The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-09-15
ROBERT MINOR
The Life Story of New York's
Communist Candidate for Mayor

WHEN the World War opened, Minor
w was in the position of not being
allowed to work for any publication
because he was under an old contract
signed years before with the New
York World. But for some time, the
World continued to pay his large
salary merely to keep him from work
ing for other publications.
With the outbreak of the war, how
ever, Minor began making a series OF
slashing drawings against both i'm
perialist sides of the war. j. A. Ten
nant, then managing editor OF the
evening edition of the World, under
took to publish this series. However,
he soon came to Minor to say that
the World could not use such car
toonS, in spite of their very great
popularity. He told Minor 1t was
necessary to begin to make the car
icons not against both sides of the
imperialist war but gradually to turn
them more and more against the
German side" Seeing that this was
in line with the effort to put the
United States into the war on the
side of the Allies, Minor picked
quarrel and succeeded in getting the
contract with the World annulled.
He Immediately went over to the
New York Call and IN 1915 became
the cartoonist for that paper which
was the daily central organ of the
Socialist Party of the United States.
Made Speeches Against War
Developing as a public speaker,
Minor was sent all over the United
States on tours for the Call, speaking
against the entry of the United States
into the war.
He spoke openly for the workers
and soldiers undertaking to end the
war by the overthrow of their own
imperialist governments = for the
transformation of the imperialist war
into civil war, the revolution for So
cialism. He also spoke against the
U. S. participating in the war and
called for mass action against it. Very
soon there was friction with the lead
ers of the Socialist Party, especially
because of Minors advocacy of the
general strike in the midst of the
war.
Predicted French Revolt
In 1915 Minor went as a war cos
respondent for the New York Call to
France, Italy, Switzerland and Eng
land, but was barred from entering
Germany because of having been in
the allied countries first. In writing
from France and Italy, Minor pre-
dicted that there would be trench
revolt" among the soldiers of some Of
the armies and a revolution growing
out Of the war. His writings Of that
time show that he rather expected
this to ccur in either France or Italy.
A liberal newspaper syndicate, with
which the New York Call had con-
nections through technical service,
was bearing part of the expenses of
Minors trip to Europe in return for
the privilege of using his sketches
made at the front. But the revolu-
tionary tone of his work seemed un-
punishable by the liberal press and
the Call withdrew Minor from Eu-
rope.
The Fight for Tom Mooney
War was about to start with Mexico
in the Spring of 1916 and Minor was
off again to Mexico as correspondent
of the Call for the purpose of ex-
posing the imperialist attack of the
U. S. Government upon that country.
The Mexican War" incident came
to sudden end with Minor in Mex
leo and he decided to go to Califor-
mia for a rest. But instead of q
vacation, Minor was plunged imme-
diately into a terrific struggle cen
tered around the arrest Of Tom
Mooney and his four associates
framed-up and scheduled for death
because of their activities in the labor
struggle. For year and half, Minor
fought and worked for the organiza-
ton of mass movement to save
Mooney. The International Workers
Defense League was resurrected and
built up to powerful organization
under Minors leadership, 81 Amer
lean Federation of Labor Unions be-
ing affiliated. Through the murder
trials of Billings, Mooney and Vein
berg, Minor worked and fought. Tom
Mooney has said that throughout the
whole struggle Minor stuck fast to his
cause and fought tirelessly where
others gave UP.
The Russian Revolution
Then the Russian Revolution broke |
out. With Billings sentenced to prison
for life, Tom Mooney sentenced to
death, and of the other three defend
ents, two acquitted and one dismissed,
Minor decided, after consultation with
Mooney, to go to revolutionary Russia.
In the Spring OF 1918, Minor ar
rived in Moscow. His first act was
to carry the thanks Of Mooney and
the revolutionary labor movement to
Lenin for the fact that the Russian
Communist Party, under Lenin's
leadership, had saved MONEYS life
by mobilizing the masses against the
American Embassy at Petrograd
While Minor was working to start an
mass movement for the
of Mooney, MONEYS death
sentence was commuted.
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