First Published: The Militant, Vol. 10, No. 38, September 21, 1946
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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(Special to The Militant)
Ruth McKenney and her husband, Bruce Minton, have been expelled from the Communist (Stalinist) Party, according to the Sept. 12 Daily Worker, because they called “for the immediate organization of a class-conscious labor party.”
Ruth McKenney is author of the best-seller, My Sister Eileen, and other books. Minton is coauthor of Men Who Lead Labor.
Until April 16, 1946, both were editors of the New Masses, leading Stalinist weekly in the United States. Since that date their names have not appeared on the masthead. No explanation was given for their removal.
The expulsions created a sensation among Hollywood and theatrical circles where the two have long been active representatives of Stalinism.
The two were accused by the Connecticut Stalinist State Committee of conducting “a vicious struggle against the policies of the National Committee regarding the role of the Party in the 1946 elections.” The Stalinists are supporting Wall Street’s Democratic machine.
The accusation said the people were “in contact with anti-Party forces outside of the branch.” The Daily Worker did not specify whether these ̶o;anti-Party forces” were followers of Earl Browder who was expelled last year.
“Characteristic of petty-bourgeois ’radicalism’,” said the Daily Worker, “they attacked Comrade Foster for calling upon the Party and the American people to fight for world peace on the grounds that it is impossible under capitalism to check the outbreaks of war or to achieve a period of peace.”
The Sept. 13 N.Y. Times quoted Bruce Minton as declaring over the telephone that “both of us consider ourselves loyal members” of the CP and “shall always do our utmost in every way to build the present organization and to strengthen the Marxist Party of the working class.”
Minton told the Times he had wired the Daily Worker and “respectfully requested” a correction in the article on their expulsion. The telegram asserted that they “did not and do not belong to any faction” and the Norwalk, Conn. Branch, where they are members, “voted not to expel us.”