After the expulsion of James P. Cannon, a member the Communist Party’s Politburo, for Trotskyism in October, 1928 dozens of others would follow, including may important and historic leaders of the party; CC and NEC members, editors, YCL chairs, international delegates, and district organizers. Veteran figures like Martin Abern, Maurice Spector, Max Shachtman, Oliver Carlson, Arne Swabeck, Vincent Dunne, Albert Glotzer, Thomas J. O’Flaherty, Rose Karsner, and Carl Skoglund were, however, ‘generals without an army’ as the overwhelming majority of the Party’s members adhered to the Comintern’s authority and leadership.

The expelled Opposition Group of the Workers (Communist) Party of America coalesced in May, 1929 to form the Communist League of America (Opposition). The Opposition’s primary nemesis, Lovestone and the C.P. right, were being expelled at the same time. While Cannon’s former factional allies, William Z. Foster, William F. Dunne, and Earl Browder were ascending to leadership of the Party, and the Comintern and its sections shifted to the leftist ‘Third Period.’

These events blunted much of the Trotskyist opposition’s immediate critique and the force of its appeal just as it was defining itself. Aside from a Minneapolis stronghold, the Trotskyists remained small, isolated from the masses, and with a paucity of resources. They counted just over 100 members as they set about forming an independent organization, though one entirely defined by its relationship with the Communist Party. Later referred to by Cannon a the ‘Dog Days,’ it would be several years, participation in mass struggles, and a larger radicalization before the Trotskyists would see substantial growth.

Following are notices of the initial months of ‘Communist League Activities’ from around the country as the new organization presented itself to the public for the first time. Printed in the then twice-monthly Militant.

‘Communist League of America (Opposition) Inaugural Activities’ from The Militant. Vol. 2 Nos. 14-17. September 15-November 1, 1929.

COMMUNIST LEAGUE ACTIVITIES September 15, 1929.

The Communist League of America and its branches are undertaking numerous activities. Some of the work is cited below:

NEW YORK CITY: The New York branch of the Communist League is conducting very successful street meetings every Saturday night. Militants and the pamphlet, the Criticism of the Draft Program of the Comintern by L.D. Trotsky, have been sold in large number at each meeting. Among the speakers have been comrades Max Shachtman, Martin Abern, Maurice Spector, S.M. Rose and many other members of the branch. The branch is also conducting a membership drive and eight new applicants were accepted at the last two branch meetings which are held weekly. Sale of the Militant is stressed and upwards of one thousand copies of the August 15th issue are expected to be sold. The newsstands selling the Militant are regularly increasing. A study class is also being formed for the fall and winter months. A program of trade union and labor organization activities is being mapped out by the local Executive Committee. The branch is made up largely of members active in the labor unions.

CHICAGO, ILL. The Chicago branch is one of the best branches in support of the Militant and is now conducting a campaign to raise its quota for the projected WEEKLY MILITANT. Some of the oldest and livest wires in the revolutionary movement are in the Chicago branch. The Chicago comrades have been particularly awake to the task of getting subscribers to the Militant and the Chicago list grows rapidly.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. This branch of the Communist League is the unquestioned backbone of the revolutionary labor and Communist movement in Minneapolis. Its members are experienced workers in the labor unions and other labor organizations. Some of its activities are reported on in other columns of The Militant, notably its work in aiding to organize the unorganized clothing workers under the leadership of Oliver Carlson, an alternate member of the National Committee of the Communist League. Such live elements as Vincent R. Dunne, Carl Skoglund, O. R. Votaw, C. R. Hedlund, L. Roseland, Oscar Sover, Carl Cowl, and many others give the Communist League a prestige throughout the ranks of the workers.

The Minneapolis League is pushing the drive for the defense of the Gastonia frame-up victims, and is endeavoring to organize the movement on the widest possible united front basis. The Minneapolis branch is strongly behind the drive of the National Committee for a Weekly Militant, as well as in maintaining the paper from issue to issue. The branch undertook a house to house canvass for the Militant with considerable success, and the idea is recommended to other branches. The Minneapolis group rivals Chicago as subscription getters for the Militant. The comrades report also that the St. Paul branch is getting under way.

ST. LOUIS, MO. Since the formation of the St. Louis branch of the Communist League, St. Louis has been seen more Communist activity than it has for a long time. The branch is especially active in the Mooney-Billings campaign and is working to broaden this and similar movements to draw in every possible labor organization into the campaign.

BIRMINGHAM, ALA. Comrade Sarah Linn in this bailiwick of the Southern steel and cotton lords distributes The Militant and does all possible to further our revolutionary work.

RICHMOND, CALIF. A branch of the Communist League is being formed here.

BOSTON, MASS. An enthusiastic meeting of the Boston branch greeted the distribution by comrade L. Schlosberg of membership cards and dues stamps of the Communist League. Subscriptions for the Militant are coming in steadily from the Massachusetts territory. Our comrades in Boston have been very active in the shoe workers’ strike. The Militant has a very good sale throughout Boston, Roxbury and nearby points.

KANSAS CITY, MO. “Shorty” Buehler, secretary of the Kansas City branch, reports that the Communist League there recently held a successful picnic for the benefit of the Militant, and that the comrades are now concentrating on new members. The Militant has sold well indeed, and a deep ferment has been aroused among the Communists and sympathizers in Kansas City, and all to the good of the Opposition led by comrade Trotsky.

WILLISTON, N.D. Comrade A.C. Miller, the first Communist legislator in the United States, reports that a strong branch of the Communist League is being; formed of workers and poor farmers in and around Williston who are disgusted with the opportunistic policy of the Stalin clique and its local agent, Knunson. Space prevents further reports of branch activities in the United States and Canada, but a regular feature will be made of organization activities from now on. Comrades are requested to send in brief reports regularly for publication.

COMMUNIST LEAGUE ACTIVITIES October 1, 1929.

The fall period witnesses an impetus to the activities of the branches of the Communist League of America (Opposition) throughout the country. In summary, the branches are working to maintain and build a WEEKLY MILITANT, organizing study classes, getting new members, participating in the campaign to free the Gastonia frame-up victims, holding street meetings, working in the labor unions and generally developing a broader activity inside and outside the Communist League.

TORONTO, CANADA. The Toronto branch is getting on the job in earnest for the Militant; Comrade Maurice Quarter, Secretary, reports the branch is arranging an affair for its benefit. An educational program for the fall and winter period is being mapped out.

NEW HAVEN, CONN. Comrade S. Gendelman, Secretary, writes that after a quiet summer for the League in which the Party has been even more quiet, if not extinct, good working branch is being organized. Funds are being raised for The Militant.

PHILADELPHIA, PA. This branch although not very large at present, is alert in spreading the Militant, and is raising a special fund to ensure a Weekly Militant. Comrades Leon Goodman, Bernad Morgan, K. Whitten are the live wires here.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. Subscriptions continue to come in for The Militant from Minneapolis. The Minneapolis League, very active in the labor unions, had a delegate at the recent Minnesota State Federation of Labor Convention. This Branch functions in every phase of the working class movement as a genuine revolutionary movement should.

SPRINGFIELD, ILL. Joe Angelo write that more can be expected from now on in Springfield and vicinity for the Opposition movement, and reports on prospective members.

CHICAGO, ILL. Chicago has been active on behalf of the Gastonia defendants, for the drive for the Weekly Militant and in the trade unions. Its branch meeting was the best attended meeting to date, and new members were added. Among the active forces there are Arne Swabeck, Albert Glotzer, both members of the National Committee of the Communist League. Helen P. Judd, John Mihelic, John Edwards, R. Booth, Mike Zalisko, Bob Garver, Bill Edwards, Rebecca Sacherow, and many others. A class in the “History of the Communist International” with comrade Arne Swabeck as instructor, has been organized by the Chicago branch.

KANSAS CITY, MO. The Kansas City comrades, writes comrade A.A. (Shorty) Buehler, are very well pleased with the Militant, and are. raising a quota for its maintenance. Many workers are getting in touch with the Communist League through the book shop maintained thee by comrade Buehler.

NEW YORK, N.Y. Street meetings continue to be held with great success by the New York Branch. New speakers, among them George Clarke, Joe Friedman, Sol Lankin, have been developed to aid the more experienced comrades. A mass meeting (see other columns) is being planned for October 22nd, At the recent open branch meeting of the New York Communist League, four new members were admitted, including two active seamen, a former member of the Communist Party of Germany and another active worker. A study class in the Fundamentals of Communism, instructors, Max Shachtman and Martin Abern, is to begin in early October.

BOSTON, MASS. A number of subscriptions for The Militant have come in from Boston. Comrade Schlosberg informs the National Office that there is renewed and added stimulus and vigor among the members with the prospect of a Weekly Militant before them.

All signs point to a vigorous activity by the Communist League of America and its branches. Clarity of principle and the conviction to carry these principles into action animate the members throughout the country.

COMMUNIST LEAGUE ACTIVITIES October 15, 1929.

The drive for the WEEKLY MILITANT constitutes a major activity for the Communist League of America (Opposition). All the branches understand the importance of a Weekly publication and are active in raising money to start the paper, securing subscriptions and increasing the sales of THE MILITANT on the newsstands and bookstores. However, activities in other fields are occupying the efforts of the Communist League members. These are indicated below.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. Work among the striking linseed oil workers is being carried on by the Minneapolis comrades, as the latest development of their numerous activities in the class struggle. It is the banner city also now in securing subscriptions for The Militant Its quota for the Weekly Militant has been filled.

BOSTON, MASS. The Boston comrades, enthused at the prospects of a Weekly Opposition paper, have pledged a regular amount each month to maintain The Militant. A mass meeting is scheduled for Friday November 1st. The Boston branch is working for the wide distribution of the Russian paper, Bulletin of the Opposition.

TORONTO, CANADA. Development of educational work, new members, drive to complete the Weekly Militant quota, arrangements to secure broad distribution of the Bulletin of the Opposition (Russian) throughout Canada, and discussion of trade union activities were among the points taken up at the recent meeting of the Toronto branch.

PITTSBURGH, PA. A branch of the Communist League is being formed in Pittsburgh, reports comrade James Sifakis.

CHICAGO, ILL. An entertainment for the benefit of The Militant will be held by the Chicago branch on October 26th. Chicago reports that its quota for the Weekly Militant will be completed within a few days. New members have recently been recruited into the Chicago branch, and comrade Arne Swabeck writes that a broad program of activities is outlined for immediate work by the Branch.

NEW YORK, N.Y. Preparations for the mass meeting on October 22nd and the entertainment and dance on October 26th, activity to fill the Weekly Militant quota, street meetings each Saturday night, keep the New York branch busy, Militant sales on the newsstands increase appreciably with each new issue of the paper.

ST. LOUIS, MO. The St. Louis comrades recently held a successful meeting on behalf of the Gastonia frame-up victims.

PHILADELPHIA, PA. The Philly comrades, though few in number, are distributing The Militant well and completing their Weekly Militant quota.

KANSAS CITY, MO. An affair for the benefit of The Militant is being arranged here. Comrade “Shorty” Buehler, a live-wire comrade for many years is ill. We hope soon to note his recovery and to see him active again.

A LECTURE IN BOSTON “Pogrom or Revolution in Palestine?” is the subject of a lecture to be given by Max Shachtman, on Friday, November 1, 1929, 7:30 P. M. at 62 Chambers Street, Boston, under the auspices of the local branch of the Communist League (Opposition). Admission is 25 cents and tickets can be obtained from members of the League, and at Shapiro’s Bookstore, 7 Beach Boston. All workers are invited to attend.

RICHMOND, CALIF. Aid for The Militant comes regularly from this point.

The month of September witnessed an increased activity among the branches of the Communist League. Subscription to The Militant also came in in substantial numbers from various parts of the country.

MINNEAPOLIS MEETING. The Minneapolis Branch of the Communist League of America (Opposition) will hold a mass meeting in celebration of the 12th Year of the Anniversary of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution on Thursday November 7th, 1929 at the Lakw Lyoeuan Hall No. 2. All workers are cordially invited.

COMMUNIST LEAGUE ACTIVITIES November 1, 1929.

The Communist League of America (Opposition) is steadily and systematically broadening its work into the general field of class struggle. Recognizing as a major task, an organized theoretical struggle against the revisionism of Marx and Lenin’s teachings by the false disciple, Stalin, in the Comintern and the respective Communist Parties, the Communist League knows that mass work directed by correct Communist policy must supplement to the other in order to bring the Communist movement again to a correct line in theory and practice.

The branches of the Communist League are active among the coal miners (Southern Illinois, under the leadership of Joe Angelo); the clothing workers in Minneapolis where a Left wing in the A.C.W. is being built through the Communist League, here also the League is active in all fields; the building trades (in Minneapolis, Chicago, New York, St. Louis); railroad men (in Minnesota); and in numerous other trades and industries. The Communist League is recruiting members regularly from trade unions and unorganized workers in numerous trades and industries, such as machinists, steel workers, building trades, auto industry, upholsterers, needle trades and others. The Communist League has a few hundred members, but they are active, thinking, determined fighters, prepared to fight over a long period for a regenerated revolutionary Communist movement, now being systematically destroyed by Stalin and his clique throughout the world. Clarity of principles and tactics and mass work are the rock upon which the Communist League endeavors to build.

The League, despite the sabotage of the official Communist party and the I.L.D. of a broad united front movement for the framed-up Gastonia defendants, leads in a demand for a genuine united front and works for the Gastonia victims (Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, New Haven, etc. The League (Boston, Minneapolis) is resisting the narrow policy of the Communist party in the Independent Workmen’s Circle. Despite the usual tactic of expulsion by the party bureaucrats, the Toronto comrades are working for a broad workers’ sport movement.

November 7th, Soviet Anniversary, meetings are already arranged in Minneapolis, St. Louis and other points. Mass meetings have been held recently in New York and Boston on the crisis in the Communist movement and on the recent uprising in Palestine. Entertainments for the benefits of the MILITANT were held the past month in Chicago and New York. Other cities are organizing similar affairs.

A DEBATE IN WASHINGTON. All workers are invited to the debate at the Washington (D.C.) Open Forum, 808 Eye Street, N.W., between Edward J. Irvine, who will defend the viewpoint of the Russian Opposition and Maurice Hollod who will represent the viewpoint of the Stalinist faction. The debate will take place on Sunday, November 24, 1909, at 8 p. m. Discussion will follow.

All the branches are active to raise their quotas for the forthcoming WEEKLY MILITANT. Outstanding among these are Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto in raising larger quotas. Richmond, Boston, Youngstown, Pittsburg and other cities, are doing their bit AND THE WEEKLY MILITANT THEREFORE WILL BE. The National Office is completing the technical arrangements for its issuance. A subscription drive (for renewals and new subscriptions) is being organized in which Minneapolis and Kansas City have just made a good start.

ST. LOUIS MEETING. The local branch of the Communist League of America (Opposition) will celebrate the 12th Anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution at a mass meeting in Druid’s Hall, 9th & Market, St. Louis, Mo. Elmer Mac- Millan and other well-known militants will speak. AM workers are invited to attend. The Communist League branch in St. Louis has just sent in 11 subs to the MILITANT with an earnest pledge that this is only a small beginning which they intend to increase steadily in the future.

WHERE TO BUY THE MILITANT

SAN FRANSISCO, Calif.: McDonald’s Book Shop, 65 Sixth Street
LOS ANGELES, Calif.: Belmont News Co., 101 East 5th St.; Western News Stand, Box 604, Arcade Station.
WASHINGTON, D. C. Gale’s Book Shop, 805 Tenth St. N. W.
CHICAGO, ILL., Cheshinsky’s Book Store, 2720 W. Division St.; Horsley’s Book Store, 1623 W. Madison St.; and on various newsstands.
SPRINGFIELD, ILL.: Joe Angeio, 431 No. Wesley St.
BOSTON, MASS.: Shapiro’s Book Store, 7 Beach St., near Washington.
ROXBURY, MASS., Goldberg’s Store, 536 Warren St.
DETROIT, MICH.: Aidas Book Shop, 1713- 24th St.; and on various newsstands.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.: Engelson News Co., 234-2nd Ave. So.
KANSAS CITY, MO.: Buehler’s Book Store, 220 West 12th St.
ST. LOUIS, MO.: Foster’s Book Store, 410 Washington Ave.
PHILADELPHIA, PA.: On various newsstands.
SEATTLE, WASH.: Raymer’s Old Book Store, 905 Third Ave.
CALGARY, ALT., CANADA: Boston News Co., 109-8th Ave. West
TORONTO, ONT., CANADA: On various newsstands,
NEW YORK, N. Y.: On various newsstands in New York and Brooklyn; Biederman Bookstore, 2d Ave and 12th St.; Rand Bookstore, 7 East 15th St.; The Militant, 25 Third Ave.

The Militant was a weekly newspaper begun by supporters of the International Left Opposition recently expelled from the Communist Party in 1928 and published in New York City. Led by James P Cannon, Max Schacthman, Martin Abern, and others, the new organization called itself the Communist League of America (Opposition) and saw itself as an outside faction of both the Communist Party and the Comintern. After 1933, the group dropped ‘Opposition’ and advocated a new party and International. When the CLA fused with AJ Muste’s American Workers Party in late 1934, the paper became the New Militant as the organ of the newly formed Workers Party of the United States.