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From the inception of the organization to the date of the
filing of this petition, the principal leaders of the Communist
Party have been and are subject to and recognize the disciplinary power of the Soviet government, the Communist
Party of thi' Soviet Union, the Communist International and
flu Communis! information Bureau • • • (Report, p. 99).
This disciplinary power has been sufficiently strong to
bring about the expulsion of two executive secretaries ol
the CPUSA, namely Jay Lovestone and Earl Browder,
members of the party's executive committee such as Lud-
wig Lore, James P. Cannon, William F. Dunne, Bertram
L>- Wolfe, Benjamin Gitlow, and Joseph Zack Kornfeder,
as well as entire sections of the organization.
Political Party or Conspiracy
Since the Communist Party, USA, is in fact simply the
American branch of the Russian Communist Party, it follows faithfully the conspiratorial pattern laid down by its
Parent body.
The Russian Communist Party, the focal point and radiating center of the international Communist movement,
°Wes its inception to V. I. Lenin, its guiding genius on
matters of organization. The principles upon which the
oniniunist movement was founded were therefore based
Primarily upon his experience with the czarist regime
n<ler which the labor and socialist movements were ille-
>'" and the rights to freedom of speech, press and asscniliK
ere nonexistent. Widespread discontent of the laboring
~*«es and the peasantry could find no legal outlet or
<'niedy. with flu- result that attempted assassinations of
^(,V(''inncnt officials and even of the Czar, were not un-
mnion. Lenin's own brother was executed as a result of
I (' such an attempted assassination. In this atmosphere
ls understandable thai Lenin envisaged an organization
apted to (I,,, specific purpose of violent overthrow of his
(,M-n
was
government. Necessarily, therefore, this movement
fie ^°nspiratorial. In his authoritative work What Is To
Party
"One, published in February, 1902, in reference to
v organization, Lenin laid down the principle that —
(i. sptracy is so essential a condition of an organization of
- kind that all other conditions ° ° ° must be made to con-
•°nn with it.
njfj " av me Communist movement is no longer an insig-
^ nl Russian sect lighting against czarisni. but an inter-
cjj> '.' movement seeking world conquest and more spelts, r'l — ' destruction of the American government as
ail ,„.','''' .0Dstacle. Hence the Coninnuiist Party, USA, as
d,.Su!"'".'"' Pari of that movement dedicated to the same
Len- . Ve pm-pose. has necessarily assumed tin- same
the n"'^ l"nsl'iiatorial guise. The other characteristics of
j> ovemenl How logically from this basic conception,
c-rit; >Wa5 "' contrast. American political parties, despite
^.sms tin - -
nc> may make of public policy, are fundameii
law's "■ to '"" rm "*' government and conform to its
gove
the
'l\\'S -it ov" -
■ tie) rel) upon the duly constituted agencies of our
liir ||. ""'"' and the operation of our democratic processes
Am,
correction of grievances.
\lll.l IAI1Y Asi'll I
Poac.(1".Ca" political parties earn- on their activities by
'11 w|,"| means within the confines of our legal structure
Upon ""'> have lull Faith. The Communist Party looks
"nd,,. '■" g?vernment as its enemy which it seeks to over-
'|ii,iS| '-. forceful means. Hence, it is organized along
''ati,,,' | '''"'> lines. The program of the Communist Inter-
""'fii'.;"1"1'^''1 at its sixth congress In 1928, endorsed bv
■ ,s\.i,„l nevert
"Ils Plain In calli,
'"udeii ,° v.'""' "ever since repudiated or superseded, has
ling for -
"l;i m News, March, 1956
a combination of strikes and armed demonstrations and finally, the general strike co-jointly with armed insurrection
against the state power of the bourgoisie (i.e., capitalists).
The latter form of struggle, which is the supreme form, must
be conducted according to rules of military science ° ° °.
Writing on "Lenin's Conception of the Party," in the
January, 1934, issue of The Communist, official theoretical
organ of the Communist Party, USA, F. Brown, alias Alpi,
a well-known representative of the Communist International, emphasizes this point. He holds up a modern army
as "a good example of organization" which "knows how
to impart a single will to millions of people."
Discipline
Our traditional poltical parties arc loose organizations
operating under a very fluid and flexible discipline. Members and leaders will differ sharply with each other and
still remain within the same organization.
Lenin conceived the Communist Party, however, as an
organization which —
will In able to fulfill its duty only if it will be organized in
the most centralized manner, if it will be governed by an iron
discipline, bordering on military discipline ° ° ° (Conditions
for Affiliation to the Comintern).
"Why do the Communists attach so much importance to
discipline?" asks J. Peters in his authoritative pamphlet,
The Communis! Party —a Manual on Organization, and
he answers this question as follows:
Because without discipline there is no units- of will, no unity
ol action. ° ° ° The class war is bitter. The enemy is powerful.
0 ° ° In order In combat and defeat this powerful enemy, the
army of the proletariat must have a highly skilled, trained
General Staff [the Communist Party], which is united in
action and has one will.
Again Peters pointedly asks, "How can the Army fight
against the army of the enemy if even soldier in the Army
is allowed to question and even disobey orders of his superior officers?" The Communist Party, USA, has therefore
not hesitated to expel even its highest officials for actual
or suspected deviation from the official line of Moscow. In
Russia and other Communist countries such deviationists
have been shot. Communist leaders have frequently referred to the party with pride as monolithic.
Authority at the Top
Political parties as we know them are highly responsive
to the sentiment of their constituents and of the American
people as a whole. They encourage independence and initiative. They are essentially democratic in their approach
to the rank and file of party membership. Initiative and
pressure come from below.
In conformance with its military character and objectives, the Communist Party is organized from the top
down. It is essentially undemocratic. The How of its directives and strategy proceeds from its highlj centralized
leadership in the Russian (.'oniniunist Part) by way of the
Cominform to the similarly centralized leadership within
the national board of the Communist Party, USA, and then
on down to the lower levels of the organization. As ]. Peters
has pointed out to his fellow members of the Communist
Part). ISA. in his Manual on Organization. "All lower
Party organizations are subordinated to the higher bodies."
The Programme of the Communist International is
quoted from Petitioners Exhibit 125 1>\ the Subversive
Activities Control board to show that the Communist
Parties are organized on the basis of democratic centralism:
The Communis) international and its Sections arc built up
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