Page:Charles Emil Ruthenberg - Speeches and Writings (1928).djvu/14

 10 didate for State Treasurer of Ohio; in 1911, candidate for Mayor of Cleveland; in 1912, for Governor of Ohio. In 1913 Ruthenberg became the Secretary and City Organizer of the Cleveland organization; he was also candidate for United States Senator of Ohio during the same year; in 191S, candidate for Mayor; in 1916, candidate for Congress; in 1917, again candidate for Mayor. In the last campaign Ruthenberg ran especially on a platform of opposition to the imperialist war, while he was appealing against his conviction for anti-war activities, and received 27,000 out of a total of 100,000 votes cast in Cleveland. In 1918 Ruthenberg was candidate for Congress and in 1919 candidate for Mayor of Cleveland.

The Cleveland City Organization of the Socialist Party, under Ruthenberg's leadership, had at its height a membership in excess of the national membership of the Socialist Party to-day.

It was Ruthenberg who was primarily responsible for making the left wing in the Socialist Party nationally organization-conscious. There were many who were active propagandists for the then left wing socialism, but a few, if any in 1919, realized sufficiently the need of crystallizing a definite left wing organization on a national scale.

While he was still facing a charge of being accessory to murder, Ruthenberg assumed the arduous task of being the first secretary of the Communist Party of America. Under extremely difficult conditions he was infusing a spirit of drive and energy into the newly-born organization.

Immediately after his release from Sing Sing Prison on the reversal of the decision of conviction by the lower court by the New York State Court of Appeals, Ruthenberg became the second national secretary of the Workers' Party in 1922. Under his direction, the Workers' Party immediately made great progress in its membership rise and political influence. To the party membership, Ruthenberg appeared very clearly as the party builder. In every campaign of the party he was the dynamic force lending push, plan and momentum to it with his un-