The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-29

us to attempt the organization of farm
er-labor groups wherever this was hui
manly possible. Whatever our aims
may have been, the fact remains that
with very few exceptions. the state
farmer-labor party organizations were
artificial bodies created by our party
with the help Of organizations influence
ed or controlled by our own members.
But peculiar quirk in the human
mind makes us see favorable condi-
tions, once we have based our pro-
gram Of action upon certain premises,
even where these do not exist. The
result is policy of self-deception,
such as could have been observed in
our party even after the June II con.
vention, when some of our leaders
maintained in DAILY WORKER
articles that there was clear division
between the farmers at st. Paul who
went with LaFollette and the workers
from the industrial states, who main
tanned class program and adhered
to the leadership of the Workers
Party. And yet we all knew then, as
we know today, that the latter, prac.
tically without exception, represented
makeshift bodies of Workers Party
origin. So far did we go in this policy
Of mutual self-deception that an at
tempt was made at that time to
convey this obviously false impression
to the comrades in Russia.
The Federated Farmer-Labor Party.
In one Of his articles, Comrade
Cannon refers to the fact that I sup
ported the federated farmerlabor
party at a time when the present ma.
iority opposed it. This was undoubt-
eddy the case. But brief review Of
the history of our activity in the
unfortunate federated farmer-labor
party venture will show that the
minority is right when it refuses to
have Lore pinned to its coat lapels."
At the Chicago convention where the
federated farmer-labor party came
into being, the Comrades Foster,
Ruthenberg, Manley, Lovestone and
myself had been appointed by the
central executive committee to act as
steering committee. Comrade Pepper
had insisted upon my membership on
this committee. and | had accepted
very unwillingly. 1t is not generally
known that strongly objected to the
decision that brought about the rup-
ture between our followers and the
Fitzpatrick-N ockels-Buck group, 1. e.,
the decision to instruct the organiza-
ton committee Of the convention to
bring in full plan for the organiza-
ton Of farmer-labor party on a
national scale. The steering committee
persisted in its course even after
Buck had twice pleaded with the con-
vention and with our group that the
motion be withdrawn, stating that
they would not stand for this thing
that was being crammed down their
Threats. l insisted upon a special
, meeting of the steering committee
after | had approached the members
Of the steering committee. In vain.
am still convinced that the. split
that placed us in SO disadvantageous
a position and that prompted the
present majority to abandon the fed.
Grated farmer-labor party almost at
birth, because it feared the active
opposition of the trade union move
ment, should and could have been
avoided.
The opposition of the present ma
Jority to the federated farmer-labor
party was obviously not based upon
theoretical opposition but upon a very
understandable desire to leave we'll
enough alone. Certainly its opposition
to the federated farmer-labor party
offers very poor basis for the "holier
than thou" attitude of this group,
especially in view Of its more recent
LaFollette) past.
l believed, while l recognized the
gravity of the situation that our head |
long action had precipitated, that it
would nevertheless be possible to keep
the federated farmer-labor party alive. |
At two central executive committee |
meetings | moved to send out trade !
union organizers to bring local unions
into the new party Hundreds of local
unions would have Joined if an honest
attempt had been made. The motions
we're adopted but never carried out
by the present minority. then the
majority, in spite Of its present enthu-
siasm for that policy. Again, at a
later central executive committee
meeting unfortunately l have not
Comrade Lovestones easy access to
central executive committee minutes),
a program for immediate action for