The Irish standard., 1916-02-19
THE SOCIALISTS AND SUCCESS.
Champions Of Cooperative Common
wealth Fail to Cooperate.
What Schenectady Has Shown.

What Schenectady Has Shown.
Success, complete success, is not
always the best that can be desired
for mortal things. Theories and men
alike often miserably go to pieces
when momentary grant of power
and favor comes their way. The most
beautiful dreams, built up in time
of unresponsibility, fail to materialize,
when the opportunity for action
comes. With the Socialists this grim
fact has quite frequently been demon
strated. There is no dream of more
persistency and vigor in the whole So.
cialist idyll than the vision and
thought of the brotherhood of man,
a dream based on true idea, it must
be said, but misunderstood and dis
torted by the school Of Marx. Com
rade" each one calls the other in their
friendly and official gatherings and
meetings, and fraternal love and fell
lowship beam from every face-until
success comes along and blasts it all.
Often, of course, the comrades do
not even wait for success to injure
this fine fiction, but straightway at
the first misunderstanding they set to
pelting each other with bitterest at
tacks. In his book on Drift and Mas
terry" our young radical writer, Walter
Lippmann, who knows them well, has
pointed out this fact. But with sue
cess there is almost sure to come divi
sion. And Schenectady, New York, is
a classical example of that phenome-
non.
When a few years ago, George R.
Lunn, ex-preacher, was chosen as the
mayor of that place on the ticket of
the Socialists, trouble was precipitat-
cd over the appointment of certain Of
ficials by the mayor who were not
members of the party and who were
not endorsed by the Socialist local for
the place. The fight which was thus
begun went merrily on long after
1.unn's defeat for reelection. Nor was
it halted until a compromise declara-
tion was agreed upon in regard to
the responsibility of the elected official
to his party local. Nor was it halted
then. For scarcely has our honor
able Mayor Lunn, running for third
time, been again successful, which
took place last year, than the debate
wakes warm again.
The newly chosen mayor appointed
men to the positions of Commissioner
of Charities and Superintendent Of
Water and Track Inspector who were
Objectionable to the Socialist local of
Schenectady. Two of them were not
members of the party. Mr. Lunn de-
clared that these appointments were
made in the interest of efficiency, he
not being able to find any Schenectady
Socialist able to fill either of the two
first named places. How far this is
true can not be known from long
range. Suffice it to say, that the local
is not at all appeased, declares "ef-
f1ciency" false cry, and has further
drawn the State Executive Committee
Of the party into the dispute.
And now, in the columns of the New
York Call, Executive Committee and
Lunn are paying compliments to each
other The Executive Committee
charges Lunn with having broken
faith, with inconsistency and many
other uncomradely things. The mayor
in reply declares the committee has
lost its temper, that it has done him
great harm by distributing throughout
the country statements that are not
true, that it wishes to deny to mu-
nicipality real democracy. And SO no
doubt it shall run on for many a
weary day.
This is indeed a sorry sight. If
within the confines of a small com.
munity the Socialists must turn, on
the least provocation, to warning
among themselves-a very common
trait of radicals-how can they at all
hope at any day to carry along smooth.
'y their promising cooperative CON-
1nonwealth? They have not yet
learned the lesson of cooperation,
which begins in selfcontrol, nor will
their philosophy ever teach it to them.
Their bright dreams are doomed to
failure; their plans will never come
to pass for these dreams and plans
lave been builded on an uncertain
foundation. The Brotherhood of
Man" can never be realized through
their propaganda. c. B. of C. v.