The remarkable moment when U.S. soldiers stationed in Hawaii rebelled against the Empire and their officers as they sought common cause with the Islands’ exploited Filipino workers, founding the Hawaiian Communist League. For which they were sent to military prison and threatened with execution.

‘Why We Formed the Hawaiian Communist League’ by Walter M. Turnbull from The Daily Worker. Vol. 3 No. 44. March 4, 1926.

THE Hawaiian Communist League was formed on or about Feb. 14, 1925. The executive committee was chosen and plans for the work of the different branches were drawn up and instructions given to the members. These branches were established in practically every regiment in Schofield Barracks. Much of the work was left undone for reasons that will be explained later.

The members of the executive committee of the Hawaiian Communist League were: Walter M. Trumbull, chairman, Paul Crouch, propaganda director and Roderick P. Nadeau, secretary. We three after making plans for the work that needed immediate attention discussed the advisability of affiliation with the Third International. Knowing that we would meet with strong opposition we decided that affiliation would be wise and acting on this plan we drew up a letterhead form and presented it to the adjutant of the 27th U.S. infantry who was in charge of the printing press of that regiment. The adjutant approved of the order and the proofs were handed us for approval shortly after.

After correcting some few mistakes the printing was ordered and on the 17th of the month we were given the first dozen sheets with a promise of the rest within the next two days.

Fisher, the Spy.

ON Feb. 18, 1925 the letter to the Third International was drafted and typed. The three members of the executive committee signed it and Nadeau and I took it to the postoffice and mailed it. We had already made a mistake, however. Eugene V. Fisher, the hired spy of Lt. Col. John B. Murphy, the assistant chief of staff of the Hawaiian division, had seen the letter written and signed. Since he had been told by the Lt. Col. to “get those d-n Bolsheviks” and not care “how it was done” he considered this an excellent opportunity to get us. He therefore went with Nadeau and me to the postoffice and watched us mail the letter. Not until the evening of this same day did we suspect him definitely.

Wishing to wait for the answer from Moscow before making any more elaborate plans, we decided to do only the work already planned. I drew plans for a membership card which met with the approval of the committee but these were never printed as we were jailed the next day.

On Feb. 19 the enlisted men and officers of the 21st U.S. Regt. of Infantry were given an unusual order. The order was to the effect that they were to assemble in front of their respective companies at one o’clock in field uniform. No officer or enlisted man was excused. Cooks, kitchen men and even stable men were required to attend. At the prescribed hour we formed in company front at the appointed place and waited developments. They were not long in coming. A group of about twelve officers including the Lt. Col. before mentioned came into the quadrangle and proceeded to question each company commander. When they reached the service company they called Crouch from the supply section and Nadeau and I from the band section, ordered us up to the orderly room and placed a guard of about seven or eight military police over us. We were afterwards sent, still under heavy guard, to the 11th Field Artillery guardhouse.

WHILE in the guardhouse, Crouch was so mistreated that he had to be taken to hospital. He was forced to work under a blazing sun while he was so sick that he was scarcely able to support his own weight. Twice I half carried him to the guardhouse and each time the provost sergeant, Moss, laughed at the plight in which Crouch was and swore that he would knock his block off if he came back to the guardhouse before he was told to do so. Other than this trouble we had smooth sailing because we were sent to another guardhouse after Crouch came back from the hospital.

Autocratic Officers.

THE reason for forming the Hawaiian Communist League were many. Two reasons above all others stand out. One is the attitude of the officers toward the enlisted men. Autocracy is a mild word to use for a descriptive adjective. The situation is being more and more felt by the men themselves and the only reason that they do not desert to a man is because the island is so hard to get off from without being caught. Were a military post in the United States to be conducted upon the same basis there would be complete desertion in twenty-four hours.

Another reason for the formation of the league was the labor situation on the plantations. Such things as the following facts were common knowledge: As a general rule the plantation owners employ Filipino laborers. The new arrival from the Philippines get the magnificent wage of one dollar and ten cents per day. After  working for three months or there- abouts in the fields at the hardest kind of work (called “Hohana Gang”) he gets a wonderful raise of five cents per day. The next job that he gets is mule driver at the rate of one dollar and twenty cents per day. Then there is the tractor driver who is the highest paid Filipino on the plantation. He is paid the princely sum of one dollar and fifty cents. This is not for a paltry eight hours either. The Filipino works ten hours.

The object of the Hawaiian Communist League was to alleviate such conditions and to awaken the workers of the islands to their situation. There were other reasons for the league, too many to mention. One outstanding reason was the fear in which the Filipinos held anything pertaining to the military forces. We sought to bring the two branches of labor together and as it was easier to start in the army we organized there first. For us to try to organize in the ranks of the Filipinos would have been useless unless we were able to show more than our own attitude, and again there was the difficulty of obtaining definite information from them while we wore the uniform. The field is still open and civilians will find an excellent opportunity here for organizing a self-supporting Communist League that will be a credit to the working class movement. My only regret is that we didn’t have sufficient time to get well organized before we were arrested.

The Daily Worker began in 1924 and was published in New York City by the Communist Party US and its predecessor organizations. Among the most long-lasting and important left publications in US history, it had a circulation of 35,000 at its peak. The Daily Worker came from The Ohio Socialist, published by the Left Wing-dominated Socialist Party of Ohio in Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919, when it became became The Toiler, paper of the Communist Labor Party. In December 1921 the above-ground Workers Party of America merged the Toiler with the paper Workers Council to found The Worker, which became The Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924. National and City (New York and environs) editions exist.

PDF of original issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1926/1926-ny/v03-n044-NY-mar-04-1926-DW-LOC.pdf