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Special pages :
Letter to Max Shachtman, November 25, 1933
| Author(s) | Leon Trotsky |
|---|---|
| Written | 25 November 1933 |
Bad News About the CLA
Dear Comrade Shachtman:
I am at fault before you but deserve leniency. Sara [Weber] must have written you that I was ill, spent a whole month away from everything, etc. But even now I am greatly perplexed by the political questions put to me.
When you and Swabeck were in Europe and at Prinkipo there was yet a possibility to get a definite idea of the situation in the [American] League and of the way out through detailed conversations. A number of months have passed since. At first it seems that the situation had improved. Now, as I can see from your letter, a change for the worse has set in. What are the causes?
The plan which half a year ago gained the support of European comrades, myself among them, consisted in the following: the [Leagueâs national] conference is postponed, as in itself it cannot be a way out of the situation; all forces are directed toward mass work under the banner of the new orientation; the central committee is transferred to Chicago to a fresh atmosphere so as to free its own hands and the hands of the New York branch. The initiative for this plan came mostly from the majority of the National Committee. After the minority consented to support this plan it seemed to me that the chances for success had greatly increased.
Now you write that the majority of the National Committee postpones the transfer to Chicago but insists on hastening the conference. This plan is in absolute contradiction to the previous one. What caused the change? To get a definite idea it is necessary to know the circumstances better. I asked Comrade Swabeck in a private letter to inform me of the situation. The present letter is also of an entirely private and preliminary character. Of course, I am greatly chagrined at this unfavorable turn but so far am forced to abstain from expressing any judgment on the matter as such.
Until today nothing further has been heard of The New International. How is one to understand this? Just another financial crisis? As I have had occasion to convince myself, our American friends are not very strong on bookkeeping: they start with a bang and then accidentally discover that their cash box is empty. Or are there perhaps some other reasons for it?
With warmest greetings.
Yours,
L. Trotsky