E. Connolly, alias Edwards. The purpose of the League is to educate the young workers to understand their position in capitalist society, to show them the stupidity of trying to climb higher, and to map out a course of action for their emancipation.

Among the organizers are a number of well-known Reds, members of the Communist party of America. Walter Bronstrup, Mrs. Margaret Prevey, Mrs. Sadie Amter, Max Kaminsky and D. E. Early are active in the organization. Something of the work of this organization was told in a previous chapter of this chronicle.

Associated with the Young Workers' League is a new organization, functioning as a legal branch, under the direct influence of the Communist party of America, and known as the Famine Scout Clubs. Not only is it easy to raise money for the Communists through the appeal of the children thus drawn into the movement, but it is also excellent training in Communism for them and a medium through which the radical propaganda can be circulated.

Tie Famine Scout Club movement was the brilliant thought of Rose Pastor Stokes, one of the delegates to the underground convention of the Communist party of America which was raided at Bridgman, Mich., and an active Communist since the American beginning. The name selected would appeal to those interested in the excellent Boy Scout and Girl Scout organizations and at the same time it would offer an excellent beginning for planting the seeds of Communism in the minds of the young while raising money for Communist purposes, Mrs. Stokes traveled all over the country organizing these Famine Scout Clubs. The membership is not yet large, but enough young people have become interested to form another group of nuclei for radical propaganda. But membership is not one of the prime desires of Communists; the chief feature is to have as many nuclei as possible. For this reason clubs are organized with few members through which appeals are made to the public to aid the famine sufferers in Russia. But the money collected goes to the Russian Red Cross, which, although associated in organization with the International Red Cross, is solely an organ of the Communist Soviet Government of Russia.

The American Committee for Russian Famine Relief was organized by Walter W. Liggett at the instigation of John G. Ohsol, a member of the Russian Red Cross, which is officially a part of the Soviet Government in Moscow, former associate of the L. C. A. K. Martens, Bolshevist "ambassador" to the United States. He desired to extend Russian relief work in order to reach elements in the United States who would not contribute to the avowedly sovietized Russian Red Cross Society. A contract was entered into between the Russian Red Cross Society with Dr. David Dubrowsky, Ohsoi and Dr. Michael Michailovsky, as parties of the first part, and the American Committee for Russian Famine Relief, by A. W. Ricker, Liggett and James H. McGill as parties of the second part. This contract was in essence an underwriting contract upon the part of the Russian Red Cross for the support of the American Committee for Russian Famine Relief.

This underwriting contract was not generally known and certainly the character of the three Russians were unknown to the majority of persons lending their names to the support of the committee. The only public indication appearing in connection with the Russian Red Cross was that on the letter head of the American Committee, where was printed in small type this statement: "Distributing Through Russian Red Cross Under American Supervision."

The activities of the organization were first directed to holding public meetings for the purpose of raising funds for Russian relief work, but they quickly took on a political character severely criticising the United States and praising Russia under the Communists. Isaac McBride, formerly a close associate of Martens and an active friend of Dubrowsky, early in 1922 addressed a meeting in Chicago which opened with cheers for Lenin, Trotsky and the Soviet Government of Russia as well as for the Communist party of America. In Milwaukee a meeting developed into a political gathering for recognition of the Soviet Government by this country. In Minneapolis a resolution was passed calling upon the United States Government to establish at once trade relations with the present Russian Government.

McBride stated: "We are going to milk the bourgeoisie of this country and they will help us to keep up the struggle against themselves." Mr. Ricker, one of the parties to the underwriting agreement, said that his sympathies and those of the committee were entirely with the Soviet regime. McBride also said that the American Committee was formed after it was realized that certain organizations, openly recognized as having Soviet leanings, could not perform the same work. He said:

"A number who were previously connected with the Advisory Council have been eliminated for fear that their presence might be looked upon with suspicion by the general public. One of those eliminated is Louis Post, former Assistant Secretary of Labor."

The activities of the Russian Red Cross in the United States first became apparent in 1921 when Dubrowsky, Michailovsky and Ohsoi formed their committee for carrying on the work. Charles Recht, legal representative of the Soviet interests in this country, said that the Russian Red Cross was one of the two recognized Soviet relief organizations in New York in September, 1921. The personnel of the committee of three Russians was the significant feature of the scheme to those who knew something of the inside of the Communist party's work here.

Dubrowsky had been a member of the staff of Martens and had been carried on the latter's payroll at $50 a week. After Marten's departure Dubrowsky was recognized in radical circles as the unofficial representative of the Soviet Government. He was particularly active in connection with the Jewish Public Committee, and was the instigator of the plan to transmit to persons in Russia sums of money from their relatives in the United States. The significance of this scheme was noticed in view of the exchange value placed upon the ruble by Dubrowsky. When the exchange rate was not less than 4000 rubles to the American dollar, Dubrowsky was allowing but 250 rubles to the dollar, and charging $10 for transmission for money by cable and $1 by mail. Dubrowsky's activities along this line were squelched by the Federal Government.

Ohsol was first called to the attention of the public by Senator Watson of Indiana, in 1919, when he was employed by the Federal Trade Commission. He was charged with being at that time a pronounced Socialist of the most virulent type. Ohsol was also a member of Marten's staff, looking after a large part of the latter's commercial work. He is a conspicuous Bolshevik propagandist. Michailovsky is a representative of the Commissariat of Public Health, an official unit of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic.

Strenuous efforts have been made to impress upon the American public that the Russian Red Cross is not affiliated with, or supervised by, the Russian Soviet Republic. This, however, is proved by an examination of the ordinances of the Soviet republic and the by-laws of the Russian Red Cross itself. On August 7, 1918, "the Soviet of the Commissaries of the People" issued an ordinance signed by Lenin as manager of the affairs of the people, and by the secretary of the Soviets, dealing with the Russian Red Cross Society which says specifically, "The Russian Red Cross Society is under the high protection of the central institutions of the republic." This ordinance also orders the reorganization of the society to effect, among other things, the "immediate adoption of all possible measures for the purpose of attracting to the number of the members of the society the largest possible number of proletarian institutions, organizations and associations."

It was the Russian Red Cross workers in the famine districts of Russia, under the direction of the Soviet government, who gathered small children, suffering from hunger, into rooms decorated with the old symbols of the Russian religion, and commanded these starving children to pray to their ikons for food. When no food appeared in answer to their prayers they were told to pray to the Soviets for food. The children did so and the doors flew open as if in answer to their prayers and plentiful food appeared.

The by-laws of the Russian Red Cross Society, which were adopted at a general conference held in Moscow on Nov. 20, 1921, contain the following statements:

"Paragraph 3—The society shall co-operate with the military, naval and civil medico-sanitary institutions of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic, conforming their activities to the instructions of the latter."

In paragraph five of these by-laws appears the statement as to who may become members of the Russian Red Cross Society. It reads as follows:

"Proletarian organizations may become members of the society, for instance, Workers' Unions, factory and shop committees, medical aid societies and citizens enjoying active and passive suffrage, in accordance with the constitution of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic."

It will thus be seen that only citizens of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic may become members of the Russian Red Cross. The officials of the Russian Red Cross are well known Communists, including Litvinov, head of the foreign propaganda department of the Russian Soviet government. When Secretary Hoover officially warned the American public against contributing to these various Russian relief bodies the Russian Red Cross and the Friends of Soviet Russia became very busy cleaning their books and records. The Russian Red Cross had issued a blank with the initials upon it "R. S. F. S. R." standing for Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic. These blanks were quickly destroyed in order that the connection of the organization with the Soviet government might not be disclosed. The same policy was followed by the Friends of Soviet Russia. In view of this it is interesting to note, in conclusion, the recent pronouncement of the executive committee of the Third International:

"We talk in two languages, that which we talk to the bourgeoisie we fool them with, that which we talk to the world proletariat is the truth. Our problem is the world revolution. We are going towards it. And everything is directed to this end."