Socialists to the Battle!
Socialists to the Battle! Nation's Workers Await Our Message THE national convention of the Socialist Party has concluded its labors. Few ¦Pr conventions have been so charged with heat and few...
...campaign as this one...
...Even this resolution was not given the consideration it required...
...And yet the two demands which had been embodied in other resolutions would have been adopted by the convention by a unanimous Vote had the delegates kept in mind these two essentials of any statement made regarding Soviet Russia...
...The resolutions were not considered at all...
...pre-war generation of Socialist* and each has rendered unusual service to the Socialist movement...
...Conscious that it was before the convention on the last day and that other matters of importance were to be considered, there was a tendency to rush it through although it is to serve the party for at least two years...
...Socialist Fund Drive Passes $10,000 Mark myjOUNTING steadily forward< IVjL as aA Increasing number of Socialists, individually and through party branches and locals heed the call of the national...
...The platform presented no marked division of opinions except on prohibition and few Socialists will claim that this is a Sociawst issue...
...Due to the confusion accompanying the discussion of the resolution on Russia and with fpur or five amendments and substitutes before the delegates, it emerged from the convention in an unsatisfactory state...
...Nation's Workers Await Our Message THE national convention of the Socialist Party has concluded its labors...
...From Syracuse, Adolph Holstein sent $50, while dozens of contributions, coming from out of way cities and towns, where there have been no Socialist organizations for years or ever, helped swell the total...
...Few ¦Pr conventions have been so charged with heat and few have so ended with a note of solidarity and earnest intention to go forward with a great...
...Thomas was equally moving in his final word to the delegates by approving the "beautiful and noble speech of Hillquit...
...To climax the drive la Milwaukee, and to provide Its quota for the national campaign fund, Milwaukee Socialists, still recovering from the financial condition resulting from their victorious municipal campaign recently,: and bearing the brunt of...
...Jim Maurer, in his humorous way, said that the convention was "tame" in comparison with others he had attended and also urged a fighting spirit in the campaign...
...The, issue involved a clash of ideas and prin-ciples and no matter what had been the outcome it was appropriate that the decision should stand as recorded in the votes cast...
...Never have Socialists had such a task of education as they face in this campaign There are millions of workers in industry and agriculture that we must reach...
...One of the first to send its contribution to the national convention was the Northampton branch of the Socialist Party, a check for $100 representing the amount raised by the branch, and constituting more than three Umes the amount named as the quota for each branch...
...Piling up a big Socialist vote is probably our easiest task...
...We are confident that the National Executive Committee will j face this problem and make the most of our resources in meeting it...
...So to your tasks, Comrades, and make the most of this opportunity to wage a struggle against the whole capitalist system, to inspire the workers to a will to power, to battle for the ideals of Socialism, and to build a greater Socialist Party that will be a worthy section of the Labor and Socialist International...
...The choice was therefore not determined because ¦ of the personality of either candidate...
...With the drive for the fust half «( the fund due to come to an end on June 1st, with a possibility that the results will be known when hundreds of subscription lists being circulated by party branches wilt be returned to Marx Lewis, national director of the drive, delegates to the convention, pleased With the results that had been achieved during the preliminary campaign for funds, unanimously voted to continue the drive until the $50,000 set as the final goal is reached.1 In addition to the methods already employed, which have made it possible to raise a substantial l*rt of the fund long before the interest in the campaign hod been keyed up, the convention voted to recommend the use of a special assessment stamp so that all party members may make their contribution to the fund...
...Sarah Volovick, of fixe Amalga-mated Cooperative Apartment Branch of New York City, paid the branch's subscription of $25, and telegrams received at the convention from other New York branches disclosed that of the $r»,-000 set as New York State's quota, over $3,000 had already been paid In, and practically all of it In cosh...
...It is one thing to exhibit anger, but unless passion is directed into intelligent channels it can only lead to sterility...
...There were new faces from all parts of the country...
...Kirby Page, prominent Socialist lecturer and editor, and a member of the Committee of One Hundred which was organized to stimulate Interest in the drive and solicit contributions from sources which would not be touched through Socialist organizations, came second, with another subscription of $100...
...However, there was the fact that economy compelled the decision to limit the convention to four days...
...And row, Comrades, it is for us to fight for the very soul of the working class in this electoral struggle...
...This prediction was not fulfilled...
...The declaration of principles was not readied and the trade union resolution adopted by local New York was accepted with a few minor amendments...
...Each is a personal friend of the other...
...Dan Hoan followed by saying that every word uttered by Hillquit was "pure gold...
...The branches that have collected funds are requested by Lewis to make reports as soon after June 1st as possible, sending these reports to 907 15th street, N. W., Washington, D. C...
...It was obvious to those who had attended previous conventions that the convention required at least six days to adequately do its work...
...Unfinished Work uhe to Confusion These omissions were due to the confusiln mentioned above...
...Readers will ¦ have to turn to the platform to find these demands but it is unfortunate that they do not appear in the resolution itself...
...They can be obtained during the campaign and we must plan to not only hold them after the November election but to immediately {hereafter turn all our attention to intense organization work...
...i W'e also said that "there will be a stock-taking of methods, principles and policies...
...Several items on the agenda were also not considered and all these unconsidered matters were referred to the National Executive Committee...
...Unity in Struggle for Socialism This character of the decision was also evident when the convention faced the end of its labors...
...They included some important matters, including an address to the workers and farmers of the nation, a resolution on the present danger of war against Russia and several other important matters...
...i . The big job is to transform the enthusiasm of the masses into Socialist Party organization...
...William J. Van Essen, and Jane W. Tait, of Pittsburgh, Pa., and Sidney Starck, of Braddock, Pa., followed close upon the heels of the others, each subscribing $100 and announcing that 300 pledge cards are In the hands of party sympathizers and members in Pittsburgh, where considerable progress has been made In raising the $1,000 which Pittsburgh had subscribed to the fund...
...the burden of carrying the national convention, gathered at a convention dinner In ' Milwaukee, attended by local .Socialists and most delegates to respond to an appeal of B. C. Via-dieck, of New York, for funds for the national campaign...
...Our campaign is an assault upon the positions held by the capitalist enemy...
...It dofc»*not mention the Socialist demand for recognition of the Soviet Government and\bfcopening of trade relations with Russia...
...That office is vested with no power...
...After this attack we must consolidate our gains through an increase in member* ship so that wo can attack local fortresses of the enemy in city and state elections...
...This was the choice of a national chairman...
...They worked against US four years ago...
...It is a striking fact that the two men nominated are highly respected throughout the party membership...
...Socialist organization for a presidential war chest, the' Socialist Opportunity Drive reached and passed the $10,-000 mark while the delegates to the national convention were assembled in Milwaukee to make their plans for an historic campaign...
...Many delegates were provided with small funds...
...j i Build a Greater Socialist Party We should roll up a tremendous vote for Thomas and Maurer but even this is not an end in itself...
...Out of the depths the masses are shaking fists at the ruling agents of capitalism but this is not enough...
...Lewis, delegate to the convention, found a steady stream of contributions from individuals and branches pouring Into Washington to assure the delegates that throughout the nation Socialists—and many of them non-Socialists—are uniting behind them* to make possible a national campaign of unprecedented proportions...
...Its occupant merely presides at sessions of the National Executive Committee and yet because the delegates believed that the choice involved some fundamental issues a contest was waged...
...He" struck the keynote of what every delegate felt by urging all to forget our differences and take up the task to which wc have dedicated our lives...
...When the delegates assembled in Milwaukee for the seventeenth annual convention the drive was approaching the close of the fifth week of the six weeks' drive for the preliminary fund...
...That class is in a mood to receive our message...
...The Jewish Socialist Verband branch of Baltimore, which had originally subscribed flOO of the $500 pledged by Baltimore raised Its ubscrlption to $250, made a substantial cash payment Immediately, and brought the information that the drive to raise the total— $1,000—for the entire drive, was under way In ot li.V Baltimore branches...
...There are hundreds of thousands of workingmen and women who should be members...
...May-nard Kruger, of Philadelphia, announced $135 of the $S0O subscribed In that city collected without an effort, with an assurance that the sum would be oversubscribed at a dinner and meeting to be held there early In June...
...It is significant that when Morris Hillquit was elected chairman, it occurred to no delegate to make it unanimous.' The same course would have been taken if Daniel W. J loan was chosen...
...The party itself has little financial resources and under the circumstances the incomplete work of the conventionwas the logical result, f — The Contest Over the Chairmanship Another issue produced more interest than probably any other matter before the convention...
...Neither wis the party constitution given the consideration it deserved...
...Both belong to the...
...The political struggle is only a special opportunity to build the Socialist Party...
...This proved true...
...In a shorT time, and without a special effort, $758, in cash was subscribed to the fund, the mayors of Milwaukee and West Allls, aldermen and other party officials Joining In subscribing the full amount of the first half of Wisconsin's quota In the meantime, plans for the continuation of the drive, and for the means to be employed, will be made by Lewis at a conference to be held In the East with Socialist leaders...
...Prom Nyack, N. Y,, Thomas W. Davis, organizer of the Socialist local, sent $80, Rockland County's subscription to the fund...
...Perhaps a majority of the delegates attended their first Socialist convention...
...All the trends of a bankrupt capitalism work for us...
...When Hillquit was invked to the platform he made one of the most moving addresses he has ever made...
...W'e said last week that the party exhibited growing pains, that "new views and old views claimed as new will clash with others...
Vol. 13 • May 1932 • No. 22
