its power without a struggle and become subject to the paper will of a Parliament;

(2) That, therefore, the workers should prepare not for an easy Parliamentary victory, but for victory by a heavy civil

war;

(3) That should the workers have succeeded in gaining power without this civil war, that would only signify that the necessity of civil war would confront the working class so soon as it set out to realize its will to defend itself from capitalist exploitation and speculation: SO soon as it began to liberate the masses in the Colonies now oppressed by British Imperialism.

Imbued with these principles, the scattered Communist groups throughout the British Empire came together and issued through a "Provisional Committee" a call for a meeting of organization. This meeting was held at the Cannon Street Hotel on the afternoon of July 31. In its circular calling for assembly, the Provisional Committee said in part:

crush

Faced with the vigor and the solidarity of the imperialists internationally, and their organized determination to every vestige of working class freedom, and particularly to batter down the workers' republic in Russia, who now can defend the time-worn ideas still held by some Socialists of a gradual evolution or peaceful transition from capitalism into socialism? * * * To hasten the world revolution accruing, a Communist Party is wanted. A party of action. One that will wage the class war up to the point of revolution. This Communist Party must stand for the dictatorship of the proletariat.

The national convention of independent Socialist societies and local Communist groups accepting "the dictatorIship of the working class, the Soviet system, and the Third Moscow International" as the fundamental bases of Communist unity, met at the time and place appointed. Nearly 200 delegates were present, presided over by the Provisional Committee. Arthur McManus, the Chairman, pointed out the obstacles and difficulties in the way of those now seeking to create a Communist Party in Great Britain. The nature of their deliberations, however, he declared, would be a more effective reply to the solicitations of Russia than anything that had emanated from England since the beginning of the revolution in that country up to the present time. He urged them

to pay no attention to the criticism of the press, and not to fear the consequences of any statement they wished to make.

Fraternal greetings were read from the German Communist Party, from the Italian Socialist Party, from the Norwegian Labor Party, from the German and Austrian Communist Party and from the Dutch Communist Party. A letter was also read from Lenin. In this message, dated July 8, the Russian leader expressed his complete sympathy with the plans of the Joint Provisional Committee of the British Communist Party. He continued as follows:

I consider the policy of Comrade Sylvia Pankhurst and of the Workers' Socialist Federation in refusing to collaborate in the amalgamation of the British Socialist Party, Socialist Labor Party, and others into one Communist Party, to be wrong. I personally am in favor of participation in Parliament and of adhesion to the Labor Party on condition of free and independent Communist activity. This policy I am going to defend at the Second Congress of the Third International at MosCOW. I consider it most desirable that a Communist Party be speedily organized on the basis of the decisions and principles of the Third International, and that that party be brought into close touch with the Industrial Workers of the World and the Shop Steward Committee in order to bring about their complete union.

A debate followed, in which one speaker said that "the downfall of capitalism would be in the simple form of a struggle in the streets under the guidance of the Communist Party." A resolution establishing the Communist Party, and declaring its adhesion to the Third International, was carried unanimously. A resolution was moved on behalf of the Provisional Committee by T. Bell which favored Parliamentary action as a valuable means of propaganda and agitation, and which declared that Parliamentary representatives must take their mandate from the Communist Party, and not from their constituency. The question of the oath of allegiance to the King he disposed of by saying that the Communists had no scruples on this score, in view of the objects to be gained. Robert Williams, supporting the resolution, pointed out that Lenin advocated political action, and urged having a few men in Parliament who, every time a Cabinet Minister

spoke, should cry out that he was lying. The resolution was carried. The executive of the new party was to consist of six members in addition to the Provisional Committee composed of W. Paul, A. McManus and T. Bell. The convention reconvened on Aug. 1 at the International Socialist Club and voted for affiliation with the Labor Party by 100 against 35. The new party finally stood committed to the following program:

The establishment of a Soviet form of Government by means of revolution.

The establishment of a dictatorship of the proletariat.

Participation in Parliament under mandate from the Communist Party only. Affiliation with the Labor Party, with the objects expressed.

The British press reported the sessions of the convention in full detail, commenting variously, and attacking the validity of the arguments for revolution set forth. No Government action to prevent the convention was taken, and no legal or police activity followed the delivery of incendiary speeches.

T

HE international congress of old

line Socialists, whose organization is known as the Second International, as distinguished from the Third International of the Bolsheviki, opened in Geneva, Switzerland, in the Maison Communale, on July 31, 1920. In contrast with the sessions at Stuttgart in 1907, which were attended by about 800 delegates, and with the meeting at Copenhagen in 1910, attended by about 900, the Geneva Congress was attended by a scant 100 delegates—a fact which spoke eloquently of the effect of dissension within the ranks of socialism and of the abandonment of the Second International by many groups. Thomas Shaw, M. P., of the British delegation, was unanimously elected President, and M. Vliegen of the Dutch delegation, Vice President.

In his opening address Mr. Shaw painted a sombre picture of the European situation, describing the international outlook as extremely grave because the United States was apparently unwilling to enter the League of Nations, and because a state of terror and economic and political chaos reigned in Eastern Europe. He further declared that, in view of this situation, the divisions of the international labor movement were tragic, and were actually re

tarding the rebuilding of the world. It was idle to deny, he said, that grave differences existed within the International, and it seemed impossible to reconcile the conflicting views of those who believed in violent revolution and class dictatorship and those who believe that all classes of men and women had a right to a voice in their country's life. If the Russian Socialists believed the only method was violent revolution and class dictatorship, they were free to adopt it, but if it was proposed to apply that principle to the speaker's own country, his voice would be raised against it. His final appeal for unity and common sense was applauded by the delegates.

M. Huysmans (Belgium), Secretary of the International, then presented his report, and proposed the appointment of four committees: one dealing with the question of international unity and the reconstruction of the Second International; the second, with the question of war responsibilities, militarism and the League of Nations; the third, with the question of socialism, including the problem of the Parliamentary method as opposed to that of dictatorship, and the fourth, with the credentials and status of the various delegations. These were appointed, after some debate regarding the discussion of war responsibilities,

which the French right wing Socialists declared was indispensable to re-estab lishing the International, while the German delegation, supported by the British, declared that this question could not be settled now, and that the future was more important than the past.

These committees presented their reports at the next formal session on Aug. 2. Considerable excitement was caused by the announcement of the Credentials Committee that it had decided to exclude the French delegates, partly on the ground that some of them had been expelled from the party on the charge of not being revolutionary enough; but M. Huysmans, the Secretary, pleaded their case, and they were finally seated. M. Alexinsky, former member of the Russian Duma, who had been imprisoned four times by the Czar and once by the Bolsheviki, was excluded, largely through the efforts of the British pacifists, who objected to him on the ground of his support of the anti-Bolshevist General Denikin.

The vexed question of war csponsibilities was finally settled that afternoon by acceptance of the report drawn up by allied, neutral and German members of the Committee on Responsibilities. This report took cognizance of the German Socialist declaration that Imperial Germany had committed grave crimes against civilization during the war, that the Majority Socialists themselves had committed the fault of not fighting energetically against the militarism of their Government, and that "the German revolution, to the great misfortune of the whole world, and especially the German people, had happened five years too late." The report then laid most of the blame on capitalist method of rule, which was one of the most profound causes of the war," and concluded:

"the

This conference gives over to the execration of the people the authors of the abominable slaughter which has stained Europe and the world with blood, and affirms its strong decision to strive henceforward against a government of aggression and conquest in the spirit and service of the international.

Once having agreed on the terms of

this concession by the German delegates, the conference proceeded smoothly, though an animated discussion arose over the question of the Versailles Treaty. M. Troelstra (Holland) and M. Stanning (Denmark) both attacked the treaty. M. Troelstra, whose pro-German proclivities were well known, declared that the "intolerable character" of the treaty had made militarism and imperialism more powerful than ever. He called on the conference to protest against its terms, and against any direct or indirect intervention in Russia. Herr Bernstein (Germany) sought to prove the change of mind of Germany since the revolution. The Supreme Council, he said, had treated the new Germany as though it had undergone no change, and the reIsult had been an increase in the want of faith in the German revolution. The danger of this reactionary movement, he declared, could not be ignored by Germany, which was threatened from both the east and west, and politically by both the extreme Left and extreme Right. He expressed, however, his hope in the English people, who would insist on fair dealing. A message from Mr. Smillie, President of the Miners' International Congress, which was then in session in Geneva, urging a policy of reconciliation, and declaring that a unanimous vote by the miners in favor of a general international strike could be obtained in case war with Russia should be declared, was shelved without action on the suggestion of the German delegates, who pointed out the immediate and terrible consequences of the proposal, and advocated referring the discussion of such a delicate matter to a small committee.

The Committee on Unity presented a resolution, which recommended that in order to secure a united International the British section be invited to act as the negotiating body in the matter of approaching such labor and Socialist organizations as were not represented at the Geneva Congress, and to take steps to secure their attendance at future conferences. The committee furthermore recommended that the draft statutes adopted at the Lucerne Conference in 1919 be immediately put into force, and

finally proposed the removal of the International's headquarters to London, where the executive would meet regularly pending a final decision of the British delegates regarding the composition of the Secretariat. All these recommendations were adopted, the last by the British members only provisionally. The French delegates abstained from voting on the ground that undue influence might arise in London by a coalition between the German groups and the British Labor Party, whose German sympathies were pronounced.

The Committee on the League of Nations presented a report which advocated modifications in the Treaty of Versailles to enable the nations of Central Europe to re-establish themselves, and urged labor and Socialist forces to obtain representation for themselves on the League, and to begin to transform and enlarge its powers. M. Troelstra suggested that a clause requiring a democratic constitution for nations seeking admission to the League was directed against Russia. His amendments were referred to the committee. At the session of Aug. 4 the Congress voted unanimously in support of the League, and also of the International Labor Bureau.

Mr. Snowden proposed a resolution, adopted unanimously, calling on the British Government to provide the funds necessary for the maintenance of the child welfare work in the suffering areas. The British Government, he explained, had already subscribed about £200,000 to this fund, but it was hoped to raise at least £4,000,000 in Great Britain alone.

A resolution calling attention to the military preparations of Hungary against Austria under the eyes of the allied commission was passed.

The question of socialization was discussed at the sessions of Aug. 4 and 5. The committee's report declaring for socialization by democratic methods and repudiating violence was strongly opposed by Mr. Bromley (England) and Mr. Theodore (New Zealand), who declared that it was so weak that it would kill the Second International if it were passed. M. Wijbauw (Holland) replied

for the committee, emphasizing the belief that the main object of the International was the transformation of capitalistic property into collective property. The program proposed, he declared, was the sole basis on which the whole task of socialization could be accomplished. Amendments were rejected, and the resolution was passed.

The final session, which concluded at midnight on Aug. 5, was devoted chiefly to Russia. M. Vandervelde (Belgium) and Herr Scheidemann (Germany) came out strongly against Bolshevism, while M. Troelstra and Neil Maclean accused the conference of timidity and reaction. J. H. Thomas said that the British were opposed to intervention in Russia, but that they would also hinder the Bolsheviki from profiting by the present situation to the injury of other nations. Mr. Shaw transferred the Presidency temporarily to M. Vliegen in order to make an eloquent attack on Bolshevism as he had seen it during his recent visit to Soviet Russia as a member of the British Labor Commission. He set forth in detail the reasons which had led the British Labor Party to reject the ideal of the Soviet Republic. In Russia, he declared, there was no such thing as a dictatorship of the proletariat. All liberty was abolished, and the working class was oppressed by an autocratic and militaristic régime analogous to that of the Czar. Mr. Shaw said in part:

We bring back from Moscow and Petrograd a sad impression of the condition of the laboring class. The workmen have almost no bread to eat. The terror inflicted by Bolshevism is so great that no one dares express his opinions. Arrests are frequent, following the bloody executions so numerous at the beginning of the Bolshevist régime. The workmen must work as directed, and at what they are told.

He refused, he said, to use mild language to men who threatened to hang Herr Scheidemann, called Ramsay Macdonald a traitor to the working classes, and denounced other leaders as the bourgeois tools of the capitalists. He could not understand the mentality of men who were willing to plunge their country into revolution at the bidding of Lenin.

Mr. Shaw ended by urging the con