Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-06-21
Ia TOILETTE STAND
KILLS FARM LABOR
PROGRESSIVE PARTY
BY DAVID LAWRENCE
Special Leased Wire TO The Journal

Copyright. 1924
ST. PAUL, Mimi. June l8.-Sen-
ator Robert M. La Toilette, of Wis
Consin, truly has delivered a death
blow TO the so-called farmer-labor-
progressive convention assembled
here, so far as political significance
is concerned. He will be offered
nomination, but he can not accept
for the convention already has done
what he vigorously protested it
should not do. 1t has admitted
avowed communists as delegates, as
well as officers Of the convention.
Without LaFollete, this gather
ing is hardly Of national importance.
Whoever is nominated and runs on
the ticket apart from La Toilette will
receive a negligible vote at the polls.
But certain things happened here
which are national, if not lnterna-
tional, in their significance. In the
first place, the communists revealed
themselves as a small minority even
in this convention of radicals. Talk
ing with them individually, one finds
their bark worse than their bite.
They speak of their affiliations with
Moscow as fraternal, but when you
pin them down to a formula for ar
irving at their detectives, they do
not clearly indicate that they mean
revolution by force of arms. They
know how remote even is their pos
sible triumph by means Of the ballot.
They are communists in theory and
not many of them would practice
what they preach if it came to a
showdown. Indeed, their very ac-
quieSence in d convention which
plans to put a ticket in the field
to be submitted in the constitutional
way to- the electorate is an admis-
sion that Russian methods are, at
this stage of the game at least,
futile.
Few Reds i'm Nation
And if there is cause for gratifi-
cation in the fact that in a nation
of 10 600, 900 of people only a hand
full of communists are in evidence,
there is also an interesting revela-
ton in the attitude which the real
farmer-labOr leaders Of Minnesota
and the friends of Senator La Fol
lette take toward communism.
Senator Johnson, of Minnesota,
stayed away from this convention.
The leaders of the farmer-labol
party and their newspaper organ
Stunned the meeting and denounced
it in bitter terms. There were many
members of the farmer-labOr party
of Minnesota seated as delegates
and there were radicals from other
parts of the country, but they were
men who tolerate communism as a
harmless theory and do not think
as much influence can be welded by
snubbing their radical brethren as
by sitting with them and attempting
to persuade them to moderation.
The whole case against the con-
ventiCn was put in a nut shell by
Senator LaF'ollette when he said:
although the national communist
organization as such may be grant
ed only five delegates in the st. Paul
convention, the basis of representa-
ton adopted is lending itself to their
purpose to control. RepoSing com.
plete confidence in the soundness
of the deliberate judgment of the
American people, L have no appre-
hension that the communist party
can ever command any considerable
support to this country. L do not
question their right, under the con-
stitution, to submit their issues to
protest against their being admitted
into the councils of any body of pro-
gressive voters.
Reds Admitted, However
notwithstanding Mr.. LaFollette>s
advice, the leaders here did admit
the communists and give them i'm
pOrtant placer on the committees
and even selected as permanent
chairman State Senator Charles f.
Taylor, of Montana, a friend of Will
liam Z. Foster and g, man who,
While not a member Of the commun-
list party, admits his sympathy with
that group.
At the very outset, William J. Ma.
honey, temporary chairman, let the
cat out of the bag by revealing that
although LaFollette'S letter was a
cruel blow, nevertheless he had a
well advertised name and it would
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