The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-09-22

significance They give clear explanation of the en-
tire stand of Marxism toward the national question
1t behooves socialists who vacllatng in their posi-
ton on this question those who find the cor
rect path, to study these MARKHAM words.
The workers of world power remain the slaves of
their bourgeoisie and forge their own chains if they
do not fight for the freedom and independence of the
oppressed peoples, if they do not fight f3r the poll
teal independence, e. for the selfd9 termination of
those nations which under the yokA q their own
bourgeosle. MARK does not employ EASTERN self
determination, but he writes in this senSeJ Without
the elimination of the differences between the workers
OF the expressing and the oppressed country success
fu struggle for socialism impossible The bourgeosie
know very WE'LL that the best of maintaining CAPT
tast domination is by creating conflicts between the
workers OF the different lands particularly between the
workers OF the ruling nation and those of the oppressed
nation And the best of melting this conflict
and OF bringing it to protracted head is for the work
ers OF the oppressed nation to the suspicion that
the workers of the ruling nation denying them and
Their people, freedom, independence sef-govern
ment. In order to create conditions which will rally
the workers OF an oppressed nation without hesitation
alongside OF the prolearans of the ruling nation it is
necessary that the latter fight ceaseessy against its
own bourgeoisie for the sefdeternaon of all nations
Particularly those proletarans, which belong to the
dominant nation must battle for this right. If they
don't do this they will become blind tools of the bour
geols chauvnists and in this they help the
bourgeoise of various countries to push social con-
cts into the background and substitute for them
national conflicts The bourgeosie is thus placed in
"
and thus the workers forced to fight brother against
brother
In a public speech at a meeting, arranged nv the
association of "Fraterna Democrats" on the goth of
November, l847 in memory of the Polish uprising of
1880, Engels said "A nation cannot become free and
aI e same Time continue TO Cypress other nations The
freedom of Germany therefore be realized with
out the freedom of Poland from the oppression of Ger
many becoming a fact"
The words underlined by us contain very mnortant
MARKHAM principle on the nation question. In few
words we have here displayed the contents of the en-
tire politics of Marx and Engels in the field of tbe
national question The working class of ruling nation
when does not recognize the necessity of the struggle
against the privileges of domination and for the RIGHT
OF se-determlnaton of peoples cannot hope to over
throw its own bourgeoisie 1t must remain the slave
of this bourgeoise.
Only when the working class comes out for self
determination of peoples it take the initiative from
the hand OF the bourgeose of the depressing as we'll
as the oppressed nation, and create the conditions
whereby 1t brings about the unity Of the working class
OF all countries the oppressed we'll as the imperalis
powers Now when five or six world powers force the
yoke upon hundreds of millions of dependent oppressed
nationals it the particular duty of the workers If
tne ruling countries to advocate the right of sedeter
ms is the only method of carrying on a
struggle against the chauvnism of ones "own bour
geosle only by this struggle, will it be possible for
the workers of the oppressed countries to eliminate the
suspicion toward the workers of the ruling nation and
only tins struggle will take from the bourgeosie the
u icltlhg the workers against each other
splitting up their forces and thus to hnderng the
struggle for socialism.
The quoted words of Marx have not only signifi-
'ance Tor the solution of the Irish question They carry
far more universal character. 1t behooves not only
the social Chauynsts to study them but also those So
'alists VINO stand upon the ground of international So
claism and yet find unnecessary and even harmful
TO raise the question of sefdetermination of peoples
n the consideration of MARKHAM program
~ Bert Miller from "War and the Crisis of Socialism,
by G. Zinoviev
Can this be human, this man-shaped thing
With vitriol for blood and sap for brain,