THE DECLARATION PRO AND CON

...In its present form, by all common sense, it should be voted down...

...With all due respect to this committee, I insist they are in error, at least so far as California is concerned...

...Only in those countries where the capitalist class does ' not command the power required, and in particular is bereft of military power, and therefore cannot venture to replace the fight of political democracy by open civil war, only in such countries will the Working class be able to gain political power by means of democracy...

...Rebel Arte on the Air Rebel Arts has entered the domain of radio with a new series of dramatic broadcasts on WEVD every Wednesday evening at 10...

...Thomas Nelson and Sons...

...Stuart Chase has brought out another book on this sorry world of, American capitalism...

...This statement was accepted by the American party at a time when the red raids were on throughout the country...

...UPHOLDS DECLARATION By Harold Siegel Many comrades who oppose the Declaration do not disagree with the general ideas expressed...

...FOR Lester M. Shulman, Massachusetts...

...In this Comrade Inomas was merely passing on an opinion of a committee of lawyers...

...Indeed, under certain circumstances It may be a Hillquit that Socialists "are ever ready to take advantage of every condition of popular misery and social disorganization—to abolish the entire capitalist source of su?h misery and disorganization," and that the ''Dictatorship of the Proletariat—is not the antithesis of democracy," and that democracy under capitalism is a "hollow mockery...

...In order to distinguish itself from the RooBevelt administration's "phrase revolution and engage sympathetic elements in a comprehensive revolutionary effort," the party could not do otherwise than "form a program of revolutionary action...

...so difficult indeed that I see no possibility of its solution under capitalism...

...He sees no more, hope for the farmer.' What Chase has done is to provide us with another interesting compilation of data, presented in a popular form, a hook that one will turn to from time to time as source material to help him understand what Is happening...

...The results reaped by Communist noiso prove this...

...Our party must be honest with itself and with those who are invited to jqjn it...

...The Declaration may be good to be recited, with or without music, but it is not fit for a party preamble...

...If the committee will read section 1, and subdivision 4 of section 2 of chapter 188, statutes of California, 11)19, I am sure they will agree with me...

...Let us not be afraid to tell the truth for the cause which we cherish and love, but fight and give our lives if must be...

...They assert that a Socialist party should declare a general strike, if possible, In a war crisis and that the party should support those who bravely defy the war-gods by their activity...

...For the Declaration ant hopes that rank and file, old anc young, will vote for this stand sc in accord with the present time...

...Their mistake is that these masses do not exist...

...In this fight It will not be the vote that will decide the battle, but the economic and military strength of the opposing classes...

...Faith in democracy is uppermost...

...rne translation of discontent in Germany and Italy into fascism is accounted for on the basis of the presence in those countries of a strong middle class...

...AGAINST Paul MInton, farm laborer, chairman of Northern California Valley Conference of the Socialist JParty.—Doubtless the Declaration sounded great in the heated convention hut in cold print it reveals a serious lack of calm thought and clear expression...

...Declares that "damaging interpretions" are "harmful and disloyal" and Socialist papers should give no space to them...

...When the St...

...The result is a mass of facts, figures and trends, of forecasts and interpretations, estimates of production, of living standards available with intelligent control of our economic powers, of the plight and prospects of wage workers, farmers, professional men and the middle class...

...But even where this happens, the capitalist class will, as a general rule, use its economic power to neutralize the effects of the democratic state power gained by the working class...

...It would be very easy to fake out of the Declaration the few objectionable clauses...

...If this Declaration be ratified it will imperil the liberty of every member of the party in this state...

...Its work must be undone before we can move an inch forward to our goal...

...Let us not deliberately jeopardize our innocent comrades...

...The Declaration may be loose in Its phraseology...

...I call attention to a section of the declaration adopted in 1921 by the Vienna Unnion, with which the American party was affiliated...

...Workers are now confronted with an exceedingly difficult problem...

...Ia my opinion BOOK REVIEWS By Charles Solomon NEW GOVERNMENTS IN EUROPE...

...VVe Finns know much about the bitter experiences •>f the Russian workers under dictatorship...

...The industrial and business body of America is securely strapped to the classroom table...

...In that case, too...

...I desire to emphasize this in view of the recent statement of Comrade Thomas that the Declaration "imposes no present legal difficulties on Socialist organization in any state...

...We oppose replacing democracy with any sort of dictatorship...

...The Declaration Pro and Con The Vienna Manifesto By Amicus Most One of the oft-repeated argu ment.s against the Declaration it that it will be a repudiation of Socialist theory, and that it represents an entirely new philosophy oi Socialist tactics...

...but those who want to do more should go elsewhere...

...It appears to me that those who are calling upon the membership to defeat the Declaration are the ones who are asking us to revise Socialist theory and tactics, and only by passing the Declaration overwhelmingly can we bring the party back to its historic position and repudiate reformism in our ranks...

...The dictatorship of the working class must in this case be based on workingmens', peasants' and soldiers' councils, on trade unions or other working class organizations...

...The theme of each of these episodes ia a revolutionary incident in American history...

...space does not permit, out 1 would refer the reader to the Stuttgart resolution of the Second International which called for a general strike against war and further calls upon the workers to turn imperialist war into revolution...

...I believe'that revolutionary principles are the necessary though not the sufficient conditions for revolutionary tactics...

...The Declaration, of course, makes a split inevitable...

...I am utterly opposed to the Declaration, and hope that it will be defeated in the referendum...

...Into it has gone new material liberally digested from other studies...

...Under the head of "Stability in the Balkan States," studies are contributed on economic and political conditions in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland...

...As such it is as interesting as any other that he has written, although we disagree with many of his interpretations...

...Corhrades who drafted the Declaration did so in good faith to get more support from the revolutionary masses...

...Los Angeles, Cal...

...Such outstanding Socialist thinkers as R. 0. Wellhead of England, Jean Longuet of France, Rudolph Hilferding and Kurt Rosenfeld of Germany, L. Martov of the Russian Mensheviks, Robert Grimm of Switzerland, Friedrich Adler and Otto Bauer of Austria participated in drawing up the statements there adopted...

...FUTILE AND FATAL" By John Hay nes Holmes The Detroit Declaration of Principles is Communism pure and simple—only Communism minus the consistency, courage, rigor, and direct, forthright fighting spirit which give that movement such character as it possesses...

...This Volume is a publication of the Foreign Policy Association and comprises contributions by members of its research staff— Vera Micheles Dean, Bailey W. Diffie, Malbone W. Graham, Mildred S. Wertheimer—edited and with an introduction by Raymond Leslie Buell...

...2.60...

...I believe that we ought to recognize that what we have of democracy may be taken from us in a time of crisis and that we should frepare for such an eventuality, t might be wise to keep such preparations secret from our class enemies, if possible, But I doubt the wisdom of keeping them secret from ourselves...

...But where the capitalist class is strong enough to maintain by , violent means its rule against the revolting masses of the working people, it will break democracy, steep control of the means of coercion, and challenge the working class to an open fight...

...Local Depew, Oklahoma...

...Where is our defense if our meeting places are again raided just because some comrades love to write revolutionary verses into important party documents...

...In these circum stances the working class will b< able to become the ruling powei only by direct action of the masse:(muss strikes, armed rebellion etc...

...Capitalism as an outworn system has arrived at a stage where it was absolutely necessary for the Socialist Party to proclaim to the workers its militant stand...

...However these comrades take the position that in our weak condition we ought not to declare hese principles...

...The Detroit convention was as futile as an ecclesiastical council, and as fatal to true Social...

...Proletarian dictatorSip will then take the shape of e dictatorial exercise of the state power achieved by the working class...

...The cast of twenty 'performers is under thi iirection of Nadya Abelis...

...Those acquainted with some of his other books will recognize in this one something of a recapitulation of what he has said of machines, technology, production, etc., but it is more than a recapitulation...

...THE ECONOMY OF ABUNDANCE...

...It is foolish, and rather pitiful, for Norman Thomas to say that there must be no split in the party...

...The section dealing with the Italian, German and Russian dictatorships "pursue similar lines, discussing the historic background, theories, programs, parties and state structures...

...To Jthat argument I would address myself...

...a as such councils have been' fatal to true Christianity...

...Ithaca, N. Y. A FINNISH VIEW By Adolph Salmi We' are for peace and oppose war with all means at our disposal...

...Although the book is devoted to a study of "the trend toward dictatorship," fascist and communist, in the opening and interpretive essay entitled "The Attack on Democracy," dictatorship is rejected as "fraught in the long run with the gravest dangers" to individual responsibility and initiative in favor of democracy which, with all its faults, ''offers the individual a way of life superior to that prescribed by dictatorship...

...Threats of this kind are hollow mockery...

...By Stuart Chase...

...The middle class is the backbone of fascism, "under which, for the time being, it retains control of private property...

...We are not to pass on its literary merit If it expresses Socialist principles it aught to be upheld...

...See comment in Editor's Corner, page 5.) "SPLENDID WORK" By Morris Decker A splendid piece of work is the Declaration of Principles...

...and it will have to maintain its power by suppressing the conquercd capitalist class...

...Louis resolution was adopted, after the United States had already entered the war, it didn't hesitate about the legality of the sentence ". . . pledge ourselves to . . . continuous, active, and public opposition to the war, through demonstrations, mass petitions, and all other means within our power...

...On the basis of his study he declares that "The future of labor as a commodity is black and ominous...

...MacNider asserted that a group of "brilliant young men of no admitted party allegiance, dizzy with sudden and unrestricted power, are experimenting with every phase of national life...

...Real Socialists don't abandon the movement because they differ with a decision...

...They are not so naive as to believe that blowing up a battleship is,an anti-war activity...

...el !-pmfw,cmfwy cmfwy cmf m The comment of the last line is eloquent of what we feel...

...I abhor the thought of a split within our ranks because of a Socialist argument...

...The author has no theory of his own to advance, although he is now and then critical oi theories, i Thus hs thinks that Marxists 'never "properly appreciated" the fact that "finance capital bisects jthe heart of capitalism," while we Jbiow that modern Marxism has 'dealt much with the role that I finance capital plays in present-day capitalism...

...The principal value of the publication lies in the fact that it is up-to-date and carefully compiled, constituting it an excellent source...

...One could quote every Socialist thinker, from Karl Marx to Karl Kautsky, to prove that not only is the Detroit Declaration nothing new in Socialist philosophy but that it is extremely mild in comparison to previous declarations of the party, of the International, and of these men...

...I do not believe that we carl enroll large numbers of people, and then in a time of crisis say to them, "Comrades, now we must let yop in on our secrets, etc...

...As reported in the New York Times it carried the following paragraph: Mr...

...Our way Is to' organize workers Into labor unions ind farmers Into cooperative gone ties, bringing them into the political field and build a new SoA CALIFORNIA VIEW By George W. Downing If the Detroit Declaration be afrimed, our legal policy will be reversed, at least in many states...

...Directly the class struggle has reached a stage where democracy, from an instrument of capitalist class rule, threatens" to become one of working class rule, the capitalist class will as a general rule endeavor by violent means to interrupt democratic developments, to prevent democratic state power from passing into the hands of the working class...

...J. 0. THE BRAY of THE WEEK Hanford MacNider, former national commander of the American Legion, former Minister to Canada, and a Storm Trooper of the Grand Old and Canned Old Republican Party, stirred the zeal of the party brokers at Jackson, Michigan, with a noble speech...

...If the Declaration is carried in the referendum, then all Socialists who believe in democracy and cherish pacifist principles and ideals must get out...

...The party didn't worry about the legality of the statement...

...New York: Macmillans...

...We insist that society must become more democratic...

...There is a warning that the ascendancy of fascism in such countries, "which lack democratic traditions," is not to be regarded as a "death verdict of democracy elsewhere...

...If, on the other hand, the Declaration is defeated, then its proponents must go over to Communism, where they belong...

...the working class, after arriving at political power, will have to uBe dictatorial means in order to break the resistance of the capitalist class...

...In the section dealing with "Spain Under the Republic," the Primo de Rivera dictatorship is discussed...

...Its bombast and ambiguity is unworthy of the Socialist Party...

...This, would be true of California, and probably all other states having a criminal syndicalism law...