A HERO FACE-TO-FACE
SENDER, TONY
A Hero Face-to-Face By Tony Sender "Former Socialist Member of the German Reichstag OF course I had long known about Morris Hillquit, for he was considered one of (he most remarkable...
...he had the clear word of the informed advocate, while the science of the law never diminished his poetic vision...
...I can never forget how quickly and easily we arrived at a harmonious understanding despite the great differences fn our backgrounds...
...In the course of years we became close friends, and so his great personality became fully revealed to me, And again and again I was astonished at the independence of hia great mind, combined with the goodness of his heart and the absence of any prejudice...
...No doubt our common conception of life and our aspiration for common ideals helped bring us closely together...
...that it depends on their organised power and revolutionary resolution to bring about the downfall of the unbearable capitalist system...
...Because of my early entry in the Socialist movement I had come to know personally such great leaders of world Socialism as Jules Gueisde and Jean Jaures...
...Morris wag always anxious to penetrate the minds of his fellow men, was careful not to condemn too quickly even when injustice was done him...
...But my first meeting with him was shortly after the end of the World War, at a session of the Executive of (he Vienna International, composed principally of the left-wing Socialist parties...
...Morris Hillquit will remain for us as an inspiration for a noble and useful life...
...In my life, rich in struggle am) too often full of disappointment, I have often found that those who appeared brilliant and striking from afar shrank in stature and became less admirable when examined critically at close range...
...A Cruel Loss By Camilla Huvsmons Mayor of Antwerp, and former Secretary of the Socialist International J KNEW Morris Hillquit, in connection with my duties as Secretary of the International over a period of more than twenty years...
...In the meantime the crisis became more severe and seemed to furnish argumenta for Hillquit's conception...
...But even more significant was the extraordinary charm of the personality of Morris Hillquit, a personality in which were united a great mind and a warm and noble heart...
...A Hero Face-to-Face By Tony Sender "Former Socialist Member of the German Reichstag OF course I had long known about Morris Hillquit, for he was considered one of (he most remarkable personalities of the Socialist International...
...Morris Hillquit formulated the first interpretation, whilst I defended :he conception that there exists no seonomic criterion to define which will be the last crisis of capitalism, but that it depends on the readiness of the working clasees how long they would be willing to be the victims of the crisis...
...We were not .always of the same opinion about tactical questions...
...His memory and his noble example will remain beside the memory of those other peat warriors for Socialism and freedom as a model and an inspiration forever...
...He possessed to the highest degree the art of clarifying implicated problems because his political reasoning was based upon a profound knowledge of economic problems...
...Therefore in the course of our interchange of opinions a synthesis was found of both conceptions...
...He waft snatched from us at a relatively early age, and we will cherish his memory as a man dt-character, and of a soldier devoted to the sternal cause of liberty...
...He was, at the sessions of the International Socialist Bureau, the most remarkable representative of Socialism of the United States, and he belonged to that generation of brilliant internationalists whose authority surpassed the limits of their own countries, in which they organized their propaganda...
...At our last meeting at the International Socialist Congress in Vienna in 1931 there seemed to appear between us a difference of opinion about the question: Is this world crisis the last crisis of capitalism or a capitalistic economic crisis, of which one cannot yet say if the system can survive it or not...
...And yet, very far was he from assuming infallibility...
...Hillquit had more than a gift of oratory...
...Our International, and particularly America, seem to have become poorer since we do not possess any more such a good man with ft great1 mind and noble "heart...
...His generous nature impelled him always to be full of kindness and consideration for the conduct of others...
...In Vienna this problem was not definitely answered...
...His disappearance from the scene was for us in Europe a cruel loss...
...At the next meeting of the International, Morris Hillquit will he sadly mussed by all of uss, for everybody had the highest esteem for him...
...American Socialism can be proud to have possessed a great fighter like Morris Hillquit...
...But with Morrig Hillquit it was precisely the opposite...
...But the exchange of political thoughts during the years of our friendship was always inspiring and valuable...
...He belonged to the left wing, not in an obstinate way just in order to be left, but his attitude was the expression of his deep, well-considered conception of life and Socialist science...
...But we continued the discussion by correspondence...
...Of course, it is more than a normal cyclical crisis of capitalism, but whether or not it will be the last one depends on the working classes, and their energy and determination...
Vol. 17 • October 1934 • No. 80
