356 THE CLASS STRUGGLE CURRENT AFFAIRS 357 Norway and sees in them an expression of the self reliance and self activity of the working class population.
Furthermore the following majority and minority resolutions on the military question were presented. The party convention hereby earnestly appeals to the workers of Norway to support the Norwegian labor party in its disarmament program, and to abolish the military system by the power of a populace majority. Believing that this can be accomplished in the near future, the Executive Board cannot consent to a program that will pledge our organization to military strikes and strikes in war industries, with consequent general military uprisings.
The minority moved. The convention hereby calls upon the workers of Norway to prepare and organize a strike on a natural basis, with the support of labor union action against military and defense service. We demand, furthermore, that a general strike be prepared to prevent war, and the declaration of war.
After a debate that lasted four hours both resolutions of the opposition, e. of the so called minority were adopted with 158 against 120 votes. Furthermore, the following resolution on the military question was adopted. Whereas the national labor union congress has refused to support a military strike, and Whereas separate organizations have been formed for those who are liable to military service, Be it resolved, That there is no possibility of united action between the two main organizations in this matter, and Be it further resolved, that military strikes are fully compatible with socialist principles. that the working class, therefore, cannot relinquish the right to use this weapon in the struggle for its own emancipation.
The decided refusal of the old guard, to affiliate the organization with the Zimmerwald Conference was overthrown, delegates from the radical socialist movement in Sweden were invited to participate in the convention, and similar invitations were extended to Comrade Bolabanoff, secretary of the Zimmerwald Commission, and Vorovsky, the Stockholm representative of the Bolsheviki.
In Sweden a similar change has made itself evident. The influence of the radicals there, too, is growing stronger from day to day, as the elections of 1917 plainly showed.
This upheaval in the Scandinavian labor movement is, of course, not accidental, but due to a fundamental change in the attitude of the whole population. Dissatisfaction with the foodrationing system, and the constant imminence of war has brought a new and more decisive tone into the Scandinavian labor movement. Sporadic uprisings and riots are breaking out with a frequency that is alarming the members of the aristocracy and the geoisie. The refusal of the old party leaders to engage in active anti militarist propaganda has led to the organization of outside anti militarist organizations, that have enjoyed the whole hearted support of the radical element everywhere.
And so, out of the chaos and confusion that fills the world, clearness and health for our movement are arising. Opportunism and chauvinism are disappearing, and soon the brotherhood of man wit cease to be an idle dream.