The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-08-22
(crItlque Of Gomez's Article, Labor
and Empire" In the July Workers
Monthly)

IIN11H dILlCl5, 41dDON duu 1tmp4ASI
L written by Manuel Gomez in the
AnttImperialist July, 1920 Number
of the WORKERS MONTHLY, pur-
ports to contain theoretical analysis
Of the historic background of imperial
ism, ats economics and its political
implications for the working class of
the imperialist nations, and for the
exploited or subject peoples. The ar
ticle in question is replete with errors
of un-Marxian and un-Leninist nature;
in fact, all of it's basic theoretical
propositions are partly or wholly in
correct.
This is all the graver because the
magazine in which it appears is
Communist land hence Marxist-Lenin-
ist) organ; because its author is the
secretary of the American section of
the All America Anti Imperialist
League and, as such, his words carry
more weight and responsibility than
would those of an individual OF lesser
official Importance or activity; and
finally, because it is the only article
that seeks to make a general analysis
of the theoretical basis of Imperialism
in the anti-imperialist number of
would-be Marxist-Leninist organ and
therefore its errors cannot be left
uncorrected. Nor would mere "cor-
rect analysis in the August issue,
without reference to the article of
Gomez, be adequate, as that would
leave undisturbed the errors already
absorbed in the minds Of many read
ers. Moreover, that is not the way
that a Communist organ corrects the
errors committed in one Of its articles.
So much by way of explanation.
Now to an analysis of the more i'm
portant errors, not in the order of
their Importance, but rather in the
order of their statement in the article.
"Historic Background of Imperialism"
Under this heading the article be-
gins with the remarkable statement:
1eAnericann workers might have al
ready thrown OF the whole system of
wage slavery If it were not for the
appearance of Imperialism" Such
speculations are un-Marxist and futile.
Marx showed that capitalism leads
thru accumulation to concentration
and Capitalization of capital. This
leads inevitably to monopoly capital
ism, which is the primary economic
basis of Imperialism. Thus Comrade
Gomez's "if" partakes of scholastic
medieval speculation and not of Marx
ism. Moreover, there is no justifica-
ton for the conclusion, even allowing
the premises. Countries that have not
developed monopolistic finance CAPT
talism are backward countries" On
what ground does comrade Gomez as
sumo that non-imperialist backward
countries imply a victory of the pro-
Ietariat? Moreover, America, more
than any other advanced country, still
has, or has had until recently, an. ex-
banding home market-but to go fur
Their would be to lose ones self in the
very maze of scholastic speculation
that Comrade Gomez's "if'' hypothesis
implies.
"The Peaceful Period Of Capitalism"
This is feminist phraseology, but
Comrade Gomez gets his dates, or
rather, his periods, mixed. The peace
full period of capitalism" in the United
States Gomez dates from 1894 to the
world war. This, he adds, is an inter-
national phenomenon. In another part
of the article he even speaks of the
peaceful period Of Imperialism %"
The truth of this historical" matter
is that the peaceful period of capital
ism ends precisely where Imperialism
begins. BY the peaceful" period is
meant that period roughly included in
the second and third quarters of the
nineteenth century when the first wars
for capitalist unity were generally at
an end (the so-called national wars)
and when capitalism was based on the
production of consumption commodi-