By early 1907 James Connolly’s relationship with the leadership of the Socialist Labor Party was fraught, to say the least. The development of the I.W.W. and the larger growth of the class struggle had given many of the best S.L.P. activists new arenas of work and a subsequently a larger political view than the relatively stale, but vigorous, confines of the S.L.P. One of those projects was the newly formed Irish Socialist Federation which was criticized by many in the Party and became part of a larger debate on organizing along language and ethnic lines. Connolly, ever the internationalist, defends the Irish Federation specifically, and in doing promotes the Federation concept as a tool in organizing and uniting a diverse working class.

‘As to Race and Language Federations’ by James Connolly from The Weekly People (S.L.P.). Vol. 16 No. 49. March 2, 1907.

To the Daily and Weekly People- Comrade Stromqvist is irrisistible–irresistible in the temperance of his language, in his sweet reasonableness, and above all in his pathetic appeal to be taken seriously. He shall have his wish. And first permit me, as one of the comrades responsible for the movement criticised, to assure our comrade that no one realizes the potency and force of his objections more strongly than the men and women who have initiated this organization. If we have persisted in spite of these objections it was because we believed that the arguments on the other side were, and are, still more potent and powerful.

Personally. I am as much opposed to Race and Language branches within the S.L.P. as any one can be; I would vote to abolish them all. I hold that if men or women are not sufficiently acquainted with the language of the country to conduct their political business in it then they ought not to have an equal vote in directing the activities and shaping the policy of a party whose discussions are carried on in that language. But as strongly as I am opposed to Language Branches in the party am I in favor of Race or Language Federations to organize all the sections of our heterogeneous population. The function of such bodies is to act as organizers or drill sergeants of that Socialist army of which the American proletariat must furnish the main and directing body. I have long been of the opinion that there is a crying need for a German Federation to assimilate and prevent the dispersion of the numbers of Socialistically inclined German workingmen whom we are told emigrate to this country and from lack of such affiliation become lost to the movement. Such a Federation would also help to educate and develop the true Socialist feeling amongst the German Socialists here at present, and put an end to the scandals arising from the efforts of unscrupulous grafters to play the German branches against the American members–a thing that was only possible because we have had in the party organizations of men speaking different languages, but having equal voting powers.

With the Irish although the language creates no difficulty the case for a distinct organization is stronger than for any other race. Note well this point! The Irish are the only race in America among whom are organized associations for the express purpose of assisting capitalist political parties in the old country. The United Irish League of America is a case in point. Its one end and aim is to boost the reputation of the representatives in Parliament of the Irish capitalist class to popularize their propaganda, and finance their organizations. As it claims to speak in the name of Ireland it holds the attention and wins the sympathy of the Irish in America, and working on this basis, it succeeds in delivering the Irish vote to the political parties of the American capitalist class, and the Irish dollars to the Irish capitalist class. We propose to fight these tricksters with weapons somewhat like their own; to the capitalist organizations of Irish-America we will oppose a Socialist organization of Irish-America, and to the warm-hearted Irish laborer desiring to help the people at home in their fight for freedom we will appeal to aid that fight through the Socialist organization of the Irish Working Class whose history and struggles it will be our duty to keep him posted on. It is our belief, a belief founded upon experience, that nothing will so quickly attract the sympathetic interest of an Irishman in America to the Socialist propaganda as the knowledge that the same fight is being waged and the same teachings being spread by men of his race and class in Ireland. The enthusiastic outpourings of the Irish to hear a speaker from Ireland, and their readiness to buy literature from Ireland is proof of this, and it will be part of our duty to take advantage of this tendency to push such Socialistic literature from Ireland as will broaden and develop the mental horizon of our countrymen, and prepare them to take their place in the revolutionary army of the American proletariat. That is why we wish to affiliate directly with the movement in Ireland– to give our organization a proper standing amongst the Irish in America.

Finally let me ask all our critics: Is Socialism an International movement, or is it not? If it is, why do you object to us trying to help the movement in Ireland? We have already secured over thirty names in New York District, and many inquiries and promises from all over the country. Every indication points to our festival on the third of March being the greatest feast of revolutionary song and comradeship New York has ever known, and so all is well with the world.

Yours fraternally, James Connolly. 152 Hawthorne Ave, Newark, N..J.

New York Labor News Company was the publishing house of the Socialist Labor Party and their paper The People. The People was the official paper of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP), established in New York City in 1891 as a weekly. The New York SLP, and The People, were dominated Daniel De Leon and his supporters, the dominant ideological leader of the SLP from the 1890s until the time of his death. The People became a daily in 1900. It’s first editor was the French socialist Lucien Sanial who was quickly replaced by De Leon who held the position until his death in 1914. Morris Hillquit and Henry Slobodin, future leaders of the Socialist Party of America were writers before their split from the SLP in 1899. For a while there were two SLPs and two Peoples, requiring a legal case to determine ownership. Eventual the anti-De Leonist produced what would become the New York Call and became the Social Democratic, later Socialist, Party. The De Leonist The People continued publishing until 2008.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/the-people-slp/070302-weeklypeople-v16n49.pdf