Saturday, June 14, 1919 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE The Declaration of Party Principles THE have explanrehe Hillquit ver very nice as a silence.
insist have THE session of the National Executive Committee Criticism ations that are committed against imperialist wars. It of the Socialist Party which tried to split the should be the aim of the Socialist Party of America to Party, adopted a declaration which opens: and to the reactionary alliance of capitalist governments stimulate and hasten the reunion of all radical and vital forces of Socialism and labor in all countries.
In order to dispel all possible misunderstanding, which masquerading as a League of Nations. It demands the immediate repeal of all repressive war legislation, comBehold the American International to which all recent insidious agitation within our ranks is endeavoring to create between the party membersnip and its plete amnesty for all political prisoners, and restor must aspire and to which all who are radical, National Executive Committee, the latter takes this ation of full peace tima civil liberties, may come! We had suspected that the Communist occasion to summarize briefly its views of the party Now isn it clever to call the Paris treaty an al ition of the international Socialist movement. But we International represented the most advanced posattitude on the main questions which at this tine engage the attention of the Socialist movement at home and leged peace treaty? Very clever. We must be indignant. Socialists could not expect anything so wick which is most advanced, and our Bolshevik comrades have been in It is the American International abroad.
In these hypocritical terms, Morris Hillquit (who ed from Wilson Lloyd George Clemenceau Orlando. Mikado democracy!
misunderstood! The isolation submitted the draft of the declaration. offers his insimply sight into the party attitude. He knows and every And the League of Nations! How shocking! Demation was a Shiplacoff amendment to the one knows that what follows is his own jugglery with anded in the platform written by this same sion. An isolation which has not preclu led us from the crucial issues upon which the party membership last has been officially denied the chance to express its Per August under camouflage of Confederation of knowing exactly the program and purposes of the with labor representation (Gompers as well Communist International and which has not precludattitude. The policy of evasion and suppres anybody else, so far as appears from this demand. sion has been finally ferreted out by the Left Wing of course last Summer it was not to be anticipated official American Party and the elements of the Left victory and the repudiated C, under Hillquit that these democratic plenipotentiaries would get to As to the Berne Conference, the upon an dictation, now tells us the party attitude. to destroy finance Imperialism gether for any purpos excepautocracy! So note emergency justification, itself selected three delegates Through all its collective expressions in recent years, and particularly by its declarations at the St. Louis Emnow, our innocent surprise!
actiepresent the party. There was protest against this ergency Convention, the Socialist Party of the United this predicament, it is unnecessary now to realStates has aligned itself with the most advanced portion alleged peace treaty we demand what? Repeal the as special alliance of capital ales were refused passports. Later Neal went abroad of the international Socialist movement, and the National Executive Committee has faithfully endeavored ist governments we of the Second at all times to voice this position.
information and with dues the world statesmanship of Finqur et There you have internatione resentative to the Bureau he Here, then, is the thematic opening of the declaration de ce foarte statesmanshieri cahilanit est album, self appoint in his pocket for the Second of principles or lack of principles. Behold the St. And we must not overlook the rest of full fore Neal started for Europe, the repudiation of the Louis platform, and what more can you ask? Let us peace time civil liberties.
Chass war? The est une tell yo escortzerland, Serbia, Runania, Norway, make abrupt answer: never heard of it! We have Constitution; The St. Louis platform was adopted April 1917. It of is now June 1919.
we have never had laws nor prosecutions against known. The issue was already clearly and sharply The never did the least thing to develop laweng class propaganda; we have no flood of new defined against real Socialist agitation. It was all a war between the International of social patriotism and socthe implications of the St. Louis platform. Perhaps emergency, and now that the war is ended let our ial reform and the International of social liberties. be restored. What a joy to read the Not until May 29th, 1919, the day of the discussion of have been all out of proportion to the achievement. plain, honest sentences of the Manifesto of the come this clause at Chicago, did the C, interpret. But the party of munist International, after the sickening diet of these its own action as not committing the American party ficialdom could have maintained a solemnly insistent Hiliquitian sophistries, evasions, hypocrisies. to the Berne Conference.
The highest claim to be made by the is that Very well. On May 29th we have the assurance It supports wholeheartedly the Soviet Republic out of the eight members in attendance at the August that we are not committed to the Rerne Conference, of Russia and the Communist government of Hungary, 1918 meeting, four prevailed upon four others not to the infamy of which compels our opportunists to and vigorously protests against intervention in those countries on the part of the government of the linited these for record vote on the anti war stand, hedge against their own previous indecision. Does who wanted to repudiate the declaration States hy military means.
against the war being now four out of the seven who Indeed, the party membership does respond wholefurther association with the Second International, and expelled the 40, 000 revolutionary comrades from heartedly to the struggles and successes of our com definite commitment of the party to the Third Interparty.
rades of Russia and Hungary. The party does pro between the Socialism which seeks to reform capital The platform of last Summer put the party on the test against intervention. But if we may presume to the Interallied Conference: pro war on terms read the ism, in multifarious aspects, and the Socialism now in of the Wilson program; in favor of Socialist commun of the party attitude. in comparison with that the midst of the world struggle for the overthrow of it is we make ourselves one also Neal contribution to this maze of pale imitation of guilt all a ution, in so far as we may; not merely that we shall wordy nothingness. The International of the future approved Hillquit and Stedman were leaders in the People is virtue and great value in the clear statement of our jingo must consist of organizations that are committed ag.
Council; in fact the whole People Council business attitude and relation to the fighting groups of Europe again, to capitalize the St. Louis platform as an eterThe People Council policy was a policy of the worst the party response to the world sweeping proletarian Socialist party, at any time ced petty bourgeois pacifism, urging a Wilsonian peace revolution? The further clauses of this statement are recognize its support needed.
of war as imperialistic. The German Social Demoevented the same as compers National Alliance. Tt all the citations But first, Committeeman Krafft demanded that he reform militarisin in the peace. just as it now wants to be recorded as voting against clause 2! His governRussian barbarism; and the American pro war SocAn ialists supported the Wilsonian liypocrisy in behalf of was not of itself a declar ment had the power to make war, and after his gov Rus Russian freedom. And so on. The war stand is but ernment acted there was nothing left for him but acation of revolutionary Socialism. Even the Zimmerone test of Socialist internationalism, and wald and Kienthal Conferences, out of which came quiescence and he did not intend to trap himself into crucial one at that. But the reversion to nationalism oppositional Socialism during the war, jail by protesting the Russian intervention!
1914, as evidenced by Socialist support of the various were analyzed at the recent Moscow Congress of the nationalistic war claims, Communist International as inade of confused elem In Germany, Austria and countries similary situ it was only the tearing away of a veil of phrases from ents. To be anti war was not to be part the most ated, its sympathies are with more advanced Socialist the true naracter of the Socialism of the Second Inadvanced portion of the international Socialist move groups in their efforts to force their governinents into ternational. The Socialist International exists no ment. The Independent labor Party, the French a more radical and immediate realization of the Socialist Minoritaires, the lierinan (udependents these and program.
longer as an occassional talkfest of clever parliamentother were boldly critical of their arians, calling themselves representatives of the pro The more advanced Socialist groups what a own Imperialletariat. The Socialist International lives today as a ism. They gave voice also to the war weary revival clumsy, paltry dodging of the issue. But the side fighting army. Outside the Communist International tumble; it is a sympathy with there are only different aspects of Socialist servit.
the clear call to the class war against the imperialist Socialist groups who want to force their governments into a more immediate realization of the Sociude to imperialist clem Consider this anti war test of Socialist purity as the of its promulgation in April 1917, second, in staunch with the Socialists of Europe who stand with their pronouncement of Krafft, Goebel, Hogan and Holt!
The vitality of the St. Louis platform consists, first, alist program: In plain terms, the C. stands How these Socialist internationalists winced under insistence upon its terms, in speech and action, by capitalist governments, trusting, however, that these the castigation of social patriots, which was finally individual Socialists. The is conspicuously governments will be so radical as to introduce some eliminated from the document! What hypocrisy, what out of the reckoning in calculating the credit, the government ownership of natural monopolies and pretense!
very high credit, whicli goes with ihe party stand on some pensions. The has not yet heard of the the war. Indeed, when its most conspicuous member Socialist groups which insist that the realization of In the field of dun estic picies the Socialist Party came into the courtroom on this platform, he made the Socialist program means, in the first instance, the is utterly opposed to the narrow spirit and policies of a caricature of it and of the convention which adopted conquest of power by the proletariat.
the American Federation of Labor as voiced loy its reactionary leadership. It wilge no war on the rank and file of the Federation, and will loyally support its active Fnally, as to this most advanced stand of the party, The next clause, the most important, shows how struggle against the employing class as heretofore, but the Congressional platform issued by this same Com completely unprincipled is this statement of printhe party will omit no opportunity to point out to the mittee last Summer, far from voicing an advanced ciples.
workers of the of the inadequacy of the latter Socialist position is not a Socialist platform at all. Its policies and leadership most advanced sentences were lifted outright from It recognizes the necessity of reorganizing the This statement was carefully combed for any word Socialist International along more harmonious and radSidney Webb British Labor Party Program which or phrase that might appear itensive to the of ical lines. The Socialist Party of United States is 1101 has since exploded of its own gaseousness.
committed to the Berne Conference, which has shown It condemns Compers and Morrison, and a few itself retrograde on many vital devoid others, and coquettes with the oi in the same of creative force. On account of the isolation of Rus ridiculous fashion as during the past two decades. The Socialist Party at all times consistently and sia, and the misunderstanding arising therefrom, it also uncompromisingly opposed the war. Now that the war is not affiliated with the Communist Congress of MosThe Hillquit draft carried no suggestion of the fundis over, the party strenuously objects to the imperialistic cow. The National Executive Committee believes that amental discrepancies of crait unionism in antagonism features of the alleged peace treaty drawn up at Paris, the international of the future must consist of organiz(Continued on page seven)
basis of armies of the worla socialetiquette.
would anti war der de locattoli the voice of opp in a mighty really reversion; was not war.
it.
and tota