LETTER FROM SWP TO TIM WOHLFORTH
November: 21, 1966
Tim Wohlforth, Editor American Committee for the Fourth. international 439 Lafayette Street, Room 305 New York, N Y. 10012” ;
Dear Comrade Wohlforth,
Enclosed is a copy of a communication sent by the National. Committee of the Socialist Workers Party to the National Committee of the Socialist Labour. League.
In view. of the declaration carried wit the masthead of your organ,. the. Bulletin of International Socialism, that you are. "in political: solidarity with. the. International Committee of the Fourth International," the body set up by Thomas Gerard Healy as a front for the top leadership of: the Socialist Labour League , and since you have vigorously advanced your claim to be the "official" spokesman in the United States for Healy, whom you even represent as a model, it is clear that your own political reputation has now been placed under a cloud.
We call this to your attention in the expectation that you will seek to remove this cloud by publicly and unambiguously dissociating yourself from Healy and the methods he is sponsoring.
- .We point especially to the statement by the Political Committee of the Socialist Labour League, denouncing the: pamphlet Healy "Reconstructs" the Fourth International, in which the following open threat was issued: "We shall not hesitate to deal appropriately with: the handful of United Secretariat agents who hawk it around the .cynical. fakeleft in England."
This open instigation of members of the Socialist Labour League to physically attack vendors of a pamphlet taking issue with Healy was published in the August 20 number of The Newsletter , the official organ of the Central Committee of the Socialist Labour League. :
Whatever you do or do not do about this matter is of course: up to you. -Lest there be any misunderstanding, however, we take the opportunity to assure you that regardless of your stand, the Socialist Workers Party will continue.to maintain the attitude it has always advocated, practiced and fought for; namely, complete respect for the democratic rights of all workers organizations and maintenance of a common front against any attempt to révive the poisonous methods that. were . the hallmark of Stalinism in its worst period. L: :
Specifically, we wish to assure members of your organization that the Socialist
Workers Party will continue to respect their right to sell Healyite literature at the entrance of our meetings. Our own members, we are completely confident, despite their anger over the beating inflicted on Ernest Tate, will continue to respect your literature distributors and freely buy from them whatever they wish to as part of their right as members of the Socialist Workers Party to read any literature they wish to or in line with their obligation to remain abreast of the literature of all opponent organizations.
We are enclosing, in addition, copies of correspondence sent to James Robertson and to Pierre Lambert, concerning this matter.
Fraternally,
Farrell Dobbs, National Secretary
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