The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-06-11
The Gitlow Case and
" American Democracy"
BY G. e. RUTHENBERo.

4 States has handed down a striking
confirmation Of the Communist CON
tention that American democracy Is
sham and q fraud. This conhrma-
ton Is contained In the decision up
| holding the conviction Of Benjamin
Gitlow under the New York criminal
anarchy law. The decision was rend.
cred after two and half years con.
sideration OF the case during which
the court twice heard arguments.
History Of the cItlow Case
TN order to understand the farNreaoh-
1 ing significance OF the decision In
the Gitlow case a knowledge Of the
origin Of the case is necessary. The
conviction of Gitlow on the charge of
criminal anarchy grew out OF the
first attempts to form Communist
Party in the United States. In up
holding the conviction Of Gitlow the
supreme court has declared illegal the
advocacy Of the principles Of Com
munism and at the same time has
held constitutional the criminal syn
dicalism laws on the statute books OF
twenty-six states, which were passed
during the period Of the birth Of the
Communist Party in the year 1918.
Immediately after the signing OF the
armistice there came into life in the
socialist party left wing which sup
ported the principles of the revolu-
tionary class struggle that had trium-
pied IN the Russian proletarian revo-
luton This left wing won the sup
port Of overwhelming majority Of the
members Of the socialist party. The
answer of the right wing reformist
leaders of the socialist party to the
attempt Of this left wing to take con-
troll Of the party and affiliate with the
Communist International was the
wholesale expulsion Of the left wing
members. At the end of June 1919 the
left wing met IN New York City to
plan its next steps and to formulate a
statement of its principles.
The left wing conference elected a
national council of which Benjamin
Gitlow, James Larkin, /. e. Ferguson,
G. q. Ruthenberg, Bertrsm D. Wolf,
John ]. BALKAN, Louis c. Fraina, Max
Cohen, Eadmon McAlpin were mem.
bers. 1t authorized this council to
publish a manifesto and program of
the left wing which would state the
principles of Communism as against
reformist socialism and on the basis
Of which the fight in the socialist
party would be continued until the
national convention OF the party.
1t was for the publication Of this
manifesto and program Of the left
wing in the Revolutionary Age, thu
official organ Of the left wing, thar
Benjamin Gitlow was convicted of
criminal anarchy. All the members of
the national council were indicted but
only Gitlow, Larking, Ferguson and
Ruthenberg were arrested, tried and
convicted. All were sentenced from
Ave to ten years in Sing Sing.
In 1922, after Gitlow had served two
years and three months, Larkin two
years and Furgeson and Ruthenberg
year and half. they were released
on bail by the court Of appeals of the
state Of New York, pending a decision
in their cases. In August Of that
year the court Of appeals affirmed the
conviction of Gitlow and Larkin and
reversed the conviction Of Ferguson
and Ruthenberg and ordered a new
trial In their cases. Gitlow's case was
appealed to the United States SUI
preme court, Larking pardoned by
Governor Smith and the Ferguson-Ru-
thenberg case is still pending before
the lower New York court, with $4,000
bail up for their return to Sing Sing.
The Law and the Issue
THE New York criminal anarchy
4 law was passed In 1901, as a re.
suit OF the assassination of President
Mckinley. 1t forbids the advocacy OF
the doctrine of "the overthrow of or.
ganized government by force, violence
or other unlawful means" or by the
assassination of public officials. Up
to nearly twenty years after the
passage Of the law, that is until 1920
there had been no indictments or con,
victions under Il. In 1920 it became
the weapon thru which the capitalists
tried to stop the forward march of the
Communist movement.
During the year 1919-192O some
twenty-five other states passed laws
modelled after the New York criminal
anarchy law, calling them in most
cases criminal syndicalist" laws.
When the Communists were called
to answer the charge that their princi
pies violated the provisions of the
criminal anarchy law they stoutly
denied the charge. They declared from
the witness stand, and, as in the cas-,
Of Gitlow in speech to the jury, tha
the Communist program was not tn,
overthrow OF organized government,
a