—Parties operating legally must “make periodical cleanings” of the membership to weed out dissenters. —“Every party that desires to belong to the Communist International must give every possible support to the Soviet Republics in their struggle against all counter-revolutionary forces.” —“All decisions of the Congresses of the Communist International, as well as the decisions of its Executive Committee, are binding on all parties affiliated to the Communist International.” Here is the final, clinching point: —“Members of the Party who reject the conditions and theses of the Communist International, on principle, must be expelled from the party.” The Comintern made its position clear: either join on its terms, involving complete surrender, or become a renegade. Later congresses elaborated on this communist discipline. In July, 1921, for example, an order was issued by the Comintern Executive Committee that national congresses were to be held after the Comintern congresses so that they could ratify decisions. The Fourth Congress (1922) ruled that all Comintern delegates should arrive in Moscow uninstructed. Lenin was determined to make the Comintern the iron fist that controlled communism throughout the world. The Third International exercised supervision not only by instructing American communists who flocked to Moscow but by sending representatives, or “reps” as they were called, to this country. These individuals would openly sit in communist meetings, participate in decisions, and issue orders. The “reps” represented Moscow, and that fact alone was proof of their communist “divinity.” The Comintern “reps” contributed to a picturesque period in the history of American communism. Many were riffraff European Bolsheviks, of various nationalities, themselves knowing little about communism, who were hurriedly dispatched to the United States. Often, by their inept actions, they made American leaders more confused than ever. To gain admittance to the United States, they often used fake names, false passports, and special “covers.” This sounds like a crude system, and, in the light of present-day communist “diplomacy,” it was. Nobody would imagine an official Soviet representative so identified in today’s communist meetings or American communists openly going to Moscow to receive instructions. This “crudity” has been polished. The same channels of communication are still open, but more “professional” ways of supervision have been perfected. Soon after the 1919 founding conventions, the Executive Committee of the Communist International sent a letter to the two underground Parties, the CP and CLP. The split, said the Comintern, had harmed the communist cause in the United States. Unity must be established “in the shortest possible time.” The letter recommended the calling of a joint convention. The condition for unity was acceptance of the program of the Comintern.