(Excerpts from repert to the
National Committee meeting of
the CPA, June 18-20, 1945).

es OMRADE Browder’s

“notorious revisionism’

(to use the words of Duclos)

Stems directly from “the

Present aggressive program

of American imperialism. In

Order to understand this, it

is helpful to review briefly
the Communist Part y’s

Struggle against right oppor-
tunism in its ranks during

the 1920’s. For the revision-
ism of that time was also a
definite reflection in our par-
ty of American imperialism.

World War I,
American imperialism experi-
enced a big upswing. The
United States became the most
powerful capitalist country in
the world. It passed from the
Status of debtor to a creditor
nation, exporting capital from
1920 to 1929 to the then un-
heard-of total of 20 billion dol-
lars. All over the world it eon-
ducted an active campaign to
‘capture markets, as against
other big countries which were
weakened by the war. With its
“Young” and “Dawes” plans,
it practically dietated the econ.
omic terms to defeated Ger-
many. Toward Latin America
its attitude was one of arrogant
domination and military op-
pression. Meanwhile, at home
the capitalists, in an orgy of
profit-making, went ahead de-
veloping their new methods of
mass production, to the admira-
tion and envy of the whole
capitalist world.

Following

As usualy in’ »the’ optimistic
atmosphere of the upward
phase of the economic cycle,
super-heated soothsayers ap-
peared to sing the glories of the
American capitalist system.
And this time to an extent
never known before. The United
States, they said, had finally
overcome the contradictions of
capitalism. There would be no
more economic crises or mass
unemployment. Mass produc-
tion and high wages was the
magic formula. Not Marx, but
Ford, was their slogan. The
“New Capitalism”? ‘was here,
and engineers and economists
came from all over Europe to
study the American miracle.

Not strangely, this intoxicat-
ing capitalist propoganda had
profound repercussions in the
ranks of the workers, especially
the trade unions. Labor official-
dom, including the progressives,
listened open-mouthed when
Professor Carver explained how
the workers through their sav-
ings were buying control of the
great industries. And the labor
“theoreticians” did a little
utopia-building of their own.
They declared that the path of
progress for labor lay through
cooperation with the employers

to increase production. The
class. struggle was ended ;
strikes were 4 thing of the

past; Socialism was an outworn
dogma. The big thing was the
“Higher Strategy of Labor”
(no-strike, speed-up policy),
labor banks, and class collabor-
ation on every front.

This capitalist nonsense be-
came the official policy of the
A. F. of L. and railroad unions,
beginning in 1923. The result
was that these labor organiza-
tions, already weakened by
serious strike defeats during
the big postwar  anti-union

drive, became little better than
PACIFIC ADVOCATE—PAGE le

On The Question Of Revisionism

speed-up agencies for the em-
ployers, grievously neglecting
the interests of the workers.
Consequently trade union mor-
ale sank to zero and for the
first time in history the labor
movement failed to increase its
membership during a period of
“prosperity.” :

It is one of the brightest
pages in >the history of our
party that we fought militantly
(even though often on a too
narrow basis) against this
whole drunken orgy of class
collaboration, many of our best
fighters being expelled from the
unions, deprived of their jobsz
arrested, and otherwise perse-
cuted for doing so. In spite of
this policy of struggle, how-
ever, the poison of American
imperialist propaganda man-
aged to seep into our party’s
ranks.

Its chief voice was Jay Love-
stone, who later became a rene-
gade. Reflecting the propaganda
of the great trusts, Lovestone
added his voice to the chorus of
praise of American capitalists.
In our party he developed his
theory of “American exception-
alism,” the substance of which
was that capitalism in this
country had become so strong
and progressive that it was no
longer subject. to the general
economic laws governing the
recurring capitalist crises. The
practical effects of Lovestone’s
revisionism were to tend to dis-
“arnr our party’s Inilitancy, to
Sow false prosperity illusions
among the masses, and to sub-
ordinate the workers to the
capitalists’ profit-making orgy
in this country and their imper-
ialist program abroad. After a

bitter struggle Lovestone’s re-

visionism was exposed and he
was expelled from the party,
whereupon he proceeded to de-
velop into a Soviet-hater and a
tool of the notorious Matthew
Woll.

As for the’ American “New
Capitalism,” which Was to re-
generate the capitalist system
of the world, it blew up with a
loud report in October, 1929,
And the United States, which
Was supposed to have overcome
the economic contradictions of
capitalism, acording to Carver,
Chase, Tugwell, Lovestone and ~
many other bourgeois theorists,
actually suffered more devas-
tatingly from the unprecedent-
ed economic crisis during 1929-
1934 than any other country in
the world.

(COMRADE. Browder’s revis-

ionism has, like Lovestone’s,
also developed in a period of
American imperialist illusions
and upswing. Even before
World War IT began there were
powerful voices among the big
capitalists clamoring for Amer.
ican world domination, a notori-
ous ¢ase in point being Henry
Luce, with his “American Cen-
tury” theories. And since the
war has been under way, this
striving for American imperial-
istic dominance has grown, un-
til now it is manifestly the
basic determination of Ameri-
can big capital.

In the main the great capital-
ists of this country have sup-
ported the war—in their own

way. But it would be silly te
think that in doing so they
have have had the same demo-
cratic aspirations as the Amer-
ican people, or even .of the

Roosevelt government. For the
most part they have seen a
good chance to knock out 2
couple of very dangerous im-
Perialist rivals and thereby to
lay the basis for American im-
perialist advancement. All
through the war they would
have been happy to ‘make a
negotiated peace with Hitler, to
their own advantage and at the
expense of the Soviet Union
and the democratic ‘forces of
the world. And now that Hitler
is smashed, their imperialist
designs become all the ‘more
apparent, as witness their be-
havior at the San Francisco
- conference of the United Na-
tions. Such elements see the
weakened position of other
capitalist states, as contrasted
With the great strength of the
United States, and they warit to
realize on this situation in such
wise that they can dictate to
the rest of the world, including
the USSR.

As the National Committee’s
resolution points out, American
finance capital, fearful of demo-
cratic developments in Europe
and desirous of world control
for itself, is now embarking
upon a policy of imperialistic
“ agerandizement which, if it is
not checked by the democratic
forces of the world, can have
the most disastrous consequen-
ces, not only to big capital it-
self, but also to the great ob-
jectives laid down in the confer-
ences of Moscow, Teheran, and
Yalta.

Although American finance
capital strives to conceal its
imperialistic ambitions under
pretenses of the United States
using its world power for altru-
istic ends, nevertheless these
ambitions are clear, not only
from big capital’s practical

policies, but also from the writ-
ings of many of its spokesmen

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—conservative, liberal and la-
bor. Thus, Thomas E. Dewey’s
spectacular demand of the
Mackinac Republican confer-
ence for a United States-Great
Britain alliance was obviously
an attempt to set up a domina-
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The Soviet trade union journal,
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Class, March 1, 1945, correctly
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acter not only of Senator Van-
denberg, but also of his associ-
ates, the Hoovers, Tafts, Dew-
eys, Landons, MicCormicks,
Hearsts, Pattersons, and other
spokesmen of big capital when
it says: ‘

“The whole content of Van-
denberg’s. speech... is a mask
to conceal his pretentious
claims for the establishment of
the dictatorship of one Great
Power over all the other pow-
ers, great, medium and small.”

As in the 1920’s but under
different forms, the present ac-
tively expansionist policies of
American imperialism evoke a
response in the labor move-
ment, as is evidenced by the
attitude of such figures as Mat-
thew Woll and by many policies

-of the AFL Executive Council.

Also, the wild attacks of Nor-
man Thomas, David Dubinsky
and other Social-Democrats
against the Soviet Union have
their roots in the expansionist
program of American imperial-
ism. - .

50¢

. resources, is bound to

Oc= party does no
political vacuum.

that it is ‘precisely
Browder who is giving
these imperialist ~ illy
our party, especially -
gard to the postwar ¢
And he is doing this ani
orate pretenses of a dij
and flexible Marxism-E

wi na

PS 8

will face gigantic prof
industrial " reconstructil®
development, the United

with its tremendous 4¢

very important -+ol
Comrade Browder doe
however, is that if th
the United States is j
the realization of the pr }
ef Moscow, Teheran ang &
this can only be accor |
if the broad masses ; |
country, especially the |
union movement, are ver |
on the alert to see to ;
imperialist trends upon t §
of our Government 4} :
great capitalists are eur |
democratic policies -
The great goals of Victoj
fascism and the achieven
a lasting peace, laid d
Moscow, Teheran and E

rr

be realized, but only u |

rs
basis of eternal vigilance &

combined democratic for Sj
the world. Browder, fet_ fa]
to this, is quite willing ¢ §
the whole matter to the oe,
gence” and “enlightened x
interest of the big capit) 28

The imperialists could |,
ask for anything better a
the free hand that Br Aen
would so readily grant th & ;
is hard to conceive of a eC
tion more favorable to | 3
can imperialism than ¢ |
lief, such as Browder }} |)
pressed many times tt a
can rely upon these capi, #
“enlightenment” +o fol @
constructive and dem: t
world policy. The gener
sult of such a reliance
be that American imper

(Continued on next pa;

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