Feb. 18, 1954
Dear Farrell,
I spent two days in Toronto and had four meetings. At night I went home with two waverers and talked (that was not one of the meetings).
My general impression of the situation: The section is now right in the middle of the crisis. A national Pabloite faction has developed. We have a nose-counting majority in the whole section but it is just barely getting into fighting shape, forming an organized caucus and acting like a majority. Leaving aside the picture in B.C. branch internally, the national majority is not consolidated, working together or exerting its majority through the national committee.
The lineup in the Toronto branch when I left, after winning over the two waverers, is 8 declared and fairly solid majority; 5 minority, 3 neutral (hard to determine on which side).
During the last few weeks the shift took place toward the Pabloites.
I think my visit was timely and helped them along somewhat. I walked right into a full branch meeting without any chance to meet with our own people. I spoke for over an hour and seemed to make a strong impression. At first it looked like Murray [Dowson] and [the other Pabloites wouldn't speak at all but they finally made some weak statements and asked a few questions. They use almost exclusively the Germain line and formulations.
I hammered away on the political issues and kept coming back to them every time they raised some of Germain's formulas. Then I sailed into the organization question. One of the Pabloites accused me of bringing an ultimatum to the section because I said the principled issues were irreconcilable. I replied by demonstrating who is using ultimatums and edicts. Here they are sitting with a ukase suspending the three leading members of their organization. The suspension comes on the eve of the full discussion the section was launching. It gives us an indication of what Pablo means by a Fourth World Congress. I didn't have to present proof of my contentions regarding Pablo's intrigues against the British section, they could judge from their own experience, etc.
After the meeting I met with the majority people and took up the business you talked to me about. I think all the corrections were made satisfactorially. We also discussed the strategy of the fight.
Before I go into that, I better finish up on the matter of Ross' letter. He will send the letter to Ceylon but has no Bolivian address. He will have to use the Samasamajist address for Ceylon. Gerry and you will get copies at once. You can use them in any way you wish.
At the meeting of the majority it was decided to set up an organized faction and go to work in military style to smash the Pabloite split.
We will get a convention call issued. This will put all questions into the branches and offers us a good backstop for any variant that occurs in the Toronto branch. Up to now the fight has been bottled up in the NC except for some very general discussion in the branch. In the meantime the Pabloites were building a faction and talking peace in the branch. It was agreed to cut out this farce and open up on them in the branch on all issues. The convention strategy does not mean the branch cannot go on record for the International Committee or anything else. As soon as they have the majority in the branch they will put it to a vote.
In the meantime they will bring into the branch the issue of the suspensions. The Pabloites are trying to straddle it. In some ways it's a godsend, these suspensions can be used as an object lesson everywhere and in Canada they can force the Pabloites to the wall.
They consulted me on whether to send money to Pablo! You can imagine what I told them.
I advised them to answer all organizational tricks and questions with the simple statement: referred to the convention. In the meantime not one ounce of cooperation with a phony committee which wants the Canadian section to open its discussion by throwing out the leaders of the opposition to Pablo.
It is clear to me from this visit that we in no way could maneuver with the Canadians. They are going through a major fight which will end in victory for us. But the fight must be carried through and everything subordinated to its victory.
I talked with the Buffalo comrades who have a lot of standing in Toronto and we agreed that they would pay close attention to the situation and work with Ross to help out in every way they can. I had talked to Ross about this previously and he was in full agreement. The best service the Buffalo people can do is to go to work on the undecided and the weaker Pabloites and see how far they can be whittled down.
[p. 186]
It seems that Cochran was invited to come up there. Now the leading comrades are agreed that we shouldn't permit such a meeting. I urged them to block it on the grounds that Cochran is representing the Pabloite expellers and is there to organize a factional split and not a discussion. Also that he led the disloyal walkout from the American party and thereby walked out of the genuine Trotskyist movement everywhere.
The two waverers I stayed with drove me down to Buffalo. It is indicative of how far things had gone that these two were on the verge of joining up with Joe Rose, who is now conniving with the Cochranites.
One final impression, which perhaps will explain the background of these developments. I am convinced that Pabloism, that is real Pabloism, has taken a deep hold in the whole organization up there. They don't fully realize it. They think they are all united in the work in the CCF [Canadian Commonwealth Federation]. And they are, but on a Pabloite line I'm afraid. They have become infected with this terrible disease of thinking that everything can be solved with fancy endless maneuvers in the CCF, with "deep" entry conceptions.
In my opinion the Canadians will not get out of the woods fundamentally until they begin to publish a Marxist periodical of some kind and begin again the fight for Trotskyism in Canada. Ross told me he had been thinking along these lines. All their good work in the CCF could be utterly wasted and turn into the opposite of what was intended without a drastic reorientation in the direction of building a Trotskyist cadre.
In a sense I first got the idea of this international fight after this visit. We are really saving the world movement, hot simply from some false resolutions and a clique domination, but from utter liquidation through Pabloist politics in each section. Just imagine if Cochranism had taken over in America by a creeping method, imperceptible, without a faction fight, and you can get something of a picture I believe of what happened to many sections.
In the light of such an appreciation the Open Letter tactic appears in an altogether different light. It was a life or death necessity and not one out of many variants.
I am on my way to Pittsburgh in a few minutes. I will write soon about the tour. It's going great guns. The meeting in Buffalo was very fine. The branch here is really something. I've become very fond of the comrades here in a short time. It feels like I've known them for years. I think the feeling is mutual.
A carload of comrades are going to drive me to Pittsburgh as soon as they get out of the plants and we will eat on the road. Some of them will stay over in Pittsburgh for the meeting tomorrow.
Regards to all comrades.
Fraternally, M.
P.S. The convention method I proposed they use instead of two regional conferences — a national convention has more authority, in the world movement, and what is important is not how they hold the convention, but the vote on resolutions and delegates and the conclusive settlement of the fight, election of new Committee, etc.
They will be conscious of giving the most authoritative support to the I.C. in the shortest possible time.
M.