The Fargo forum and daily republican., 1918-06-15

tions AS stated in the platform from
which we have quoted they claim to
owe no allegiance to any country or
nation but to be citizens Of the world
and to owe as much to the nations
which afford them no protection as to
any of which they may chance to be
citizens or subjects and from which
they receive the same protection af-
forded all of it's citizens. 1t is true
that there are some exceptions among
those who have been more or less ar
dent expOnen*S of socialist philoso-
2hy. A number of such, like Mr.. Chas.
Edwards Russell and Mr.. Spargo are
loyalty supporting our own nation
and have repudiated and condemned
party as expressed by it's national
convention. We are, however, of the
opinion that they can only do SO by
repudiating at least some of the state
ments of the socialistic philosophy if
that philosophy can be said to be
liked or permanent in any degree. In
The platform of 1912 which is referred
% in textbooks and by many of the
authorities, both favoring and oppos-
tngs socialism, as a standard express
sion of socialist doctrine, we find that
hey demand collective ownership and
iemocratlc management OF railroads.,
express service, steamboat lines ana
all other social means of transpOrta-
tlon and communication and of all
large scale industries. The immediate
requirement by the municipalities, the
states or the federal government of
all grain elevators. stockyards, stor-
age warehouses and other distribut-
ing agencies; the extension of the
public domain to include mines, quar-
rieS, oil wells, forests and WATERFOWL
er; the collective ownership of land
wherever practicable and in case
such ownership is not practicable, the
appropriation by taxation Of the an
nual rental value of all land held for
speculation; the collective ownership
and democratic management of the
q Y a @ h.
tion of graduated income and inherit
ance taxation, the proceeds of these
taxes to be employed in the SOCialiZa-
tion of industry; the curtailment of
the powers of courts; equal suffrage;
adoption of the initiative, referendum
and recall, and of proportional repre-
sentation, nationally and locally; the
abolition of the senate and veto pow
for the revision Of the constitution of
the United States; election Of all fed
eral judges for short terms; free ad-'
ministration of law. collective owner
ship of patents.
The foregoing and other things are
stated in the platform to be general
measures calculated to strengthen the
working class in it's fight for the re-
aliZation of it's ultimate aim, the CO.
operative commonwealth, and to in
crease it's power of resistance against
capitalistic oppression, and the con-
vention pledged itself and it's elected
officers to such program. Many OF
them are nearly literal quotations
from the manifesto of Karl Marx.
The same platform says: Such
measures of relief as we may be able
to force from capitalism are but a
of the workers to seize
the whole powers of government in
order that they may thereby lay hold
of the whole system of socialized in
dustry and thus come to their own in
heritance.
Among the modern socialist author
tiles, reference is nearly always made
to war and military service and as we
have indicated, these references are
general principles which the st. Louis
platform states concretely. Mr.. Allen
L. Benson, the last socialist nominee
for the presidency of the United
States, in his work entitled THE
Truth About Socialism" at page III,
makes this statement:
Socialists will not go to war; they
will not join the army, the militia
5r the navy. They preach against
war in season and out of season.
They preach against dressing little
boys as soldiers and calling them
scouts and wherever socialists hold
seats in national Legislative bodies,
their attitude is no men, no money
= If you want the privilege of aid
ing in the great work of humanity
you will have to vote the socialist
ticket. It is the only ticket that is
always and everywhere sternly
Karl Marx says 'The working men
have no country, that the first step in
the revolution by the working class