The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-08-08
The French and Belgian Socialists Join Their
ImperiaIist Masters B " WIcEs
By H. M. WICKS

GUM, not only became miserable
prostitutes of imperialism, but they
tried to cover the masses with their
own shame. To a prostitute all are
prostitutes.
Had these creatures been revolu-
tionists instead of vile flunkeys of the
bourgeoisie they would have voted
against the war credits, have spoken
openly for the defeat of their own
governments, have rallied the work.
ers to struggle against the war, have
d e m n d e d determination of the
soldiers in the trenches and made
preparations for the publication and
distribution of illegal literature
among the workers in the war indus
tries and the soldiers at the front. In
every way and under all conditions
this work should have been carried
on against their governments for the
purpose of melting strikes in the
munition works, mutinies in the ranks
of the army and preparing for the
time when the objective revolutionary
situation would be at hand-a situa-
ton that every Marxist should have
recognized as an inevitable CON
comitant of the war and situation
that actually did exist in every coun-
try participating in the war before
two years had passed.
IN Belgium the leading figure of the
second international, Emile Van
deveede, followed the footsteps of the
German and French renegades. He
became minister to the king of the
Belgians, one of the greatest of the
war criminals. The action of Wander
velde deserves special attention be-
cause it was his duty as head of the
international to issue the call to the
parties of all belligerent countries for
a determined stand against the war.
Even after Suedekum, Scheidemann
and the German reichstag members
had betrayed the workers it was still
possible for the international bureau
to repudiate them and try to organize
the masses for the revolutionary
struggle without them and against
them.
But instead Of fulfilling his duty to
the international proletariat Emile
Vandervelde and his associates in the
Belgian socialist party became a
laclzey of King Albert, who in turn
was the servile tool of British and
French imperialism.
When all the facts of the world
war are gathered and classified and
some proletarian historian sits down
to write the authentic history-the
history that will be the textbook of
the future-of the part played by AL
bert and his ministers, including the
social-patriot, Vandervelde, he will
show that the Belgian government
could have spared the life of every
Belgian working man who split his
blood in the interest of Imperialism.
Albert deliberately threw his subjects
into the mouths Of German cannon
and onto German bayonets in the in
terest of Britain and France and for
no other reason, Those two imperial
list powers Britain and France)
knew the danger of an unhampered
march of the German army through
Belgium and, although the kaiser's
government offered to reimburse the
Belgians for any damages incurred
during the march through their terri
tory the Entente persuaded Albert
and his government to pile their own
workingmen in heaps of corpses be-
fore the well-trained German forces.
Albert murdered his own workers, not
for any interests of his own country,
but In the interest of foreign i'm
perialist powers and Emil Wander
velde was his first assistant murderer.
Vandervelde, head of the second in
ternational, as minister in the kings
cabinet of this hireling government,
of this ignorant Catholic and vicious
ruler sank lower in his perfidy. his
treachery and betrayal of the work
ing class he professed to represent
than even Scheidemann sank in his
efforts to preserve the supremacy of
the kaiser. Among the traitors to
the working class Vandervelde was
the most monstrous of all, because
history imposed upon him the role of
lackey of the most vile of capitals.
governments.
THE working class of the world, on
this thirteenth anniversary of
these series of betrayals, must study
the lessons of 1914 in order to be able
to meet and defeat this cancaror,
growth of opportunism which a.
sumes its most malignant form
social-patriotism. The same infe
ton, the same virus that spawned t
great betrayal of 1914 exists toda
In the American labor movement anl
in all capitalist countries of the world
and one of the most effective methods
of combating the threat of new wars
is to fight against opportunism
wherever it raises it's head.
Il =
ToMORROW-The American Social
list in 1914.