HIS VISION AND CLARITY
Wibaut, P. M.
His Vision and Clarity Lsodwp So«a«et 0/ tfoJfenei AT one of the last pages of *|J Hillquit's last book, "Loose Leaves From a Busy Life," we |Bi4:*"The Socialist vote and party membership are...
...And in this he was no Utopian...
...In those days the movement was permeated with what amounted to an almost religious fervor...
...I especially cherish the memory of Hillquit himself...
...And these comrades say with Hillquit: "Wait and see...
...To me he still stands out as a shining example of the Socialist gladiator...
...His speeches, his books and debates with the ablest people the opposition could bring forward to debate with him speak for themselves...
...It was inspiration to me and a privilege which cannot be overappreciated to have sat at the feet of comrades like Morris Hi|lqult, and to renew my faith in the vision of a Socialist world...
...It >3 surely not Socialism which President Roosevelt brings...
...Fer those comrades .in Europe who have known Hillquit for thirty yesre these passages are most characteristic foisthe whole of his per|!?met Hillquit first at the Amsterdam International Congress in J|04...
...An Enduring Inspiration By Horry Mldqley, M. P. Socialist member North of Ireland Parliament /"\NE of my happiest memories is ' ^ in looking back to the time before the war when as a youth I was a member of the American Socialist Party...
...It roots in treal understanding of economic dopment ail over the world...
...Victor Adler each in his own individual style...
...Our bourgeoisie rules more absolutely than the Czar in Russia or the Sultan in Turkey...
...On the first anniversary of Hillquit's lamented death, we keep our great comrade in mind...
...18 the days when Socialism •jjarcely existed among native 'Americans, he seemed from afar, taihe eyes of the International, the most representative figure of the immigrant group that was •owing the seeds of Socialism on the other side of the herring pod...
...He was of those who forge strong arms against capitalism out of their solid knowledge of facts...
...Hillquit's life-long service 0 humanity needs no defender...
...Danish Workers Honor Hillquit's Memory By Thorvald Stauaing Prime Minister of Denmark jyjORRIS HILLQUIT attended the International Socialist Conference at Copenhagen in 1910, and since then I met him each time international events took place...
...Three Great Men By James H. Maurer DURlNG the past few years the " Socialist movement has suffered the loss of many of its most brilliant minds...
...And it keeps glowing in times such as we Social Democrats have had to go through...
...Morris Hillquit was attacked in private party circles about what was considered a contradiction between his revolutionary speeches and revolutionary expectations and prognostigations with regard to the Labor movement of America and the weakness of his party...
...And so the memory of his days on earth will never fade...
...He was no extremist...
...Socialism is coming...
...Hajsjoke of the pioneer work tie Gerrefji Socialists were accomplishing in America and in glowing terms described their ceaseless efforts...
...Hillquit died at the moment when the ideas which he had always defended were, through the irremediable decomposition of a capitalist world, taking on a dynamic power which for a long time had been lacking...
...we have billionaires—but we have misery...
...A Fragrant Memory By Otto Wels Former Chairman, Social Democratic Party of Germny THERE are things in the life of every man that go deep into his very being, and thus remain forever in his memory...
...He was a spiritual forger of arms for the battle for emancipation of the working class in his country and in the world...
...His open, friendly countenance with the twinkling smile that never left him even during the most heated arguments, his gracious, humorous manner of speech with his readiness of repartee easily won him the friendship of comrades from every country...
...His certainty of judgment on questions relating to the European movement amazed us even more, as did the zeal with which he applied himself while in Europe to the quest for more and information...
...When I met Hillquit first in 1904 his hook, "History of Socialism in the United States," had already entitled its author to a foremost place in the leading international Socialist ranks...
...The manifestation is mightily supported in numerous circles where the belief was that capitalism was still triumphant five or ten years ago...
...i And further, "It is a mistake to assume that because the Socialist movement in the United States has made no appreciable and visible progress in the last forty years it may not prove victorious in the e o u r s e of the next twenty years, and it la equally false to infer that when the movement resumes its growth it will necessarily be regular arid gradual end that it may not proceed by leaps and bounds...
...While I did not always agree with those three great men, I do know that to have had the good fortune to be associated with these distinct warriors was indeed a great privilege and honor for which 1 am everlastingly grateful to the Socialist Party...
...and hunger and crime," he said...
...The time hag passed when the European capitalists considered the United States as the promised land and the last stronghold of laissezfaire and bourgeois individualism...
...I met him at each of the International Congresses, but one, between 1904 and 1931...
...We have climbed the heights of civilization...
...Here was a man not attracted by the lure of wealth or power, content to serve the cause of humanity as a soldier in the rankse...
...We have no government by the people but a rule of money bags...
...and especially to hear Jaures and Bel>el in their forensic crossing of swords, to hear Vandervelde and Dr...
...After the meeting Hillquit and I returned to town, after having been introduced to each other by Bebel...
...The once peaceful agrarian country had become a turbulent industrial nation...
...No matter how long the struggle may last, no matter how oiten the fortunes of war alternate victory and temporary defeat, the outlines of a new world are showing clearer than ever today...
...Having servec with these three 00 m r a d e for many years on the National Executive Committee, as well as having been closely associated with them for at least 25 years 1 had a distinct advantage in learning to appreciate their fine q u a 1 i t ies, their courageous loyalty and worth to the Socialist movement...
...But to those of us who were privileged to serve with 'him In tho ranks of the party nothing can dim tho lustre of his memory, nor can tho voice of malice or slander impugn his honor...
...We have a republic with almost unlimited political freedom, but our Republic is nevertheless not a democracy but a capitalist oligarchy...
...The American worker is on the way to Socialism...
...Usually he came to Europe to function as a delegate to the International, and as he once said, to strengthen himself and to gather new courage for the struggle to which he had dedicated his life...
...Those comrades in Europe who follow developments in the United States under President Roosevelt feel that Hillquit's expectations were right in every respect...
...But it is equally certain the strong manifestation of the utter failure of capitalism to make economic life supportable to the masses...
...to be present at a Congress where the strongest spirits and the greatest orators of the international labor, movement stood upon the rostrum —that for mc was an unforgettable experience...
...I met him last at the Vienna International Socialist Congress in 1*31...
...In latter days the distractions and divisions In the working class movement appear to have detracted somewhat from the deserved glory of this man who blazed the trail through the capitalist jungle...
...On the day on which these hopee are realized the American workers will not forget those who, like Hillquit, rose before the dawn and by their bard and ceaseless labor prepared the Socialist harvest...
...He was of those who in all times, in the most critical moments, kept the torch blazing...
...it was* then, too, that I came to know him personally...
...We must do this for the sake of the class struggle, which must not be weakened if we are to emerge victorious in the battle with cap* italism...
...He presented the aspect of a man constantly seeking to improve him* self the better to serve his party...
...Berger, the fearless editor, historian and labor diplomat...
...Bat for mrr we hare been accustomed to see him at all our International Congresses, affirming by his presence, as 1 eader of the American delegation, the organic interdependence of the workers' movement in the United States and the Socialist and Marxist workers' movements of Europe...
...This charming certainty in Hillpit's person was not astonishing to -Marxists like him...
...I happened lo De present at one or two of these discussions and I still rejoice at the splendid solid position which Hillquit unvariably held at these discussions...
...We who have been in the international Socialist movement* for two generations felt an attachment for Hillquit and rejoiced at the contribution he made in America, where the Socialist movement has had such great difficulties to contend with...
...times even worse than Hillquit could even foresee...
...Some day the hidden and uncrystallized forces of Socialist sentiment may spring forth into a powerful movement, suddenly and spontaneously...
...When the chairman called "Hillquit—America"—that meant that difficulties ware to be cleared upj and it also signified self-discipline' when he was not in a position to gain a full victory for his point, as was the case in the debates on immigration and emigration...
...Those of us who depended from day to day for Inspiration from our leaders in carrying on the fight were never let down by Morris Hillquit...
...In the {let forty years hundreds of thousands of men and women have held membership in the Socialist Party, coming and going...
...When victory has been achieved and our dreams have been realized, when we seek to honor the architects of the New World, Morris Hillquit's name will stand among the first to be so honored...
...Like the Sorcerer's Apprentice of the legend, the creators of the NRA have unchained elemental forces of which they have lost control, and the period of formidable labor conflicts, which is about to begin, justifies the greatest hopes for the near future of Socialism in the new wrld...
...for, in looking back wo think of him as one who: Never turned his back bat marched breast forward, Never doubted clouds would break...
...There was practically never a debate of Importance in which Hillquit had no part...
...A mighty echo arose in the crowd...
...Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph...
...For me it was the International Congress of 1907, held at Stuttgart, the first to be held on German soil, and the first in which I participated as a delegate...
...Growing, under the surface, in European countries, where Socialism seems weakened or dead...
...I am hopeful of seeing a great and powerful, perhaps even a triumphant Socialist movement in this country in my own days...
...Debs, the big-hearted, lovable, uncompromising, eloquent rebel against injustice...
...Hillquit kept that place...
...What seemed to many to be his Utopias are facts well on the way of urging their adoption as realities...
...Such has been (he course of all great social and political upheavals...
...Hillquit with his keen analytic mind who did,not once but often save the party from making mistakes...
...At most of these International Congresses Hill|uit had to report on the growth tf the Socialist movement in the United States, that it was rather alow...
...As national chairman his public utterances, whether involving na:ional or international issues, were slways clean and a credit to our party...
...In vivid phrases he described the development...
...They see the admitted necessity of Socialisf conduct of economic life rapidly growing each ^day, under the Roosevelt leadership which hopes to reform capitalism while keeping it strong...
...Upon that occasion, I saw and heard Morris Hillquit for the first time...
...J met him in New York in 1904 •*» also at the beginning of the BW In September 1914...
...the response to his speech was instantaneous...
...To meet face to face all the great men whose names embodied the greatness of International Socialism, to listen to the historic debates among which the most important were on the attitude of the working class in the face of a future war...
...The murderous attacks upon our comrades in Europe naturally caused a temporary handicap to the movement abroad...
...It was atacolossal mass meeting of the working class, outside the city, Tsfhefe tinder the chairmanship ot August Bebel Morris Hillquit spoke on the same platform as the Dutch delegate, Henriette Koland-Holst and Victor Adler...
...We must protect the American' workers against being swamped by the floods of immigrant Chinese, who are used as strikebreakers and who thus tend to retard the work of the Socialist movement, he said...
...In all the International Socialist Congresses since 1904 he was a man of importance, regularly a member of the most important commissions...
...Danish Socialists wish to join in honoring the memory of Hillquit, and in sending greetings to the United States I beg that the work may be continued in the spirit which animated our late comrade...
...The giant stretches his mighty limbs, and the time will come when his heavy tread will be heard across the ocean...
...The problems of the labor organizations concerned him deeply in this case...
...Hillquit's complete knowledge of all phases of the labor movement was astounding...
...His Vision and Clarity Lsodwp So«a«et 0/ tfoJfenei AT one of the last pages of *|J Hillquit's last book, "Loose Leaves From a Busy Life," we |Bi4:*"The Socialist vote and party membership are no index to the extent to which socialistic Amght has permeated the population of the country...
...of capitalism in America...
...He was frequently a reporter to the congress on resolutions...
...But he was thoroughly revolutionary and did not reject any means or any more which the working class might one day successfully use...
...Before the Dawn By Emtio Vandervelde President, Labor and Socialist International JT is not only in the United States of America tha< the Socialists affectionately preserve the triemory of the admiraftle mililint Socialist, Morris Hillquit...
...The passing of such comrades |s Hillquit, Debs and Berger, proved a terrible loss and handicap in these trying times to the Socialist movement of the United States...
...Prophetic his voice rang out over the vast gathering as he called out: "The American worker has begun to think...
...We do all we can in propaganda," was his reply...
...But we do not allow the slowness of our movement to weaken our conviction or to disturb our knowledge of the certainty of Socialism: wait and see...
...we have trusts that span the universe...
...The reports were getting monotonous as regards facts...
...After that we saw each other often...
...Impressions crowded upon me and overwhelmed me...
...He was a brilliant Socialist fighter and he exercised great influence, particularly in the country where he lived and worked...
...Men and women of various nationalities joined together in a New Land to try and lay the foundations of organization which would result In bringing about the new social order...
...Hillquit spoke in perfect German...
...But each of them had the charm of the expression of Hillquit's certainty tint Socialism in the United States wasgrowing under the surface and tilt, unexpectedly to many, it Wold prove to be a power in the OOnduct of the people's life...
...Morris Hillquit belonged to the left wing in the International movement...
Vol. 17 • October 1934 • No. 80
