The Irish standard., 1914-08-15
SOCIALISM AND TRADES UNIONS
NOT ONE CAUSE.

The Followers of the Red Flag are
the Enemies of Organized
Labor.
SOCIALISM in the United States +
to-day is in the anomalous position
of being a working class movement
minus the working class. Morris ,
Hillquit.
I'VE ought never to have derided
the unions. jeered at their every .
weakness or chuckle over their every
mistake. Robert Hunter.
The Socialist Party has become a ,
kissing and by-word with the act
ual wage workers of America -
William English Wallipg.
The three quotations from as
many prominent American Socialist
authors belle the stock-in- trade So
cialist statement that the Socialist
movement represents the working
class, and is the staunchest ally OF
the American Federation of Labor.
In order to give the reasons which
prompted the above statements we
will quote them at greater length:
Robert Hunter, in the New York
Call, April s, 1910:
I'VE ought never to have deri,icd
the unions, jecretl Mt their every
weakness or chuckle over their every
mistake. That was the first error,
and q terrible one. 1t was the error
the Germans made at first, although
they soon squared themselves. And
it is fact that in no other country
has this error persisted as 1t has in
America, and it is also fact that il
we continue to persist In this error
we shall create situation which
will put Socialism back many years"
Morris Hillquit, hailed by all So
cialists as the most brilliant Social
list of to-day, in the New York Call
of December IL. 1909, said:
SOCIALISM in the United States
to-day is in the anomalous position
of being working class movement,
minus the working class, and our
main efforts must be to remove that
anomaly. Our efforts to enlist the
support of the working class must
necessarily he directed I'M the first
place to the organization portion Of
it. And whatever may be said to the
contrary, our party has never made
sustained and rational efforts to win
the friendship of those organized
wOrkmcn. Much of our time and
energies in the past have been vast
ed to capture the trade union move
ment bodily; i'm IL few instances We
have been led to the fclly of ut
tempting to rcOrganize it, going tn
the extent of creating rival organi-
cations, and mt times have med(lled
and intcrferctl with their internal
affairs. We have often tried to- coax,
caiole, and browbeat the trade
unions into Socialism, but we have
made hut little sympathetic effort tn
educate their members In the So
cinlist philosophy"
William English Wallins. in tho
New York Call, December II. 1908,
says:
1.-The Socialist party has become a
hissfse and by-wOrl with the actual
wase-nvmrkers of America. II has
become a party of two extremes. On
the one side are bunch Of intel.
lects like myself and Spargo and
Hunter and Hiflquit; ON the other If
bunch of "never-wOrks,' dcnaa-
gOg,les, and would-be intelleciS, n
veritable lufrpenproletariat. Th4'
actual wage-wOrkcas, the men who
are really lighting the class struggle,
arc outside. Above all else we must
have the union men. No one has
denounced the defects of the Amcri-
can Federation of Labor more than
I, but ! am forced to recognize that
it comes much nearer representing
the working class than the Socialist
party, and unless We arc able to so
shape our policies and our organi-
cations as to meet the demands ani
incarnate the position Of the work
ers we will have failed of our Mis-
siOn."
|
~nNruN<, rArIJnT TT EVENTS