A Socialist View of the Week
The World We live In A Socialist View of the Week The Democratic Wing oj Capitalism Floats Into Power on a Tidal Wave oj Votes to be Deflated Within a Year After Its Leader Has Been...
...Industry ran* not absorb all the millions of the unemployed...
...In the United States there was no wide sense of economic grievance felt by the working class and we held that with the return of this factor the Socialist Party would advance...
...It has never occurred before, One might even anticipate the politicians of the G. O. P. bringing the deflated Hoover back four years hence in the hope of replacing the deflated Roosevelt...
...Work-sharing means shifting a large portion of the Job of caring for the jobless from the rich to the workers who still have jobs...
...The displacement of labor has gone too far...
...The after-election period destroyed all such hopes and the wide sense of economic grievance began to mount in 19S1 and it has continued to rise ever since...
...It has been sapped of its vitality by the greater capitalism of our time and henceforth the farmers will lead a precarious existence of poverty and general uncertainty...
...No Socialist will say yes...
...Work-Sharing and Sweet Charity Aid fkJOW that the election is over we approach the most hazardous winter since capitalism plunged into the ditch...
...The stupidity of the work-sharing program emerges in a statement made last week by 21 member banks of the New York Clearing House Association...
...Moreover, any revival that may come will not be « revival on the old basis...
...Justice Sutherland, speaking for the majority, stressed the fact that the boys were illiterate, destitute, and strangers in the community where they were tried...
...Build a monument to peace . . . to the toiler...
...Race hatred was added to class bias in this notorious case of court lynching for these Negro boys are members of the propertyless class...
...There is another aspect of this selection of the Democracy as the care-taker of a terribly sick capitalism...
...He will also have to satisfy Raskob and Owen, representatives of the high capitalist aristocracy...
...With Socialists there la no end short of ending capitalism Itself...
...Tear Down the Monuments - By William Allen Ward VOU who would like to live . . . you *¦ who want happiness...
...The legislation of voters in the states was also the largest in our history, the total being nearly 49,000,000 as against nearly 87,000,000 four years ago...
...It really means sharing misery...
...This functioning can only come with some experience and the new organizations will acquire this essential and be more effective in the next campaign...
...In fact, it declined, but this was true of every phase of the labor movement...
...He has no ideas, he does not understand the basic character of the capitalist system, he is pledged to the preservation of capitalism, and before the end of his first year in office he will be as much deflated as the man whom he displaced...
...In other words, the Stock Exchange registered a favorable reaction to the expected change which indicated that the ruling classes have no apprehension from the election of Roosevelt and a Democratic Congress...
...During the two discussions in The New Leader in the post-war period of "prosperity" The New Leader contended that one basic factor required for a growing Socialist movement was absent in this country but was present in the nations abroad...
...They will seek an outlet for their enthusiasm, for the work of party building, and to acquire experience that will render them effective party workers...
...He cannot satisfy that class and at the same time satisfy the working masses even to the extent of meeting their elementary wants...
...The deflated Hoover during the campaign had predicted dreadful things if he were not returned to Washington...
...The cities are more and more becoming bankrupt and they are appealing to the states and the states are frantically appealing to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation for help...
...And yet four years ago we polled the lowest vote since 1904...
...The impact of the change in material conditions upon the minds of millions of human beings had Its effect In the flocking of masses of voters to Socialist meetings...
...Scottsboro Boys Gel New Trial •yHE U. S. Supreme Court has set * aside the death sentences of the seven Negro boys convicted in Alabama by processes that can only be described as legalized lynching...
...The defense based its appeal not only on the refusal of proper aid in getting defense counsel, but on the refusal of the judge to grant a change of venus in the face of a hostile mob surrounding the court house...
...That would be amusing, to be sure, but the spectacle of the deflated endeavoring to deflate the deflated will bo a striking example of the bankruptcy of capitalist politics...
...Tear down the monuments...
...Millions expect the Democracy by some magic to slay the depression, revive industry and agriculture, and put millions of workers to work...
...As election day dawned and there was general expectation that the Democratic Party would be successful, the morning papers reported o bunk rite in storks, the advances being from 1 to 4 points...
...It merely distributes work and wages over a larger number of workers and thrusts full-time workers down '<> lower levels in the matter of work and wages...
...The Federal funds available for this assistance are a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed...
...In some cases the forecasts ran beyond any reasonable expectations considering that only seven or eight states had the effective functioning organizations that we had in 1912...
...If there is a revival it will come regardless of the Democracy for it will be general in Europe as well as here, showing that Roosevelt has as much to do with it aa floating driftwood has in controlling the waves that toss it here and there...
...The shock of the depression apparently drew about 2,000,000 nonvoting citizens to the polls...
...Both Thomas and Maurer report that where they spoke to hundreds four years ago they spoke to thousands this year...
...Its collapse deflated Hoover and it will deflate Roosevelt as well for bis party is as much mortgaged to the capitalist and financial rulers as Hoover's is...
...Considerable organization work was done during the campaign but chartering new branches does not mean immediate functioning of these organisations...
...It represents those who hope to fight their way out of the depression hell, not those who have resigned themselves to the slum hella and who are the dupes of political demagogues of the capitalist class...
...It is this sentiment that is rising...
...A few days before the election John J. Raskob of the General Motors kingdom reaffirmed his faith in Franklin D. Roosevelt and declared that the higher income taxes should be reduced and that a sales tax is worthy of consideration...
...Sweet charity is a hateful dole in its most humiliating form and even that will be less available than before...
...Daring the bleak years of post-war "prosperity" the Socialist movement made no headway in this country...
...The reason for this was that the masses were still in an expectant mood...
...Hoover himself wired Roosevelt his congratulations that he was to "be of service to the country" and that he would dedicate himself "to every possible helpful effort...
...Let us make the most of our opportunities...
...Vain hope...
...During that period on two occasions The New Leader ran a long scries of articles in which each writer presented his reasons for the failure of Socialism to make any advance...
...The work-sharing plan and sweet charity ape the only methods devised by our ruling classes, to cope with the general misery...
...For the first time in our history the same disaster promises to deflate the two ruling parties...
...Break the stone nose off that grim old warrior's face down in the park...
...A few even doubted whether the party could make any advances...
...In 1928 we raised a campaign fund four times the amount we raised this year and we nominated the same standard bearers this year that we nominated four years ago...
...The G. O. P. with its "best minds" has been turned out with a vast roar of enthusiasm to make way for the D. O. P. with its "best minds...
...And now Socialists may well turn to the Job ahead of party education and organization...
...Wilson carried 40 states In 1912 but in 1920 Cox carried only 11...
...They are yet to face another court and the new trial will be watched with anxiety by all friends of these Negro boys...
...The gambler's paradise of "prosperity" of the post-war period is gone forever...
...The reasons took many forms and there was considerable variation of opinion...
...When it is remembered that the Republican wing of capitalism carried 40 of the 48 atatea four year ago one get* the impression of a hulk of a man in convulsions...
...Hoover and others were rationing optimism, asserting that the crisis was a temporary reverse and the masses expected the storm to blow over within a reasonably short time...
...That factor is not only evident among the workers but even among other sections of the population...
...Agriculture cannot be made a healthy industry within the heart of capitalism...
...Franklin D R.oosevelt will become President of the United States next March...
...At this writing the Socialist Party vote in the nation is too fragmentary to warrant an estimate but that it is a substantial increase over the vote of four years ago is certain...
...They declared that "continued unemployment is a principal obstruction to business improvement" and recommended work-sharing among the employes of the banks...
...The party is on the upgrade and capitalism is on the downgrade...
...The material factor today correlates with Socialist agitation but it was absent four yenrs ago...
...The verdict is an important one as there were aspects of this notorious case that equally apply to labor trials...
...They were not assumed to be innocent till proven guilty and the court held that the Scottsboro court betrayed this duty in the trial...
...Chop away that menacing stone sword In the land of the old general who stands in the perk...
...Chronic misery often produces stupor and dull resignation...
...On the other hand it did not measure as high as some of our enthusiastic comrades expected...
...Even in the Congressional elections of 1930 we snade little headway although the Wall Street crash occurred about one year before...
...With 42 of the 48 states in the Democratic column it is the most decisive sweep in American party history...
...It is no secret that professors at Columbia University wrote his speeches for him...
...The Socialist Vote *TMIK campaign struggle Just ended provided a * striking illustration of the basic contentions of Socialist philosophy...
...You who want to forget the echo of big guns...
...The Socialist Party press must be given a larger circulation and the Yipsels be given encouragement and cooperation in reaching the young folks...
...It is not an easy one considering the difficulty we face in financing this work but it must be done...
...There is not a single essential difference between him and Hoover in coping with the industrial depression...
...Roosevelt falls heir to a depression that will baffle him as much as it did Hoover...
...Were Norman Thomas and Jim Maurer and other candidates and party workers better workers this year than four years ago...
...Now to divide up the work does not Increase employment by one additional job nor does it increase the total purchasing power by one cent...
...the campaign Is on...
...The street agitator could get an audience almost anywhere this year although four years ago he found it difficult to get a small crowd at a favorable location...
...to the thinker . . . not to the monster who drove men across blood-soaked fields to their death...
...This is an unusual situation that faces the Socialists of the United States...
...However, it does not follow that extreme misery Is fertile soil for Socialism...
...So for the first time in our history, wt repeat, the tame depression is destined to deflate both reigning partite...
...By a sense of economic grievance we mean recognition of injustice, a resentment, and a willingness to fight against economic wrongs...
...The result is a splendid increase In the Socialist vote...
...The World We live In A Socialist View of the Week The Democratic Wing oj Capitalism Floats Into Power on a Tidal Wave oj Votes to be Deflated Within a Year After Its Leader Has Been Inaugurated THE tremendous vote cut for the Democratic wing of capitalism has all the aspects of hysteria...
...It was a part of the political game but high in the upper range of capitalism there were no fears as the healthy condition of the stock ticker Tuesday morning shows...
...Our new members will be eagerly looking for education in the basic principles of the Socialist philosophy and program...
...We have counted the recruits to the Socialist army and we shall now ge out to recruit more...
...Every speaker has had the same experience...
...You who want to grow wheat where once barbed wire trapped dazed men who raced across blood-stained battlefields so there might be more millionaires...
...Owen D, Young of the General Electric kingdom also broadcasted his faith in Roosevelt...
...The main issue on which the reversal is based is the failure of the court to guarantee the accused an adequate legal defense...
...The campaign Is ever...
...Only two justices dissented from the majority opinion...
...You who want to hear the peaceful music of great machines of industiy where toilers may win bread and milk...
...It appealed also on the ground that the court and the jury as well as the accused were threatened violence by the mob throughout the proceedings...
...The slums have never rolled up a Socialist vote...
...In every other period of depression it has been one party that was deflated by it but the situation now is otherwise...
Vol. 14 • November 1932 • No. 20
