The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1912-03-12

could explain his position. The par
~ arranged meeting limiting at
tendance to the members and asked
LaMonte to talk on Socialist Tao
tics"
Reginning his lecture, LaMonte said,
1t Is regrettable fact that we'll
meaning comrades make the serious
mistake of often misrepresent:ng the
teachings of Socialism, not only to
OUTSIDERS but to new comrades who
coming in sympathy with our ideals
nave Joined our movement. This is
usually justified upon the ground that
1T is good tactics. Now, since tao
less we are all clear and agreed as to
what the end or goal is, we shall but
waste our time discussing tactics.
What then is our goal? 1 am sure
that every comrade will agree with
me that 1T is the abolition of exploit
tatlon Of man by man But more i'm
portant than that is the establishment
Of what / have often described as
worldwide brotherhood. 1t is quite
true that brotherhood is the necessary
consequence of the abolition of exploit
tation, but it is only because the lat
ter brings in its train the infinite
emotional enrichment of the race i'm
piled by the former that it is worth
fighting for.
''Ruskin rightly said that the richest
nation was the nation containing the
greatest number of healthy and happy
human beings. So our goal is to peo-
pie the world with the maximum num-
Der of joy-filled and joy-radiating hui
man beings. That means to fill the
world to the saturation point with
love, for love is the great begetter of
Joy
Socialist tactics" he said, Sin their
oroadest outlines We're laid down once
for all by Marx and EngeIs in the
Communist Manifesto when they
wrote: Workingmen of the world.
unite; you have nothing to lose but
The power of the working class de-
ponds absolutely upon the urity of the
working class, call it by what name
you wlll-class consciousness, solidar-
ity Or fellowship or comradeship.'
"The great mission then, of the class
conscious Socialist is to inspire the
workers to love one another 1t would
seem that it might not be amiss to
begin by persuading the Socialists to
cease hating one another
Most of the scraps between Soc al-
lists are due to misunderstanding. The
most essential thing in tactics, then,
Is harmony within the Socialist party.
There are honest differences of opfn-
ION within the party as to the rela-
tive Importance Of political and eco
nomic organization. These differ
ences have generally resolved them
selves iGlto the question as to whether
the party can amy longer maintain its
present position of neutrality in re-
gard to labor unions. The growth Of
industrial unionism, which in principle
harmonizes exactly with the principles
Of Socialism together with the fact
that the craft union has been render
ed helpless by the development of in
dustry brings about much of this dis
sension
"As soon as the comrades realize
that politics and unionsm are so
closely related that neutrality on the
union field is impossible, the Socialist
party must declare to the workers that
unity is just as important on the in
dustrial field as it is on the political.
And that means endorsing the princi-
pie of industrial unionism. In my
opinion we are ready for that step
now
LaMonte then went on to describe
various splits that have occurred in
the party in the past and the caus-
es leading up to them. One referred
to occurred in Germany and several
minor splits which have occurred in
this country. The cause of these
splits was invariably according to the
speaker the determination on the
part of a dominant element to stamp
out all opposition to their tactics by
expelling from the party those who
did not agree with them. He severe
ly criticised such methods and de-