The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-03-06
SOCIALISTS HEAR
COMMUNIST TALK
BY MRS. STOKES
S. p. Failed in Crisis,
She Points Out
lsp.el.l q rh. paIlr workerl

NEW YORK, Mar. 5.-Rose Pas
tor Stokes addressed large meeting
in the auditorium of the Rand School,
under the auspices of the Saturday
Comeraderie, an open forum main
tanned by the New York branch of
the League for Industrial Democracy
which was once known as the In
ter-Collegiate Socialist Society.
Mrs. Stokes, keeping close to her
subject, "Why / Am a Communist"
opened with an outline of her early
life and those influences which
brought her, in 1906, into the Social
ist Party. She continued the story
thru the years of service there--as
also in the one-time intercollegiate
Socialist Society---to the time when
the left wing developed and she dis
covered there was Socialist machine
that preferred to throw out the ma
iority Of its members rather than
yield to the revolutionary rank and
file.
She reviewed the events in Chi
cago, in 1919, when the left wing
delegates were thrown out of the
Socialist Party convention, and con-
nected up the treachery of the Amer
lean Socialist Party with that of the
Social evolutionaries of Russia dur
ing the early months of 1917 and in
their later role as counter-revolution-
aries. She described the role of the
yellow German Social-Democrac and
other socialist parties of Europe
(which, when there is any leaning
to do, always lean strongly to the
bourgeois right, but never to the pro-
letarian left"
Communists Face Realities.
She proved to the satisfaction of
the large audience that the Commun-
lists faced realities, while the social
lists turned in fear away from them
or else were too sentimental to rec
ognize them. No revolutionary work.
er should stay in the Socialist party
which had dwindled to a controlling
element handful of petty bour-
goeis politicians. She talked of the
Workers Party and the character Of
its leadership and its rank and file.
She said she was proud and glad 20
belong to company Of men and
women, who in a crisis, we're not con-
cerned with saving their own skins,
but only with directing the workers
struggles and affecting workers unity,
regardless Of the price they person
ally had to pay.
At the close of her talk, Comrade
Stokes was greeted with hearty ap-
plause. Discussion and questions
which followed lasted long past the
closing hour.
mo Difference" Shiplieoff.
Abraham Shiplicof Of the Socialist
Party, maintained in reply that there
was really at bottom no difference be-
tween the socialists and the commun-
ists--that they both believed in the
same thing. Comrade Stokes re-
minded him that not lip-sevice and
phrases counted, but actions, and
again went into further history Of the
betrayers who adhered to the 1-2
International, sabotaging every eff
fort Of the revolutionary workers to
form a united working class front
against the capitalist enemy.
Several Russian Social Revolution
aries were present who attempted to
defend the Kerensky group against
their own record by citing their an
Gent sacrifices to the cause Of the
Russian revolution. In reply Comrade
Stokes said, simply: "Babushka, aacri-
fcing for the ideal Of the revolution,
was glorious. Babushka, turning from
the actual revolution was pitiableW
This brought enthusiastic response
from the audience.