THE MENACE OF HYLANISM
FEIGENBAUM, WM. M.
THE MENACE OF HYLANISM Whfere the Strength and Danger of Hylanism Lies By WM. M. FEIGENBAUM J" tMnrn wr» coasts tate the gr a vest a*»ptct to the poo-ale of jwa? Yttrk. Mot the fact that he is...
...Today, thsnks to Hylan stupidity and inefficiency, we are further eway from municipal ownership than ever before...
...Every speech made, every leaflet distributed, • every orel argument, every earnest debate hes had its fruit in some form or another...
...Socialists have been denounced as impractical, fanatical, intolerant, even inefficient (as if anything could be considered inefficient when considered beside the lest that old parties have done...
...Walker protests that ho is for the 6-cent fare, but the Wall Street tipsters who advised investment in B. M. T. and I. R. T. bonds on the strength of his nomination are pretty good judges of men...
...We have no sympathy with that boyish egotism hoarse with cheering for one side, for one State, for one town...
...The emancipation of the city of New York is the job of the people of New York, MINDING THEIR OWtf BUSINESS, not Hjrlan'l privet's .ambitions...
...with more brains then a phonograph record on which the press and politicians write empty slogans, the primary fight and election Campaign will be genuinely educational...
...He boasts of the Coney Islsnd Bosrd-wslk, ignoring the fact that it is in effect a huge graft for one publie official who cashed in on this city improvement...
...Is it fear of hie "radicalism...
...Hylan still smarts at the feet that Big Business raised a large cempeign fund for Meyor Mitchell in 1917 (to defeat Morris Hillquit, by the wsy, not Hylsn...
...What do people know ebout "capitalist interests...
...for when others come and say, Follow, they will point to the heartbreaking esse of Hylen en'd say that politics is a fraud and a betrayal...
...Municipal corruption and mi...
...I what is this...
...Aad th* fact that Hyl.n...
...Hylsn shouts against the interests, but in eight yesrs has done nothing effective to give us more subways or better houses...
...Ws have been needlessly tired—so tired that some of us have retired...
...the right patriotism consists in the delight which springe from contributing our peculiar legitimate advantages to the benefit of humanity.— Emerson...
...Hs acts smsll—snd cheep, Hylan's strength lies in the fact that masses of people think thet beeeuse the interests oppose him be must be ell right...
...Beeeuse, using 'the phrases that Socialist propaganda has-m*de popular, playing upon the feeling thet we have crested, appealing to the modicum of Socialism we have sroused, he hss led people to think thst he slone is the spokesmen for the people as against their oppressors...
...Generation after gen-' oration we heve come to the people §our message...
...Bet th* saamias of our .n.mi.t arc not aoeeeearUy our friend...
...Let us begin by getting down to the fffcts...
...Mot the fact that he is a man of p«anle* mI no perform-inces—Wt U a common af»ult af old party p*Ut>eisas...
...Msmbsrsblp 44,000...
...All that even if the politician happens to be eernest snd sincere end honest and able...
...Our greatest enemy is not external...
...That brings me to the last set of facts which has to do with the Socielist Party and the radieal movement generally...
...it matters profoundly that we ¦ should create a etrong party of the workers with hand and brain and make the party a great educational force...
...Why, what they leerned from theSocielists.of course 1 Why is it thst Hylen, the least able public official in a generetion, the worst equipped, the leest intelligent, the most ridiculous spectacle in public office since Bill Devery, Is not only Meyor, but actually a contender for whet no other Mayor in our history ever achieved...
...The good yeere will come sooner if we, like all men worth while, keep on our jobs during the hard years...
...Some-, a* in 1886 when we united With the Labor movement in the Henry George campaign, we well-nigh swept the city...
...nd Thursdays, from (i:30 to 8:30 p. m., labor Lyceum, 949-957 Wllloufthby Ave...
...Now he baa driven a great musician from the city's service because he cennot use him for Hylan's cheep snd vulgsr self-advertisement He talks big...
...encouragement...
...And thst's why he's dengerous...
...There is a denuncietion of the "$2,000,000 fund raised by the big* bankers and capitalist interests" in 1917 to reelect John Purroy Mitchell and throughout the paper, end throughout all of Red Mike's speeches end statements, there are constant denunciations of privately controlled transportation lines, bankers, capitalist newspepers...
...That he's a man of inferior mentality...
...Hylan ignores the fact that for years he hes allowed enormously wealthy men to patronize him and by huge money gifts keep him in the public eye: Mr...
...For fifty years and more Socialists have carried on propsganda in New York...
...Tammany has never yet been beet-en in a primary fight, and that Judge Olveny was so anxious to trap the Mayor into such a fight does not indicate any fear in Fourteenth Street it will be beaten...
...The Republicans almost had to advertise for a mam and an issue...
...m. Sst„ 9 s. m-» It^pnsed on Sunffys sad Holldsys Brooklyn Office open only Monday...
...Tammany is leary of an alliance with Mr...
...Why, the fifty .years of in-cessant Socialist education that has finally driven home the fundaments...
...But why is Hylan dangerous...
...Consider the bootlicking statement he issued upon his return from his free vacation ss Hearst's pensioner in Calif onus...
...Within the last few weeks I heve been greatly encouraged by the evidences of new Vigor and en- ' thusiasm in our own ranks- Our success with nominating petitions and with raising preliminary Installment of our budget ought to cheer us all...
...THE NEW YORK CAMPAIGN By NORMAN THOMAS Socialist Candidate for Mayor of New York City THANKS to the courtesy of the editors of The New Leader and of the Forward, I am to have the privilege of space in their columns weekly to talk over with our comrades and friends informally the issues * of the...
...But you hardly expect a Socialist to be a lisr, a fraud, a corruptibnist end a crook...
...OBee Hours, 9 a. m.-tHe...
...It doesn't begin to metter much which machine poll, tician will win...
...place to go is not to him but to Socielism, to the substance, not the words...
...When we turn to the situetion in the Labor union to which we must look for buildina>up the Labor party we all desire, there is less ground for...
...POINTED PARAGRAPHS We hesitate to employ a word so much abused as patriotism, whose true sense is almost the reverse of the popular eense...
...Certain things ere to be teken for grented...
...The mein erticle leeds off Hi a denunciation of the "capitalist interests" that—Hylan says—era endeavoring to defeat him for reelection to the third term that he has set his heart on...
...And by appealing to the passionate eageraeco of the people for a loader hi their fight ho will ultimately betray them — end destroy their hopes and brisk their spirit, and make them cynicel of all future movements looking toward human betterment That is, it will tend to do that...
...When Democratic machine politicians fall out, honest men may come to their own...
...administration that is aaith.r ilisheeest nor in.mci.nl w. kail it es en event of historic Important...
...He is their tool...
...campaign...
...It is our job to help along the education...
...They know that it's all a bluff and not worth worrying about Is it the feet thst he's a joke...
...Hearst with his trip to-1m California dukedom, and many others, have formed a billion dollar bodyguard around Hylan and they can get anything they want from him...
...We heve the progrem If we get busy...
...Sometimes, as in ,l*4jf, we seemed to be on the crest of a wave that would carry up into power permanently and that ettt time had come at last...
...Isn't this a good year to show the rank-and-file Labor men that there is a better choice end a more constructive progrem than Hobson's choice of* Tammany Hall or Moscow...
...Schools under his administration are more than ever the football of partisan and religious politics...
...Many years ago Karl Marx wrote that "the emancipation of the working class must be accomplished by the workers alone," and that is as 'true today as it was then...
...Temmany Hell is sn orgsnization embodying "the cohesive power of public plunder," es a philosopher once put it...
...That could hardly be better...
...First, the general political situation...
...The messes must leed, not follow like sheep...
...To »ny citizen...
...Hylan talks much sbout a five-cent fere and against private exploitation of transportation lines...
...Socialist point thet human welfare comes first, and transcends all private interests—even the interests •of powerfully entrenched corporations...
...But, more than that we need a let of Jimmy Higginses on the job in every district Your candidates will do their shore, but your part of the job, which may be harder, is certainly more Important W01 yon do it 7_ ¦ |pr7ioHsxDen'a Furniture Fire I * ¦ Insurance Society ¦ ' INCORPORATED MhsTsrli and Vicinity snd 49 Brsnchss 'tttbe United Ststei...
...Why does ell this go over big...
...r ajtjrtsse* ef Branch Sscreterlss, MPf to oar main office...
...But why this anxiety to get rid of the Msyor...
...Tammany wants to get rid of Hylan just to get rid of Hearst—and that's why they've framed him so neatly...
...but since it is impossible for a politicel party on that basis to go before the people in its true colors, it is natural for it to pretend to be a "friend of the people," to pretend to support liberal legislation in order to win the power f, Hhout which it cannot get its elews upon the plunder that is the Sole reeson for its existence...
...Consider the impudent naming of city ferryboats after private citizens who have been Hylan's personal friends and have come across with money for his politicel or personal fortunes or his vacations...
...M. FEIGENBAUM J" tMnrn wr» coasts tate the gr a vest a*»ptct to the poo-ale of jwa...
...admini.tr.tion i. both stupidly in.mciont , aad utt.rly jlhfft mpl is , nothing- to be «»tonPHat...
...The masses that follow Hylsn point to the fact that those ayhom the Socialist* heve taught them to regerd as their enemies eye fif Wing Hylsn, Those interests consider him dangerous, whereas he is really only ridiculous — and a little pathetic ! Hylan denounces the cepitalist interests...
...Eight yeers ago we were heeded strsight for public ownership of ell transportation lines, thsnks to incessent Socielist agitation...
...You cannot get a soul today to, Stand up publicly and defend the right of the traction companies to charge any fare they wsnt to charge...
...Not to one who uses it es a good thing but to those who elone mean it sincerely...
...No man is big enough or greet enough or fine enough to do for the people whet they must do ,for themselves...
...Other mayors have given the city administrations that it is hesrtily ashamed of: Vaa Wyes, for example, and Fernando Weed, father of that super-"patri-ot," Henry A Wise Wood, and many etiete...
...ConmdentkBt offensive graft of the P. D. plates on the automobiles of the chef of the Waldorf, th* basses of big department stores and of eny man with a donation to Hylan's political fortunes!] If the 'slu.h fund" was offensive...
...It is useful to learn lessons of the past but we have lived too much in the past...
...The fight in the Democratic party is a fight for power...
...Why, his retailing of phrases thst Socielist propsgsnda hss mode populsr end understandable...
...Is it fear of his opposition to the interests...
...In his first term he stopped music ia the parks because he thought the concerts were an expense...
...And Tammany is led these days by one Alfred Emmanuel Smith, and what Al Smith thinks— snd privately says—of Hearst would make interesting reeding...
...One set of unions is pretty well tied up to Tammany Hall and our Own unions have suffered from the Communist fight...
...they are still hunting for en issue they dere to avow, but found a man who can keep the boys supplied with fountain pens and other sinews of war...
...hat no one has yet dared to stigmatize Socialists and Socialism as in-tellectuelly dishonest...
...Hot that |t ha* given Maw York City an administration that will not be remembered with joy...
...Personalities end profits are at stake, not principles...
...let tm step that tendency at once...
...In no other way can you explein the 'act that in this capital city of the world's capitalism a fundamen-Jthl capitalist principle is denied •Wrywhore, and as a matter of course...
...Sometimes, a- in recent years, it has seemed to some of the pessimistic that our work has been a total loss...
...Tamme»y Hsll is afraid of Red Mike and anxious to get rid of him...
...Hf has taken B. R. T. buses off the streets of the city and has put busses of a person-el friend of his in thsir place...
...The remedy is with' ourselves...
...Tammany is interested in getting office and consequently getting the loot...
...O'Brien, with his gifts for the Silver Jubilee...
...jtjooesemeet era soak commonplace* in our city that whoa we |ove aa...
...Let us then be up end ebout en'd carry our message to the people of the city, thet the very fact that Hylan prattles Socialist words is the greatest tribute in the world to the Socialists and the success of their propaganda...
...QTbe other day a sheet called 'The People's Advocate, or something like that, was mailed out to me.voters, Hylan cempeign propa-Igade...
...it is with whet the French in the war called "defeatism" in our own spirits...
...Thst's why he's strong...
...The G. 0. P. stands for big business and locally it is natural that 6am Keonig's and Jake Livingston's organization does what financial interests wsnt them to...
...He proclaims himself ons of the people, He is the worst snob in the city, and any wealthy man can make him an abject, fawning lyncophant, could get a P. D. shield and a ferryboat nsmed after him only by a little pet-ronizing attention...
...Not et all...
...But when a politician like Hylen is neither able ndr sincere nor esrn est nor even honest, if he belies every word by his actions, if he has mode e fool of himself end his followers, then he hei weekened the cause of emencipation...
...v With want, destroyed, with greed changed to noble passions, with the fraternity that is born of equality taking the place of the jealousy and fear that array matt against each other, With mental power loosed by conditions that give to the humMtft comfort and leisure, and who shall measure the height to wtteh ear civilisation may soar?—Henry I cannot see how a man can love...
...Why is it that everyone insists thst the State or city haa a right to limit the profits of capitalist corporations...
...Re talks of bringing music to the people...
...The fight against capitalism is the job of the maisss, not -of e self-seeking politicien...
...Hearst of the Enchanted Hill of California...
...These msy be herder years for us then some in the past and some that will come In the future...
...Some-it appeared as if our energies worse than wanted...
...Berolsheim-er, with h'r *15,000 "peoples'" dinner to II i; Mr...
...VUPfc' Nsw York snd vicinity at Mm Vete t4tk St Peons Lenox 8559...
...Ma talks much of giving the city aa honest aad efficient government He hae debauched the civil service: he hat corrupted the department* with the fear of discherge ia ease city efkiaW d* Met aetfvely work for him, his actions have destroyed the value of the school system and have made of it a politicel machine, and Do has substituted political service to him and his associates for efficiency in sction...
...but if Hylen, in order to win a third undeserved term, must use thst sort of srgument, the...
...To do it we need a proper campaign fund...
...Sometimes it sd as if we were westing our h upon the desert air...
...because Tammany isn't interested in efficiency...
...Yet the right of a company to charge whatever it can get is the foundation stone of capitalism...
...pmtilehed 1878...
...But really, rrothing that we have done has been wasted...
Vol. 2 • August 1925 • No. 33
