Old Pals Corner
Old Pals Corner The Boys Get All Tangled Up in Legal-Illegal Moratoriums, but Economic Determinism Rules "IIIHAT'S a moratorium, anyway?" asked Joe of Bill as they entered the Rand School...
...We are mistaken if we think that upon such a man as Morris Hillquit neither wealth nor political eminence could exercise a very strong attraction...
...When a great tout leave* it* frame of /Use The wail i* bare, and the room of life 1* over filled with emptnxe...
...Everybody must pretends that their vast legal code is •till intact...
...H« we ourseh until It * what dee...
...We agree that capitalism has produced a bughouse world and if that's true, we should not be surprised if it gives rise to the contradiction of legalillegal...
...To his ardent nature public distinction and recognised success were likewise more attractive than to most of us...
...Today Iglesias is Territorial Representative in Con._ ¦ § WHEN m great brain leavee the quick For th* dead, « light go** out And the world grow* dark...
...THEN a basic principle of Socialist philosophy really has the last word in this legal-illegal tangle," said Joe...
...Yes...
...Frank R. Croslwaith, candidate for President of the Board of Aldermen, and Mrs...
...From Far and Near Come Expressions of Sorrow jDROM far and near, from highly-placed individuals and from humble workers in the ranks, from world-statesmen and from privates in the ranks of the working class army of emancipation came expressions of deep sorrow over the passing of the incomparable Morris Hillquit...
...Now a moratorium means that you are held to the terms of the contract and that you are not...
...We take this occasion . to record our pride in the years of close-association and comradeship with him and our determination to be worthy of the example he set us of matchless courage and devotion...
...These are contracts in law...
...Righto," said Joe as they returned to their work...
...They knew a pride, who dared to rite And tpeak against'his thought, And this be all that they or I can say Against the reverence of the hour...
...But to impair contracts is unconstitutional, isn't it...
...no appeal from their decision...
...Paul Faure and Leon Blum, leaders of the French Socialist Party, cabled, "Deuil pour Internationale pour parti Francais et pour none qui perdons un ami...
...Hut how can something become legal-illegal...
...that you have a contract and you haven't...
...I'm also serious," Bill replied, "and a moratorium is just what I said it is...
...Economic Determinism takes little account of that Issue once it moves great masses with the will to power," laid Bill...
...They are like a man who has lost his mental balance after a cyclone and sits in bis cellar in the belief that he is occupying a room of the house that has been blown into the next county...
...He was one of the Old Guard of the Socialist Party...
...When a great heart leave* it* task Of driving courage into faltering live*, And lending flow of comradeship and Through arterie* of ccuntlen beinge In a widoflung world, a quiet come* That ha* no peace or *weet in it . . , ALL these have left us now...
...Comrade, friend and foe alike unite Within this hour...
...So the constitutional becomes unconstitutional," said Joe...
...which h« least th* his life, 1 of the wo upon his 1 by petty times the side and 1 not displt) pity...
...that you have legal rights which for the present ore illegal...
...Capitalism is in the hospital and a funeral is ahead...
...but where does that Economic Determinism come in "It comes in when the lovely fictions of the courts and S)liticians are confronted with a crisis in industry," said ill...
...Of course he had to make the choice—not once and for all, but continuously throughout his life...
...May he sleep welll" Among his comrades of the great days of thirty years ago in the building of the Party, messages came from Max S. Hayes of Cleveland, leader in the International Typographical Union...
...Economic Determinism Upsets Law "QOMETHING that Socialists often call Economic Determinism enters into the legal property relations and makes fools of legislatures, Congress, governors, the President and the courts," Bill replied...
...In your hour of bereavement be consoled by the knowledge that in the hearts of millions who share with you the pain of his departure he will live always...
...The true praise is not merely that he made the choice he, did...
...Take the mortgage situation for example...
...i ".You said it," Bill replied with a chuckle...
...Arthur Henderson, M.P., former Foreign Minister of Great Britain, cabled: "By the death of Morris Hillquit American Socialism loses a world-famous leader, Europe a sympathetic interpreter of the Socialist internationalist spirit in the United States, many here lose a loyal personal friend...
...His Memory RilORE than one man has said, during Morris Hillquit's life as well as since his death, that if he had given himself to the pursuit of wealth he could long ago have become a very rich man and that if he had sought a career in either of the major parties, the highest position in the cabinet and then a place on the supreme bench would have been well within his reach...
...B«i For all rich...
...Living he has earned the right to rest...
...that'you must pay, but probably you won't...
...Will they ever be able to get the pieces together again ?" Joe mused...
...The City Campaign Committee of New York, of which Morris Hillquit had been chairman, adopted the following motion at its meeting Monday: "The City Campaign Committee records its profound grief, both as individuals and as a body, at the passing of our beloved and revered leader Morris Hillquit...
...When men have praised him for not yielding to either of these temptations, we Socialists have perhaps undervalued such praise...
...This is the very worst mess we have yet come across...
...I have been all of these to him, and so These words for all of those who loved him, Fought within hi* cause, and often fought Against his high decision...
...Sorrow for the International, and for the French party, and for us, who have lost a dear friend...
...what's a moratorium...
...The law says that the debtor must pay and millions of debtors cannot pay...
...JLMYSELF, I quarreled as a son Who sets a headstrong whim Against a father's fond advice...
...Within a few hours of his passing messages of sincere sorrow came from trade unions and Socialist branches, from the President of the United States and from the Governor of New York, from Workmen's Circle Branches and from world-statesmen in other countries...
...Alma Crosswaith wired Mrs...
...Stern necessity is translated into Latin and we call it a Moratorium...
...The stillness That remains is far too deep for tears, Too full of loss for lamentation, And too full of unsung threnody for grief...
...I wonder if it is legal or illegal to destroy it," said Joe...
...Billions of dollars are invested in mortgages...
...They are sacred, they are basic, to the capitalist system...
...So Economic Determinism steps In and displaces law and judicial decisions...
...I'm serious...
...Do the judges recognize the veto power of Economic Determinism ?" asked Joe...
...Robert Rives LaMonte, long an ex-Socialist, and W. J. Ghent, Hillquit's colleague for many years in the building up of the Rand School...
...I'LL take five fingers of good rye," said Joe, mopping his brow...
...Hillquit: "Accept our sincere condolence at the death of our dear Comrade Morris Hillquit...
...You're trying to get funny even before we order the coffee," said Joe...
...Being what he was, he could not but freely choose the harder path, eee, WE who are Socialists know, as law others can, that the life he lived, often pail of what l measures ous than i attain wi place and He had ing...
...Gene Debs, Victor Berger, Ben Hanford, and many others who came into the party in the days when Socialism was more misunderstood than it is today were his comrades and co-workers...
...asked Joe of Bill as they entered the Rand School Rehdez-vqua...
...I know that," said Joe...
...No, they remain as solemn as owls," Bill replied...
...In 1000 there came from Puerto Rico a young labor leader named Santiago Iglesias to help found the Socialist Party...
...With his deft fingers, great soul and powerful mind Morris Hillquit has fashioned the world of tomorrow as his eternal monument...
...Yes, Socialists can stand by and grin as they observe S law of history which they have stressed tossing the politicians, lawmakers, executives and judges into the air," said Bill...
...The Labor and Socialist International, the organization that Hillquit had labored so valiantly to build up, from the American Federation of Labor, from countless local 'unions, party locals, state organizations and' branches, from leaders of Socialism and the Labor movement, from individual members came expressions of grief and «nd of pride in the comradeship of such as Morris Hillquit From Abramowitsch Rafael Abramowitsch, for the Russian Social Democratic Party in exile, cabled from Paris: "Deeply mourning with yon the loss of our beloved friend Hillquit His name will never be forgotten in the history of International Socialism...
...It is legal to foreclose when the debtor does not meet the terms of the mortgage...
...that the legal is part substance and part shadow while the illegal is part shadow and part substance...
...Courts will not tolerate violations of contracts...
...The true praise is that there' was something In the man—there was something in the youth almost fifty years ago—which made any other choice impossible...
...These things were tempting to him —of course they were...
...it works this way," said Bill "The lawmakers make the law...
...Morris Hillquit's great abilities, his clear brain and his matchless courage and character were recognized by all the world, and by all the world was profound grief expressed...
...They may be able to reassemble it in some form, but (Economic Determinism will remain to make worse havoc of the rickety structure they erect," said Bill...
...It is, but economic conditions have impaired the con'iracts and there is nothing left for the solemn judges to do but to recognize his majesty, Economic Determinism, when he enters the court," Bill replied...
...But even the% who challenged him With enmity paid hidden homage to hi* brain, Or felt the selflestnet* Within his fervored tout, or heard The dream-symphonic measure of hi* heart...
...That he has lived and worked for the Cause will always be a precious memory to me, but that we will never hear his voice again is our loss...
...Solemn Owls on the Bench...
...I can't get it through my noodle...
...Wl» thinking...
...Joe Coldwell Sorrows Joseph M. Coldwell of Providence, state secretary of the party in Rhode Island and once a jailmate in Atlanta penitentiary with Eugene V. Debs, wrote: "I was profoundly shocked when I heard of Comrade Hillquit's death...
...He had an avid appreciation for all those beauties and refinements of life which require leisure for their enjoyment and which, in the present state of society, are attainable in full'measure only to the rich...
...the judges say it is constitutional and the Constitution provides for...
...that it is legal to collect, but if you attempt it you cannot...
...It's a jegal-illegal or illegal-legal action of a legislative body or an executive," said Bill...
...him dwelt thousand* I think k give him I And « which ess cess can I the trad leader of I which ha stow, and as a rewS THAT* been i these osjl It has at who, as * put it k< head of 4 way it hi make si front off And artf...
...Then Economic Determinism steps into the situation and suspends the law, the judicial decisions and the Constitution itself...
...Joe Needs a Stimulant...
...Ecdnomic Determinism is like a powerful explosive that blows the vast heap of property rules into fragments...
Vol. 16 • October 1933 • No. 16
