SECTION II AMERICAN CONDITIONS-AN HISTORICAL REVIEW Sub-section 1. Socialist Movement in America.. 2. Anarchist Movement in America. 3. Revolutionary Industrial Unionism. 4. Socialist Propaganda in Educated Circles.. [499] 503 839 871 967 1143 SECTION II AMERICAN CONDITIONS-AN HISTORICAL SKETCH INTRODUCTION In the preceding section of this report an analysis has been given of the revolutionary movement in the various countries of Europe in order that a more complete and comprehensive understanding may be had of the revolutionary movement in the United States. Conditions in Europe inevitably have a reflex action upon the people of the United States. So long as the Communist elements are in control of the masses of Russia and remain a force to be reckoned with in the other countries of Europe, so long will they continue a menace to the institutions of the United States. As an illustration of the effect of European movements upon the United States, we may make reference to the influence which the Jacobin Clubs of the French Revolution had upon the malcontents in the United States in the latter part of the eighteenth century. The Whiskey Rebellion of Western Pennsylvania was the outgrowth of agitation carried on by so-called democratic societies acting under the guise of protectors of civil liberties, which received their inspiration from the French revolutionary societies. The power of these agitators continued to grow until Robespierre was brought to the guillotine, and the political power of the revolutionary clubs of France was destroyed. In referring to this condition, John Marshall, in his "Life of Washington," published in Philadelphia in 1832, says on page 353: "Not more certain is it that the boldest streams must disappear, if the fountains which feed them be emptied than was the dissolution of the democratic societies of America, when the Jacobin Clubs were denounced by France." In this section of this report the Committee will outline the history and development of the various quasi-political groups having revolutionary objectives which represent in this country various branches of the revolutionary movement in Europe. The Socialist, Communist, and Anarchist movements in this country, as well as the industrial organizations which are the outgrowth of their propaganda, are not spontaneous expressions of unrest brought about by critical economic conditions in this country, but are the result of systematic and energetic propaganda, spread by representatives of European revolutionary bodies. The agitation was begun many years ago largely among the elements of foreign workmen who had come to this country, and was carried on almost exclusively by alien agitators. But with the increasing number of aliens and the renewed activity of agitators the propaganda has spread from alien groups, so that today it permeates all classes of society in this country. It is the purpose of this section to describe the history of each of the quasi-political revolutionary parties, to show their relationship to the world movement, and the effect of the propaganda in its attempt to destroy the conservative organizations of labor, as well as its further attempt to substitute therefor industrial unions having the same revolutionary objective and seeking the same revolutionary goal. |