Montana news. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-191?, 1908-12-17

Il
! franchised by capitalist election laws.
/ And million other men who believe
in Socialism. but have not yet reached
| the point where they will vote it's tick
ct. Two millions of men i'm the United
| States who accept the Sosialist phil
osophy. And the women?
Half million Socialist votes-only:
| What disappointment. We Social
I lists rightly face the future. But a
glance at the near past will do us no
harm. Four years ago more than
100000 votes. How about eight years
1go? A little more than 1OO, 900.
And twelve years ago? What an inn
mense Socialist vote was cast in the
United States twelve years ago. That
was 1896. A look at the almanac
| gives the Socialist vote Of the whole
United States at the election of 1896
as $4,000. Look back few years
| before 1896 and you will need a detec-
| tive TO find and "a spy glass to see the
Socialist vote Of the United States.
In 1896 "a 900 votes and in 1908
only 100000 votes, or more than four
teen times as many. Too bad. Null
| tiplying the vote by fourteen in twelve
years is slow work, isn't it, comrade?
If you don't think so. ask the boss
what he thinks. He thinks so, too
if he's a fool. Any many bosses are
fools, I am pleased 10 state. Fools
In everything but the art of getting
money And fools for that.
Fourteen as many Socialist votes in
the United States now there were
twelve years ago. What a long. long
time is twelve years-to those who
have nothing to hope for, to those who
are not Socialists. / have been in the
Socialist movement fifteen years.
What an old, old Socialist am /,
| Waited till / was thirty three years
old before found the Socialist move
mentor il found me. Recently /
got three little cards from a young
married couplo-both members Of the
Socialist party. IL was twins-both
boys, one named Victor and the other
Eugene. Those boys won't have to
wait till they are thirty-three years old
before, for the first time, they hear of
Socialism in the United States.
Really, multiplying the Socialist
vote by fourteen in twelve years looks
| pretty good to me. But can We keep il
up? You bet we can. 1t is better
than a sure thing.
| Se lne ullllCultleS unutT WnlCn our
past progress has been made. Social
lists the country over driven from pill
lar to post-but Socialism grew. Men
| fired out of their jobs for being So
cialists-but Socialism grew Men
socially ostracized for being Socialists
but Socialism grew. Men arrested
for talking Socialism-but Socialism
grew. Everything a fool capitalist
mind could devise opposed to Social
ism-but Socialism grew. And ii will
continue To grow. II the masters
can't stop capitalism, they can't stop
| Socialism.
We really cannot appreciate the
services rendered the Socialist move
ment by its enemies. The persecution
OF Socialists has been bitter and pain
| full to them. But il has been a splen-
did thing for the cause. Every time
the boss fired a man from one place
for being a Socialist he simply sent
Socialist propagandist to another place
where he was needed more. As
said before save for his money wis
dom, the boss is a fool
Time was when blacklisted So
cialist looking for a job would go a
long journey before he met man
who called him "comrade,' Now, il
matters not where you go, TO crowded
city, rolling prairie, mill. mine or sea,
you are sure to meet "comrade." I"
This is because that man put on the
road by boss who fired him for be-
ing a Socialist scattered the seed Of
Socialism along every highway he
travelled. And when he finally got
located" i'm some place he immediate
| ly started a local" Perhaps his new
boss also fired him. Very we'll Good.
More seed sown along other highways.
Also another local" Now there are
locals by the thousands. Think of IL.
THOUSANDS OF Socialists in the
United States. And Socialists just
everywhere. All around and all
about. In the cities, i'm the country.
i'm the mines, i'm the woods, in the
ships at sea, i'm the churches; even in
the pulpits of some churches, in the
mountains, in every inhabited part of
the United States, and in every terri
tor, there are Socialists. Two mill
lions of them-fivc hundred thou
sand OF them voters-fairly evenly
distributed throughout the country
in such a way as to cover the most
territory and do the most good. and
no effort TO be wasted. Thanks to
the bosses who made these early So
cialists scatter to get living. As !
believe l remarked before. the boss
is fool-when he fights Socialism.
The Socialist vote multiplied by
fourteen i'm the last twelve years. Can
do II again in the next twelve years.
We can do much more than that. We
can't help doing more than that IL we
try. And won't we try? Now we
have something to work with. and n
base TO work from. And we are going
To work. Once more. Think of IL.
comrade. Thousands Of locals. did
not say thousands OF people in the
United States. | did not say thou
sands of Socialists in the United States.
But THOUSANDS of Socialist party
organization in the United States.
| THOUSANDS. over TWO THOU
SAND THREE HUNDRED of them.
the national secretary reports. Will
the Socialist movement grow2 How
can IL help growing? We couldn't