The International to the Workers of the World
The International to the Workers of the World The International Socialist Conference held recently in Paris concluded its sessions after the adoption of a resolution on the...
...appeals for a struggle against the dangers of war which have been multiplied by the victories \of Fascism.- The workers of the democratic countries must not submit to the temptation of the idea of war, even if war is described to them as the means of emancipating enslaved peoples...
...This increases the danger of a new vorld war, which would involve the complete downfall o' civilization...
...On the one nand of preset ving the full independence and lilerty of action of their organizations...
...They are all more or less modeled after that Jirst platform, the Declaration of Independence...
...The lil>eral and individualist phase in the evolution of capitalism has come to an end...
...Fascisai has '•hip can esj revolutioa « have gai&i In (a which |tht dictator...
...It rejects all concessions to nationa'ism and any compromise with it...
...In Germany, the great capitalists and landowners have exploited the despair of the impoverished masses of the lower middle-class and of the peasantry in order to break down the working class and subjugate the whole German people under a system of terrorist despotism...
...Simply that you agree with a vague statement yiiat means anything lo any person who repeats it...
...There three "Ernes" reading, experience tyorhtnily, Malljr, one | presumnot quite . one will B- with the du If the Bfwfll "Jtttriew Aft* which :t#T$8 a < neans that : 1 **« retnu| *Mt em1- / have m Saturday i' ^ take 'i (1 soon 'a ^consists rJ **o[ pa;fi( *«*,but >* 'iwtdshis a« I thai far il'fttter elseayW>l« to get '"I**1''His of¦ SO h)0 il Even liis employer balks at the idea of paying an admitted attorney mi little, or nothing at all, and prefers to replace him with a graduate...
...never heard of that," said Joe with surprise...
...Joe paused to light a cigarette as Hill inquired : "Let's have it so we can give it the once over ' "We let reactionary Americans monopolize the Declaration of Independence," Joe replied...
...Hut the Declaration says that all men are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness," said Joe...
...Tell the workers the truth," Bill replied...
...the Declaration of Independence was the platform of merchants, land speculators, smugglers, slave owners, commercial and mercantile capitalists and their intellectuals in a struggle with the ruling classes id C.reat Britain,", Hill replied...
...will otfer $10 ably for an 0| so good, am dazzle the A grand offer of writer of thel enough to gil stead of a bfl require a full the flock of «l The gradual been admitted may take a ye erally works i rarely, he get week...
...Ever hear of Teddy Roosevelt's New Naiionaiisin, Woodrow Wilson's New Freedom, Herbert louver's New Liberalism, and Frankin D. Roosevelt's New Deal...
...It is summed up in the statement that when the cloakmaker's son becomes a lawyer he does not "leave the proletariat to rise in the profession...
...2) That nil the Socialist Parties are to give expression to their solidarity with the victims of Fascism, with the wives and children of the imprisoned comrades, with the refugees, by furthering with all their resources the wmk of relief for the victims of German] Fascism, organized by the Matteotti Fund...
...asked Joe...
...Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson agreed to 'that...
...asked Joe...
...5) The L.S.I...
...He served as a law clerk six months and as an admitted attorney for the same period...
...Go Back of the Traditions jJT would do nothing of the sort," said Hill...
...so do Hoover and the second Roosevelt today, so what of it...
...The ('(inference decides: — (1) That all the Socialist Parties are to organize mass demonstrations against Fascism during the week in which November !Hh, the anniversary of the German revolution of 1!UH, falls...
...If notwithstanding"^ the resistance of the working classes under the guidance of the Internationals (I.P.T.U...
...But NRA Is Not Young Lawyers By J. I. K. The author of the following, article is % yoiuig lawyer out of school one year...
...we know little of the struggle of the workers in the past because most of past history has been written by ruling class historians...
...The man with the highest grade in (he Thorndike intelligence tests given my class at Columbia, recently tiled his application for admission to that learned circle -the New York police force...
...In short, the opening of new fields to the masses has meant a degradation of those fields pro tanto, an economic debasement, a loss of dignity and attractiveness, a disappearance of opportunity, and a scarcity of desirable places as great as when the entire area was outside their reach...
...They certainly did," Bill replied...
...BUI Doesn't Like the Idea "C IMPLY this...
...In addition, the economic crisis has aggravated the antagonisms between states, strengthened the reactionary tendency towards economic isolation, and in so doing has disorganized the world economic system...
...The workers won nothing...
...The Conference expresses its conviction that in the face of the peril of the growing wave of nationalist Fascism to civilization, it is necessary to unify international action and to ensure greater solidarity and closer co-ordination .n the action of the workers in all countries...
...He spent six years at Columbia University, getting both the A.B...
...Fascism tends to gather together a'l the ational forces under the direction of a tyrannical power in order to marshal them against other nations...
...He requires one year of clerkship, or, if he is exempt, he still needs experience tinder direction...
...Then came the Depression and the World-Telegram's Will Johnstone gave the college man his theme song-!-"Praterrl!ty Brother, Can You Spare a Dime...
...The only alternative is the destruction of all human progress...
...I have been reliably told of a legal stenographer whose salary was reduced from $18 to $15 upon her admission to the Bar...
...New-Hatched Lawyers The graduate of the law school is not in a position to do business for himself...
...Sure...
...The Conference adopts the joint resolution of the International Federation of Trade Unions and the L.S.I, on the fight against war...
...The division in the working class cannot be justified in the light of the lessons of history Whilst rejecting nil the maneuver* connected with the united front, the objective of which it not to unite the working claim internationally but to accentuate its national divisions, the Labor and Socialist International proclaims unew that it will spare no effort in trying to reunite the scattered forces of the working class...
...Hut that would be to deprive the workers of revolutionary traditions," said Joe...
...The L.S.I, passionately protests before the whole of the civilized world against the Hitler barbarism...
...why not...
...The very fact that it has liecome incapable of guaranteeing the material existence of the masses of the people makes the destruction of capitalism through the creation of a Socialist order a hist .rical possibility...
...they will destroy the great capitalist and landowning forces which are its economic foundation...
...Old Pals Corner Bill and Joe Discuss Value of Historical Traditions and Reach an Agreement By Autolycus "I'VE got 1111-: idea, Hill, and 1 think that by selling it to the workers we'll make more headway than we have for a long time...
...It was a bourgeois revolution and its leaders had the courage to break with the past and that was their chief merit...
...The eighteenth century leaders certainly struck out for themselves," said Joe...
...In most of the revolutionary committees, including "ihe committees of correspondence, there was a struggle lietween the upper class politicians and the active workers tor control," Hill replied...
...But clerks are "apprentices," excluded by interpretation from the provisions of the blanket agreement...
...Neither the misery of the masses who are being driven to despair oy the crisis cf capitalism, nor the political jpheaval arising out of it should discourage the working class...
...the profession has come down to him and has bestowed upon him, for his scholarship and learning, the burdens of the proletarian—wage-slavery, unemployment, insecurity and a black future...
...It sends its fraternal greetings to the victims of Hitler Fascism, to our brothers who are suffering in the prisons and concentration camps, to the women and children who have been deprived of (heir support, and particularly to our heroic comrades who, in spite of the brutalities and tortures, are keeping the Socialist idea in Germany alive.| We declare our solidarity with the oppressed German people and we call upon the working class and all the nations of (he world to join in the light against Fascism, that deadly enemy of (he working class, of freedom and of peace...
...Fascism the revolutionary forces will not confine themselves to breaking its power...
...Then you don't think much of the leaders of the American Revolution," said Joe...
...The resolution, in full follows : THK crisis of world capitalism, a crisis of hitherto unknown extent and severity, shows that capitalism is inca[iable of utilizing the forces of production, which it has itself developed, or of making available to the workers the fruits of their labor...
...One can have a certain admiration for the leaders of ihe revolutions in the eighteenth century even though these revolutions meant on the whole merely a breaking of'fetters that bound infant capitalism to an older order, but tliat is no reason for the modern working class taking over the ideology of those leaders...
...It would expose bogus traditions that arc powerful in support fif modern capitalism...
...They Reach a Perfect Accord "ON the Contrary, I do," said Bill...
...They will lay the foundation of the new social order upon which they will erect the Socialist democracy...
...The extent to which the employing attorneys take advantaj be seen by a sue of the La will be a coh "Attorney (l connection, A. will follow ti ployment Opp "Clerk wantfl and education...
...after four to six years of intensive specialized study in socially useful work, find themselves in no better position to make their living than their supposedly trfifortunate cousins who never had the glorious opportunity of listening to a graduation speech by a university president on "The Place of the College Man in the World " As a lawyer one year out of law school, I can state from experience and from observation of rtiy classmates and associates, that in my profession at least, the professional has not even the same chance to earn his living as the non-professional...
...Eor the love of Mike, what do you mean...
...The upper class politicians whe adopted the Declaration even left the propcrtyless soldiers disfranchised for years after the adoption of the Constitution...
...Assuming, as we must, the present maldistribution of available commodities and services, so that the masses cannnt afford legal or medical assistance to the extent of their needs, there is an abundance of professional service tuhich even prosperous times could not absorb...
...What role...
...We shall be glad to consider other short sketches of what is happening in other professions.—Editor...
...The colleges and the professionel schools which, for wellknown reasons, had become available to many sons and daughters of working-class families, were to open to them clean cool offices with commodious desks and comfortable swivel chairs...
...I hese conditions are not due entirely to the depression...
...no salary...
...Shake," said Bill as they parted., ^ WISDOM of the POOR FISH Now if we only had a few more storms like the one that killed so many people in Cuba and blew away so many houses and then went on to Florida and blew away so many more houses, there would be a lot of work for people building the houses,, again sod then prosperity will come back...
...Hut the schools continued, and still continue, to pour out thousands upon thousands of law yers, doctors, dentists, pharmacists, engineers, architects, accountants, teachers, journalists, nurses and social workers, who...
...In the countries where democracy obtains, the working class must defend with all its might the individual ;.ml collective liberties as well as universal franchise and the freedom of trade union orgar:zatiun...
...NCE upon a time before the coming of the Great Depression, proletarian fathers and mothers envisioned for their offspring a release from the drudgery which had been their heritage...
...The L.S.I, calls upon the democratic Governrrents to bring before the League of Nations all the problems raiseu by the victory of Hitlerism which threatens the peace of Europe, and especially the re-armament of Germany and the steps taken against Austria and the people of Danzig, whose liberties have been guaranteed in their constitution and by international agreement...
...Enter the all-healing NRA...
...But when the state which dominates the economic system is a tyranny free from the control of the people and when it suppresses personal freedom and freedom of association, this very situation leads t the most terrible form of slavery...
...I war should still break out, the workers of the countries involved in the struggle, even those of the countries attacked, would have none the less the twofold dui...
...Tell them that all past struggles have been struggles by classes, and ? hat the merchants, smugglers, speculators and slave tuwncrs did not represent the working masses...
...The world cnsii has already profoundly changed the stucture of capitalist economy...
...Animated by this conviction the working class must intensify its struggle against capitalism, Fascism and war...
...degrees, lis experience shows what is happening to many in the professions...
...And when he does get a position as a junior attorney, it is at the market price, now about $10 a week, with no possibility of advancement in sight...
...The resolution was drawn up by Otto Bauer of Austria, and was adopted by a vote of 291 to 13, with 6 not voting...
...me, I see little difference between the condition of the attorney of- one year's experi ence, and of the attorney who has been in practice for four years...
...Overcrowding in the professions was felt before the crash...
...in the name of the workers wha are exploited and reduced to a state of misery, in the name of 0* countless masses of the petty bourgeoisie and impoverished peasants, in the name of the young people who have been deprived of their right to employment, in the namt of the victims of Fascism who have been subjected to physical violence and whose freedom and human dignity have been outraged, the Conference calls upon all peoples to join the International in its | struggle against Fascism, against War and against what it at the root of Fascism and War— the barbarism of the capitalist regime...
...There is where we will find jworking class inspiration, not in the declarations of the Vipper class politicians...
...On the other hand of maintain* ing their relations with the Internationals with a view to working for the earliest possible cessation of hostilities...
...Certainly...
...Both have the fond but faint ho]>e that some (lay some acquaintance or distant relative will sustain a not too trivial physical injury in an accident, which will bring in a contingent fee large enough to start a law office...
...The teachings of history go to prove that a war undertaken as a war of emancipation against despotism always ends by treaties of an imperialist character having as a consequence the reinforcement of nationalism in the victorious countries as well aa in the defeated countries, and running the risk of creating still more terrible forces of despotism...
...The new forms of state-controlled ami organized economy may serve to prepare the transition from capitalisrr to Socialism on condition that the power of the state is in the hands of the people and that the workers possess freedom of organization...
...Hut the working class must never forget that democracy will not retain its hold on the masses or save them from the lying demagogy of Fascism except by demonstrating by vigorous action that it is capable of protecting them against capitalism, of fighting against un« mploymrnt and thus of taking the initiative in that movement which is preparing the realization of Socialism...
...I think I've got THE idea," said Joe...
...Ither documents," said Joe with amazement...
...Today, in view of the bloody torture and the slavery indicted on the German working class, the Communist workers are obliged to recognize that it is the duty of the woiking class in all countries to defend the democratic institutions as a guarantee of their freedom and as a basis for their struggle...
...In the name of thirty million of unemployed throughout the world...
...This last is said without any hesitancy, for looking ahott...
...Consequently when the law office pastes its Blue Eagle on the door, it means the office boy's salary has gone up from $14 to $15, and that the salary of the junior attorney has remained $10 or below...
...On the other hand, but also as an effect of the economic crisis, democracy has been severely shaken in those countries where it had not yet become firmly rooted before the war...
...Democracy ran only be defended effectively if it develops from political democracy to Social democracy...
...On the other hand the events in Germany have strengthened the Socialist workers in their conviction that where the bourgeoisie has renounced democracy in order to throw itself into the arms of Fascism and has deprived the working class of the democratic means of struggle, the only means of emancipation left is that of the revolutionary struggle...
...What of NRA...
...When the cloak operator's son becomes a lawyer, whether he realizes it or not, he has not left the proletariat to rise to the profession...
...The International to the Workers of the World The International Socialist Conference held recently in Paris concluded its sessions after the adoption of a resolution on the situation created by the seizure of power by the (lerman Fascists and the consequent danger of war...
...It must understand '.hat these are the symptoms of a social evolution which is bound to lead mankind to the triumph of Socialism...
...learns that "t mainly of erfl pers, and offi he holds on b "clerkship" » from being at where, he ma] any job at all clerkship ovel himself out o is fact, can I of any is(L There I a half of k) desires -B...
...The Socialist movement of the working class is alone capable of leading humanity towards the creation of a social order which would enable the productive forces created by the progress of technique to be used to the full, alone capable f guaranteeing a lasting peace n the basis jf the equality of b1 peoples, and alone capable of preserving the individual and intellectual liberties, which are the basis of the nodern civilization for which the best of mankind have given their lives, some at the stake daring the Reformation, others in the Ba.lilies of absolutist monarchies and on the barricades of other political revolutions...
...We could then go back of these traditions and proclaim the line role played by many armcrs and laborers in that revolutionary struggle...
...Attorneys, on the other hand, are professionals...
...1) That the L.S.I, participate in every endeavor directed towards strengthening the moral and material boycott of Hitlerism, and (4) That the L.S.I, shall call upon all free peoples to unite against the war dangers constituted by the German and Italian Fascist regimes...
...Well, what would you do to counteract the work of Reactionaries who monopolize these traditions r" asked Joe...
...Because if you do you will falsify history and wlutl you will then (jive to the workers will be as bogus as that which the reactionaries (jive them now,'' Hill replied...
...and LL.B...
...Under the pressure of the crisis a controlled, organized and monopolized capitalism is developing with increasing rapidity...
...In cou itries where democracy is threatened the working class must endeavor by every means at its dispos'l to repel the attacks of Fascism...
...the profession has come down to him...
...This t he works at nerative, if I ployment in tl worked even afternoons, /i me to the la« ness I wars...
...they are above, paternalistic assistance from the govern merit...
...The office which pays its stenographer $18, its office boy $12 and its junior attorney $10, is by no means paying in unusual order...
...Joe asked...
...It recognizes for Germany as well as for all other countries the claim to equality of rights and duties, but it declares against any rearmament of the military structure, which holds the German people in subjection...
...We have lieen foolish to let the reactionaries cultivate revolutionary traditions for their own interest," Bill replied, "but do you think that we should take over those ideas and use them for the workers...
...and L.S.I...
...Our government was set up to assure the jieople the right of life, lilierty and the pursuit of happiness I vet's take the Declaration and these fine ideas and use them for ourselves...
...That the situation in the oftier professions is as bad and worse is' evidenced by the condition of my acquaintances who have entered'other fields, liy the startling statistics of the Association of Unemployed Alumni, and by the ever rising academic level of the sales stall at Mary's...
...Bring that out and the workers cf our time will understand that a reactionary form of •oivernmeiit was not put over without a struggle by our ciac...
...At the magic wave of the diploma, hot, stuffy shops, dirty, noisy machines, greasy overalls, would all disappear, and Junior would have stepped out of the working class, forever to belong to the elite...
...We have had other documents similar to it...
Vol. 16 • September 1933 • No. 11
