The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1917-07-25

FaSaQeud, Odl., Juiy go
Members of Local Pasadena OF the
Socialist Party-Comrades
| The adoption by IL to i vote by
the membership of the socialist party
of the so-called majority report on
the subject of the war brings me to
a painful decision. Except for Two
or three periods of continued resi-
] dence abroad, / have been member
| of the party for sixteen years, and
during that time have given prac-
tically all my energies to the task
of helping to build it up; but now
find myself SO far out of agreement
with the membership on the most
! important of all immediate issues
/ that for me to remain in the party
would be to misrepresent both the
party and myself.
During the whole period OF my
membership l have been an agitator
against war. Nine years ago issued
| manifesto on the subject, in which
| urged that the socialist parties OF
| the world should make opposition to
| war their leading motive, adopting
program Of insurrection and general
strike. either to prevent declara-
ton of war or to break the back OF
| war after it was begun. 1t was
my idea that membership in the
party should be equivalent to
, pledge to such a course; the work
! ing classes Of the different nations
concluding, as it were, treaties OF
peace among themselves.
The reception of this proposal by
| the movement brought me deep
| disappointment In America, the
only socialist of any prominence who
was willing to sign the manifesto
was Charles Edward Russell. The
party officials, without exception,
were opposed to it; l recall that
| Morris Hillquit expressed his idea
that it was in bad taste for Ameri-
can socialists, who stood in no oan-
ger of war, to seek to influence the
policy of their European comrades.
/ pleaded that the very fact that we
were so fortunate as to stand aloof
| from the inherited jealousies and
suspicious of Europe gave US the
opportunity and even the duty to
attempt to mediate, but pleaded in
vain. I note with bewilderment that
| the very men who nine years ago
opposed an agreemen for mass
strike as a means of avoiding war
are today willing to vote for and
| defend a majority report" which
calls for even more extreme proceed
! ings and this when their country is
| involved in war, and when it has
/ been made perfectly evident that the
| socialists of the enemy countries
/ have so remotest intention of resort
| ing to such government methods.
| This latter fact is of prime import
ance; for, of course, il the general
strike plan were to succeed, it must
have been put into effect in all the
/ countries concerned. If the social
| lists Of any one country remained
passive and permitted their rulers to
arm them and drill them, as the
German socialists did, then action
toward a general strike in the other
countries would be futile and even
| criminal.
This was the argument encoun-
/ tered when l sent my manifesto
abroad nine years ago. The social
lists and labor men of England were
interested in it, and took 1t up and
circulated it to the extent OF hun
dreds Of thousands of copies; and
so with the socialists and syndical-
lists of France and Italy; but in one
country no interest was manifested,
nothing whatever could be done, that
country being Germany. A German
social-democratic editor, whom /
shall not name but whom you would
recognize as the intellectual leader
4 of the German movement, wrote me
several letters about the manifesto,
which l still have in my possession.
/ To circulate the docum ent in Ger
many would be high treason; there
1 offo hn dn RI ~
culate It! There existed a tacit
understanding not to discuss this
1 question of general strike in war
time, because the advocates of only
4 one side could be heard, and they
recognized that that was not fair to
the other sidei
When went abroad and talked
with men IN various countries who
were waging the fight against mill
tarism / found them one and all
aware of this danger from Germany:
Herve, for example, who had gone to
Jail for his agitation. / remember
his quoting to me the utterance OF
Ledebour, one Of the most radical
German socialists at the recent inter
national congress, that the reason
Ramsay Macdonald and the other
Englishmen were so anxious for a
peace program was that their coun
try was decadent! talked with
Englishm en-with Tom Mann. just
after he came out Of jail; with John
Burns, with Hyndman-and one and
all they pointed out how Germany
was arming, and how the German
comrades were making no adequate
resistance and no promise of any.
Germany cowed.
went to Berlin to see for myself
and thrash out the subject. I was
still keen for a general strike as the
great weapon Of internationalism
but, talking with the German party
leaders, found radicals and conser
natives alike in war which the
rulers willed; any effort to proven,
it would mean suicide for the party