The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-07-10
OF
X. X. X. AMONG
The SOCIALISTS
Fear to Hit Knighties
BY Naming Them
BY ROBERT MINOR.
(Staff Writer, Daily Worker)

CLEVELAND, July o.-The
national convention of the
socialist party here today spent
its last afternoon much as the
democratic convention spent so
many of its afternoons-in a
furious fight to decide whether
to or not to denounce by name
the ku KIux KIan.
After the election of the ma
tional executive committee,
dozens of delegates had lost in
terest and quietly slipped away
to home-bound trains.
Goebel Defends Knighties.
The resolutions committee, making
its perfunctory report, came upon the
anti-Klan resolution, when suddenly
the roof was raised.
George H. Goebel of New Jersey
jumped to his feet, angrily shouting
his protest and demanding that the
resolution be referred back to the
committee and that the Khan should
not be named as law-breaking or
ganization.
Il know dozens of those people who
are members of the Ku Klux Khan,
and / know their lives, and / know
they are not lawbreakers, and / know
they would not lynch a Negro. Now,
l say have lived there in New Jer-
sey for years amongst people that l
know to be good people, and they
have joined the Khan. l know there
are many people who belong to it
who do not believe in these things
that you want to condemn the Khan
for. say there are good people in
this organization, and they join it be-
cause they believe in its principles,
and they would not break the law. All
those crimes that you want to blame
this organization for are only the
working out of certain groups in GER
tain sections Of the country who are
using this organization for law-break-
ing purposes"
In the uproar of mingled applause
and disapproval August Claessens got
the floor to say that the resolution
should be referred back to committee
but for a far different reason from
that given by Goebel He demanded
that the Khan be denounced by name.
you are not going to pussyfoot that
question herel" he shouted.
Victor Berger asserted his position
that no member of the socialist party
can be a member of the Khan. He
said that in Wisconsin members OF
the socialist party had joined the Ku
Klux Khan, land we kicked them out,
and we are going to do 1t again" AL
gernon Lee of New York, denying a
statement of Goebel that the Khan is
a religious movement, offered a substi-
tute motion, which became the mo-
ton finally acted upon.
Denounced as Fascist.
Gerolano Valenti of the Italian So
cialist federation said the Ku Klux
Khan in America was essentially the
same thing as the Fascist organiza-
ton in Italy. while l listened to
Goebel's words" said valenti, II won
dered whether was at Madison
Square Garden at the democratic con-
vention, or whether l was at the So
cialist convention. There is no differ
ence between the Fascist and the
Ku Klux Khan, except that the Fas-
cisti would burn a Negro without a
mask" Marie Mcdonald denied that
the Khan question is religious issue.
ut is a political ISSUE" she said, "a
race issue, and an issue Of super-gov-
ern1ent," demanding that the resolu-
ton be passed.
Delegate John Frank Danis of Illi-
nois said that as a delegate to the
United Mine Workers convention at
Peoria he had learned that the min
ers' organization was being eaten to
pieces by the Khan. "Then, near my
home" he said, there was a mass
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