The daily worker., 1925-05-13
SOCIALISTS co
DEMOCRAT And
C. 0. P. IN MPLS.
Funny Animal Awaiting
Visit by Eugene Debs
CONTINUED from page y

Blme nea0eQ Dy InOmaS van Lear
when he was the Socialist" mayor,
sharing the limelight with socialist"
Mayor Dan w. Hoan, of Milwaukee,
Wis.
1t developed that the four alder
men, reputed to be Albert G.. Bastis,
A. r. Gisslen, Peter ]. Pryts and Lewis
Beneke, had no party membership in
back of them. Two of them, in fact,
had paid no dues for two years. They
were in fact opposed to dues paying
membership organization. 1t might in
terfere with their political deals in
the city council. 1t is claimed that
their object in meeting with Birch
Wilson was not to help him resurrect
the dead socialist" organization, but
rather to see that he didn't resurrect
it; that it was permitted to rest un-
molested in its political grave.
Some Grab Elephants Tail.
This analysis is supported by all the
facts. Two years ago both Thomas
Van Lear, ex-socialist mayor, aand his
man Friday" Lewis Harthill, the so
cialist" chief Of police, with Robert d.
Cramer, editor of Minneapolis Labor
Review, brought pressure to bear
upon G. T. Lindsten, who had filed as
a labor" candidate for mayor, so that
he withdrew two days after the time
for filing had expired. This left the
field clear for the Socialists" after
double-crossing the militant elements
in the labor movement, to endorse
George Leach, the republican candi-
date.
This betrayal was followed in the
national elections last fall, when Van
Lear and Harthill came out for the
straight republican ticket, charging
that the farmerlabor movement had
been captured by the Communists.
Mayor Leach, with his Socialist" fol-
lowing, not only attacked the farmer
labor campaign and the LaFollette
candidacy, but gave whole-hearted sup
port to the republican campaign of
"strikebreaker" Coolidge. Leach had
in fact, been a candidate for governor
in the republican primaries.
1t is not known that the four other
Socialist" aldermen, Theodore Jen-
sen, A. E. Voelker, John Peterson and
l. G. Scott, met with Birch Wilson,
during his visit here as Deb's ennis
sary. But the glaring fact stands
forth that not single Socialist" who
is a candidate for reelection in to-
days election, is running as $50
cialist," not even as "laborite" What
they usually glory in is their small
business support"
Others Follow the Donkey.
In this campaign, while the Van
Lear-Harthill-Cram Virgins crowd
are supporting Mayor Leach, the other
socialist" wing is backing Harry
Lund, a democrat, for mayor. Lund
was appointed collector of customs
by President Woodrow Wilson, and
has a long record of subserviency to
the democratic machine.
The socialist" alderman, Peter ].
| Pryts, acted as chairman at one of
Lunds meetings in the proletarian
twelfth ward, heralding his democratic
offering as a representative of all the
people"
The Socialist" Pryts never men
toned the working class once during
his talk. He dwelt on street sprinkl-
ing. the pavements on Franklin Ave-,
and the "solid support that he had
won the Franklin Avenue business
men,"
It will be interesting to study what
Debs attempts to do with these clash
ing democratic and republican wings
of the Minneapolis Socialists"
In the present municipal campaign,
with the class fight thus deserted by
all socialist" elements, it remained
for the Communists to put a Workers
Party ticket in the field, as the only
labor group carrying the standards of
the class struggle. II has done this
successfully Thru the Communist
mayoralty candidacy of Dan W. Stew
ems, and several aldermanic candi-
dates. the Communist message has
been carried into all sections of the
city. When Debs comes here for his
socialist" membership meeting, he
will without doubt, find that all go
cialist" rank and filers worth while
have gone over to the Communists.