Dennis E. Batt
Encyclopedia
Dennis E. Batt was an American political journalist and trade union
activist. Best remembered as the first editor of The Communist, the official organ of the Communist Party of America and leading member of the Proletarian Party of America
, in later years Batt's political views became increasingly conservative and he ended his life as a mainstream functionary in the union movement.
, the son of a street car conductor.
Batt attended high school in Detroit
for two years before enlisting in the U.S. Cavalry, in which he served from 1907 to 1910. Following the end of his military service, Batt became a machinist
, working as a tool and die maker for the next decade.
, the state affiliate of the Socialist Party of America
(SPA). There he came under the influence of John Keracher
, an immigrant from Scotland
who espoused the doctrine of impossibilism
— a belief that ameliorative reforms only stood to bolster the capitalist system
and that the socialist
movement should limit itself to the education and training of workers
for the inevitable overthrow of capitalism. Batt became closely involved with Keracher and his associates in winning control of the Socialist Party of Michigan to these ends.
At its 1919 state convention, the Socialist Party of Michigan passed an amendment to its constitution specifying the expulsion of "any member, Local, or Branch of a Local advocating legislative reforms." This put the constitution of the state in conflict with the constitution of the national Socialist Party and provided a pretext for the more moderate National Executive Committee of the SPA to revoke the charter of the Socialist Party of Michigan at its May 24, 1919, session. An emergency convention was held by the Michigan group, which determined to lend their support to the establishment of a new political organization.
In June 1919, Batt was among five delegates from the Socialist Party of Michigan who attended the National Conference of the Left Wing in New York City
. This gathering of adherents of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
was deeply divided as to whether they should continue to fight for control of the Socialist Party against a well-entrenched and hostile party leadership. Batt, Keracher, and the other Michigan delegates sided with the seven suspended foreign language federations of the SPA in arguing for the immediate establishment of a new communist party. The majority of the conference rejected this appeal, however, and as a result September 1919 saw the formation of two rival organizations, the Communist Party of America — supported by the Michigan group — and the Communist Labor Party of America, launched by Alfred Wagenknecht
, L.E. Katterfeld
, and John Reed when the attempt to win control of the 1919 Emergency National Convention
of the SPA failed.
Batt was named National Secretary of the Organizing Committee for the new Communist Party of America (CPA) and the editor of The Communist, the weekly publication of that committee. At the founding convention of the CPA, held in Chicago, Batt was sensationally arrested on the floor of the gathering by Illinois authorities serving an arrest warrant
for Batt's having allegedly having violated the state's sedition
laws as editor of The Communist.
Early in 1920, the Michigan group headed by Keracher and Batt broke with the Communist Party over the group's decision to go "underground" in the face of the mass arrests known to history as the Palmer Raids
. The Michigan group established their own political organization, the Proletarian Party of America
, with Batt named the group's first National Secretary and editor of its monthly publication, a magazine called The Proletarian.
In 1921, Batt was dispatched to Moscow
to attend the founding congress of the Red International of Labor Unions. He also attended the 3rd World Congress of the Communist International as a guest, making an attempt to win recognition for the Proletarian Party as the American section of that organization.
Upon returning to America, Batt was elected to the Executive Board of the Detroit Federation of Labor. He was also elected President of Lodge 82 of the International Association of Machinists in 1922 as well as the President of District 60 of that organization. In conjunction with these roles, Batt assumed the editorship of Detroit Labor News, the official publication of the Detroit Federation.
Batt was a delegate to the first general meeting of the Conference for Progressive Political Action
(CPPA), held in Cleveland
in December 1922, where as a delegate of the Detroit Federation of Labor he defended the right of the rival Workers Party of America
to participate in the gathering over the objections of the CPPA's leaders.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
activist. Best remembered as the first editor of The Communist, the official organ of the Communist Party of America and leading member of the Proletarian Party of America
Proletarian Party of America
The Proletarian Party of America was a small communist political party in the United States, originating in 1920 and terminated in 1971. Originally an offshoot of the Communist Party of America, the group maintained an independent existence for over five decades. It is best remembered for carrying...
, in later years Batt's political views became increasingly conservative and he ended his life as a mainstream functionary in the union movement.
Early years
Dennis Elihu Batt was born May 2, 1886 in Tekonsha, MichiganTekonsha, Michigan
Tekonsha is a village in Tekonsha Township, Calhoun County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, the son of a street car conductor.
Batt attended high school in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
for two years before enlisting in the U.S. Cavalry, in which he served from 1907 to 1910. Following the end of his military service, Batt became a machinist
Machinist
A machinist is a person who uses machine tools to make or modify parts, primarily metal parts, a process known as machining. This is accomplished by using machine tools to cut away excess material much as a woodcarver cuts away excess wood to produce his work. In addition to metal, the parts may...
, working as a tool and die maker for the next decade.
Political career
During his time as a machinist, Batt joined the Socialist Party of MichiganSocialist Party of Michigan
The Socialist Party of Michigan is the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Michigan.-Formation:The Socialist Party of Michigan was the state affiliate of the Socialist Party of America , established in the summer of 1901...
, the state affiliate of the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
(SPA). There he came under the influence of John Keracher
John Keracher
John Keracher was a Scottish-born American Marxist politician who founded the Proletarian Party of America in 1920.-Early years:...
, an immigrant from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
who espoused the doctrine of impossibilism
Impossibilism
Impossibilism is an interpretation of Marxism. It emphasizes the limited value of reforms in overturning capitalism and insists on revolutionary political action as the only reliable method of bringing about socialism.-Origins of the concept:...
— a belief that ameliorative reforms only stood to bolster the capitalist system
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
and that the socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
movement should limit itself to the education and training of workers
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
for the inevitable overthrow of capitalism. Batt became closely involved with Keracher and his associates in winning control of the Socialist Party of Michigan to these ends.
At its 1919 state convention, the Socialist Party of Michigan passed an amendment to its constitution specifying the expulsion of "any member, Local, or Branch of a Local advocating legislative reforms." This put the constitution of the state in conflict with the constitution of the national Socialist Party and provided a pretext for the more moderate National Executive Committee of the SPA to revoke the charter of the Socialist Party of Michigan at its May 24, 1919, session. An emergency convention was held by the Michigan group, which determined to lend their support to the establishment of a new political organization.
In June 1919, Batt was among five delegates from the Socialist Party of Michigan who attended the National Conference of the Left Wing in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. This gathering of adherents of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party
The Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party was an organized faction within the Socialist Party of America in 1919 which served as the core of the dual communist parties which emerged in the fall of that year — the Communist Party of America and the Communist Labor Party of America.-Precusors:A...
was deeply divided as to whether they should continue to fight for control of the Socialist Party against a well-entrenched and hostile party leadership. Batt, Keracher, and the other Michigan delegates sided with the seven suspended foreign language federations of the SPA in arguing for the immediate establishment of a new communist party. The majority of the conference rejected this appeal, however, and as a result September 1919 saw the formation of two rival organizations, the Communist Party of America — supported by the Michigan group — and the Communist Labor Party of America, launched by Alfred Wagenknecht
Alfred Wagenknecht
Alfred Wagenknecht was an American Marxist activist and political functionary. He is best remembered for having played a critical role in the establishment of the American Communist Party in 1919 as a leader of the Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party...
, L.E. Katterfeld
L.E. Katterfeld
Ludwig Erwin Alfred "Dutch" Katterfeld , most commonly known as L.E. Katterfeld, was an American socialist politician, a founding member of the Communist Labor Party of America, a Comintern functionary, and a magazine editor.-Early life:L.E...
, and John Reed when the attempt to win control of the 1919 Emergency National Convention
1919 Emergency National Convention
The 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party of America was held in Chicago from August 30 to September 5, 1919. It was a seminal gathering in the history of American radicalism, marked by the bolting of the party's organized left wing to establish the Communist Labor Party of...
of the SPA failed.
Batt was named National Secretary of the Organizing Committee for the new Communist Party of America (CPA) and the editor of The Communist, the weekly publication of that committee. At the founding convention of the CPA, held in Chicago, Batt was sensationally arrested on the floor of the gathering by Illinois authorities serving an arrest warrant
Arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
for Batt's having allegedly having violated the state's sedition
Sedition
In law, sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that is deemed by the legal authority to tend toward insurrection against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent to lawful authority. Sedition may include any...
laws as editor of The Communist.
Early in 1920, the Michigan group headed by Keracher and Batt broke with the Communist Party over the group's decision to go "underground" in the face of the mass arrests known to history as the Palmer Raids
Palmer Raids
The Palmer Raids were attempts by the United States Department of Justice to arrest and deport radical leftists, especially anarchists, from the United States. The raids and arrests occurred in November 1919 and January 1920 under the leadership of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer...
. The Michigan group established their own political organization, the Proletarian Party of America
Proletarian Party of America
The Proletarian Party of America was a small communist political party in the United States, originating in 1920 and terminated in 1971. Originally an offshoot of the Communist Party of America, the group maintained an independent existence for over five decades. It is best remembered for carrying...
, with Batt named the group's first National Secretary and editor of its monthly publication, a magazine called The Proletarian.
In 1921, Batt was dispatched to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to attend the founding congress of the Red International of Labor Unions. He also attended the 3rd World Congress of the Communist International as a guest, making an attempt to win recognition for the Proletarian Party as the American section of that organization.
Upon returning to America, Batt was elected to the Executive Board of the Detroit Federation of Labor. He was also elected President of Lodge 82 of the International Association of Machinists in 1922 as well as the President of District 60 of that organization. In conjunction with these roles, Batt assumed the editorship of Detroit Labor News, the official publication of the Detroit Federation.
Batt was a delegate to the first general meeting of the Conference for Progressive Political Action
Conference for Progressive Political Action
The Conference for Progressive Political Action was officially established by the convention call of the 16 major railway labor unions in the United States, represented by a committee of six: William H. Johnston of the Machinists' Union, Martin F. Ryan of the Railway Carmen, Warren S. Stone of the...
(CPPA), held in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
in December 1922, where as a delegate of the Detroit Federation of Labor he defended the right of the rival Workers Party of America
Workers Party of America
The Workers Party of America was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from the last days of 1921 until the middle of 1929. As a legal political party the Workers Party accepted affiliation from independent socialist groups such as the African Blood Brotherhood,...
to participate in the gathering over the objections of the CPPA's leaders.
Later years
Batt's position in the Detroit Federation of Labor brought him into conflict with Keracher and the Proletarian Party, and he was expelled from the organization in the first half of the 1920s.Works
- The Batt-Dannenberg Debate on Resolved, that by Political Action Alone, Without the Assistance of the Socialist Industrial Union, the Workers can Emancipate Themselves ... Between Dennis E. Batt, Representing the Socialist Party, and Karl Dannenberg, Representing the Workers' International Industrial Union. Detroit: Literature Bureau of the Workers' International Industrial Union, 1919.
- Socialism Debated. With H.H. Ninaino. Chicago: Literature Department, Communist Party, 1919.
- "Left, Right, and Center," The Proletarian [Detroit], v. 2, no. 1 (May 1919), pp. 13–14.
- "Speech at a Mass Meeting: Madison Square Garden — June 10, 1919." Corvallis, OR: 1000 Flowers Publishing, 2006.
- "The Parting of the Ways," The Proletarian [Detroit], v. 2, no. 3 (July 1919), pp. 3–4.
- "Letter to the Comintern from the Representative of the Proletarian Party of America." Corvallis, OR: 1000 Flowers Publishing, 2005.
- "The Third International Congress," The Proletarian, [Detroit], v. 3, no. 10 (Nov. 1921), pp. 10–11.