davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06

transition period the state cannot be anything else
but the dictatorship of the proetarat. J."
The Socialist party leaders the States are then
accused of shirkng the task of radically changing party
policies and tactics the unemployment and discomfort
which have followed the
The temper of the workers and soldiers after the sac
rfces they have made in the such that they not
endure the reactonary labor conditions openly advocated
by the master class series struggles is bound
to loow-ndeed, is beginning Shall the Socialist
party continue to feed the workers with reform egis
aton at this critical period? Shall it approach the whole
question from the standpoint of the election of
representatives to the legislatures? Shall emphasize the
point OF vew when Socialist principles teach that
the worker is robbed at the point of production? Shall it
talk about the cost Of living taxation when it should
be explaining how the worker is robbed at his iob?"
The formation of the Labor party is hailed as ian
immature expression of spirit in the labor movements
but labor party is not the instrument the emancipation
OF the working Glass; Laborism is much danger to
the revolutionary proetarat moderate socialism: neither
Is an instrument for the conquest of power"
Nationalist capitalist control becomes imperialism finally
ana IN ths country the capitalist class s using organized
labor for its mperiaisc purposes danger is asserted
that the Socialist party of America might use bourgeois
reforms to attract the votes The object Of the
master class is to divert the with this bait from
their revolutionary aim.
"On the the class str1ppo thon +ho cooo1;.
party Of America must reorganze ITSELF prepare to
come to grips with the master class during difficult period
OF capitalist REIMBURSEMENT now going This it can do
only by teaching the working class tho about present.
Gay conditions; 1t must preach revolutionary industrial
unonlsm and all workers organize into industrial
unions the only form Of labor organization which can cone
with the power of great modern aggcgaions capital It
must carry on its political campaigns merely as means
of elccng officials to political Office in the past but as
year round educational campaign arouse the workers to
class conscious economic and political action and to keen
alive the burning ideal of revolution in Tho bo,r+ 90 49,
people.
I'VE assert with Marx that the class struggle is essen
TALLY political strugge and only accept his own
oft repeated Interpretation of that phrase The class srug
GLE whether it manifest itself on the industrial field or j.;
the direct struggle for control is essentially
struggle for the capture and destruction of the captat
state This is political act In this broader view of the
term political Marx includes revolutionary industrial
action"
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06
By Elias Tobenkin
WARSAW, February "a

WARSAW, February "a.
TROTZKY has become the worlds
greatest publisher, says writer
IA in the Russian paper "Watshav-
skaya Reich" this morning, and
warns the world not to take Trotzky's
ability as publisher lightly, not to ig
more it, but to go into competition with
him.
"Tens of thousands Of pools Ia pood
is 80 American pounds) of Bolshevist
literature in all languages and dialects
have recently been printed by the Boil
shevists," says the writer, "and they are
now discharging this literature upon the
world. This last weapon of Bolshevism,
the printed word, which at first was not
taken seriously, has proved most pow
erful factor. If the Bolsheviks still hold
themselves In power in Russia it is due
in large measure to the enormous
quantities Of glowing propaganda litcra-
ture that they spread. All those who
stand guard over true democracy had
better begin at once to meet the enemy
with his own weapon. Let them deny
the printed lies of the Bolsheviks with
printed truth.
"A student Of the Moscow Polytechnic
who had just arrived in Warsaw, with
whom / had an extended talk, corrobo-
rated the above statement with regard to
the effectiveness with which the Boil
sheviks are using the printing press to
gain popularity for Bolshevism
90 The Bolsheviks, said this student,
are succeeding in impressing the people
with tho belief that Bolshevism is the
best system Of society that the world
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06

paper called 'Vperiod' (Forward) which
was just beginning to appear. As a
matter of fact people are afraid to pro-
test. 1t is far more dangerous to
protest against the government than it
was under the Gar, for, as you may
already know, the Bolsheviki have abol-
lshed all courts and dispensed with all
lawyers.
Men in Russia are now judged not in
accordance with law, for they derde the
old law, but in accordance with con-
science 'po soviesty,' it is called in
Russian. The soviet government ap-
points a judge. Most often the Judge
is working man. He is, of course,
faithful Bolshevik or he would not get the
appointment. Any one can accuse the
defendant or speak in his favor and then
judge and jury decide the case according
to the impression the accused and his
defenders have made upon them. As
there are no appeals and no legal tech
nlcalities to invoke, it goes without say
Ing that a rebel against the Bolshevik
government has every chance to be shot
five minutes after the verdict is pro-
nounced against him. Men therefore do
not protest
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06

leave the city simply resigned them
Selves
"The Bolshevist government is at pres
ent concerned almost exclusively with
the question of building up large army
Everything else is made to wait while
the army is being built up. Trotzky is
seldom in Moscow, but spends most of
his time at the front.
"The Bolshevik army, military men in
Russia now admit, is much better disci-
pinned than the army under the Gar
had ever been. And this is hardly to be
wondered at. The Russian army is to-
day the most privileged class in the coun
try; it is much more privileged than the
army had ever been under the Cars
"The army has everything of the best
and in sufficient quantities. Because of
the need of supplying everything to the
army the civil life of Moscow has sunk
to low level. Streetcars run only to
seven o'clock in the evening and then
there are SO few of them that most men
prefer to walk rather than wait for
car.
AS for the food situation-t is bad
For b rubles one gets meal at a pub
lc kitchen consisting of plate of SOUP
and piece of horsemeat. Horsemeat
sells for Is rubles pound and tho
last bought of it I had to pay 27 rublcs
for It, Bread bought from these specu
lators is Is rubles a pound. One must
BUY bread from the spectators, as all
those who are not considered workers
get only quarter Of a pound of bread
day.
DO people protest? Are there anv
who plan to overthrow the Bosheviki?"
| asked
1T IS very hard to protest. was the
reply, when there is no press to regis
ter the protest. Up to within few days
OF my departure from Moscow there ap-
peared only Bolshevist newspapers. Just
before left | saw copy of Menshevk
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06

Failure of moderate" or parliamentary socialism in
Europe during the years preceding the the
assigned the Manfesto of the Left Wing the
Socialist party of New York City, for the of this
group The Socialist parliamentary leaders went so
far to defend the bourgeo against the working class
as in the first BRAND Ministry in France when the Of
fetal party press opened defence of the shooting
Of striking railway workers at the order of the Socialist
bourgeois coalition cabinet.
"Ths situation brought about by mixing the demo-
cratic Of the eighteenth century with scientific socialism
The result what Rosa Luxembourg called social
ISM The moderaes emphasized bourgeois social
formism in order to attract radesmen, shopkeepers and
members of the professions and of the latter hocked
to the Socialist in NUMBERS seeking relief
from the constant grinding between corporate capital and
awakening labor"
"Moderate socialism" prey soca patriotism
and natonalsm Russia provided the first battle-ground for
moderate and revolutionary socialism to to grips
"Three main conending parties attempted to ride into
the revolutionary tide the Cadets the moderate
Socialists (Menshevik and Social Revoluoniss), and the
revolutionary socaliststhe Boshevik The Cadets were
first to be swept into power but they tried to stem the still
rising flood with few abstract political ideals and
carried The soldiers workers and peasants could
longer be fooled by phrases. The Menshev and Social
Revoluonaries succeeded the Cadets. And the
crucial test Would they in accord with MARKHAM teachings
make themselves tho ruling class and sweep the old
conditions Of production and thus the for the
cooperative commonwealth? Or would they tinker with the
old machinery oist it the something
just good?
They did the latter and proved for all time that mod
cratc socialism cannot be trusted"
The position the Revolutionary Socialists given as
follows:
Revolutionary Socialists hold, with the founders Of
scientific socialism, that there two dominant classes
soceythe bourgeosc and the proetarat that between
these classes struggle must go until the working
class through the Of the Instruments production
and distribution the abolition of the capitalist the
establishment Of the dictatorship the prcetarat creates
Socialist system Revolutionary Socialists do not believe
they power They struggle for the
conquest of by the revolutionary proetarat
the transition period from capitalism socialism,
which Marx speaks his Crtique of the Gota Programme
when he Between the capastc society the COM
munstc lies the period Of the revolutionary transformation
of the into the other. This corresponds political
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06
The Different
Young Man
By Harry Godfrey

IENHE manager of the feature film concern
gestured generously toward a spacious
chair. The Diffident Young Man permitted
himself to sink into its leather depths.
information" ?" the manager repeated af-
fably. Eyes, stree. We just exude informa-
tion. Tell you all about any of our stars.
Is it'-
mo, none of them," the Diffdent Young
Man protested. otis Ibsen's Ghosts We
heard new film version is being produced 1"
Tho managerial hands waved depre-
catingly.
"lbsen's Ghosts? Sorry, but l don't
know anything about it, Our comnanv
doesn't use those-er-sensational titles
any more Now, perhaps the Thrills Feat
ure Corporation, across the hall"--
The Thrills manager was briskly face
tious.
" Ibsens Ghosts'7" he murmured. "You
don't seriously suppose we'd try to put over
more than one ghost Of one man. do vou7 7
don't know what sort of "a screen character
this lbsen is Ibsen's Ghosts! Who wrote
1t, any way?"
Man was shrewdy appraised as Il theatre
manager
"lbsens Ghosts? No; that scenario was
written for us. but we rejected it. Didn't
come up to our standard. Fact IL. the pub
lies getting tired of spook plays But il
you're keen on 'em and want a corking re-
lease, let me show you Tho Phantom En-
gineer' Thatll pull 'em right out OF their
seats. Talk about melodramal Man, we
paid 5000 for that scenario!"
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06
Consumption, But
No Production


The only thing that may ultimately
break down the Bolshevik government
IS the complete stagnation of the coun-
try. They are using up the old trains
and steamships without supplying new
ones. There is no production, no man
ufacturc worth speaking Of Unless the
Bolsheviki change theird attitude in this
direction and begin to produce as we'll
as consume they may die a slow death.
My informant said that details with
regard to the fate of the royal family,
which for long time were withheld,
were made public recently. The Car,
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06
Feeding on
New Hopes

All this revolutionary sentiment n.
Left Wing hopes to gather in. The rnft
Wing says of its proposals: "These ara
not the immediate demands co,nnr;ssd
IN the social reform planks now in thu
PLATFORM OF our party; they are not
compromise with the capitalist state
but imply a revolutionary struggle
against that state and against canita,-
Ism, the conquest of power by the pro-
letarat through Revolutionary mass ac-
ton. They imply the new soviet state
OF the organized producers, the diets
torship of the proletariat; they are prs.
limlnary revolutionary measures for the
appropriation of capital and the intro.
duction Of communist socialism"
The cleavage between the Left Wins
and the "moderates' is deprecated BY
the moderates themselves. But the Left
Wing has left no doubt about its exist
ence. In Michigan last February the
Socialist party in a convention com
pletely dominated by the insurgent
group passed resolutions stating that
Vhe nat1onal executive committee of thu
Socialist party had demonstrated ats
incapacity to formulate a sound Socialist
position" The resolutions repudiated
the national executives action in send
ing delegates to the "yellow interna-
tlonal recently held at Berne, Switzer
land.' An amendment to the constitu-
ton Of tho Michigan State Socialist
party read as follows:
ANY member, local or branch of
local advocating legislative reforms or
supporting organizations formed for the
purpose of advocating such reforms
shall be expelled from the Socialist
party. The state executive committee
is authorized to revoke the charter
any local that does not conform to tbs
amendment"
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06

future wars and for the destruction Of
the causes Of war"
The Left Wing are carrying opposi-
tion to the political state step further,
to the point where they advocate de-
struction of the political state in order
that proletariat controlled organization
may be substituted. Where the "moder-
ate Socialists" as the Left Wing calls
those in control of the party machinery
favor repeal of the espionage act, agita-
tion in favor of the release Of political
prisoners-emphasis on political action,
in short-the Left Wing are for concen-
trating on the destruction of the politi-
cal state. Although the moderate So
cialists subscribe to revolutionary doc
trine, the emphasis Of the Left Wing Is
moro pronounced and definite on revolu-
tionary action. They are known vari-
ously as "cxtremists," "impossibilists'
and "hell-raisers" in more conservative
ranks.
In some Of its aspects the threatened
division Of the Socialist party is not un-
like that by which the present party
came into existence from factions Of the
Socialist Labor party some eighteen
years ago. At that time the leaders Of
the Socialist Labor party, under Daniel
De Leon, found themselves in opposition
to the organized labor groups Of the
time-the American Federation of Labor
and the Knights Of Labor. They pro-
ceeded to establish the Socialist Trade
and Labor Alliance, which was to be
trade union auxiliary Of the Socialist
Labor party.
Largely because Of its hostility or in
difference to existing labor organlza-
tions, the Socialist Labor party was
found unsatisfactory by group, among
whom were Eugene Debs, Victor Berger,
Jesse G. Fox, Seymour Stedman and
Frederic Heath. They formed the Social
Democratic party Of America, which
finally succeeded in amalgamating with
a wing of the Socialist Labor party, and
in 1901 the Socialist party came into
being.
The Socialist Trade and Labor Alli-
ance, which was founded by De Leon
and his associates, became the predeces-
sor of the present I. w. w. III organized
as the early body was, it still was based
on the conception of industrial unionsm,
organization Of all the men in an in
dustry, as opposed to the craft organ
ization of the American Federation of
Labor. 1t is this form of unionism which
the Left Wing group of the Socialist
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06

the proletariat, under the impact of
which new forms of industrial organza-
ton and struggle, new ideology, were
being developed, met the open hostility
or lack of understanding of socialism,"
The present leaders of the Socialist
party Fraina Identifies with ebert,
David, Scheidemann & Co. in Germany.
with petty bourgeois majority social
ISM everywhere They have not devel-
oped' he says, "a realistic revolutionary
policy-a policy that is instinct in the
struggles of the proetariat-a policy
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06

party are especially stressing now. The
moderate Socialists have not much SYM
pathy with the Gompers regime in the
American Federation Of Labor and they
have indorsed industrial unionsm in
their national platform, but to the actual
practitioners of industrial unionism, the
l. w. w., the Left Wing are closer than
are the moderates.
''In no other large nation is the labor
movement as reactionary as in the United
States" writes Louis Fraina, leader Of
the Boston section of the Left Wing "In
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06

no other nation is organized Socialism as
loose as purposcless, as petty bourgeois
as in the United States"
Then Traina proceeds to an indict-
ment involving both the Socialist party
and labor. If labor has been reactionary
Socialism has been Indifferent to such
lnsurgencies as have shown themselves
Referring to demonstrations like that Of
the Western Federation of Miners twenty
years ago and to the I. w. W. at present,
he says:
"All these great instructive revolts of
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06
'Anything Short of Revolution Is Cast
Aside by This New
Group
By Herbert J. seligmann

1NHE Socialist party is threatened
with revolution in its own ranks.
Wearied with the "moderate''
=, policy Of it's leaders, a faction
kalling itself the LEFT Wing" is attempt
g to capture the party machinery. It's
Pensors lean to direct action, the politi-
strike, as one Of the means Of bring
about the Socialist commonwealth.
hey denounce all compromise, all at
empts at reform, in their platforms and
nlanifestoes. Anything short Of COM
plete revolution is betrayal Of socialism,
in their belief. To attain their ends
they indorse the activities Of the I. w.
W., so far as they &C; but in the words
Of. the Left Wing leaders, "even the
w. w. is becoming conservative"
Whether the Socialist party is to be
SWING to this extreme position, whether
the present insurrection in the party is
to remain revolt or become revolu-
ton, will for some time, perhaps only
short time, hang In the balance. Mean
while, the Left Wing have already capt
ured the Socialist organization Of the
State of Michigan, have on test regis
tered strong minority Of the votes in
80
party of New York County and are in
control in Boston. They have an organi-
zation in Philadelphia. They arc repre-
sented by two aggressive publications,
"Tbe Revolutionary Age" weekly pub
lished in Boston, and "The Proletarian,"
published monthly in Detroit.
They are forcing the issue against the
national executive committee Of the So
cialist party by demanding an emer-
gency national convention, at which they
expect to make a show Of power.
Whether or not the Socialist party calls
this convention, the Left Wing intends
calling convention of its own. To back
the campaign in New York City they in
tend having their own publication here.
This implies that they will attempt to
dominate the party machinery and take
over the official party organ, "The Call"
IT may be that "The Revolutionary Age"
is to be brought to New York City from
Boston, or that new periodical will be
established here.
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06
Ten Square Feet
Per Person

"My informant described conditions in
closed. Kuznetski Most, which was one
of the streets, is to-day deserted.
Everything is nationalized and the gov
ernment keeps only few stores open
and articles in these stores can be pur-
chased only by card. All signs have been
taken down as there is no need to ad-
vertise ones business any more. The
government owns everything and does
not need to ADVERTISE The people have
become remarkably Indifferent to every
thing that goes on about them. They
think only of the next meal and warm
room. In the matter of rooms the Boil
sheviki have instituted reforms which
have won them many friends from
among the lowest strata, the lumpen-
proletariat. They have issued an order
allowing ten square feet of space per
person. With this rule in operation they
entered the best homes in Moscow and
measured the space Of the home. In
nearly every case the homes of wealthy
families were found to have two or three
times the space the Bolsheyiki allotted.
All such homes we're redivided, and fam
lilies from the slums we're promptly
lodged In the same apartments, a slight
partition being hastily constructed be-
tween them. Some Of the wealthy fam
lilies gave up their homes altogether and
left the city, but those that could not
New-York tribune., 1919-04-06
AT the
Crossroads

1t has apparently been the function
of the Left Wing to bring the Socialist
party to the parting of the ways. The
present fissure is the second to occur
asa result of the war and the problems
which the war raised. The first widened
into the secession of a group which found
1t impossible to go with the Socialist
party in it's irreconcilable opposition to
this country's entrance into the war. That
group, in which Spargo, Stokes, Walling,
Russell and Slobodin were leading, or, as
the party claimed, isolated figures, put
nationalism and patriotism above inter
nstionalism. They rebeled especially
against the majority report of the COM
mittee on war and militarism at st.
Louis in 1917, which on it's adoption be-
came known as the est Louis Resolu-
ton"
That report, it will be recalled, said
war was instigated by the predatory
capitalists in the United States, who
boast of the enormous profit of seven
billion dollars from the manufacture and
sale of munitions and war supplies" and
further said that "the war Of the United
States against Germany cannot be justi-
fed even on the plea that it is war in
defence of American rights or American
honor" eve brand the declaration of
war by our government as crime
against the people of the United States
and against the nations of the world"
said the report at another point. "In
all modern history there has been no
war more unjustifable than the war in
which we are about to engage"
The resolution declared for "contin-
uous, active and public opposition to
the war" "unyielding opposition to all
proposed legislation for military or in
dustrial conscription," and, in addition
to resistance TO press censorship and
restrictions on the freedom Of communi-
tion, urged widespread educational
propaganda to enlightcn the masses as
70 the true relation between capitalism
and war, and TO rouse and organize
them for action, not only against present
war evils. but for the prevention of