176-615: The Irish Worker was a newspaper produced by James Larkin , initially edited by Larkin and published in 1911 as The Irish Worker and Peoples' Advocate , it was suppressed in August 1914. James Connolly edited the paper when Larkin was in jail during the 1913 Dublin Lock-out . Many public figures and writers featured in the paper, like the actor Andrew Wilson who was sub-editor, the journalist and historian Standish O'Grady and playwright Seán O'Casey whose early writings were published in
352-825: A Teachta Dála (TD) on three occasions, and two of his sons ( James Larkin Jnr and Denis Larkin ) also served as TDs . Jim Larkin served as Labour Party deputy in Dáil Éireann from 1943 to 1944, leaving Dáil Éireann for the last time in 1944, and dying in Dublin in 1947. Catholic Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid gave his funeral mass, and the ICA in its last public appearance escorted his funeral procession through Dublin to his burial site at Glasnevin Cemetery . Larkin
528-823: A syndicalist and association with the Industrial Workers of the World was looked down on by the right wing of the Socialist Party of America. Larkin was reported as having helped to disrupt Allied munitions shipments in New York City during World War I . In 1937, he voluntarily assisted US lawyers investigating the Black Tom explosion by providing an affidavit from his home in Dublin. According to British Army Intelligence officer, Henry Landau: Larkin testified that he himself never took part in
704-492: A "clearly undemocratic, quasi-Leninist platform" that lobbied for the removal of the current "bogus democracy of capitalist parliamentarianism". Wanting the government to be replaced by a "genuine worker's democracy", the American Socialist Party stated that "whether or not it is a majority, will not shrink from the responsibility of organizing and maintaining a government under the workers' rule". This
880-441: A "first generation communist leader" whose ideology had been formed during the period prior to 1914. It is also claimed that he had, by this time, fallen into a degenerated state of egomania, was "violently" averse to being accountable to anyone but himself and consequently suspicious of anything that was outside of his own personal control. It could be said that some of Larkin's suspicions and apparent paranoias were justified, as it
1056-484: A "specific, concrete, definite, affirmative declaration of guilt" of the five Assemblymen before they were ever charged with any offense. It was also Sweet who appointed the members of the Judiciary Committee to which the matter was referred. "Thus the accuser selects his own judges", Hillquit declared. Hillquit sought to remove for reasons of bias any members of the Judiciary Committee who had taken part in
1232-625: A 'yellow countenance'. In January 1907, Larkin undertook his first task on behalf of the trade union movement in Ireland, when he arrived in Belfast to organise the city's dock workers for the NUDL. He succeeded in unionising the workforce and, because employers refused to meet the wage demands, he called the dockers out on strike in June. The Belfast Dock strike was soon joined by carters and coalmen,
1408-533: A change in circumstances and was also a clear indication that the Red Scare had largely abated. Smith granted Larkin a pardon hearing which was set for January 1923, the pardon was granted and he was released from prison. Foran cabled Larkin to convey the ITGWU's satisfaction with the events and to seek the date of his return to Ireland. Although Larkin had his mind set on a return to Ireland, he had grander plans than
1584-567: A commercial agent in Ireland for the Soviet Union may have contributed to his disenchantment with Stalinism . The Soviets, for their part, had been increasingly impatient with what they saw as his ineffective leadership. From the early 1930s, Larkin drew away from the Soviet Union entirely. In the 1932 general election, he stood, without success, as a communist and, in 1933 and subsequently, he ran as "Independent Labour". The reasons for
1760-649: A continued effort to gain control of the SPA at its forthcoming Emergency National Convention in Chicago, to be held at the end of August, while another section, headed by the Russian Socialist Federation of Alexander Stoklitsky and Nicholas Hourwich and the Socialist Party of Michigan seeking to wash its hands of the Socialist Party and immediately move to establish a new Communist Party of America . Eventually, this latter Federation-dominated group
1936-656: A date that was not selected accidentally. The 1st National Convention of the CPPA was assembled in Cleveland at the city auditorium, which was packed with close to 600 delegates representing international unions, state federations of labor, branches of cooperative societies, state branches and national officers of the Socialist, Farmer-Labor and Progressive Parties as well as the Committee of 48 , state and national affiliates of
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#17327723296042112-577: A declining interest in the now crippled ITGWU, and became increasingly difficult to work with. Speculation had risen during the lock-out that he was planning to leave for America. A speaking tour of the New World had been suggested to Larkin by Bill Haywood in November 1913 and the following month. The growing speculation prompted the New York Times to publish an editorial simply titled 'Larkin
2288-566: A disastrous settlement for the last of the strikers resulted in a lasting rift between Sexton and Larkin. In 1908, Larkin moved south and organised workers in Dublin , Cork and Waterford , with considerable success. His involvement, against union instructions, in a dispute in Dublin resulted in his expulsion from the NUDL. The union later prosecuted him for diverting union funds to give strike pay to Cork workers engaged in an unofficial dispute. After trial and conviction for embezzlement in 1910, he
2464-501: A gathering that punted on the issue of committing itself to the 1924 presidential campaign, deciding instead to "immediately issue a call for a convention of workers, farmers, and progressives for the purpose of taking action on nomination of candidates for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States, and on other questions that may come before the convention". The decisive moment finally came on July 4, 1924,
2640-427: A large number of his colleagues in the ITGWU. In addition to recuperating from the strain of the lockout and undertaking a tour of the United States, Larkin also intended to raise funds for the union and the fledgling ICA, and to rebuild their headquarters Liberty Hall . Many in the union assumed that Larkin's trip would be a short one and that he would soon return. However, it quickly became clear that this would not be
2816-560: A meeting called by Larkin for Sunday 31 August 1913 was proscribed, Constance Markievicz and her husband Casimir disguised Larkin in Casimir's frock coat and trousers and stage makeup and beard, and Nellie Gifford , who was unknown to the police, led him into William Martin Murphy's Imperial Hotel , pretending to be her stooped, deaf old clergyman uncle (to disguise his instantly recognisable Liverpool accent). Larkin tore off his beard inside
2992-405: A new communist group became active in Dublin but had orders not to "disturb the big noise", with Moscow fearing that Larkin would smash its initiatives in the city, whilst also secretly still hoping that Larkin would provide the mass base it desired in Ireland. Ultimately, Larkin would neither support communist activity nor oppose his successors. Larkin's unsuccessful attempts to gain a position as
3168-479: A new political party. The Socialist Party was an enthusiastic supporter of the CPPA and the group dominated its thinking from the start of 1922 through the first quarter of 1925. In this period of organizational weakness, the party sought to forge lasting ties with the existing trade union movement, leading in short order to a mass labor party in the United States on the British model. A first National Conference of
3344-616: A parallel convention. It was this gathering that established itself as the Communist Labor Party on August 31, 1919. Meanwhile, elsewhere in Chicago, the Federations and Michiganders and their supporters established the Communist Party of America at a convention gaveled to order on September 1, 1919. Unity between these two communist organizations was a lengthy and complicated process, formally taking place at
3520-533: A paternalistic management that refused to join a lockout of unionised staff by virtually all the major Dublin employers. This was far from the case on the tramways. The chairman of the Dublin United Tramway Company, industrialist and newspaper proprietor William Martin Murphy , was determined not to allow the ITGWU to unionise his workforce. On 15 August, he dismissed 40 workers he suspected of ITGWU membership, followed by another 300 over
3696-481: A position in Dublin 's collective memory and streetscape, with a statue of him unveiled on O'Connell Street in 1979. Larkin was said to have been born on 21 January 1876, and this was the date that he himself believed was accurate. However, it is now believed that he was actually born on 28 January 1874. He was the second eldest son of Irish emigrants, James Larkin, from Drumintee and Mary Ann McNulty, from Burren, County Down . The impoverished Larkin family lived in
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#17327723296043872-642: A rendezvous in Mexico City in 1917. Following this, Larkin briefly worked with the IWW in San Francisco, before settling in New York and becoming involved with the Socialist Party of America again. He took advantage of the growing support for left-wing politics, and also of the increasing support for Irish republicanism amongst Irish Americans to gain influence amongst its ranks. Larkin was instrumental in
4048-808: A republican delegation to Moscow and directing £500 sent by the Russian Red Cross intended to aid the Irish famine relief effort to George Lansbury a left-wing British Labour M.P., rather than to the WUI. Under pressure from Comintern to operate as a political party or risk losing affiliation, Larkin fielded three candidates at the September 1927 Irish general election ; himself, his son James Larkin Jnr , and WUI President John Lawlor. Larkin ran in Dublin North and, in circumstances that surprised many,
4224-535: A request by Archie Crawford , President of the South African Federation of Labour who wanted Larkin for a speaking tour of the country. A trial took place in which Larkin represented himself, presenting his view that his own beliefs rather than his deeds were on trial, and exhibiting a philosophy incorporating his new-found Bolshevism as well as his Christianity, Socialism, Syndicalism, Communism and Irish nationalism. Despite many onlookers being of
4400-466: A resolution declaring your seat herein vacant, pending a hearing before a tribunal of this house, you will be given an opportunity to appear before such tribunal to prove your right to a seat in this legislative body, and upon the result of such hearing and the findings of the Assembly tribunal, your right to participate in the actions of this body will be determined. The Assembly suspended the quintet by
4576-705: A result, his performance so impressed the National Union of Dock Labourers (NUDL) that he was appointed a temporary organiser. He later gained a permanent position with the union, which, in 1906, sent him to Scotland , where he successfully organised workers in Preston and Glasgow . Larkin campaigned against Chinese immigration, presenting it as a threat that would undercut workers, leading processions in 1906 in Liverpool with fifty dockers dressed as 'Chinamen', wearing faux- 'pigtails' and wearing powder to provide
4752-413: A return to union work. The Comintern wrote to Larkin on 3 February to express their 'great joy' at his release and to extend an invitation to visit Soviet Russia at his earliest opportunity, to 'discuss a number of burning questions affecting the international revolutionary movement'. Larkin made a number of financial requests to the ITGWU, including asking them to cover the costs of purchasing passage on
4928-669: A secret convention held at the Overlook Mountain House hotel near Woodstock, New York , in May 1921 with the establishment of a new unified Communist Party of America. A Left Wing loyal to the Communist International remained in the Socialist Party through 1921, continuing the fight to bring the Socialist Party into the ranks of the Comintern. This group, which opposed the underground secret organizations
5104-491: A socialist ticket was in 1912 , when Debs gained 901,551 total votes, 6% of the popular vote. In 1920 , Debs ran again, this time while imprisoned for opposing World War I, and received 913,693 votes, 3.4% of the total. Early political perspectives ranged from radical socialism to social democracy. Victor Berger and New York party leader Morris Hillquit sat on the party's more social democratic or right-wing side. Radical socialists and syndicalists, including Debs and members of
5280-487: A special election was held to fill the five seats vacated by the Assembly, with each of the five expelled Socialists running for reelection against a "fusion" candidate representing the combined Republican and Democratic parties. All five Socialists were returned to office. Three of the five, Waldman, Claessens and Solomon, were again denied their seats after a contentious debate by votes of 90 to 45 on September 21, 1920. Orr and DeWitt, deemed less culpable than their peers by
5456-414: A steamer ship, although he, in characteristic fashion, did not reveal the reason. The union's new leadership began to see him as out of touch, and that if allowed to do so he would attempt to restore his previous near-total command over the union. The union had also already spent large sums of money on Larkin's behalf—making sure his wife Elizabeth was taken care of, covering his medical expenses and covering
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5632-645: A sympathetic strike in Britain were rejected by the British TUC. Larkin's attacks on the TUC leadership for this stance also led to the cessation of financial aid to the ITGWU, which in any case was not affiliated with the TUC. Although the efforts of the ITGWU and the smaller UBLU did not succeed in securing significantly better pay and conditions for the workers, they represented a turning point in Irish labor history. The principle of union action and workers' solidarity
5808-497: A time and then worked as a sailor and docker . By 1903, he was a dock foreman, and on 8 September of that year, he married Elizabeth Brown. From 1893, Larkin developed an interest in socialism and became a member of the Independent Labour Party . In 1905, he was one of the few foremen to take part in a strike on the Liverpool docks. He was elected to the strike committee and, although he lost his foreman's job as
5984-457: A traitor to the Irish people and who had had no intention of arming the movement effectively for Irish independence. He also claimed that in the process of receiving and protecting the guns, 100 of his men from the ICA with no ammunition or bayonets had faced and routed 150 of the King's Own Scottish Borderers , whom he disparagingly said had been referred to as 'England's best'. He went on to attack
6160-505: A variety of jobs while still a child. He became a full-time trade union organiser in 1905. Larkin moved to Belfast in 1907, where he was involved in trade unionism and syndicalist strike action including organising the 1907 Belfast Dock strike . Larkin later moved south and organised workers in Dublin, Cork and Waterford, with considerable success. He founded the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union after his expulsion from
6336-524: A vicious attack on Tom Johnson who was now leader of the Labour Party and who like Larkin, was Liverpool-born. Johnson had been born to English parents but had spent much of his life in Ireland. Larkin, although born to Irish parents, had spent as long in the US as he had in Ireland. Larkin said that it was "time that Labour dealt with this English traitor. If they don't get rid of this scoundrel, they'll get
6512-484: A vote of 140 to 6, with one Democrat supporting the Socialists. Civil libertarians and concerned citizens raised their voices to aid the suspended Socialists and protest percolated throughout the press. The principal argument was that the expulsion of elected members of minority parties by majority parties from their councils set a dangerous precedent in a democracy. The battle culminated in a highly publicized trial in
6688-787: A week after the Palmer Raids had swept and stunned the country, the New York Assembly was called to order. The majority Republicans easily elected their candidate for the Speaker, Thaddeus C. Sweet and after opening day formalities the body took a brief recess. Back in session, Sweet declared: "The Chair directs the Sergeant-at-Arms to present before the bar of the House Samuel A. DeWitt , Samuel Orr , Louis Waldman , Charles Solomon , and August Claessens ",
6864-425: Is coming'. This dismayed colleagues in the ITGWU and Larkin felt obliged to deny that he was planning on running away. However, noting the effect of the strain of the lock-out on Larkin, union officials reluctantly concluded that a break would probably be of great benefit to him. Following the advice given by 'Big Bill', 'Big Jim' therefore left for America. His decision to leave dismayed many union activists, including
7040-648: The 1912 elections . Sixteen Socialist candidates in the 1912 House elections received over 20% of the popular vote and five of those received over 30%. In June 1918, Debs made an anti-draft speech, calling for draft resistance . Urging young men to ignore the draft law was a crime under the Sedition Act of 1918 and Debs was convicted and sentenced to serve ten years in prison. President Warren G. Harding commuted his and two dozen others' sentences at Christmastime 1921. According to historian Sally Miller, Victor Berger : In January 1919, Vladimir Lenin invited
7216-527: The American Federation of Labor (AFL). AFL leadership, headed by Samuel Gompers , strongly opposed the Socialist Party, but many rank-and-file unionists in the early 20th century saw the Socialists as reliable political allies. Many moderate Socialists, such as Berger and International Typographical Union President Max S. Hayes , urged close cooperation with the AFL and its member unions. Others in
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7392-545: The Communist Labor Party of America . Favouring the latter, as he believed it to be more 'American' (something which he believed was crucial), Larkin joined their ranks. Larkin's speeches in support of the Soviets, his association with founding members of both the American Communist Party and Communist Labor Party of America , and his radical publications made him a target of the " First Red Scare " that
7568-553: The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), sat on the left. There were also agrarian utopian-leaning radicals, such as Julius Wayland of Kansas, who edited the party's leading national newspaper, Appeal to Reason , along with trade unionists; Jewish, Finnish and German immigrants; and intellectuals such as Walter Lippmann and the Black activist/intellectual Hubert Harrison . The party outsourced its newspapers and publications so that it would not have an internal editorial board that
7744-505: The Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) at the end of December 1908. The organisation exists today as the Services Industrial Professional & Technical Union (SIPTU). It quickly gained the affiliation of the NUDL branches in Dublin, Cork, Dundalk , Waterford and Sligo . The Derry and Drogheda NUDL branches stayed with the British union, and Belfast split along sectarian lines. Early in
7920-610: The Irish Volunteers and smuggled into Ireland at Howth in July 1914. A written constitution was established stating the Army's principles as follows: "the ownership of Ireland, moral and material, is vested of right in the people of Ireland" and to "sink all difference of birth property and creed under the common name of the Irish people". Exhausted by the demands of organising union work, Larkin fell into bouts of depression, took
8096-555: The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People . Walling and Ovington both argued inside the party that it had not done enough to oppose racism and they were joined by other left-wing intellectuals who published articles in the party press about the importance of anti-racism to the socialist cause, including Hubert Harrison and I. M. Rubinow . The party had a tense and complicated relationship with
8272-468: The National Union of Dock Labourers for his taking part in strike action in Dublin against union instructions, this new union would quickly replace the NUDL in Ireland. He later moved to Dublin which would become the headquarters of his union and the focus of his union activity, as well as where the Irish Labour Party would be formed. Larkin is perhaps best known for his role in organising
8448-646: The October Revolution in the Russian Republic in 1917 and the establishment of the Communist International in 1919—many members left the Socialist Party to found Leninist Parties. After endorsing Robert M. La Follette 's Progressive Party in 1924 , the party returned to independent action at the presidential level. It had modest growth in the early 1930s behind presidential candidate Norman Thomas . The party's appeal
8624-554: The Social Democratic Federation . While the party was always strongly anti-fascist as well as anti-Stalinist , its opposition to American entry in World War II cost it both internal and external support. The party stopped running presidential candidates after 1956 , when its nominee, Darlington Hoopes , won fewer than 6,000 votes. In the party's last decades, its members, many of them prominent in
8800-451: The South . The Socialist Party of Louisiana initially adopted a "Negro clause" that opposed disenfranchisement of blacks , but it supported segregation. The clause was supported by some Southern socialists and opposed by others, although this was not because of its accommodation of racism as such, but because it officially enshrined this accommodation. The party's National Committee persuaded
8976-656: The Soviet Union . Leaders of two of its caucuses formed separate socialist organizations, the Socialist Party USA and the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee , the precursor of the Democratic Socialists of America . The few own the many because they possess the means of livelihood of all. [...] The country is governed for the richest, for the corporations, the bankers, the land speculators, and for
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#17327723296049152-641: The Workers Party of America , sent four delegates to the CPPA's December 1922 gathering. But after protracted debate, the Credentials Committee strongly objected to the participation of Communist representatives in its proceedings and issued a recommendation that Workers Party's representatives and youth organization not be seated. The Socialist Party's delegates strongly supported excluding the Communists and acted accordingly, even though
9328-810: The Workers' Union of Ireland (the two unions later merged to become SIPTU , Ireland's largest trade union). Along with Connolly and Jack White , he was also a founder of the Irish Citizen Army (ICA; a paramilitary group which was integral to both the Dublin lock-out and the Easter Rising ). Larkin was a leading figure in the Syndicalist movement. Larkin was born to Irish parents in Toxteth , Liverpool , England. Growing up in poverty, he received little formal education and began working in
9504-607: The "Regulars", who controlled a big majority of the seats of the Socialist Party's governing NEC. When it seemed certain that the 1919 party elections for a new NEC had been dominated by the Left Wing, the sitting NEC, citing voting irregularities, refused to tally the votes, declared the entire election invalid and in May 1919 suspended the party's Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian, Polish, South Slavic and Hungarian language federations , in addition to Michigan's entire state organization. In future weeks, Massachusetts's and Ohio's state organizations were similarly disfranchised and "reorganized" by
9680-446: The "forces of every progressive, liberal, and radical organization of the workers must be mobilized" to repel conservative assaults and "advance the industrial and political power of the working class". This desire for common action seems to have been shared by various unions, as late in 1921 a call was issued in the name of the country's 16 major railway labor unions seeking a Conference for Progressive Political Action (CPPA). The CPPA
9856-427: The 1912 platform of the Tennessee party stated that white supremacist ideology was a tool of the capitalist class to divide and rule the working class, while the Virginia party passed a resolution three years earlier to focus more attention on encouraging solidarity between black and white workers and to invite nonwhite workers to join the party. Most notable was the Socialist Party of Oklahoma , which led opposition to
10032-405: The 1913 strike that led to the Dublin lock-out . The lock-out was an industrial dispute over workers' pay and conditions as well as their right to organise, and received worldwide attention and coverage. It has been described as the "coming of age of the Irish trade union movement". The Irish Citizen Army was formed during the lock-out to protect striking workers from police violence. Not long after
10208-413: The American labor movement as claimed by our extreme industrialists", he declared. The issue of "syndicalism vs. socialism" was bitterly fought over the next two years, consummated by Haywood's recall from the Socialist Party's National Executive Committee (NEC) and the departure of a broad section of the left wing from the organization. The memory of this split made the intraparty battles of 1919–1921 all
10384-430: The Assembly's five Socialist members. Sweet attacked the five, declaring they had been "elected on a platform that is absolutely inimical to the best interests of the state of New York and the United States". The Socialist Party, Sweet said, was "not truly a political party", but rather "a membership organization admitting within its ranks aliens, enemy aliens, and minors". The party had denounced America's participation in
10560-408: The Assembly, which dominated the body's activity from its opening on January 20, 1920, until its conclusion on March 11. Socialist Party leader and former 1917 New York City mayoral candidate Morris Hillquit served as chief counsel for the suspended Socialists, aided by party founder and future Socialist vice-presidential candidate Seymour Stedman . At the trial, Hillquit charged that Sweet had made
10736-404: The British Trades Union Congress (TUC) and sources in Ireland, distributed by the ITGWU. For seven months, the lockout affected tens of thousands of Dublin workers and employers, with Larkin portrayed as the villain by Murphy's three main newspapers, the Irish Independent , the Sunday Independent and the Evening Herald , and by other bourgeois publications in Ireland. Other leaders in
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#173277232960410912-410: The British Army, volunteered to train this army and offered £50 towards the cost of shoes to workers so that they could train. In addition to its role as a self-defence organisation, the Army, which was drilled in Croydon Park in Fairview by White, provided a diversion for workers unemployed and idle during the dispute. The lock-out eventually concluded in early 1914 when calls by Connolly and Larkin for
11088-410: The CPPA after the convention. Although the Socialists did not realize it at the time, the chances that the organization would ever be transformed into an authentic mass Farmer-Labor party like British Labour were greatly lessened by the FLP's departure. The Socialists remained optimistic, and the May 1923 National Convention of the Socialist Party voted after lengthy debate to retain its affiliation with
11264-425: The CPPA and to continue its work for an independent political party from within that group. The May 20 vote in favor of maintaining affiliation with the CPPA was 38–12. Failing a mass farmer-labor party from the CPPA, the Socialists sought at least a powerful presidential nominee to run in opposition to the old parties. A 3rd National Conference of the CPPA was held in St. Louis, Missouri , on February 11 and 12, 1924,
11440-416: The CPPA was held in Chicago in February 1922, attended by 124 delegates representing a broad spectrum of labor, farmer and political organizations. The gathering passed an "Address to the American People" stating its criticism of existing conditions and formally proposing an amorphous plan of action validating the status quo ante: the labor unions on the group's right wing to endorse labor-friendly candidates of
11616-420: The Communist Parties had become, included noted party journalist J. Louis Engdahl and William Kruse , head of the party's youth affiliate, the Young People's Socialist League , as well as a significant segment of the Socialist Party's Chicago organization. These left-wing dissidents continued to make themselves heard until their departure from the party after the 1921 convention. On January 7, 1920, less than
11792-407: The Democratic Party, the Socialists and Farmer-Labor Party adherents on the group's left wing to conduct their own independent campaigns. From the Socialist Party's perspective, perhaps the most important thing the CPPA did at its first National Conference was agree to meet again. The party leadership understood the process of building an independent third party that could count on the allegiance of
11968-438: The European war and had lent aid and comfort to Ludwig Martens , the "self-styled Soviet Ambassador and alien, who entered this country as a German in 1916". It had supported the revolutionaries in Germany , Austria and Hungary , Sweet continued; and consorted with international Socialist parties close to the Communist International . Sweet concluded: It is every citizen's right to his day in court. If this house should adopt
12144-465: The Farmer-Labor Party calling for "independent political action by the agricultural and industrial workers through a party of their own" defeated by a vote of 52 to 64. A majority report declaring against an independent political party was instead adopted. This defeat of the bid for an independent political party cost the CPPA one its major component organizations, with the Farmer-Labor Party delegation announcing that its group would no longer affiliate with
12320-418: The First World War directly, particularly the efforts of the British to get men from Ireland to join their war effort, going on to say that if Ireland was to fight it would be against the British in an effort to create an Irish republic: 'Why should Ireland fight for Britain in this war? What has Britain ever done for our people? Whatever we got from her we wrested with struggle and sacrifice. No, men and women of
12496-511: The Four Winds Fellowship a society open to all trade unionists and socialists born in the British Empire and who were opposed to the war. Elsewhere, he was reported as having said that he did not want a German victory, instead preferring a military deadlock, leading to workers' revolts in the belligerent countries, a desire which came partly true, following the Russian Revolution of 1917. This perceived association with German agents further distanced him from American socialists, and his reputation as
12672-572: The German embassy and he had been approached by military Attachés shortly after his speech in Philadelphia and offered $ 200 per week to undertake waterfront sabotage work. Larkin refused on humanitarian grounds and informed them that he was already engaged in organising strikes that would effectively hamper the Allied war effort by restricting American war-related industry, and that he had established
12848-525: The ITGWU and the ICA, the latter of which he would soon utilise as a revolutionary force. Larkin arrived in New York on 5 November 1914. Following his arrival there were positive initial prospects. The lock-out had been widely reported in America and he was well received by socialists there. He found support from both socialists and Irish-Americans, who were eager to hear his position on the World War which
13024-480: The ITGWU at the time were James Connolly and William O'Brien ; influential figures such as Patrick Pearse , Constance Markievicz and W. B. Yeats supported the workers in the generally anti-Larkin Irish press. The Irish Worker published the names and addresses of strike-breakers, and the Irish Independent published the names and addresses of men and women who attempted to send their children out of
13200-616: The IWW and the radical wing of the Socialist Party to join in the founding of the Communist Third International, the Comintern . The Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party emerged as an organized faction early that year, building its organization around a lengthy Left Wing Manifesto by Louis C. Fraina . This effort to organize in order to "win the Socialist Party for the Left Wing" was staunchly resisted by
13376-563: The Irish race, we shall not fight for England. We shall fight for the destruction of the British Empire and the construction of an Irish republic. We shall not fight for the preservation of the enemy, which has laid waste with death and desolation the fields and hills of Ireland for 700 years. We will fight to free Ireland from the grasp of that vile carcase called England'. In a speech to Clan na Gael in November 1914, Larkin promoted his Irish Republican ideals stating 'I assure you that
13552-524: The Irish section of the world communist movement. The IWL enrolled 500 members on its inauguration and, following the death of Lenin on 21 January 1924, Larkin led a march of 6,000 people to mourn his passing. In March 1924, Larkin lost his battle for control of the ITWGU and, in May, the army prevented his followers from seizing Liberty Hall . In June 1924, Larkin attended the Comintern congress in Moscow and
13728-414: The Labour Party and then his newly formed Irish Worker League . Connolly by this time had been executed for his part in the Easter Rising and Larkin mourned the passing of his friend and colleague. After he lost control of the ITGWU, Larkin formed the Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI). The WUI was affiliated to Red International of Labour Unions (Profintern) soon after its formation. Larkin served as
13904-626: The Left Wing language federations suspended, a big majority of the hastily elected delegates to the gathering were controlled by the Executive Secretary Adolph Germer and the Regulars. A group of Left Wingers without delegate credentials, including Reed and his sidekick Benjamin Gitlow , made an effort to occupy chairs on the convention floor before the gathering was called into order. The incumbents were unable to block
14080-472: The Left Wingers at the door, but soon called to their aid the already present police, who obligingly expelled the boisterous radicals from the hall. With the Credentials Committee firmly in the hands of the Regulars from the outset, the gathering's outcome was no longer in doubt and most of the remaining Left Wing delegates departed, to meet with other co-thinkers downstairs in a previously reserved room in
14256-532: The Lenin School be supported, noting that James Jnr was "his own man and an earnest communist". Larkin would, in fact, continue to be politically active for all of his life and used the League as a political platform into the 1930s. He did, however, sever ties with Profintern , declaring that they had not given the WUI proper financial support and accusing Lozovsky of intriguing against him. In September 1929,
14432-658: The Lockout) sued him. The bitterness of the court case between the former organisers of the 1913 Lockout would last over 20 years. Larkin agreed with British and Soviet communists to take on the leadership of communism in Ireland and, in September 1923, Larkin formed the Irish Worker League (IWL), which was soon afterwards recognised by The Communist International (Comintern; a Soviet Union controlled international organisation that advocated world communism) as
14608-690: The Louisiana party to withdraw the clause, but when the state party subsequently established segregated branches, the wider party did not object. Segregated locals could also be found in state parties in Texas and elsewhere. When Texas socialists established a Land Renters' Union in 1911, they initially banned black tenants from joining, before later setting up segregated locals for black and brown farmers. The party's membership rose by over 50,000 from 1901 to 1910. The party had 4,320 members in 1901, 20,763 in 1904, 41,751 in 1908, and 58,011 in 1910. Elsewhere,
14784-575: The NEC, while in New York and Pennsylvania the "Regular" State Executive Committees undertook reorganization of Left Wing branches and locals on a case-by-case basis. In June 1919, the Left Wing Section held a conference in New York City to discuss its organizational plans. The group found itself deeply divided, with one section, led by NEC members Alfred Wagenknecht and L. E. Katterfeld and including famed radical journalist John Reed favoring
14960-577: The Republican cause in Ireland to a cheering crowd. During this speech, Larkin showed one of the rifles that had been smuggled into Ireland at Howth, which he noted could be better but still worked. (He added that better weapons could be obtained with more money.) He compared it with a rifle given to the Irish Volunteers by John Redmond , which was an obsolete weapon for which no new ammunition could be procured, using this to vilify Redmond as
15136-595: The Socialist Party dismissed the AFL and its craft unions as antiquated and irrelevant, instead favoring the much more radical IWW and the "syndicalist" path to socialism. In 1911, IWW leader Bill Haywood was elected to the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party, on which AFL partisan Morris Hillquit also served. The syndicalist and the electoral socialist squared off in a lively public debate in New York City's Cooper Union on January 11, 1912, with Haywood declaring that Hillquit and
15312-506: The Socialist Party had won 1,200 political offices, including U.S. representative, 32 state representatives and 79 mayors. It gained new votes in ethnic strongholds such as Milwaukee and New York from conservative German Americans who also opposed the war. From 1912 to 1938, the party ran more candidates for seats in the United States House of Representatives than any other minor party, with its height being 358 candidates in
15488-718: The Socialist Party was formed by a merger between the Social Democratic Party of America (headquartered in Chicago, IL ) and dissident Lassallean members of the Socialist Labor Party of America , who had also adopted the name Social Democratic Party of America (headquartered in Springfield, MA ). The new party chose "socialist" over "social democratic" because the latter lost its meaning when translated from German to English . From 1901 to
15664-420: The Socialist Party, which stood and stands for democratic and representative government". The legislature attempted to prevent the election and seating of Socialists in the future by passing laws designed to exclude the Socialist Party from recognition as a political party and to alter the legislature's oath-taking procedures so that elected members could be excluded before being sworn. Governor Al Smith vetoed
15840-470: The Socialists ought to try "a little sabotage in the right place at the proper time" and attacking Hillquit for having abandoned the class struggle by helping the New York garment workers negotiate an industrial agreement with their employers. Hillquit replied that he had no new message other than to reiterate a belief in a two-sided workers' movement, with separate and equal political and trade union arms. "A mere change of structural forms would not revolutionize
16016-570: The St Lawrence Mill Strike in March 1919. The Connolly Club became the national hub of the new communist project, housing the offices of Larkin's SPA faction's Revolutionary Age and Reed's Voice of Labour . In June 1919, Larkin topped the polls for elections to the national left-wing council. He supported the view that the left of the SPA should attempt to take control at its national convention in August. A minority faction favoured
16192-410: The WUI executive wanted to break with Profintern unless their promises were made good. Relations between Larkin and Moscow would ultimately continue to strain, despite occasional apparent promise, and, in the time building up to the 1930s, the final break was fast approaching. In 1929, in a letter to Moscow, Larkin announced his retirement from active political work. However, he asked that the Irish at
16368-668: The Women's Committee on Political Action and sundry individuals. Very few farmers were in attendance. It was around this time that the Socialists began actively participating in discussions about democratic principles as much as Marxist ones. By 1924, they supported the Progressive Party ticket, which pushed for the reform of the Democratic Party . Ten years after that, the American Socialists adopted
16544-530: The World union (the Wobblies). Within days of arriving in the country, he addressed a crowd of 15,000 people gathered at Madison Square Garden to celebrate the election of Socialist candidate Meyer London to the United States House of Representatives . Soon after his speech at Maddison Garden, he was invited by Devoy to speak to a combined audience of German Uhlans and Irish Volunteers in Philadelphia, where he enthusiastically called for money and arms for
16720-591: The activities of the Lusk Committee , the New York State Senate's anti-radicalism committee. He particularly challenged the presence of Assemblyman Louis A. Cuvillier , who had stated on the floor of the house the previous night words to the effect that "if the five accused Assemblymen are found guilty, they ought not to be expelled, but taken out and shot". The Assembly voted overwhelmingly for expulsion on April 1, 1920. On September 16, 1920,
16896-674: The actual sabotage campaign but, rather, confined himself to the organising of strikes to secure both higher pay and shorter hours for workmen and to prevent the shipment of munitions to the Allies. Larkin, however, had first-hand knowledge of German sabotage operations, supplied them with intelligence and contacts and was involved in the transfer of monies from the Germans to Irish Republican causes. He maintained communication with his German contacts. However, they began to tire of his refusals to cooperate with violence and broke contact with him after
17072-602: The allegiance of about two-thirds of the Dublin membership of the ITGWU and of a smaller number of rural members. It was affiliated to the Soviet Red International of Labour Unions (Promintern). With Soviet support, Larkin sought to remove British unions from Ireland, seeing them as 'outposts of British imperialism'. It was also agreed that Irish sections of the communist movement would deal directly with Moscow and would have permanent representation there, rather than going through Britain. Larkin later launched
17248-621: The audience to support Josef Stalin . He also endorsed the Comintern line that the Communist Party of Great Britain should adopt a hostile rather than fraternal attitude towards the British Labour Party as well as denouncing the CPGB's refusal to back the removal of British unions from Ireland and their record on trade unions in general. Before leaving, Larkin warned Solomon Lozovsky (General Secretary of Profintern) that
17424-426: The bullet and the bayonet in reward. There's nothing for it, but a dose of the lead which Johnson promises to those who look for work." This implied incitement to murder Johnson in a still-violent post-Civil War country resulted in the court awarding Johnson £1000 in libel damages against Larkin. In his 2006 biographical anthology, Donal Nevin noted that his attacks on colleagues in the labour movement, including those
17600-419: The call and declaring that the time had come "for a militant political movement independent of the two old party organizations". But La Follette declined to lead a third party, seeking to protect those progressives elected nominally as Republicans and Democrats. He said that the primary issue of the 1924 campaign was breaking the "combined power of the private monopoly system over the political and economic life of
17776-525: The case. Shortly before his departure, he declined a request by the Irish Trades Union Congress to join a two-man mission to raise funds for the Labour Party, replying that if he went he would be 'going alone and freelance'. His intention was to agitate in America rather than organise, but it is unclear whether he intended to return. Larkin set sail for America on 25 October 1914, leaving long-time associate James Connolly in charge of
17952-556: The city to be cared for in foster homes in Belfast and Britain. However, Larkin never resorted to violence. He knew it would play into the hands of the anti-union companies, and that he could not build a mass trade union by wrecking the firms where his members worked. A group including Tom Kettle and Thomas MacDonagh formed the Industrial Peace Committee to attempt to negotiate between employers and workers;
18128-592: The clan was successful being asked to attend other speaking engagements. Divisions began to appear, however, largely stemming from his anti-capitalist socialist ideals and pro-worker ideology, which were fundamentally at odds with many of the views of those in the clan and the Irish-America movement. Larkin's religious ideals were also at odds with the largely secular American left, so he effectively alienated himself from both movements and speaking engagements began to dwindle. His speeches had attracted interest from
18304-462: The costs of James Jnr's visit to see him in America. For these reasons, the additional financial requests were denied, a decision which begat what would become an intense split in the union movement in Ireland. After lobbying the Secretary for Labor for a deportation order, which was granted, he was arrested and charged with being an alien activist. He was then taken to the British consulate where he
18480-414: The country's trade union leadership would be a protracted process and the mere fact of "agreement to disagree" but nevertheless meeting again was regarded as a step forward. The communist movement also sought to pursue the strategy of bursting from its isolation by forming a mass Farmer-Labor Party. Finally emerged from its underground existence in 1922, the Communists, through their "legal political party",
18656-625: The country, meeting trade union members and appealing for an end to the Irish Civil War . However, he soon found himself at variance with William O'Brien, who, in Larkin's absence, had become the leading figure in the ITGWU and the Irish Labour Party and Trades Union Congress. Larkin was still officially general secretary of the ITGWU. The ITGWU leaders (Thomas Foran, William O'Brien, Thomas Kennedy: all colleagues of Larkin during
18832-436: The earlier findings of the Judiciary Committee, were seated by votes of 87 to 48. In solidarity with their ousted colleagues, the pair refused to take their seats. After the five seats were again vacated, Hillquit expressed his disappointment at the Assembly's "unconstitutional action". But, he continued, "it will draw the issues clearer between the united Republican and Democratic parties representing arbitrary lawlessness, and
19008-564: The employers refused to meet them. Larkin and others were arrested for sedition on 28 August, and he was released on bail later that day. Connolly told the authorities "I do not recognise the English government in Ireland at all. I do not even recognise the King except when I am compelled to do so." On 30 August, a warrant for Larkin's arrest was put out, claiming he had again been seditious and had incited people to riot and to pillage shops. When
19184-598: The establishment of the New York James Connolly Socialist Club on St Patrick's Day, 1918. Whilst in America, Larkin had become an enthusiastic supporter of the Soviets and, following an address at the club by Jack Reed , who had recently returned from Russia, interest in the Bolsheviks was revitalised. Larkin decided to put all his efforts into reforming the SPA into a communist party. This meant that he had to turn down an offer to lead
19360-452: The eventual collapse in relations between the Soviet Union and Larkin can, to some extent, be put down to his underlying motivations. According to Emmet O'Connor, his aims were to "discredit the ITWGU, and Labour Party leadership, drive the British unions out of Ireland, and build an anti-imperialist front with republicans". His Syndicalist ideology was also largely out of place in a Leninist context, eventually being regarded by Comintern as
19536-406: The exploiters of labor. The majority of mankind are working people. So long as their fair demands—the ownership and control of their livelihoods—are set at naught, we can have neither men's rights nor women's rights. The majority of mankind is ground down by industrial oppression in order that the small remnant may live in ease. — Helen Keller , Socialist Party of America member, 1913 In 1901,
19712-700: The hotel and raced to a balcony, where he shouted his speech to the crowd below. The police – some 300 Royal Irish Constabulary reinforcing Dublin Metropolitan Police – savagely baton-charged the crowd, injuring between 400 and 600 people. MP Handel Booth, who was present, said that the police "behaved like men possessed. They drove the crowd into the side streets to meet other batches of the government's minions, wildly striking with their truncheons at everyone within reach ... The few roughs got away first, most respectable people left their hats and crawled away with bleeding heads. Kicking victims when prostrate
19888-514: The immediate creation of a new communist party and left in protest. Larkin, along with numerous other sympathisers of the Bolsheviks , was expelled from the Socialist Party of America at its national convention during the Red Scare of that year. As a result of this exodus, two new parties were formed from the ranks of the SPA's communist former members, namely the American Communist Party and
20064-504: The labor, peace, civil rights, and civil liberties movements, fundamentally disagreed about the socialist movement 's relationship to the labor movement and the Democratic Party and about how best to advance democracy abroad. In 1970–1973, these strategic differences became so acute that the SPA changed its name to Social Democrats, USA , both because the term "party" in its name had confused the public and to distance itself from
20240-481: The latter refused to sign the pledge, employing blackleg labour from Britain and from elsewhere in Ireland. Guinness, the largest employer in Dublin, refused the employers' call to lock out its workers but it sacked 15 workers who struck in sympathy. Dublin's workers, amongst the poorest in the whole of what was then the Great Britain and Ireland , were forced to survive on generous but inadequate donations from
20416-634: The latter settling their dispute after a month. With active support from the Independent Orange Order and its Grand Master, R. Lindsay Crawford , urging the "unity of all Irishmen", Larkin succeeded in uniting Protestant and Catholic workers and even persuaded the local Royal Irish Constabulary to strike at one point, but the strike ended by November without having achieved significant success. Tensions regarding leadership arose between Larkin and NUDL general secretary James Sexton . The latter's handling of negotiations and agreement to
20592-487: The legislation. In the first half of 1919, the Socialist Party had over 100,000 dues-paying members, and by the second half of 1921 it had been shattered. Fewer than 14,000 members remained in party ranks, with the departure of the large, well-funded Finnish Socialist Federation adding to the malaise. In September 1921, the NEC determined that the time had come to end the party's historic aversion to fusion with other political organizations and issue an appeal declaring that
20768-477: The lockout Larkin assumed direct command of the ICA, beginning the process of its reform into a revolutionary paramilitary organisation by arming them with Mauser rifles bought from Germany by the Irish Volunteers and smuggled into Ireland at Howth in July 1914. In October 1914 Larkin left Ireland and travelled to America to raise funds for the ITGWU and the ICA, leaving Connolly in charge of both organisations. During his time in America, Larkin became involved in
20944-537: The more bitter. The party's opposition to World War I caused a sharp decline in membership. It suffered from the Postmaster General 's decision to refuse to allow the delivery of party newspapers and periodicals via the U.S. mail, severely disrupting the party's activity, particularly in rural areas. Radicals moved further left into the IWW or the Communist Party USA . Members who supported
21120-485: The new year, 1909, Larkin moved to Dublin, which became the main base of the ITGWU and the focus of all his future union activity in Ireland. In June 1911, Larkin established a newspaper, The Irish Worker and People's Advocate , as a pro-labour alternative to the capitalist-owned press. This organ was characterised by a campaigning approach and the denunciation of unfair employers and of Larkin's political enemies. Its columns also included pieces by intellectuals. The paper
21296-411: The next week. On 26 August 1913, the tramway workers officially went on strike. Led by Murphy, over 400 of the city's employers retaliated by requiring their workers to sign a pledge not to be a member of the ITGWU and not to engage in sympathetic strikes. The resulting industrial dispute was the most severe in Ireland's history. Employers in Dublin engaged in a sympathetic lockout of their workers when
21472-589: The ninth plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International . Here he departed from his usual subject matter. His public speeches in Russia were usually and almost exclusively centred on the need for trade union solidarity and largely avoided comment on communist politics. However, he now delivered a lecture on "Ireland, trade unions and the peasantry" at the Moscow Soviet, and asked
21648-501: The onset of World War I , the Socialist Party had numerous elected officials throughout the United States. There were two Socialist members of Congress, Meyer London of New York City and Victor Berger of Milwaukee (a part of the sewer socialism movement, a major front in socialism, Milwaukee being the first and the only major city to elect a socialist mayor, which it did four times between 1910 and 1956); over 70 mayors ; and many state legislators and city councilors. The party
21824-409: The opinion that he had gained enough sympathy to divide the jury, Larkin's fears were instead realised: he was found guilty and sentenced to five to ten years, to be served in the notorious Sing Sing prison. While most of his sentence was served at Sing Sing, Larkin also spent time in other prisons in America, briefly moving to Clinton prison (Dannemora) after only one month at Sing Sing. This move
22000-498: The outside world. Keeping a keen eye on Irish affairs, Larkin sent a 'thunderous denunciation of the Anglo-Irish Treaty ' to Dublin on 10 December 1921. Larkin's most famous visitor whilst he was imprisoned was Charlie Chaplin who noted that he was 'diffident' and 'concerned for his family', about whom he had heard nothing since his incarceration. Chaplin sent presents to Larkin's wife Elizabeth and their children. Larkin
22176-418: The pamphlets and books that were sold at party meetings. Approaches to agriculture and farmers' interests were subject to significant debate in the party. While members in most parts of the country advocated collective farming , the Texas and Oklahoma state parties supported populist policies based on small-scale farm ownership, which socialists elsewhere considered economically backward. The populist position
22352-469: The paper. The artist Ernest Kavanagh provided cartoons for the paper. The Irish Worker was relaunched in 1923 following Larkin's return to Ireland. It was used to launch his political party Irish Worker League . The last edition of The Irish Worker was published in March, 1932. James Larkin James Larkin (28 January 1874 – 30 January 1947), sometimes known as Jim Larkin or Big Jim ,
22528-408: The party adopted a program of reforms including state-backed agricultural cooperatives , socialization of transport, storage and processing facilities, progressive land taxes, and government-supported land leases for small farmers. Positions in the party on racial segregation varied and were the subject of heated debate from its foundation to the 1919 split. At its founding convention, a resolution
22704-430: The party also elected two U.S. representatives ( Victor L. Berger and Meyer London ), dozens of state legislators, more than 100 mayors, and countless lesser officials. The party's staunch opposition to American involvement in World War I , although welcomed by many, also led to prominent defections, official repression, and vigilante persecution. The party was further shattered by a factional war over how to respond to
22880-546: The party who sought to organize white, black and indigenous workers across color lines through their party or labor movement work included Ameringer, Covington Hall , and Otto Branstetter . More widely, anti-racist socialists were spurred to action by the Springfield race riot of 1908 . Socialist writer William English Walling 's reporting on the riot inspired another socialist, Mary White Ovington , among others, to work with prominent black leaders such as W. E. B. Du Bois , Ida B. Wells , and Mary Church Terrell to establish
23056-416: The resolution enshrined a commitment to opposing racism, sections of the party continued to argue against that. For example, Victor Berger drew on scientific racism to claim that blacks and mulattoes "constitute[d] a lower race". They were opposed by others who defended the spirit of the resolution, most notably Debs. This spread of opinion was reflected in the drawing up of constitutions by state parties in
23232-485: The same speech, that 'The time is ripe for an active movement. We have waited years for this opportunity, and it could not come at a better time. We have the men and the plans, but only have 5000 rifles and no ammunition. Give us more guns and ammunition and we will not fail you. We have got something better than England ever had—destiny'. His speech was received well by the Clan and other nationalists, and his initial time with
23408-407: The slums of Liverpool during the early years of his life. From the age of seven, he attended school in the mornings and worked in the afternoons to supplement the family income, a common arrangement in working-class families at the time. At the age of fourteen, after the death of his father, he was apprenticed to the firm his father had worked for but was dismissed after two years. He was unemployed for
23584-693: The socialist movement there, becoming a member of the Socialist Party of America . Larkin then became involved in the early communist movement in America, and he was later jailed in 1920 in the midst of the Red Scare after being found guilty of "criminal anarchy". He then spent several years in Sing Sing , before he was eventually pardoned by the Governor of New York Al Smith in 1923 and later deported. Larkin then returned to Ireland where he again became involved in Irish socialism and politics, both in
23760-523: The state's 1910 ballot initiative on a grandfather clause to prevent blacks from voting . Prominent party member Oscar Ameringer wrote the ballot argument against it, and the party launched an unsuccessful lawsuit to prevent the question from going to the ballot. Party propaganda argued that if working-class solidarity did not extend across racial lines, then the ruling class would exploit blacks as strikebreakers and an instrument of repression. The state party's 1912 platform stated: "safety and advancement of
23936-410: The strike prompted Larkin to call for a workers' militia to be formed to protect themselves against the police, so Larkin, James Connolly , and Jack White created the Irish Citizen Army . The Citizen Army for the duration of the lock-out was armed with hurleys (sticks used in hurling, a traditional Irish sport) and bats to protect workers' demonstrations from the police. Jack White, a former Captain in
24112-474: The subject of this libel action, meant that Larkin "alienated practically all the leaders of the movement [and] the mass of trade union members". In January 1925, the Comintern sent Communist Party of Great Britain activist Bob Stewart to Ireland to establish a communist party in co-operation with Larkin. A formal founding conference of the Irish Worker League, which was to take up this role,
24288-416: The third, William Costley, held that blacks were in "a distinct and peculiar position in contradiction to other laboring elements in the United States". Costley introduced his own resolution, which also condemned the campaign of "lynching, burning and disenfranchisement" that black Americans suffered. His resolution passed, albeit with the language on "lynching, burning, and disenfranchisement" removed. While
24464-480: The two organizations shared a vision of a party akin to the British Labour Party in which constituent political groups jointly participated while retaining their independent existence. The fissure between the organizations thus widened. As with the first conference, the 2nd Conference of the CPPA split over the all-important issue of an independent political party, with a proposal by five delegates of
24640-578: The unskilled workers'. In early 1913, Larkin achieved some successes in industrial disputes in Dublin and, notably, in the Sligo Dock strike ; these involved frequent recourse to sympathetic strikes and blacking (boycotting) of goods. Two major employers, Guinness and the Dublin United Tramway Company , were the main targets of Larkin's organising ambitions. Both had craft unions for skilled workers, but Larkin's main aim
24816-417: The unskilled workers'. However other commentators have noted that Larkin was "vilified as a wrecker by former comrades", with anthologist Donal Nevin noting that some of Larkin's actions, including his attacks on others in the labour movement, meant Larkin had "alienated practically all the leaders of the movement [and] the mass of trade union members" by the mid-1920s. "Big Jim" Larkin continues to occupy
24992-550: The war effort quit, ranging from the rank and file to prominent intellectuals such as Walter Lippmann , John Spargo , James Graham Phelps Stokes and William English Walling . Some briefly formed the National Party in an unrealized hope of merging with the remnants of Theodore Roosevelt 's Progressive Party and the Prohibition Party . Official membership fell from 83,284 in 1916 to 74,519 in 1918. By 1918,
25168-404: The windows of Liberty Hall . The sentence was widely seen as unjust. Larkin was released about a week later. As the lock out continued Larkin continued to speak out about the conditions being faced by workers and their families. On 4 October 1913 Larkin spoke at the lock out Tribunal of Inquiry: When the position of the workers in Dublin was taken into consideration, was it any wonder that there
25344-513: The workers of Ireland are on the side of the dear, dark-haired mother, whose call they never failed to answer yet ... again will the call ring out over hill and dale to the men who have always answered the call of Caithlin-ni-Houlihan. For seven hundred long, weary years we have waited for this hour. The flowing tide is with us ... [and we must be] ready for the Rising of the Moon'. He went on to say, in
25520-475: The working class depends upon its solidarity and class consciousness. Those who would engender or foster race hatred or animosity between the white and black sections of the working class are the enemies of both." This stance earned the party support from key black leaders in the state. In the Southwest , the non-racial United Mine Workers aided black recruitment into the party. Notable figures associated with
25696-567: Was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America who had split from the main organization in 1899. In the first decades of the 20th century, the SPA drew significant support from many different groups, including trade unionists , progressive social reformers, populist farmers and immigrants . Eugene V. Debs twice won over 900,000 votes in presidential elections ( 1912 and 1920 ), while
25872-454: Was a power in its own right. As a result, a handful of outside publishers dominated the published messages the party distributed and agitated for a much more radical anti-capitalist revolutionary message than the party itself tolerated. The Appeal to Reason newspaper thus became part of its radical left wing as did the Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company of Chicago, which produced over half of
26048-403: Was a settled part of the police programme." Larkin went into hiding, charged with incitement to breach the peace. Larkin was later re-arrested, charged with sedition and was handed a 7-month imprisonment. The Attorney General claimed Larkin had said: "People make kings and can unmake them. I never said 'God Save the King', but in derision. I say it now in derision." to a crowd of 8,000 people from
26224-458: Was able to successfully run candidates in smaller municipalities as well as big cities, winning the mayoralty of Butte, Montana , with Lewis Duncan and that of Schenectady, New York , with George R. Lunn . Its voting strength was greatest among recent Jewish, Finnish and German immigrants, coal miners and former populist farmers in the Midwest. According to Jimmy Weinstein , its electoral base
26400-405: Was an Irish republican , socialist and trade union leader. He was one of the founders of the Irish Labour Party along with James Connolly and William O'Brien , and later the founder of the Irish Worker League (a communist party which was recognised by the Comintern as the Irish section of the world communist movement), as well as the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union (ITGWU) and
26576-408: Was back in custody by 31 August, despite various plans being discussed, including a potential escape plan raised by Thomas Foran of the ITGWU and numerous legal challenges. Larkin decided to bide his time. During this time it was also arranged for Larkin's son, James, to visit him in prison. The election of Irish-American Al Smith to the position of Governor of New York in November 1922 represented
26752-532: Was backed by Algie Martin Simons , who argued that small farmers were not being eradicated under capitalist pressure as many socialists believed, but that they were "a permanent factor in the agricultural life in America" and that socialist and labor movements needed to attract their support to advance working-class interests. After disappointing performances in the 1908 elections when it ran on an under-developed agrarian platform based on land collectivization, in 1912
26928-459: Was by now raging throughout Europe. Opposition to the war was intended to be his main position whilst in America. Upon presenting his credentials to the Socialist Party of America and John Devoy , the Irish leader of Clan na Gael (the leading Irish republican supporting organisation in America), his services were quickly taken up by both and he also became involved in the Industrial Workers of
27104-589: Was cabled by Grigory Zinoviev President of the Communist International (Comintern) who gave their 'warmest greetings to the undaunted fighter released from the "democratic" prisons'. In February of that year, Larkin had been elected to the Moscow Soviet to represent the Moscow International Communist Tailoring Factory by a union of tailors, most of them returnees to Russia from the USA. Larkin's court appeal failed and he
27280-713: Was clear that the Communist Party of Great Britain frequently attempted to circumvent him in liaising with the IRA and the Worker's Party behind his back. Additionally its Minority Movement blatantly ignored Profintern instructions and refused to honour the agreement on the withdrawal of British unions from Ireland, which resulted in Larkin directing much of his irritation on the matter towards Profintern. Socialist Party of America Progressive Era Repression and persecution Anti-war and civil rights movements Contemporary The Socialist Party of America ( SPA )
27456-545: Was elected to its Executive Committee . The League's most prominent activity in its first year was to raise funds for imprisoned members of the Anti-Treaty IRA . During Larkin's absence from Ireland at the 1924 Comintern Congress in Moscow (and apparently against his instructions), his brother Peter took his supporters out of the ITGWU, forming the Workers' Union of Ireland (WUI). The new union quickly grew, gaining
27632-577: Was elected, becoming the first and only communist to be elected to Dáil Éireann . However, as a result of a libel award won against him by William O'Brien, which he had refused to pay, he was an undischarged bankrupt and could not take up his seat. Between November of that year and March 1928, six students including Larkin's son James Larkin Jnr were sent to Moscow to attend the International Lenin School . In February 1928, Larkin made what would be his penultimate visit to Moscow for
27808-434: Was firmly established. Perhaps even more importantly, Larkin's rhetoric condemning poverty and injustice and urging the oppressed to stand up for themselves left a lasting impression. Not long after the lockout Jack White resigned as commander and Larkin assumed direct command of the ICA. Beginning the process of its reform into a revolutionary paramilitary organisation by arming them with Mauser rifles bought from Germany by
27984-529: Was given a passport to travel by ship first to the United Kingdom and then to Ireland. Although Larkin had hoped to have been allowed to travel to Germany, Austria and Russia on business matters, this request was denied. On 21 April, he boarded a ship bound for Southampton and left America for good. Upon his return to Ireland in April 1923, Larkin received a hero's welcome and immediately set about touring
28160-469: Was in order to discourage visitation. A journalist from the New York Call managed to gain an interview with Larkin whilst he was incarcerated there, and the reported deterioration of Larkin's condition led to international protests which ultimately resulted in him moving back to Sing Sing later that year. Whilst at Sing Sing, Larkin was supplied with books and the means to write and communicate with
28336-455: Was joined by important Left Wingers C. E. Ruthenberg and Louis Fraina, a depletion of Left Wing forces that made the result of the 1919 Socialist Convention a foregone conclusion. Regardless, Wagenknecht's and Reed's plans to fight it out at the 1919 Emergency National Convention continued apace. With the most radical state organizations effectively purged by the Regulars (Massachusetts, Minnesota) or unable to participate (Ohio, Michigan) and
28512-443: Was later moved to Great Meadow , a comfortable, open prison, where he was visited by Constance Markievicz who, whilst noting his apparent appreciation of his conditions, also sensed his fretfulness at being cut off from politics. On 6 May 1922, Larkin was released before being rearrested shortly afterwards for another charge of criminal anarchy and served with a deportation warrant. Larkin appealed and, during his time out of jail, he
28688-492: Was necessity for a Larkin to arise, and if there was one thing more than another in my life of which I will always be proud it was the part I have taken in rescuing the workers of Dublin from the brutalizing and degrading conditions under which they labored. We are out to break down racial and sectarian barriers. My suggestion to the employers is that if they want peace we are prepared to meet them, but if they want war, then war they will have. The violence at union rallies during
28864-445: Was originally intended to be an umbrella organization bringing together various elements of the farmer and labor movement together in a common program. Invitations to the group's founding conference were issued to members of a wide variety of "progressive" organizations of widely varied perspectives. As a result, from its inception the heterogeneous body was unable to agree on a program or a declaration of principles, let alone congeal into
29040-446: Was presented in favor of "equal rights for all human beings without distinction of color, race or sex", specifically highlighting African Americans as particularly oppressed and exploited and calling for them to be organized by the socialist and labor movements. This was opposed by a number of white delegates, who argued that specific appeals to black workers were unnecessary. Two of the black delegates present agreed with this position, but
29216-411: Was produced until its suppression by the authorities in 1915. Afterwards, the Worker metamorphosed into the new Ireland Echo . In May 1912, in partnership with James Connolly and William O'Brien Larkin formed the Irish Labour Party as the political wing of the Irish Trades Union Congress . Later that year, he was elected to Dublin Corporation . He did not hold his seat long, as a month later he
29392-416: Was removed because he had a criminal record from his conviction in 1910. Under Larkin's leadership, the union continued to grow, reaching approximately 20,000 members in the time leading up to the Dublin lock-out. In August 1913 during the lock-out, Larkin was described by Vladimir Lenin as a 'talented leader' as well as 'a remarkable speaker and a man of seething energy [who] has performed miracles amongst
29568-450: Was respected by commentators both during and after his lifetime, with George Bernard Shaw describing him as the "greatest Irishman since Parnell ", his friend and colleague in the labour movement James Connolly describing him as a "man of genius, of splendid vitality, great in his conceptions, magnificent in his courage", and Vladimir Lenin noting him as 'a remarkable speaker and a man of seething energy [who] performed miracles amongst
29744-402: Was seen as an attempt to propose a political reform that would ultimately result in a better social and economic reform consistent with their beliefs. The National Committee had previously requested that Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette run for president. The Cleveland Convention was addressed by La Follette's son, Robert M. La Follette Jr. , who read a message from his father accepting
29920-422: Was sentenced to prison for a year. This was widely regarded as unjust, and the Lord-Lieutenant , Lord Aberdeen , pardoned him after he had served three months in prison. Also in 1908, Arthur Griffith during the Dublin carter's strike described Larkin as an "Englishman importing foreign political disruption into this country and putting native industry at risk". After his expulsion from the NUDL, Larkin founded
30096-405: Was set for May 1925. A fiasco ensued when the organisers discovered at the last minute that Larkin did not intend to attend. Feeling that the proposed party could not succeed without him, they called the conference off as it was due to start in a packed room in the Mansion House, Dublin . Larkin perceived certain actions undertaken by Stewart as attempts to circumvent his authority, including sending
30272-511: Was strongest west of the Mississippi River , "in the states where mining, lumbering, and tenant farming prevailed". It was also able to attract support from railroad workers. Its vote shares were highest in Oklahoma , Nevada , Montana , Washington , California , Idaho , Florida , Arizona and Wisconsin , and it also attracted support in Texas , Arkansas and Kansas . From 1900 (before its formal union) to 1912, it ran Eugene V. Debs for president at each election. The best showing ever for
30448-403: Was sweeping the US and he was arrested on 7 November 1919 during a series of anti-Bolshevik raids. Larkin was charged with 'criminal anarchy' due to his part in the publishing of the SPA's 'Left-wing manifesto' in Revolutionary Age . Larkin was released on 20 November, after $ 15,000 bail was paid, of which John Devoy paid $ 5,000. He resumed his political activities but was under no illusion of what
30624-406: Was to come, expecting to be handed a lengthy jail sentence. New York State Prosecutor Alexander Rourke took advantage of a query from Scotland Yard as to whether Larkin would be allowed to travel to South Africa to turn his allies in the Irish nationalist movement, including Devoy, against him. In reality, this request did not stem from any association with figures of authority in Britain, but rather
30800-449: Was to unionise the unskilled workers as well. He coined the slogan "A fair day's work for a fair day's pay". Larkin advocated Syndicalism , which was a revolutionary brand of socialism. Larkin gained few supporters from within, particularly from the British Trade Union Congress who did not want strike action such as the lock-out to lead to a growth in radicalism. Guinness staff were relatively well-paid and enjoyed generous benefits from
30976-439: Was weakened by the popularity of President Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal , the organization and flexibility of the Communist Party under Earl Browder and the resurgent labor movement 's desire to support sympathetic Democratic Party politicians. A divisive and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to broaden the party by admitting followers of Leon Trotsky and Jay Lovestone caused the traditional Old Guard to leave and form
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