POST-IMPRESSIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL
Cahan, Abraham
POST-IMPRESSIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL The Practical Tasks of Ruling Europe's Leading Nations Being Met By SocialistsBy ABRAHAM CAHAN (Cable to The New Leader) By ABRAHAM CAHAN PARIS, September...
...Whatever apparent pro-Russian aentiment there it among the Britith unions is purely political...
...The several hundred delegates . passed a week together at the Coni gress in committee rooms, hotels, restaurants and cafes...
...MaeDonald himaelf, although a delegate, ^lid not attend because he said that the south of France in midsummer wet too hot a climate for him to endure...
...Heart to heart .talks were frequent...
...No we will not help Poincare come back to pewer...
...It was settled by appointing a commission to sit and arrsnge fer a joint conference of the Socialist Parties of any countries in which a problem of that kind arises...
...M. fEIGENBAUM THE Socialist and Labor International, whose second congress has just closed at Marseilles, is different from the old Second International that it supplanted, said Mprris Hillquit, International Secretary of the Socialist Party and delegate from the United States upon his return from Europe Tuesday...
...163 Dailies In Germany In Germany, for instance, in spite of great unemployment and in apite of vast sums spent by Moscow in aa attempt to disrupt the Party, the German Socialist Party it in a most wonderful state of power and prosperity...
...The German a nd French Comrade* Every liberal minded person greets these new feelings with joy and the delegate* at the Congress were governed by a desire to promote thit tendency...
...still as yet out of our reach...
...The Internationale was sung with hearts overflowing with ecstacy...
...Now her colonies are developing their industries while oa the other head the United States aad Germany nave become tremendout rivals snd other countries are following in their footsteps The Solution ef Foreign Markets , Altogether there are net enough markets to go around and the que* tidn arises in many minds whether there ever will be...
...The movement, both the Socialist and the industrial end, are working in'perfect harmony and solidarity," he said...
...A bird in the hand is better that) two ia the bush or, to nee Comrade Tursti'a simile, aa egg at once ii better than a whole chicken in the remote future...
...bat when danger comes we will aet as Socialists do everywhere...
...Arthur Henderson, who will be in America shortly, and who will take part in the Socialist campaign in New York, is looming up more and more as an aggressive and forceful Socialist leader," says Hillquit...
...There ia the matter of reparations and fulfillment of the Versailles Tretty...
...They are all amalgamated by a remarkable radio service distributing the new* to all...
...Without 'the votes of the l6B Socialist Deputies, Painleve's Ctbinet is doomed...
...Some hot-heads, inexperienced and incapable of appreciating existing conditions may lose patience and are misled by high-wounding though, meaningless phrases of Communists but the Socialist ranks have grown.stupendously during the last few years...
...Before talking to me about the Congress he asked what Comrade Abraham Cahan had cabled to thit country...
...Hillquit, who alao attended the emergency congress of the French Socialist Party just before, the In...
...The feeling is rapidly spreading in France and Germany...
...We will not throw away the egg of which Europe is in great need...
...In Franc* it is the reactionary, the imperialistic, the chauvinistic gang that demands payment in full, and the Socialist* naturally demand revision of the Treaty and of the reparations...
...The havoc played by the war snd economic catastrophes resulting from it are bad enough, but this is not all...
...A conference of representatives of Socialist newspapers of many countries during the Marseilles Congress brought out that Germany had today 163 Socialist dallies, nearly all in flourishing condition...
...Old friendships were deepened...
...Several of them have bought large buildings and up-todate plants...
...I gave him .a full digest of Comrade Cahan's cables, emphasizing the fact that whereas thirty and even fifteen years ago the International, was a prophecy of the future, in which great Socialist orators eloquently hoped for the ending of the war and for the progress of the Labor movement, today the Socialist leaders of .two Countries speak for the Governments of those countries, while in the main countries of the world Socialism either controls the Government, hat recently been in such control, or exercises such indirect control that Socialist statesmanship is a matter of the moat vital moment Socialism In Process of Fulfillment "Yes...
...While the glorious Socialist sentiment voiced in the course of the speeches and the tone of dignity and assurance snd the fact that this Congress represented sbout 28,000,000 votes, mirrored the greatness of our cause and the nearness of its final triumph...
...Such action haa already been taken in the matter of the Ruhr with very excellent results, and that method seems to be the way to settle the problem as a whole...
...The situation was never foreseen by Socialist thiaktrs a quarter of a century ago...
...There ia no sentiment at all for Communism...
...This and other indications of the remarkable growth of the movement in Germany and a similar state although in other forms ia reported from other countries...
...This it the great question in the mind of every workman in Europe snd t 0 bring that about mueh tact mutt be used and they know it...
...ternational Congress, was full of en-thusiasm for the great progress of the Socialist movement in Europe and ita importance in the political life of the world...
...In Englsnd there I* tome diasstiafsetion with the leadership of the Labor party, but there ia no Communism...
...The answer was at follows: "We ^appreciate it, of course, and we certainly are not going to aet as the Communists did in Germany when they made it possible fer Hindenburg to be elected President...
...In the words of Otto Bauer, the great Socialist leader of Austria,, our International is now the International of Daily Life," Hillquit said...
...This reunion of Socialist souls was a fascinating companion to tht hard and earnest work of this historical week...
...They are willing to bear great sacrifices in the interests of peace and economic improvement...
...Let the reader Mar this point in mind and let him also remember the frightful struggle against unemployment aad he will StpttaW* the work of the Marseilles Congress, its character aad spirit, Europe is in a bad way and the future holds out mighty few promises...
...POST-IMPRESSIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL The Practical Tasks of Ruling Europe's Leading Nations Being Met By SocialistsBy ABRAHAM CAHAN (Cable to The New Leader) By ABRAHAM CAHAN PARIS, September 7. ,1 WISH to sum up my lm-* pressions of the International Socialist Congress held in conjunction with what I have seen of the movement in England, German}-, France and Belgium...
...For a period now Socialism will be in and out of power until at last our Comrades assume power for gdbd, and then our time will come...
...I showed Hillquit a copy of Friedrich Adler's booklet replying to the report of the British Trade Union delegation to Russia, in which Adler charges that the British Labor movement has been trapped- by the Zinoviev 'HJnited Front" tactics into support of a Communist trade union policy...
...said Hillquit, "Cahan is a good reporter and he got the spirit of the Congress, a spirit that did not always appear on the surface...
...The industrial countries are unable to get the markets without whieh production is impossible and unemploym e n t and starvation inevitable...
...Suffering it keen, yet the great masaes bear it with martyrlike calm and cheerfully support their leaders' efforts to achieve the best that can be obtained under adverse and trying circumstances...
...Now the mutual relations between Germany aad France determine the political situation all over Europe...
...We are not satisfied with Painleve's Cabinet, with Briand and Caillaux, but, after all, Painleve it a noble and liberal minded citizen and when it comes to the scratch, we will do the sensible thing.' At our recent Congrets in Paris ws felt it Our duty to declare our dissatisfaction with the Painleve Cabinet...
...It had colonies with growing markets aad there was a large demsnd for bar goods in civilised lands...
...The bitterness, the combative tpirit and thirst for revenge which was fanned by tha reactionary Poincare has given wsy to s different mental attitude under the Herriot and Painleve administrations under pressure of economic adversity...
...I spent time with men of various types, from workmen to college professors and scientists active in the movement...
...They deal with real condititnt and needs and will net throw away a good egg simply because thty cannot get a whole chicken...
...Both peoples are anxious for everlasting peace and for unity of action in economic fields...
...The Humblest Laborer Understand* Socialism • The humbltat laborer understands the gist of Socialism snd it loyal to It both ss s religion and as a practical guide and protector in hit daily interests...
...That is what our movement it now1 —no longer a fervent hope but in actual process of fulfillment "European life and politics are now in a state of unstable equilibrium...
...SOCIALISM IN FULFILLMENT" Morris Hillquit on the Socialist International By WM...
...To oppose, payment in full and fulfillment of the Treaty obligations would align the great Socialist Party with the reactionaries, the monarchists, the Imperialists...
...The comedy in the United States, of the splitting and suh splitting of the tiny fragment of s "party," all under the orders of the Zinoviev dictatorship, is merely* the cottical reflex of what is going on in every European country...
...That matter, the , diverse programs upon such subjecte of the Socialist Parties in the different countries, maket pne of the greatest problems fer Socialist statesmanship...
...In Germany the Socialists demand payment and fulfillment...
...Tht delegatea at Marseilles were alive to all thia and tht consciousn e s s of it manifested itself in two ways...
...This feeling is vary strong throughout Franco aad Germany...
...Many years passed before she had any formidable competitors...
...The Question of Supporting Painleve Socialists everywhere fight hard to get the largest possible results...
...No Communism In England "In France the Socialists have definitely cast off from the Painleve Government Thty will no longer support it, and thtir declaration of independence it one of the important events ,in present-day French politics...
...So far from harming our movement, Bolshevist propaganda and mischieving intriguing of Zinovieff have fallen absolutely flat, the Socialist movement gaining a stronger grip on the masses than ever...
...On the one hand there was an ait of great confidence in the cause, in tht tremendous strength already achieved, in its rapid growth tnd in the certainty of its complete victory over tepha^iasa, Oa the other hand, there was a » tore judgment, cool and collected, and • faacfaating raaaifeetaUoa el wisdom aad tact guided by a cosv seiottsnass of present tragedies and dangers and of the immediate needs of the working classes and of the necessity to achieve the beet result under the circumstances...
...At Marseilles I talked with a large number of delegates of various countries...
...The tamt, though in quite another way, is true of the English delegate* and of the delegate* of ail the other countries lor, aa I have said, the relationship between Germany and France determine the fat* of all Europe...
...This and the many hours spent in committee rooms and at the Congress following the discussions, conflicts, arguments and compromises added to what I saw and heard before, gives me s vivid picture of the present state of our movement all over Europe...
...We will do what - is right, *n< th» interests of the messes 1eve*5»-where...
...German and Frenchmen alike' have avoided anything that might irnjUte the other country snd thus d i t f f b the friendly mood growing between them...
...Ctpitalitm was born and grew up in England during a period when England was tht only g r t t t industrial country ia t i t world...
...Thtir faith in thtir leaders is profound for they know they ctn trust thtir wiadom and devotion...
...I left Marseilles full of enthusiasm snd joyful appreciation, deeply impressed with the stupendous growth of the Socialist Parties in number, in power snd in spiritual fervor among the masses everywhere...
...These communions added to the effect of the surrounding atmosphere, produced s truly wonderful spirit...
...I asked them, "What are yeu going to/do when the Chamber of Deputies opens...
...In no country is Socialism actually in majority control, but in every country Socialism must be reckoned with...
...It furnithtd ont of the knottiest questions for the Congress...
...Of course, we should rather have the whole chicken, but'it it...
...There it terrific unemployment in Europe and the near future it wrapped in gloom...
...Some of the Comrades feel, that Comrade MaeDonald, after hia strenuous year aa Premier of Great Britain, haa been too tired to lead the party aggreaaively during the past year...
...Many new ones sprang up...
...For example, what is good Socialist policy in one country may be bad Socialist policy in another...
...I had a talk with several of the French delegates about the attitude of their party toward the Patnleve Government...
...Hillquit aaid that the booklet is well known in Europe and that Adler was misinformed if he thinks that there is danger of any Communist inroads in the Britith Labor movtment...
...But mean-, while Socialist politics must be so planned that our influence and power will be felt in the bett way...
...As the reader knewi, the> Party had their congress a couple of days before the International Congress at Marseilles decided against the Painleve Governmefft...
...On the Continent, he aaid, Commynism . ia a rapidly diaintegrating force...
...I feel I have gained* more insight into the present and future of Socialism...
...This is the keynote to the resolutions adopted by the Marseilles Congress...
...Poiycare will then be Premier again .which means a new great reactionary regime, the dangling oft the sword, and the danger of new hostilities and war and darkness...
...But En rope must first have peace and security...
...But from everything I heard from every aource the Labor movement, politically and industrially, ia pretty well united...
...Socialism is the only solution and the only salvation...
Vol. 2 • September 1925 • No. 37
