Valdez daily prospector., 1912-10-07
THE SOCIALIST ATTITUDE.

I party as a political organization should not lose sight If the fac that the So"iaIist party. like other i'olitical organizations, is being rapidly dlriG't into ra.iical. an, conservatives the alignment that must eventually mark ll," .livi"- i'n of the lIs; pnlitica, parties ir lis cOunlr,
 In their convention a' Im,:r;.u- apnlis it ms! he the Socialist found ihcms s.ivrS divided into conSrraIiv" and radicl'. On the one hand MGS the mai,:Iily favor 2 prarrfr'i mrth"dS Of prnpn- Ednha only. ;I.h "n the o'h"; Ham,l IvaS q militrnI and aggr"-Siv" ml- :.nrity faN.'ril:g the u:'r nr T.. '". INi,I: il appeared nccdful c." r:n- G".li.
 This difference of npiniuE Wa, revealed in the following an.cnI- mcnt to the parly's constitution adopted in the convention by a N'tt VI Jl lO Oo.
 Any member of the party who opposes political action or advo- calcs sabotage or other methods of violence as weapon of the working class to aid in it's eman- cipation shall be expelled from the membership of the party. Po- litical action shall be construed to mean participation in elections for public office and practical leg islative and administrative work along the lines of the Socialist party platform,"
 The adoption of this amend mcnt did not complete it's adop- lion by the party. IL was sent back to the party for action. A favorable referendum vote of the entire membership of inc party throughout inc United States is necessary, and il is at this refer endum that the intra-party bit ternrSS which 0OZcS out through Socialist organs and leaders, and is but barely indicated to outsid- CTS by the proposed amendment, may show lineup of irrccOncil- able factinnS. and a possible breaking up of the present Social isl party into two sections. To understand the situation a word of explanation is needed. The simOn-purc, logical Socialist thcOrist foresecs, as a result of evolutionary forces at work in economies as elsewhere. the ps- tablishmcnt, finally, of labor na- lion, not reform of existing pO- jliiical systems merely.
 But in the meantime most SO- cialists advocate advances in the direction of present reforms, while stating that they arc fla lVOring these advances merely as opportunities. It is all patch work. The opporlunisi factions arc now unpcrmosi in all the strong Socialist party nrganiza- lions, and consequently Socialist platforms declare for particular and immediate reforms; but this i is in inc face of constant effort g by pr0fcSscd Socialists to bring about inc abandonment of oppor- tunist policies as hostile to So- cialism.
 The Chicago Public, which has made a study of the Socialist trend of thought, finds in the SO- cialist party three general fac lions representing as many poli- cics. These are:
 First, the political Socialists those favoring political actior only. These dominate the party
 Second, those favoring "direc action" as well as political ac. ton. While direct action doe. not necessarily mean violent ac- lion, 1t does contemplate violenc, when necessary io it's ends. Tn, Industrial Workers of tho World
 are of this body.
 Third, is the Chicago" bod,
 of Industrial Workers. Thi body regards political action a.
 futile. It favors direct action ex
 clusively.
 | The violent method, whether called "direct action" "sabotape