The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-01-07
LOVESTONE'S LABOR PARTY BOOK:
"THE GOVERNMENT -ST KEBREAKER''
BY WIN. z. FOSTER.

of the main contentious of the G.
u. G. is that the farmer-labor Com
munists tend strongly to liquidate the
Workers Party by pushing it and its
interests into the background and by
making their "class" farmer-labor
party an end in itself. With high in
dignation the self-styled MARKHAM
trunk of our party repudiate this
accusation. They declare that with
them the farmer-labor party is the
merest instrument for the building of
the Workers Party, and that they new
er for moment forget that they must
use it to develop the prestige and
leadership of the Workers Party
amongst the masses.
After which, 1t is highly instrue-
tive to take a look again at Jay
Lovestones book 1.-THE Govern
ment-strikebreaker This book is
a striking proof Of the correctness
of the contention that the "cass"
farmer-labor party slogan, as pro-
posed by the minority, leads direct
ly, under present conditions, to OPP
portunism and liquidation of the
Workers Party. Lovestone's book
is labor party propaganda pure and
simple. 1t ignores the Workers
Party altogether.
"The Government - Strikebreaker"
has 371 pages. 1t is by far the most
pretentious literary effort ever made
by the Workers Party; and the sub
ject il deals with-the government
as class organization and what to
do about it's one of the most vital
consequence. In this book, consider
ing all the expenditure of money and
effort, and with such an important
subject, was splendid opportunity
for the Workers Party to make effec-
tive propaganda for itself. Indeed, in
the very nature Of the subject, the
book. to be of real value to the Work
ers Party, had to demonstrate clearly
that the Communist program alone in
dictates the only way the workers can
emancipate themselves, and that the
Workers Party is the only party cap
able of leading the working class to
the overthrowal of capitalism.
But, Lovestone's book does none of
this. 1t forgets entirely the main OBJ
jective of building the Workers Par
ty. It is concerned only with the for
nation of a labor party. The book
appeared in 1923 Lovestone, like
Pepper, and so many others, was al
ready obsessed with the labor party
ism which at present so sharply char
acterizes him. He undertakes an ella
borate analysis of the capitalist state,
showing how it operates as an in
strument of the capitalist class
against the working class. But then,
instead Of bringing the Workers Par
ty to the fore, by demonstrating its
function as the vanguard of the pro-
letariat and by outlining its immedi-
ate program and ultimate goal, he ac-
tually leaves the Workers Party out
of the picture altogether His book
degenerates into nothing more or less
than an argument for labor party.
This costly publication, which should
have been a powerful exposition of
Communist principles, policies, and
organizations, turns out to be merely
propaganda for the labor party.
The extent to which Lovestone
shoves aside our party is almost in
credible. In the whole bulky volume
the Workers Party is actually men,
toned only once. That and no more.
This lonesome mention occurs on
page 1874, when Lovestone merely in
cidentaIly, in his usual role Of disin-
terested spectator, remarks briefly
that the w. p. delegates were not
seated at the c. p. p. A. conference
in Cleveland in 1922. So intent is
he on boosting the labor party as an
end in itself, that he does not even
consider it worth while to state why
they were not seated or what their
program was. Indeed, at no point in
the whole book does he even indicate
that the Workers Party favors the
formation of a labor party, or tell
why it does, or what its labor party
policy is. He says absolutely nothing
about the big fight the Workers Par
ty was then making thruout the labor
movement for the labor party. He
does not point out the limitations of
labor party. nor does he even re-
motely indicate the necessity for the
revolutionary Workers Party to lead
the workers to the revolution. He is
so intent upon making propaganda for
the labor party that he ignores the
Workers Party completely.
This systematic suppression and OBJ
liberation of the Workers Party is
what the farmer-labor Communists
call keeping the Workers Party in the
foreground and exploiting the labor
party movement for its benefit. But
we Of the c. e. c. majority dub It
what II actually is, a policy Of op-
portunism and liquidation.
Lovestone's book Is an advocacy
q the labor party as an end In
itself. There ls no other conclusion
possible from reading Of the book.