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The New York Communist Why Political Democracy Must Go By John Rood cal action and endorsed the so called Black Inter. ist Labor Party called the kangaroos were THE formation of the Workingmen Party national, the anarchist International Working Peo against the policy of combatting the labor organi.
zations from without. They favored the policy of render armed resistance to encroachments tical force in the United States. The old dis be rights of workingmen. Before the referendum boring from within. This meant to capture the tinction of Internationalism and Lasalleanism gave of at the time supremo by WOTKI way to the native American conflict between Trade was completed, however, the Chicago section took within the Union te elect and through Unionism and Politics. which copiinued to sway part in one more municipal campaign, whose effect them to dominate the membership.
the movement from one side to another until the upon the Socialists was so disastrous that it de In 1889 the kangaroos seceded from the So les stroyed the last vestige of faith in even the agita cialist Labor Party, and in 1900 they joined the generation rional value of political campaigns.
Social Democracy the new Party took the name So far have described the background of the movement in this country. With the Union ConThe Convention of 1883, at Pittsburgh, defined of Socialist Party of America. In the campaign gress of 1876, Socialism entered upon the political the two currents in the new organization; that led of 1900 the Socialist Party rolled up e vote of its most 90, 000, while the Socialist Labor Party vote arena in the struggle for power against the capi by Spies of Chicago, recognizing revolutionary dwindled talis class trade unionism and that led by Johann Most of New York, advocating pure revolutionary anarch With the foundation of the Socialist Party, the few sections locally entered political cam ism. compromise between the two was reached, history of the Socialist Labor Party, u movement paigns, and the resulting voie was so encouraging resulting in a philosophy of organization and action of the workers at grips with the capitalists on the that other prepared to follow. Then came the na almost analogous to modern Syndicalism. political field, come to end. Henceforth the in the strikes, the violence of the police, especially that was under the influence of this organization Socialist Labor Party is identified with the develop a great Socialist theoretican, Daniel Do Leon. The last attempt of the Socialist Labor Party makers was fired on. The National Executive Com: centering around the Eight hour strikes, and cul mittee uw its opportunity, and ordered the sections of 1886, which broke the Black International.
minating in the Haymarket Bombs of the summer to annex the labor movement occurred in 1905 01, in connoction with the and resulted Onco to hold mass meetings endorsing labor demands.
The autumn elections in many parts of the country more in the secession of the and the form The provocation of the ruling class which ro tion showed a of a rival organisation.
large Socialist vote.
Immediately a sulted in the explosions (analogous to the San special convention of the Party was called to de Francisco lomb cases and the recent Post Office In the light of repent history, when the relatively fine its attitude toward politics.
bombs. demonstrate to what lengths the capitalists enormous Socialist vote hus failed to influence seri will go in order to wreck all efforts of the workers ously the make up of capitalist legislature, it will This convention met in December 1877 and remodelled its Declaration of Principles to the effect to free themselves. It is impossible to capture the be surprise to many persons to read of the legio that political action is the natural function of the capitalist state for the workers by means of the lative victories of the small and strifotorn Social ist movements of early days small us they were However, owing to the influence of the and yet when Labor repudiates political action, it Trade Unionists, it declared also that the Party in comparison with the huge spread and power of should maintain frierdly relations with the trade is met with fearful violence.
the capitalist system. But capitalism had not yet During this time the Socialist Labor Party had consolidated its hold on the Siate; the independent unions and should promote their formation upon socialistic principles. The name was changed to almost disappeared, not emerging until the Henry ballot was still a power although even forty years Socialistic Labor Party and a few years later, to George Campaign of 1886 in New York, when the ago could be discerned the answer of the ruling clan Socialist Labor Party.
Socialists saw their opportunity to arouse the to any challenge of its hegemony on the political or industrial field violence.
lo the worker masses to political action once more, the spring elections a curious paradoz was result of which, they thought, would be to win observable. In localities where the Trade Union the new movement to Socialism. But the Henry od slowly; the bourgeois dictatorship of society The political power of the working class increas ists were supreme, the candidates, who had been George movement concentrated on Single Tax, and grew by leaps and bounds; today the citadel of forced into politics by the Party policy, polled finally repudiated Socialism; 80 the Socialists threw great capitalism is impregnable to all menults a worked for them; whtle in the districts where the New York. All over the country independent Le their strength into the Progressive Labor Party, in cept the man mault of the united working clan. To be continued. pure Political Actionists predominated, the Lator vole went to the Greenbackers or the Republicans. results were astonishing bor Parties sprang up, and for a time the political These Labor Parties nert national and state elections, the same elected no less than ten Congressmen, many legis phenomenon prevailed. The Chicago section, the lators, judges, etc. Even in New York State, where and Bolshevism most powerful in the country, elected four members the vote was small, the effect upon the legislaturt to the legislature, who were influential enough to was such that a great quantity of labor legislation (Contined from me 3)
compel the appointment of an Industrial Commiswas enacted.
sion, and the following year, secured four aldermen. An attempt was made, in 1887, to combine thee Revolution, and that in Italy, for example, they are have been profoundly influenced by the Room In St. Louis, three Socialist candidates were elected scattered partier into one national organization, working hand in hand with the revolutiouery So to the legislature. But the draw backs of the situation were made by the effects of the boom which was accomplished by prosperity drew the attention of labor vention, wherein were included the Knights of La If there articles in One Big Union are the real away from politics, and the bor, the Farmers Alliance, Greenbackers, etc. Here membership vote of the Socialist Labor Party rapidly declined.
was launched the National Union Labor Party; but expression of the thought of the W. apon Bol In 1880 the Political Actionists. in view of the Greenbackism the farmers (the small property forgotten nothing. It camot uce any difference this turned out to be merely another deal with shevism, then the has learned nothing and diminishing Party vote, forced through a referen holders) captured the organization, and the Socia) between the Bolsheviki and the Scheidemann Sa dum to send delegates to the Greenback Convention ists did not support it. nor did the industrial work cialists. It will not face the fact that the period in Chicago, and support the candidates of the for it.
of Social Revolution has come, ad that the col Greenback Party.
This cocinionists of Chicago, cialist Labor Party the old bitter fight between chart was passion Lapse of Capitalism will not wait until the working In 1888 began anew within the ranks of the So ately opposed by the Trade is entirely organized according to the as well as by a group of revolutionary Socialists in the New York, whose center was a handful of refugees In 1889 the Political Actionists on the National Political Actionists and the Trade Unionists.
The final gom of the collection in this: from the German anti Socialists laws.
Executive Committee wert replaced by Trade Economic reconstruction of society cannot be Since the first campaign of the Workingmen Unionists, and the Party placed itself behind the accomplished by government trying to order Party, the Trade Unionists had never abandoned Eight hour Movement, and promised support to things with high hand through laws and regula their instinctive distrust of political action. In the Unions. minority of the sections revolted, tions, but has to be an organic growth from the bat 1987:28it and of candidati de o organized their own machinery and declared to top on other place and were the industrial organisation of the ble agitational value. The state was not yet clear. Cincinnati Socialist Labor Party. in 1897 it If the Fellow. Worker by this time has not din ly defined as a direct instrument of capitalist examalgamated with the Debs Berger Social Democ covered the coential characteristic of the Russian ploitation; the Socialist legislators took it by surprise But from then on gangs of armed the tra polítical expression of the old American Railway vido namely, that it is organic growth from ist speakers were attacked; Socialist votes were Party immediately plunged into Beltics.
him.
While the Fellow worker is criticising the tom up; and in Chicago, in 1879, the only SocialIn the meanwhile the Socialist Labor Party was Proletarian Revolution in full swing, from the ist alderman elected was deliberately refused his passing through a rapid evolution in its relations lofty point of view of an organisation profcmadly seat by the corrupt Democratic Council.
to organized labor. The gradual consolidation of Dot ready for revolution, Russia is tackling the ind In 1879 80, as today, the lawless brutalities of the the craft union, wage conscious philosophy of the mense task of organizing the workers industrially, ruling class in nullifying the Socialist vote created American Federation of Labor finally led to a in order to obtain the necesary organs for taking wide spread disgust with political action. Al battle in the old Central Labor Union of New York over production. In Ruwis the workers are taking ready many workingmen military organizations The Socialist Labor Party set up an opposition over production, and there is no return to the The Political Actionists in control of the National fused a charter by the of L, and finally over much of a balt may be bacemary ten the Executive Committee repudiated these armed topro com.
definitely expelled. Then, under the leadership of cieties. The deals with the Greenback Party was Daniel Delcon, the Socialist Labor Party attempted We of the Loft Wing have learned our loons the last straw for the Trade Union faction, which, to capture the Knights of Labor. Using the United from the War and the European Revolution with its growing system of labor organizations Heb: ew Trades u his instrument, De Leon got con humbly admit our mistakes, and the fallacies in armed for defense, broke away from the Political trol of District Assembly 49, and then ousted herent in political Socialiam. We turn with more Actionists, and in 1881 issued a call to all revolu. Powderly as President of the Knights, and elected and more intense interest toward the industrial the country, pointing out the necessity of getting in both of the great labor organizations, Del. con perience in a dramatic labor struggle lasting more ready to offer an armed resistance to the invasions started his own Socialist Labor Party organiza. han decade. We are reaching toward you, Fel.
by the capitalist class and capitalist legislatures. tion, to compete with the two the Socialix Trade low Workers.
In October of the same year convention of and Labor Alliance.
But we demand that you, too, shall learn your lutionists mei at Chicago, and formed the Revo Indirectly this was the chief cause of the forma lmons from events, and cosso to repeat formule ary Socialist Party, which rejected all politi tion of the Socialist Party. group in the Social. which date back to the old woridbeard the Wa.
clear of 1879; ers vote class