TIMELY TOPICS
THOMAS, NORMAN
By Norman Thomas TIMELY TOPICS The Convention - ^ IT was a good convention w* had in Detroit His 1 tory may say it was a great convention, but thi judgment of history is rarely rendered on...
...It is the writer's opinion that the St...
...We cannot afford to play with words or to be obscure in our meaning...
...We are against war, among other reasons, because it is the bitterest foe of democracy...
...By Norman Thomas TIMELY TOPICS The Convention - ^ IT was a good convention w* had in Detroit His 1 tory may say it was a great convention, but thi judgment of history is rarely rendered on conventions...
...The preconvention conferences on organization and related matters were better attended and evoked mors interest than any of us had anticipated...
...No member desires to jeopardise the party or any of its members in any state because of normal party propaganda and action...
...It is vague and subject to any interpretation and in that lies its danger...
...The wording is important...
...We do not permit this irresponsibility in normal activity now...
...By the way, our heartiest thanks go to the Detroit comrades for admirable arrangements...
...In America alone there are more than 10,000,000 unemejoyed...
...they will be worth many times the cost Contri-.' buttons for this work, until further announcement, i may be sent to Rev...
...We state what we would do if after doing our beat to use democratic processes the capitalist used force against, or if our capitalist system dissolves in chaos...
...Louis resolution when it appears next week...
...Finally, we are a party of the working class dedicated to a revolutionary change in capitalist society...
...Meanwhile, I repeat: the Detroit convention will have been a great convention if it leads to greater action...
...The St...
...As both may face us in the future we should state our position as to how we should act when the emergency is before us, but in stating it see should not use language that may possibly be used against us in propaganda and action in a normal peace period...
...The Declaration of Principles npHESE things must not be forgotten in the exciting debates that will stirMhe party on the subject of the Declaration of Principles...
...the highest in history save in The midst of war...
...Saturday night, June 9. Facing a rammer of curtailed though contlnuing activities, Rebel Arts 1« . staging a pre-summer pre-hot sesson evening with the proceeds going to pay the rant for the sum- < mer months...
...If it does mean this should the members approve it...
...Nor will it jeopardise its members' freedom of action and yet this may be 'one in the heat of emotion or by illinformed members who know little of the history of repressive measures directed against the movement in many countries...
...That would be folly...
...There is, however, as I can testify, a very rapid increase of sentiment for such a movement...
...Pending the realisation of oar •sol objectives, ws pledge ear party and our pa bile officials to act upon such measures as comr before them solely a* they will secure for producer* the products of their labors and free them, from the exploitation of industry's private owner...
...We believe that it measuzes far above the one before the party and that it is not subject to various interpretations...
...We should not walk into an ambush of the enemy...
...Without that power which ooaiao from organisation the worker* can do nothing...
...We got a short, fighting Socialist Congressional platform...
...Only aa we establish this new order and abolish the predatory society can wo share tho abundance which machinery makes possible...
...We, and all whom we may nominate, are pledged to vote against war and military preparations for war...
...Louis/ resolution contains no such pledge by the party...
...Louis resolution is much the superior of the two both in style and in the detail measures outlined to meet a war emergency...
...For myself, I think the Declaration of Principles says, and says well, what Socialists not only in America but throughout the world are thinking...
...Practically the whole sharecropper class, white as well as colored, is totally disfranchised...
...I think we say'it on the whole very well and that pre help, not hinder, the efforts to get effective organization...
...In Minnesota it does not appear that the FarmerLabor Party is living up to its radical resolutions...
...A View of the Declaration of Principles Adopted at Detroit ' (Continued from Page Oaa) Louis Resolution and our readers may contrast the two documents...
...I shall I have more to say on this subject later...
...The Congressional Platform Submitted by tho Platform Committee and Adopted at Detroit, Juno 2, 1934 IN a world of continued crisis it is not necessary to prove the breakdown of the capitalist System...
...We think that it would...
...We shall, of course, try to organise the sharecroppers to take part in orderly demonstrations on this matter, but they would in all probability be shot down in cold blood if they went at it alone in isolated districts...
...The Socialist Party, therefore, in this congressional campaign, commits itself and all candidates anew to the one sole purpose of establishing the cooperative commonwealth, the economic foundation of which is social ownership and management for use and not profit...
...Statements of the character quoted drew a sharp issue in the convention and they have become an issue in the party...
...More important, these statements, if approved, will in my judgment close the door to cooperation with the organized workers and without tuch cooperation the Socialist movement has no future...
...We, and all whom we nominate, are pledged to work unceasingly for the orderly transfer of banks and public utilities, natural resources and key industries to social ownership and democratic management...
...Let's not leave members in doubt...
...Every debate was well attended and attentively followed, and of our states only Oregon was not represented...
...First of all, the convention definitely proved thai Socialism and interest in Socialism are immensely »n the upgrade in the United States...
...For this high end we summon workers witb hand and brain, of every race, creed and color, in city and country, to unite with us to achieve power to transform a system which has proved itself the mother of poverty and war...
...The Immediate task before tho Working class is to organise for power to take for themselves the full eocial value of the fruit* of their toil...
...Mititary expenditures are...
...If a general strike alone is meant then "massed resistance" has no place in the paragraph...
...Watch the Socialist press for information on the plans that we shall make...
...We doubt whether any member will -answer, yes...
...These statements are reckless and ill-considered, they are not contained in the St...
...No one contends that fascism or war faced us as an immediate danger in Detroit...
...If they are successful—and we count on success...
...Two forms of action are also mentioned, "massed resistance" and a general strike of "laboi unions and professional groups.' W-hat is meant by "massed resistance...
...This is our very promising organization of boy* and girls.' Let'* all back it up by buying their tickets and helping them sell them./ ^ IN Christian County, Illinois, Douglas'Anderson and, * I are bringing suit for false arrest, he in the' state and I (as a citizen of New York) 'in the federal court...
...In Iowa there has been a moratorium declared on the Farmer-Labor Party movement All the leading politicians sought nomination* in the Republican or Democratic primaries...
...Louis resolution which all delegates to the Detroit convention will certainly approve, and they may lead to trouble which we can avoid...
...cago on the job and an able labor lawyer, Mr...
...No intelligent movement will consciously do this...
...To take an example, a number of the California delegates left Detroit uncertain and apprehensive of the status of the party and the members in that state because of certain statements in the resolution if it is adopted...
...The sentence quoted above makes it mandatory for the party to defend individual members who act on their own initiative and their actions may include anti-social and irresponsible acts which the party does not approve...
...We are for democracy...
...We should guard against such a resolution being used against party members and sympathisers for expression of views and for actions in a normal period when neither war nor fane in m face us...
...The spirit of the Detroit resolution, that is, the desire to avert fascism and war, to obtain power in a crisis and how to use power if obtained is all to the good...
...To abolish those and the many other ills- which afflict society today we must abolish their cause...
...The admission charge is only 15 cents, and there will be < unusual entertainment...
...should we permit it in a period when organized and disciplined action is especially necessary...
...It is not defined and because it is not defined it is a dangerous phrase to use...
...We shall mention a few, not all, of these statements...
...No Socialist Party ean say less than this in view of what has happened abroad...
...Every member recognises that both may face us as a vital issue in the future...
...We have a good committee of Socialist lawyers in Chi...
...AH through unusually hot days delegates .many of whom had made a real sacrifice to be present, stuck to business...
...This would be to halt much educational work in a normal period when education to avert fascism and war is essential...
...It is necessary to create national sentiment and to organize carefully a national campaign...
...Support the Red Falcons...
...Douglas Anderson, Illiopolii,' Illinois...
...What right have we to appeal to democracy unless democracy will grant this elementary right to the men who most need the ballot if it is to be any kind of a substitute for a bullet...
...I do not regret debate in party circles if it is carried on as Socialists ought to carry on such a debet...
...I shall only regret it if it carries with it threats to split and a reading in on either side of motives, purposes or meanings which are not there...
...We got for the first time a comprehensive agricultural program, not perfect, but greatly in advance of what we had done before...
...fA...
...None of us want to have our all-top-meager funds exhausted in paying attorney's fees to defend members if any language contained In the resolution invites this...
...Another questionable statement s the promise to protect comrades vho "for anti-war activities' or I refusal to perform war service come into conflict with the law...
...If we are not clear in our own minds regarding what we mean we may be sure that the masses will be no more clear than we are and confused action is certain to follow confused thought...
...ON my return home I find an announcement of the June Rose Fiesta of the Red Falcons of America to held the evening of Saturday, June 16th, at the Brownsville Labor Lyceum...
...But the spirit is one thing and the contents another...
...Louis resolution...
...If it does mean this, why not say it and have a clear issue...
...country but throughout the' world, LAST spring SOCIAL of rebel ARTS JUNt 9 The final spring iocial of Rebel < Arts, with' dacing, eats, fun and foolishness, will take place thil...
...which followed, we went to work on problems of organization and made definite headway...
...Would it play into the hands of agents provocateur...
...There are a number of statements which quite a number of delegates think are dangerous...
...We state, and state honestly and explicitly, what we would do if after all other striving war becomes imminent...
...What is still better, it is a program drawn up after long conference with representatives of farmers in person and in writing all over the country...
...To relieve the sufferings of the great mass of people, pending the realization of 'the Socialist cooperative commonwealth, and not .to bolster up and perpetuate the capitalist private profit system, we pledge ourselves to work for legislation which will give to the dispossessed and unemployed of America a living standard on a level consistent with the great productive possibilities of American industry, financing all relief measures by tax levies upon large inheritances and the Incomes of those who profit from the ownership of Industry and the control of finance...
...It is nonsense to talk about democracy, even capitalist democracy, while this sort of thing goes on...
...Anderson and others are starting action for assault against the deputies who threw tear-gas bombs, the party, is seeking an order rss training the sheriff or any other official from interfering with Socialist meetings, and we hope to force the United States> government to institute criminal action against the officials for conspiracy* to deprive us of our rights as United States citizens...
...One declares that the party "will meet war and the detailed plans for war already mapped out by the war-making arms of the government, by massed resistance, organized so far as practicable in a general strike of labor unions and professional groups In a'united effort to make the waging of war a practical Impossibility and to convert the capl_tallst war crisis into a victory for Socialism* V What is meant by meeting "war and detailed plans for war already Mapped out" by the government: Does it imply some form of action MOW in the Industries new mapped by the War Department for war mobilization...
...Until the means of production and distribution are dedicated to the welfare of the producers of wealth instead of to the profit of a small group of owners, poverty, insecurity and wart will continue as a natural eonsequenoe of the economic contradictions which are inherent to the capitalist system...
...Most of them seemed to fail to get the nominations, so probably there will be a revival of the movement...
...Oregon asked to.be allowed to use the money the party would contribute toward the expenses of its delegates in a very important campaign...
...In our so-called "recovery" wages lag behind profits...
...Certainly, workers cannot act intelligently in any crisis that may confront them unless they have been prepsred by education to so act...
...To educate and guide that sentimenf, to bring it to us in the Socialist Party if possible, or failing that in a militant farmer-labor movement of which ws can be an integral part—that is the great job *V Socialism...
...In other words, there is still no Farmer-Labor movement on the political field of national scope and outlook...
...Reading these statements the writer believes that this view is sound...
...Our support of all measures will be determined by the extent to which theae measnrea move us toward a thorough-going Socialism, not only, In our owe...
...The government seels to stabilise capitalism by subsidizing scarcity...
...In the second place, we did get down to business...
...We again urge our members carefully to read the St...
...Farmer-Labor Parties 'THE LaFollette Progressive Party, so called, is * a disappointing personal movement without firm root* among farmers and worker* and without even so much aa a platform...
...It is useless to deny that there is a division and it will be fought out in the weeks when the referendum will be before the "members...
...If it is loose or vague in its language it may produce results not anticipated...
...This is a blanket pledge that is sweeping and covers all "activities" that some party member may engage in While opposing war...
...At the convention itself and at the meeting of the new N.E.C...
...Reese, in Taylorville...
...The party did defend party members who came into conflict with the law but only when their activities were in accord with the organized forms of action defined in the St...
...Leal...
...It is rendered on conventions plus th< achievements that grow out of them...
...These proceedings will cost money that the Illinois Socialist Party hasn't got...
...Against a Poll Tax QNE of the moat urgent teaks before the Socialist ^ Party ia to organise sentiment all over the United States for a nationwide drive against a poll tax, the disfranchisement of the unemployed on the ground that they are psuperi, and all similar devices by which the farmers and workers are deprived of suffrage...
Vol. 17 • June 1934 • No. 69
