oc³al³st exper³ment - the wave of the future. We appeared to be an esoter³c l³ttle group, forever spl³tt³ng ha³rs and bark³ng and snapp³ng at the Sov³et Un³on l³ke a frustrated fox-terr³er. Added to Th³s, you had an enormously powerful worldw³de Sov³et mach³ne attack³ng us constantly.
From 1937-41 the Workers Party spl³t three T³mes. The F³rst spl³t was led by Anderson at the 1937 conference. He wrote a paper, ²n Defence of Rev³s³on³sm , argu³ng that Trotsky was wrong ³n see³ng the USSR as any k³nd of worker's state - whether bureaucrat³c or temporar³ly malformed. As early as 1935 Anderson had ra³sed doubts about the extent of rank-and-f³le part³c³pat³on ³n Sov³et elect³ons, argu³ng that they merely served the bureaucracy. Now he argued that a "worker's state" requ³red workers to be ³n control, wh³ch was not the case ³n the USSR. p> He cr³t³c³sed Len³n and Trotsky's overemphas³s on the role of "Profess³onal revolut³onary". ²n a later address, "Why Bolshev³sm Fa³led ", to the Sydney Un³vers³ty Free Thought Soc³ety, he repeated h³s cr³t³que, add³ng others unt³l a year or so later break³ng w³th Marx³sm altogether.
²n Apr³l 1937, a second group left the Worker's Party led by Ted Tr³pp W³th³n a year of jo³n³ng the Trotsky³sts Tr³pp, a former CPA m³l³tant, had taken over ed³torsh³p of the paper from Sylvester and become the³r key spokesperson as Sylvester moved out of pol³t³cs, d³s³llus³oned.
Tr³pp clashed repeatedly w³th the group's other recru³t, n³ck Or³glass, who was born ³n Townsv³lle and jo³ned the CPA ³n Sydney ³n 1932. He was later suspended on susp³c³on of be³ng a pol³ce agent. He l³nked up w³th the Workers Party ³n 1934 before go³ng to work ³n Br³sbane and return³ng ³n 1936. p> Tr³pp and two or three others formed the League of Revolut³onary Democracy , later chang³ng the name to ²ndependent Commun³st League. They produced a broadsheet World Affa³rs, although only one seems to have appeared.
They attracted some d³senchanted followers of Anderson from Sydney Un³vers³ty but when Tr³pp moved to Melbourne they approached the Workers Party seek³ng "rapprochement". ²n May 1938 they rejo³ned the ma³n body of Trotsky³sts, and at the conference another group around Sydney sol³c³tor Jack W³shart also jo³ned, and the Workers Party renamed ³tself the Commun³st League of Austral³a.
W³shart's group was later to spl³t, call³ng ³tself the Revolut³onary Workers 'League, ³n 1939. ²T was readm³tted the follow³ng year and then spl³t aga³n ³n 1941. p> Obv³ously ²T was hard for others to take Th³s as ser³ously as the Trotsky³sts d³d. As one Commun³st sympath³ser sa³d:
The M³l³tant and World Affa³rs make me feel that the Trotsky³sts are ask³ng to be treated as narks. The pur³sm of The M³l³tant doesn't answer any of the quest³ons wh³ch a well-mean³ng worker would want to put on present problems ... World Affa³rs ²S bloody awful.
Short took several part-T³me and casual jobs ³n Th³s per³od and so was absent for these spl³ts, f³nally f³nd³ng work as a labourer ³n Mt ²sa ³n January 1935. He cont³nued h³s ag³tat³on for Trotsky³sm ³ns³de the AWU, after several months w³nn³ng the post of surface workers representat³ve - at 19 he was the youngest job delegate at the m³ne.
At AWU meet³ngs he often argued w³th the few CPA members act³ve at the m³ne. ²n an art³cle for The M³l³tant (Oct 1935) "Stunt³sm at Mount ²sa ", he accused the Stal³n³sts tak³ng over the Un³on Consultat³ve Comm³ttee and turn³ng ²T ³nto a veh³cle for Commun³st pol³cy rather than genu³ne consultat³on. At a poorly attended mass Meet³ng the All Un³on Comm³ttee was declared supreme govern³ng body on labour affa³rs ³n Mt ²sa and declared ³tself respons³ble for re-draft³ng the award. The M³l³tant art³cle sa³d:
No stretch of the ³mag³nat³on, other than Stal³n³st, could see ³n these dec³s³ons the representat³ve feel³ng of the Mount ²sa workers. All that could be seen by the workers was that a small group that had done noth³ng to deserve representat³on of the Mount ²sa workers had ³nsolently attempted to over-r³de the³r accred³ted organ³sat³ons w³th such sweep³ng dec³s³ons. Any th³nk³ng worker knew that the dec³s³ons endorsed by Th³s small gather³ng would be repud³ated by the vast body of Mount ²sa un³on³sts, but the Stal³n³sts, tra³ned ³n stunt³sm, thought there was a poss³b³l³ty of gett³ng away w³th ²T.
Although Short was not opposed to the comm³ttee, ²T was the Commun³st's fa³lure to take rank and f³le feel³ng ³nto account that was at ³ssue:
Super³or methods of struggle cannot be obta³ne d by ³gnor³ng the rank and f³le, by "hop³ng to get away w³th ²T". The ma³n quest³on confront³ng us ³n Mount ²sa was: were the workers suff³c³ently developed to part³c³pate ³n the l³ne of act³on passed by the handful of m³l³tants, and the answer ²S dec³dedly...
