The legacy of Trotsky and Cannon for our

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6 SOCIALIST ACTION OCTOBER 1985 The following is the second and final part of the speech given by Milton Alvin in tribute to James P. Cannon and Leon Trotsky.

Alvin, who joined the Trotskyist movement in 1935, gave this speech in Los Angeles on Aug. 25, 1985.

The beginning of World War Il brought on a dispute within the American Trotskyist movement over the question of what attitude to take toward the Soviet Union in the war and whether or not the class nature of the USSR was proletarian.

A faction arose within the Socialist Workers Party that refused to defend the Soviet Union in the war. Trotsky took an active part in the debate, which lasted about seven months. He wrote many articles and letters opposing those who had capitulated to ihe pressures of U.S. imperialism. These were collected in a book entitled "In Defense of Marxism."

Cannon, who supported Trotsky, headed a group that had a majority and eventually kept the party solidly committed to its founding principles. His main contribution was also put in a book called "The Struggle for a Proletarian Party." Trotsky expressed the opinion that if the long, drawn-out dispute had not produced anything more than this book, it would have been worth it.

The opponents of the Trotsky-Cannon group split from the Socialist Workers Party and formed the Workers Party. But after several years this party disappeared, a result that confirmed Trotsky's and Cannon's assessment of them.

In the same year that this fight was concluded, Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico by a Stalinist agent. But his voice was not stilled. Many books of his writings over the years were published, and they contributed and continue to help in the education of those who read them.

Smith Act trials

In 1941 Cannon and others, leaders of the Socialist Workers Party and the Minneapolis Teamsters Union, were indicted under the notorious Smith Act. This was directly ordered by President Roosevelt, who was making a payoff to Dan Tobin, head of the Teamsters Union. Tobin had been in a dispute with the Minneapolis union, which was led by the Trotskyists.

After the trial, which resulted in a conviction of 18 of the defendants, three appeals were made to the Supreme Court. But these nine paragons of justice refused even to hear the appeals, the first under the Smith Act. The victims of this miscarriage of justice went to prison for varying terms, from one year to 16 months.

A large-scale defense was mounted for them, and a lot of support was won-especially from unions.

One of the results of the trial was the publication of Cannon's testimony, both direct and cross examination. Called "Socialism on Trial, it has been the best-selling single work ever published by American Trotskyists. It is frequently used as a text introducing the ideas of Marxism to people who want to learn about modern political problems and how they should be solved.

From prison Cannon sent many letters giving his ideas on current problems. These have been made into a book and published as "Letters From Prison." These letters enabled Cannon to participate, at least in part, in the party leadership.

Always looked to working class Cannon was influential in turning the party toward the unions and mass work, all of which had been reduced during the early war years. By 1943, however, the entire international situation was changing.

The Germans were defeated at Stalingrad. The Italians were knocked out of the war, and in the United States the coal miners conducted a series of strikes that were successful in winning new gains.

On the basis of these and other developments the party began to grow. And in the two-year period between the 1944 party convention and that of 1946, an unprecedented 1000 new members were recruited.

By the early part of 1945, Cannon and the other prisoners were released and resumed their political activity. At the 1946 convention the party adopted the "Theses on the American Revolution"" largely the product of Cannon's work.

Cannon's report to the convention and the "Theses" were published in the pamphlet, "The Coming American Revolution." They served to direct the party toward a long-range goal of a revolution in this country and have focused PIONEER PUBLISHERS the attention of genuine Marxists in that direction.

But the favorable climate in the political arena during the 1943-1946 period came to an end with the adoption of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. The witchhunt and the McCarthy period followed. The 1950s were dominated by a reactionary atmosphere and apathy on the part of youth, workers, and others among whom we traditionally functioned.

It was impossible for Cannon or anyone else to alter this state of affairs, and all we could do was hold on. Those were difficult days for us, and we suffered many losses of members.

It wasn't until the 1960s that a turn was manifested when Blacks, women, youth, anti-Vietnam war groups, and others began a series of actions that indicated the witchhunt period had passed and a new upsurge was in the making.

In 1952 Cannon and his companion, Rose Karsner, moved to Los Angeles and from this point on he participated in the party leadership through correspondence. He and Farrell Dobbs exchanged posts, Cannon becoming party chair and Dobbs national secretary.

At the 1963 party convention Cannon became an advisory member of the national committee, marking his retirement from active party leadership. In the 11 years that remained to him, Cannon concentrated on his files, selecting material for publication. A number of books resulted from these efforts.

On Aug. 21, 1974, he suffered a heart attack at his home and died. He was 84 years old.

Co-leader of Russian revolution It is necessary for us to try to place these two individuals, Leon Trotsky and James P. Cannon, into the historical context of their time and the work they did.

In Trotsky's case the task is easier, as his life's work is documented in many books, pamphlets, articles, and letters, most of which have been published. His activities, moreover, attracted great public notice. Although Stalinists and others have tried to bury his real record underneath an avalanche of falsehoods of all kinds, the truth will triumph in the end Cannon was fond of using the quotation he attributed to Mark Twain that "A lie can get halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes." That will be the case with Trotsky, one of the greatest thinkers the human race has produced and an activist second to none.

I think that the two most important contributions made by Trotsky were, first, the theory of permanent revolution, which has been confirmed in every revolution since the Russian in 1917.

This theory holds that revolutions, in order to solve the fundamental problems of the colonial and semicolonial countries, cannot stop at the stage of capitalism (as did the revolutions of the 19th century), but must be telescoped with and become proletarian revolutions. They must be led by the workers in alliance with all the oppressed in order to succeed.

Trotsky's second most important contribution was the Transitional Program, a program of demands that bridge the gap between the present consciousness of the working class and revolutionary conclusions.

Trotsky became a widely known political figure when he became chair of the St. Petersburg Soviet in 1905. He occupied the same post 12 years later and from there led in overthrowing the Kerensky regime in October 1917.

He was co-leader with Lenin of the Soviet Communist Party and the Third International, holding important government posts.

He built the Red Army from scratch and led it during the victorious civil war from 1918 to 1921.

With Cannon, it will probably take longer and be more difficult. He did not lead any revolution, form armies, or advance any new theoretical conceptions as Trotsky did. Nevertheless, his contribution to the socialist cause was very great.

He began his work in the early years of the 20th century as a youth when he became a Wobbly, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World. Later, he joined the Socialist Party of Eugene V. Debs.

Founder of American Trotskyism In 1919 Cannon was a founder of the American Communist Party and became a member of its national committee in 1920. In 1928 he was expelled from the Communist Party and together with others became a founder of American Trotskyism.

He helped found the Fourth International in 1938. He did outstanding work in educating a cadre of socialist revolutionaries in this and other countries.

Many of his writings, speeches, letters, articles, and so on, are published. Cannon told me that a good way for beginners to get acquainted with socialism is to read his writings first, as an introduction. Then go on to Trotsky Milton Alvin speaks at Trotsky tribute on Aug. 25.

and Lenin and finally to Marx and Engels.

I believe that Cannon's main contribution was his insistence on being known as an "orthodox Marxist" and teaching others just what this meant.

He paid particular attention to the orientation of the party, making a careful analysis of each political period, and taking on such tasks as were in harmony with the events. He was outstanding in teaching good organizational methods. He did a great deal to expose Stalinist treachery. He contributed to teaching the history of socialist activity in the United States.

I have emphasized the published works of Cannon and to some extent Trotsky because the older generation of revolutionaries who had the good fortune to learn directly from either or both of these two is rapidly disappearing.

This makes it necessary for the coming generation to learn from the written words of our teachers, as indeed Lenin and Trotsky learned from Marx and Engels.

I am confident that this will be done and that new revolutionaries will rally to the socialist cause and that the ideas and work of Leon Trotsky and James P. Cannon will triumph.

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the coming american Revolution

"Trotsky was one of the greatest thinkers of human history."