The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-03-17
AND
ANSWERS

First of all we must distinguish the two groups,
their development and their point of contact,
their program and their ultimate alignment
The Lovestone group, which was expelled from
the Communist Party because of its counter
revolutionary attacks on the Communist Inter
national because of its Qualification OF the
strength of American imperialism, its lack OF
faith in the militancy Of the workers. and its
attempt to lead the Communist Party into non
revolutionary paths, has Travelled long road In
the direction of Music.
The Reverend A. ]. Music, director Of Brook
wood College supporter Of the socialist party,
has together with other socialists assumed the
leadership of what they call the progressive
forces in the American Federation of Labor.
Music wants to reform" but not really change
the American Federation of Labor. He wants to
create labor party with the aid OF the So
cialists, liberals, petty-bourgeois or what have
you, to re-live in the United States the history
Of betrayal and suppression of the British Labor
Party Music, and his followers, realize that the
socialist party is constantly exposing itself as
the third party of capitalism; that the A. F. of
L. is completely aligned with the imperialst
exploiters. They know that there is growing dis
content among the masses, growing disillusion-
ment with the A F. of L. and the socialist party.
MusteS program is an attempt to reflrbish these
organizations with cleft" phrases, with an ap-
pearance of healthy labor organization that
is fighting for the interests of the workers-while
at the same time they carry on their present
role of betraying the interests of the workers,
diverting their growing rehabilitation into safe
channels for the Bosses The phrases of Music,
as well as his actions, change with the needs of
the day He is just as necessary to VOL, Green,
Hillquit, Oneal and Thomas as the Maxtons Pur-
British Labor Party and trade unions.
The Music group forms the rallying center
not only for the Lovestonetes, but as well for
the Trotskyites, the Cannon renegades from the
Communist Party. Here is their common stamp
ing ground of mass work"
When the Lovestone grQlp was expelled from
the Communist Party it enviSioned a complete
collapse of the Communist Party, u S. A. On
the ruins Of this debace, Iovestone promised
his followers that he would plant the real BAN
ner Of Narxist-Leninism. To mislead his fol-
lowers, he carried on sharp attack against the
Music group. For instance in the Dec. Is, 1929,
issue Of the Revolutionary Age" the organ OF
the Lovestoneites, we find their estimation of
the socialist party (and the same phrases we're
used regarding the Muste-Lore combinaton):
1.-The struggle within the socialist party should
serve to expose the real class base of the party:
the petty bourgeosie sections Of the labor aris-
tocracy and elements Of the labor bureaucracy.
1t should serve to expose the bourgeois charac-
ter Of the so-called socialist party"
The Lovestone group has travelled long road
since the above was written. Mysticism and the
socialist party that for them had such dread
full mein, which to be hated needed but to be
seen, was first tolerated and then embraced
The march of the Lovestoneites toward Music
was not as an organized band. They were
struggling troup. The first stragglers of the
Lovestone group have already landed in the
ranks Of the Musteites. Bert Miller and others,
leading members of the Lovestone faction, now
are an integral part of the bourgeois socialist
party" and the Musteites.
Loyestone stopped all his "criticis1n" Of the
Musteites and the so-called "leftS" in the So
cialist party long ago. Nor was Lovestone alone
in this. The Trotskyites who considered them
selves the Communist leaven dn) the new
progressive movement" made overtures to the
Lovestoneites on the basis of work within the
Music movement and against the Communist
Party.
In the summer of 1880 conversations we're
held between Cannon, leader Of the TrotSkyites,
and Lovestone. The purpose of these parleys
was to work out common base of struggle
against the Communist Party and the Commu-
mist International While they had to keep this
alliance more or less secret from their follow
ers, the spirit of Cooperation" on the basis Of
the Music program became SO prevalent in the
Trotskyite group that Cannon, on pressure from
Schachtman, ct AL was forced to castigate his
followers, who, like Bert Miller of the Love-
stone group, took the cue of their leader with
out its diplomatic trimmings and went too
openly into the Music camp. The flesh and
blood alliance of the Trotskyites with the Music
group did not mature. They could not travel
quite SO fast as the Lovestone group had done
but their hearts were set on the distant green
fields of the Musteite mass movement" They
had an international anchor
The Lovestoneites still maintain their "Con-
munist" phraseology. But organic unity has al
ready been established with Music Gitlow
meets regularly with Lore Of the Volkezeitrng,
one Of the "theoreticans" of the Music move
ment Music is now Brother Music" to the
Lovestoneites.
While their connection with Music Is being
established everywhere in the so-called trade
union field, closer political union is taking
place right within the ranks Of the socialist
party. The Lovestoneites consider the mill
tants' QMuste followers) in the socialist party
as the rising generation of real Communists of
whom Lenin himself would have been proud
The whole anti-Soviet campaign in the socialist
party now gets added support through the Love-
stoneite approval of the cleft wing" Of the So
cialists.
Ben Gitlow in answering series of questions
for the "Militants" on the Communist Interna-
tional agreed with them fully that they were
correct in attacking the G. l., since under