Letter to Jan Frankel, August 12, 1933

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Documents for the Conference

Dear Friend:

I believe that it is necessary to make a slight change in our plan concerning the [Paris] conference; of course, only in the purely technical side. To prepare a programmatic document for this conference, encompassing all the questions of our epoch, would amount to firing blank cartridges: the majority would take note of it without discussion and proceed to the next point on the agenda. You can hardly expect a general discussion of our fundamental tasks during those two days.

What can be done under these conditions? I believe that we must prepare three separate documents: first, a declaration on the meaning of our participation in the conference and on the general goals of this group of organizations. This declaration will be five or six typewritten pages and will be very useful in specifying our attitude toward the left Socialist organizations. Because the conference agenda includes the struggle against war and the struggle against fascism, we must prepare a resolution on each of these questions. There may well be a tendency to treat these two questions from a purely “practical” point of view. On the contrary, the draft I am preparing links the questions of fascism and war to the entire perspective of the struggle for the new International. In that form, no one can evade it.

The question of the antifascist boycott may also arise. It is a very thorny question. It is being raised now by the reformist trade unions; unfortunately, I have not followed this whole development. I do not have the necessary facts available and I am very reluctant to offer anything specific. I have written to Bauer about it, proposing that he study the matter and prepare summaries for us all. I should like to have these summaries several hours before the conference.

You raise once more the question of the Secretariat; I believe that the course we agreed on here is the best one. If the finance commission states — and we may well expect this to be their decision — that the Secretariat cannot support any full-time staff, we can only yield to that misfortune. That will unfortunately mean that it will be impossible for the time being for Comrade W[itte] to remain abroad and participate in our work. I shall be very sorry, and I shall consider this situation, for my part, as entirely temporary, that is, to be changed as soon as we are a little better off, and I hope that day is not too distant. Perhaps we should include this thought in the plenum’s decision, in the event that the full-time staff is completely abolished.