From Socialism vs. Civilization, Boris L. Brasol, 1920

Mr. Charles Edward Russell, who is by no means to be suspected of prejudice against Socialism, has quoted in his recent study of Bolshevism and the United States the following data concerning Russian railroad operation :

Versts [1 verst = � mile] of railroad line in operation :

October 1, 1917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,597
October 1, 1918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,800

Available locomotives :

October 1, 1917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15,732
October 1, 1918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5,037

Available freight cars ;

October 1, 1917 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .521,591
October 1, 1918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227,274

Mr. Russell remarks that the above figures were furnished by the Bolshevist Railroad Department and were printed in Bolshevist journals.¹

    ¹ Charles Edward Russell, Bolshevism and the United States, p. 184.

( pages 138-9 )

 

At the convention of the Socialist Party of America held at Chicago in September, 1919, the extreme radicals bolted and split up into several parties, two of which became, respectively, the �Communist Party of America� and the �Communist Labor party.� There was, however, little real difference in the positions of the different groups at the convention. The main body itself pledged its support to eh �Revolutionary Workers� of Russia,¹ and all the factions declared themselves in favor of the Marxian plan to abolish capitalistic production and property rights, and of the rest of the Marxian programme. Previous to this convention, the Socialist party in the United States had become so radical and disloyal that many of its best known leaders, such as John Spargo and Charles Edward Russell, had publicly severed their connections with it.

    ¹ The amended platform adopted by the convention reads in part:
    �We, the organized Socialists of America, pledge our support to the Revolutionary Workers of Russia in the support of the Government of their Soviets, with the Radical Socialists of Germany, Austria and Hungary in their efforts to establish working-class rule in their countries, and with those Socialist organizations in England, France, Italy and other countries who, during the war as after the war, have remained true to the principles of uncompromising International Socialism.�

( page 191 )

New York : Charles Scribner's Sons, 1920.

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