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56-600: The New York Communist was a short-lived weekly newspaper issued by the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party of Local Greater New York, encompassing the New York City metro area. The paper was edited by the radical journalist and war correspondent John Reed . Only 10 issues of the paper were produced during 1919 before the publication was absorbed by The Revolutionary Age following

112-517: A Jewish innkeeper who was one of the few literate men of the village. Waldman emigrated to America in the summer 1909 at the age of 17, arriving in New York City to join his sisters on September 17. Waldman first worked in a metal shop before becoming an apprentice garment lining cutter in one of the sweatshops of the city. He joined a union and participated in the 11-week New York cloakmakers' strike of 1910, while attending high school in

168-636: A "betrayal of Socialist principles" in attempting to "divert 100,000 Socialist votes to the Roosevelt column." Many SDF members became involved in the American Labor Party when it was formed in 1936, supporting the faction led by David Dubinsky . Waldman however resigned from the ALP in 1940, feeling it had been taken over by a pro-Communist faction led by Sidney Hillman . It was not for another four years until Dubinsky and his supporters reached

224-512: A cause celebre of the Red Scare . They were expelled on April 1. All five were re-elected at a special election on September 16, and appeared to take their seats at the beginning of the special session on September 20. The next day, DeWitt and Orr were permitted to take their seats, but Claessens, Solomon and Waldman were expelled again. Protesting against the re-expulsion of their comrades, DeWitt and Orr resigned their seats. In 1924 , he ran on

280-474: A declaration I would a thousand times rather do that than commit the Socialist Party to an anarchistic , illegal, and communistic doctrine. Following the conclusion of debate, the Declaration of Principles was approved by majority vote of the assembled delegates and the matter referred to the membership of the party for ratification by referendum vote . The Old Guard minority issued a formal statement on

336-700: A fusion candidate of the Democratic and Republican parties and emerged victorious, along with four other Socialist Party comrades, August Claessens , Samuel Orr , Charles Solomon , and Samuel A. DeWitt . The five Socialist Assemblymen were suspended on the first day of the new legislative session by the Republican-dominated body and their expulsion trial before the Judiciary Committee of the Assembly and subsequent court fight became

392-635: A lawyer by attending law school in the evenings. He was admitted to the New York State Bar in 1923 and worked thereafter as counsel for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America , for the New York Central Trades and Labor Council, and for various other unions in the building and garment trades. In 1916 the young engineer Louis Waldman was approached at a meeting of his Socialist Party branch and

448-724: A leading role in the new SDF organization. An organizational meeting was held of the new group in early July, at which Waldman sought to endorse Franklin Delano Roosevelt for President of the United States in lieu of the Socialist nominee, Norman Thomas. The gathering found itself split on the issue, however, and no endorsement was forthcoming. Waldman's foes, such as New York Socialist Party Executive Secretary Jack Altman and Socialist candidate for Governor Harry W. Laidler were quick to attack Waldman, charging him with

504-688: A left majority, and expelled several Left Wing locals and federations in May 1919, the Leftist groups decided to meet in a conference in late June. At the conference however, there was still much dissension. The seven expelled federations and the Michigan party demanded that the Left wing go ahead and form a communist party, while the group around the Revolutionary Age still wanted to try to take over

560-471: A target for the sophomorish Reed to ignore. On May 17, The New York Socialist appeared as usual at the Rand School. It was not until several thousand issues had been distributed that it was discovered that the document being distributed was an exact replica of Berenberg's publication created by Reed and MacAlpine. The parody issue prominently featured a speech purported to have been delivered by leader of

616-429: Is illegal to do so. I say, such a doctrine is not only illegal and for that reason alone should be abandoned, but that it is also immoral, destructive of the principles of democratic government, and a danger to the very civil rights Dr. King seeks to promote." In such a way, Waldman asserted: defying the law is on its face generally a bad thing because defiance would weaken respect for the law in most cases, especially if

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672-665: The Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America and the International Longshoremen's Association , Waldman continued his practice until retiring due to a stroke in his late 80s. Like many liberals of his time, Waldman expressed sympathy for the endeavors of civil rights activists but did not agree with their tactic of breaking the law. In an article published by the New York State Bar Journal in 1965, he expressed his worries. He begins by assuring his readers that he "espoused and still [espouses]

728-818: The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia and the end of World War I was an accelerant that made revolutionary socialism an important issue of the day for many in America and around the world. One important forerunner of the organized Left Wing Section of 1919 was the magazine The Class Struggle , founded by Ludwig Lore of the New Yorker Volkszeitung . Lore's magazine, which first saw print in May 1917, related current events in Europe and discussed matters of import written by various adherents of

784-647: The Left Wing National Conference of June 1919. According to a declaration in its inaugural issue, no doubt written by editor John Reed, "thousands of members" of the Left Wing Section living in New York City were engaged in "fighting for control of the local Party machinery, against a fierce and unscrupulous resistance by the petty politicians who direct the Party machine." While noting enormous contributions to this movement made by

840-551: The Rand School of Social Science , launched a new factional document from the other side of the debate, mockingly entitled The New York Socialist . The publication adopted the jeering tone of Reed's publication and matched The New York Communist blow-for-blow in terms of personal invective, albeit concentrating its fire on the Left Wing insurgents as "an enemy ... within our ranks." This new rival proved to be too tempting

896-791: The Zimmerwald Left with an eager English-speaking audience. Co-editing the magazine with Lore were Louis C. Fraina , a former member of the Socialist Labor Party and voluminous writer on themes relating to the European revolutionary movement, and Louis Boudin , a well known Marxist theoretician . Another regular publication loyal to the left-wing was International Socialist Review published by Charles H. Kerr . A Socialist Propaganda League of America had been formed in Boston and by late 1918 had succeeded in taking over

952-646: The social democratic Old Guard considered their Militant opponents to be adventurists with a deluded sense of enthusiasm for the Soviet Union and the world communist movement , while the Militants considered the Old Guard to be dyed-in-the-wood reformists unwilling to challenge anti-democratic behavior in the union movement. Personal and personnel issues entered into play. The Militants sought to replace Socialist Party National Chairman Morris Hillquit ,

1008-605: The Boston local. The Boston newspaper, The Revolutionary Age became the major voice of the Left wing in late 1918 and early 1919. In New York a specific Left wing group within the party had been formed in February 1919, and began publishing the New York Communist . After the National Executive Committee voided the election returns to a new National Executive Committee, which would have

1064-707: The National Council, however, Gitlow, Larkin and MacAlpine, were adamantly opposed to this. They, together with John Reed and Alfred Wagenknecht , formed a new faction, the Labor Committee of the Left Wing with a new organ, the Voice of Labor . At the August 31 opening of the Socialist party convention the Reed-Gitlow group tried to enter and present their credentials, but were promptly thrown out of

1120-454: The Regular faction Louis Waldman on April Fool's Day . In this mock speech, Waldman portrayed as attacking the Left Wing with the words: So evident is their intention to disrupt the party that it has been necessary to expel all Left Wing branches and exclude the members from any vote on party affairs. If this is not disrupting the party, what is? The complete run of The New York Communist

1176-463: The Socialist party at its September convention. The Federations and the Michigan group walked out and formed a National Organization Committee, which was set on organizing a founding Communist convention to rival the socialist convention in September. They also began publishing their own newspaper, The Communist. The majority founded the National Council of the Left Wing and planned to take retake

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1232-465: The Socialist ticket for New York Attorney General . Waldman was elected chairman of the Socialist Party of New York state in 1928, a position which he retained through the first half of the 1930s. He also stood as the SP candidate for Governor of New York in 1928 , 1930 and 1932 , polling over 100,000 votes in each of these races. Along with Morris Hillquit , James Oneal , and Algernon Lee , Waldman

1288-484: The aftermath of the fire, Waldman saw and heard Socialist leader Morris Hillquit speak for the first time, an event which inspired Waldman to engage in "a veritable orgy of reading" on socialism and thereby won the young man over to the socialist cause. Waldman graduated from Cooper Union in June 1916 with a degree in engineering, and worked as a construction engineer during the day while following his ambition to become

1344-405: The best known and most widely respected of the Old Guard leaders, as an impediment to the future growth of the party. The Old Guard, similarly, sought the removal of the party's National Executive Secretary, Clarence Senior , a protégé of the charismatic spokesman for the radical wing of the party, former Presidential candidate Norman Thomas , an outspoken pacifist who had made common cause with

1400-570: The cause of civil rights for all people" and then argues: Those who assert rights under the Constitution and the laws made thereunder must abide by that Constitution and the law, if that Constitution is to survive. They cannot pick and choose; they cannot say they will abide by those laws which they think are just and refuse to abide by those laws which they think are unjust.... The country, therefore, cannot accept Dr. King's doctrine that he and his followers will pick and choose, knowing that it

1456-560: The democratic ideal... Waldman believes that the strength of Communism in the U.S. is now reaching a new peak in the C.I.O. 's Political Action Committee (TIME, July 24, 1944), "the catch-all for the political activities of unions dominated by Communists, militant Socialists and others willing to cooperate with them." He concludes flatly: "Unless the New Deal casts out the seeds of left-wing totalitarianism , which it fosters today, it may either lead to an American variety of Communism, or, what

1512-865: The end justified the means. Louis Waldman married Bella B. Waldman, with whom he had two sons. He retired age 86 after a severe stroke. He died on September 12, 1982, at the Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged in Manhattan, New York City . His papers reside at the New York Public Library . The law firm he helped found, later Vladeck, Waldman, Elias, and Engelhardt, currently Vladeck, Raskin & Clark, continues to exist in New York. In 1944, Louis Waldman published his first autobiography, Labor Lawyer, in which he laid out his defense of

1568-429: The evenings. Upon conclusion of the strike and resumption of his job, Waldman was fired and blacklisted for carrying out his function as a union representative in supervising the enforcement of the union contract in his shop. Barred from the garment industry, Waldman thereafter worked unsuccessfully as a door-to-door peddler of ribbon before taking a job in a cardboard box factory. Waldman graduated from high school in

1624-554: The existing 1924 Declaration. The 1934 Declaration of Principles was ratified by the party membership nonetheless. The factional war within the Socialist Party continued unabated for more than a year more, with the Old Guard faction ultimately exiting the party en masse to form the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) at the time of the party's May 1936 convention in Cleveland. Waldman continued to play

1680-640: The hall with the help of the police. The Left Wingers, joined by other socialist delegates who walked out of the convention in protest over the incident or for other disagreements with the socialist party, including the entire Ohio delegation, then met in the billiards room on the first floor of the Machinists Hall in Chicago and formed the Communist Labor Party. Louis Waldman Louis Waldman (January 5, 1892 – September 12, 1982)

1736-505: The history of the Socialist Party in the years following the death of Eugene Victor Debs . It is worthy of note that many of the figures he denounces as dangerous pro-Communists in his book, such as Reinhold Niebuhr and Andrew Biemiller , would later become pillars of anti-Communist liberals of the postwar years. While Waldman himself was mostly apolitical after the war, this perspective clearly informed younger Old Guard supporters such as Morrie Ryskind and Ralph de Toledano who moved to

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1792-502: The last war. 'Massed war resistance' is one of those provocative phrases which is capable of all kinds of construction. What does a political party dedicated to lawful and peaceful struggle mean when it declares itself dedicated to the use of massed war resistance if it does not mean extra-legal means?... For myself, comrades, it is inconceivable to me that I can remain a Social Democrat and become bound by this declaration.... I make my appeal to you, comrades. If we have to adjourn without

1848-428: The law by any anti-war activity invites fanatics and provocators (sic.) to join the party and involve it in responsibility for acts inconsistent with socialist principles. It is also an incitement to unlawful acts. Such incitement is itself a crime, for which courts could hold every party member liable. The membership of the party was encouraged to defeat proposed new Declaration of Principles in favor of retention of

1904-421: The legal system is basically decent; therefore, in order to meet this objection, those who advocated civil disobedience must have legitimate justifications to defy the law. Answering Waldman's objections, King often used such a particular argument: the evils being opposed were so serious, so numerous, and so difficult to fight that civil disobedience was a justifiable last resort. Although the means were regrettable,

1960-547: The long-established Left Wing weekly of the Left Wing Section of Local Boston, The Revolutionary Age, "as long as the entire machinery is not in our hands, a New York is essential," Reed declared. For the next 10 weeks, Reed's newspaper documented one of the most ferocious factional struggles in the history of the Socialist Party of America, a veritable war marked by arbitrary dissolutions of party units, lockouts from facilities, and takeovers of scheduled meetings. This blow-by-blow coverage which makes The New York Communist one of

2016-507: The matter, calling the Declaration of Principles "inadequate and confused" and a step towards turning the SPA into an "underground organization." The Old Guard statement continued: Existing democracy, incomplete though it be, is immensely valuable to the workers, through whose struggles it has been won. Let communists and fascists call it 'bogus.' Our duty is to defend and perfect it. The pledge to support any 'comrade' coming into conflict with

2072-477: The most important primary sources for historians studying the process of formation of the American Communist movement during the tumultuous year of 1919. According to historian James Weinstein : Reed and his colleagues viewed the Socialist Party moderates as consistent supporters of 'liberal state capitalism' as a result of their commitment to parliamentarianism . Although they did not yet attack

2128-630: The old NEC in May held a rump meeting in Chicago, on July 26–27 tabulating the votes for themselves and asking the national secretary, Adolph Germer, to had over the keys to the party headquarters. They were rebuffed. On July 28 the National council of the Left wing gave in and voted to attend the Chicago convention organized by the National Organizing Committee to form the Communist Party of America . Three members of

2184-533: The old party leadership as prowar, they did tend to equate it with European social democracy , which, Reed wrote, was 'as responsible for the war as Wilhelm.' * * * While the Left Wing in New York, as throughout the United States, became more and more caught up with the insurrectionary perspective of the new Communist International , the old leadership of the Socialist Party reacted to the wartime repression and postwar antiradical hysteria by appealing to traditional American democratic rights and liberal values. Thus, at

2240-467: The organized Militant group in an effort to build the SPA into a mass movement. The critical moment in the struggle between the two main factions came in June 1934 at the Socialist Party's National Convention in Detroit, Michigan . There the assembled delegates took up debate of an aggressively anti-militarist Declaration of Principles for the party, written by Thomas ally Devere Allen . Louis Waldman

2296-452: The party's traditional orientation towards electoral politics and close cooperation with the trade union movement. The Old Guard organized itself in opposition to a so-called " Militant faction " which emerged in 1930 and 1931, consisting of younger and more radical members who sought a turn towards direct action and a program endorsing revolutionary socialism . Although both of these main factions considered themselves orthodox Marxists ,

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2352-548: The party, who favored reconciliation with the Communist Party USA , in keeping with the united front policy of the Comintern and preparation for a socialist struggle for power in the event of capitalism's collapse. During the first half of the 1930s, Waldman was one of the leading figures of the so-called "Old Guard" of the Socialist Party — an organized faction based in New York City which sought to continue

2408-590: The positions he had taken in his political career. Among other things, Waldman became very critical of the New Deal , considering it to be overly accommodating to the Communists and exhibiting certain authoritarian tendencies, somewhat echoing the critique of the old right . He was particularly alarmed by the integration of trade unions into the state apparatus that began to occur during World War II . Labor Lawyer also represents an important primary source for

2464-455: The right from the anti-Communist left. TIME (possibly Whittaker Chambers ) reviewed the book, saying: Waldman's experiences in the years that followed were part of the tumultuous coming of age of U.S. social consciousness... Labor Lawyer, Waldman's autobiography, is an esoteric jumble... Above all, it is an old Socialist's insistent, desperate warning against Communism as the No. 1 despoiler of

2520-616: The same conclusion and bolted to form the Liberal Party . After resigning from the ALP, Waldman had virtually no political involvements and devoted himself to his law practice, becoming one of the most distinguished labor lawyers in the nation. During this period, he represented Walter Krivitsky among others. He was also active in the New York State Bar Association and served over the years on numerous state commissions. Representing unions as varied as

2576-421: The same point in time, each wing exhibited one side of the polarity that has characterized the movement as a whole since World War I : in its revolutionary phase a resort to abstract revolutionary appeals; in its popular (defensive) stage a falling back on the dominant liberalism. Editor John Reed was assisted in his task by associate editor Eadmonn MacAlpine . Business manager of the publication at its launch

2632-480: The socialist organization and convention. The council members included Louis Fraina, C. E. Ruthenberg , I. E. Ferguson , John Ballam , James Larkin , Eamon MacAlpine, Benjamin Gitlow , Maximilian Cohen , and Bertram Wolfe . Ferguson was named national secretary and the Revolutionary Age , with Fraina as editor, became the official organ. The left wingers who had been elected to the new NEC but had been purged by

2688-553: The spring of 1911 and, owing to a lack of funds for college, enrolled in the Cooper Union to study engineering that fall. Waldman witnessed the Triangle Waist Company fire of 1911. Packed into a tight space and locked away from means of escape, 146 workers from the building's 9th floor died that day in one of the greatest tragedies in New York City's history. At a memorial meeting held at Cooper Union in

2744-559: The turn towards war by the Democratic administration of Woodrow Wilson , Waldman ran for the Assembly again as a Socialist, this time winning election. Waldman was a member of the State Assembly (New York Co., 8th D.), sitting in the 141st New York State Legislature , one of 10 Socialists elected to the Assembly of 1918, the best electoral performance that the organization would ever achieve. In November 1918, Waldman met with defeat, but he ran again for state assembly in 1919 against

2800-492: Was Maximilian Cohen , the Executive Secretary of the Left Wing Section of Local Greater New York. Cohen was succeeded in this role by Benjamin Gitlow effective with the June 14 issue. Each issue of the paper consisted of 8 pages in each issue and bore a cover price of 5 cents per copy. No sooner had the second edition of The New York Communist appeared when David P. Berenberg , a party regular affiliated with

2856-663: Was a leading figure in the Socialist Party of America from the late 1910s and through the middle 1930s, a founding member of the Social Democratic Federation , and a prominent New York labor lawyer . He was expelled from the New York State Assembly in 1920 during the First Red Scare . Louis Waldman was born on January 5, 1892, in Yancherudnia, Ukraine , not far from Kiev , the son of

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2912-481: Was born a Socialist Party politician. Waldman did actually campaign, however, mounting the platform to give public speeches, at which he gradually improved. Waldman performed well in the 1916 election, tripling the Socialist tally while losing to his Democratic opponent by a few hundred votes. In the fall of 1917, with America embroiled in the European conflict and a section of the American electorate radicalized by

2968-494: Was drafted into becoming a candidate of the party for the New York State Assembly . Although he protested that between his engineering job and his evening studies of law he had no time for campaigning, the party official approaching him smiled and replied, "Campaigning? Who said anything about campaigning? We just want someone to run for office. If you get more than seven hundred votes we'll be lucky. The real campaigns this year will be for Meyer London and Morris Hillquit." And thus

3024-495: Was one of the key spokesmen for the Old Guard in the debate over this document at the Detroit Convention. Waldman took issue with the clause of the proposed Declaration of Principles which called for "massed war resistance" by the party in the face of a new war": Comrades, what does that phrase mean? 'Massed war resistance' is one of the clauses which constituted the basis of indictment of thousands of people during

3080-475: Was recognized as a leader of the SP's "Old Guard" faction, which favored close working relations with the trade unions of the American Federation of Labor and pursuance of gradual ameliorative reforms leading eventually to socialism rather than cataclysmic revolutionary transformation. This perspective brought Waldman and the Old Guard into opposition of the largely youth based "Militant" faction in

3136-491: Was reprinted as an elephant folio book by the Greenwood Reprint Corporation of Westport, Connecticut in 1970 as part of their series "Radical Periodicals in the United States." A microfilm edition was also released by Greenwood at that same time. Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party A generalized Left wing had existed prior to 1919, but lacked organizational cohesion. The success of

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