New-York tribune., 1918-05-19
Majority Unaffectedb br
German Treatment
of Russia-PIan V;o.
orous Campaien
This Fall

gwen the assurance that would hav.
nerved them to overthrow their o..
eminent. We realize the menace !.
a German victory, but we don't i.
lieve Prussian militarism will be- ~
fectually overthrown until the c.,
man Socialists overthrow it in ~
operation with the working clas, :,
the whole world"
There you have it in brief-sA.
overwhelming majority of the partv
is already converted" away fror
illegality, but refuses to permit N.
party to lose its identity as an on.
position. At the same time il >.
fuses to admit that the present Va,
however much better it is than ,
German victory, is a Socialist var
until the Socialists have had ,
chance to end it with an interns.
tional conference.
The intellectual" of the parsv
typifed by Max Eastman, have be.n
largely won to support of the war b
President Wilson's liberal policies
But these represent a very unsI
proportion of the membership, prcb-
ably less than ! per cent.
1t is difficult to estimate the mn.
portion Of the membership % far
won over to the war because Of na-
tionalistic sympathies. In New York
it bulks large. In the nation as a
whole it would probably be no more
than Is per cent. And by no means
all Of these members will leave the
party if it adheres to its interns-
tionalist stand. The retention in the
platform of plank for an inter
labor conference would probably
hold most of the membership loyal.
That the party should renounce its
faith and go over to the position Of
William English Walling, who re.
CARDS such a conference as a fraud,
is hardly in the realm Of possibility.
The plank looks all the more at
tractive because it reaches across
the sea to the English Labor party
and the still more radical Indepcn-
dent Labor party, which reports a
heavy increase in membership in the
past year.
German Reinforcement
Uncomfortably Large
Directly traceable to the st. Louis
resolution is an uncomfortably large
German vote (which the Socialists
insist they don't want), compare.
lively negligible vote of straigh.
theoretical pacifists, almost wholly
American, and large body of young
men facing the draft who voted So
cialist as a relief to their feelings
or as last desperate effort to end
the war. Also, as an indirect re.
suit of the party's anti-war stand, it
acquired a considerable number of
its normal recruits, the workingmen.
The st. Louis resolution was, to
put it bluntly, good advertising. 1t
brought the party prominently to
the attention of many who had never
thought about it before, and as re-
| suit gathered in many persons driv-
: en- to radical thoughts by the high
) prices. The party loomed in the
, public mind as a daring and solid
opposition, and hence was the ideal
: magnet for the "protest vote" o.
those who objected to the restric-
ton of the normal liberties Of peace
time. There is no way Of telling
the relative strength of these types
of vote. One guess is as good as
another, and here is one:
German, 25; pacifst, 10; work
ingman, 20; protester and prospec'
tive draftee, As.
How much of this increased vote
will stick when war conditions ars
removed is a mere matter Of proph
ecy. Little of it, however, NEED
be expected to fall away because Of
q mere modification of the party's
stand. A complete reversal, how
ever, would probably cost the par0
all of it's German and pacifist vots
and a large number Of the pro
testers.
Gradually, it would appear, the
j Socialist party is squaring itsei'
J, with some of the most obvious tac1s
of the situation. 1t is now pretty
|, willing to admit that the armies OF
' the West front are actually defend
t ing civilization against a ca
S tastrophe, though it never tires o
: repeating that Socialist government
would never have got the world inu
S such a mess. It is almost certain
: TO put it's house in order so that
: can go on the soapbox this fall AM
face the officers of the law withou
). quailing. But it is not likely to knee
e at the White House steps, and II