The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-01-18
CHARGE OF BEING PARTY OF VIOLENCE RESENTED BY
 COMMUNIST PARTY

Editor, Waterbury Democrat:
 In several letters preceding this which have appeared in the Dem- ocrat recently, we repudiated c. C.'s charges that the Communist party is anti-democratic, party of vio- lence and therefore un-American.
 To judge from some peoples man. ner of rebuttal it would seem they will have the last word. If c. c. an- swers our letters, he certainly does not read them or else he has a notion that repetition achieves per- suasion. We recommend re-read- ing of the letters mentioned above for an answer to his islanders.
 c. c. continues to garble history and logic to his convenience. Ac- cordingly, it is by perverting histor- ical truth that the Communists claim for themselves the unique right to be revolutionary. And 'by the same bad logic does not the Revolutionary War give anybody the right to be revolutionary" c. c. is shifty. But not so shifty that he can get away with such a gross vulgar ization of history and the views of the Communist party.
 The American people have right to revolution. Not because they "by bad logic" can wilfully claim that right. Our forefathers fore- saw the possible need of revolution in the future as they themselves saw it necessary in their day. AS revolutionaries, they understood rev. olution to be the universal and dem- ocratic right of the majority of a people determined to decide their own destiny. Holding this right dear they provided a guarantee, as they had availed themselves of it, in the Declaration of Independence.
 So, dear c. C., the right to revolu- ton is not so unique" and does not belong pell-mell, as you vulgarly suggest, to anybody that comes along. It is the right of the major ity and the right of the oppressed.
 We Communists have just such a conception of revolution as our fore fathers did. That is precisely why we are legal party, why we do not advocate violence as our enemies say and why we are an American party in the best American tradi- tion.
 For the sake of clearneSs, we re- peat Earl Browder on violence and socialism. we of the Communist party never did and never will hold to a program of forcible establish ment of socialism against the will of the people. While the majority of the people, and above all of the working class, do not yet accept our program of socialism, our program of socialist reconstruction of society is matter for educational work to win the majority, while our practical and immediate political work is to be in the forefront in the organiza- tion of the majority of the workers and the people in general against the reactionary menace to their right and interests, for a program of be- terment of their lives such as the majority is ready to accept and fight for now. If our understanding of history is correct, this is the sur- est and least difficult road to win- ming the majority for socialism in the long run"
 Diatribes of hate and lies against communism leave Us rmperturbed. Above is clear cut statement of the general character of our party. We abide by it and we are confident that the people by actual experience are learning who the communists are.
 We state here again that all argu- lments proceeding from the assump-