Montana news. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-191?, 1904-06-08

of the platform adopted by our ma
tional convention at Chicago is
meeting with considerable criticism
within the party. Notwithstanding
the recognized ability and party
eminence of most of the committee
on Platform, and Notwithstanding
the fact that the platform was adopt
ed unanimously by the convention
without discussion l believe that it
is open to Unsuitable criticism.
The platform starts with an ap-
peal to the American people. +"
Now all Socialists know that there
are two American peoples, the cap
italist people and the working peo-
pie; that the people" are divided
into classes working class and cap
italiSt class. Socialists and Social
ist platforms have not hitherto ap-
pealed to any such nebulous alb
straction as THE American people, I"
they have appealed to the interna-
tional working class. The intro
duction of the word American is
supernuous and out of harmony
with the internationalism of our
movement. In regard to the state
ment that Our American institu-
tions came into the world in the
name of freedom" it is exactly as
true that capitalism came into the
world in the name of freedom.
Aside from the length and redun-
dancy, which are its most obvious
faults, in its first part the platform
harps upon certain phrases which
have SO long been the shibboleths
of other and antagonistic schools of
thought that their use tends to vio-
late the recognized philosophical
bases of our movement. Private
property" and the liberty of the
individual" are phrases which have
long been the stock in trade of the
advocates of the present individual
istic competitive system. OF course
Socialism will secure personal prop
erty in objects of personal use to
all, while capitalism denies sufficient
personal property to the majority;
and, of course, Socialism will secure
the liberty of the individual, while
capitalism crushes it; but at the
same time Socialists know that
plentiful personal property for all
depends upon collective property
in essentials first, and that indivi-
dual liberty is bound up in social
welfare. Socialists therefore en-
phasize more especially the princi-
pie of common property and social
welfare, as it is through this that
the welfare of the individual must
be reached. Laying the stress up
on the individual and what attaches
to him is a departure from our
usual method of expression that is
to be regretted. We can well af-
ford to leave such phrases as pri-
vate property" and individual liber-
ty" to the capitalists and the anarch-
lists. OF these two phrases private
property" is by far the most objec-
tionable. 1t is the time-honored
phrase of the enemy and belongs
not in the mouths of Socialists.
And essential private property"
and private property in the means
of life" as used in our new plat
form, are even more ambiguous and
questionable. Such attempts to an
ticipate objections to Socialism by
capturing the phrases of the enemy
seem cheap and out of place in the
platform.
The very first paragraph should
state the aim of the Socialist Party
the common ownership OF the
means of production to be gained
through the capture of the powers
of government by the working class.
But this platform must be read more
than half way through before the
statement of this aim is found.
The style of the document is not
suitable either for political plat