The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-08-21


This happened all through Russia and had
the approval and help of the S. P. leaders in
the U. S. In autumn of 1918 in Odessa; in
July, 1918, in the very same Baku oil fields for
which Hillquit's mouth now waters; in Georgia.
in the North of Russia where the American
troops were stationed; in fact everywhere the
Mensheviks allied themselves with the worst
enemies of he workers against the First Work
ers' Republic.
Needless to say the lawyers and preachers in
the End international and socialist" party all
supported the Russian Mensheviks They will
do likewise in the event of any appropriate dor
them occasion in the future. In fact they
have already proven that this is So When
the sabotagers we're caught in the Soviet Union
and brought to trial, and before the Second In
ternationa1 was aware that they had confessed
and repented Wells, president of the German
social democrats, declared;
The trial in Moscow is the trial of our Rus
sian social democratic comrades, with whom
we feel ourselves most intimately connected.
We have already told how the American So
cialists gave money for counter-revolutionar
organ to be snuggled into the Soviet Union
But within the U. S. the so-called socialists
have already shown that they completed their
apprenticeship in the counter-revolutionar
schools of the End International. The murder
of Steve Katovis, under an injunction obtained
by the socialist, Solomon; the strikebreaking &C
tivity of Norman Thomas and his aids in the
textile mining and needle strikes; the unity of
Thomas and the S P. with Senator Wagner of
Tammany Hall against the demands of the I'M
employed these are rehearsals for the role
which the S. P, hopes to play on the stage of
the capitalist state.
Can any serious minded worker believe that
the mere removal of Hillquit from the chair
manship of the S. P. or his withdrawal from
the oil suit will turn that body from enemy
of the workers and the Soviet Union into a
friend? All the facts above prove the contrary.
It is not Hillquit alone-it is the whole system
of social reformers, turned social traitors turned
social fascists. 1t is the class which the S. P.
serves, the capitalist class. That's so by their
own statement The New Leader issued letter
in June, 1929, characterizing itself, This self
description is quite correct even if somewhat
incomplete. They say:
The New Leader appeals to many heads of
financial institutions, well known members of
the legal profession. a surprising number of
very prosperous business men, authors, artists,
doctors of medicine, dentists, educators, and
others interested in the socialist, liberal and
labor movement.
large percentage of New Leader readers
trips to Europe, and are generally liberal in
all their vacation expenditures Many of them
go away for the entire summer.
Such a statement sounds almost fantastcally
frank but it is true and quoted verbatim. Since
they made this statement the masses have
moved to the Left. The movement against un-
employment and wage cuts developed to consid-
cradle proportions and even some sections of
the middle class looked to militant leadership
of the workers in the fight against finance CAPT
tai Then the S. P. changed the tone of its
appeal and again began putting the emphasis
on it's appeals to workers Did the S. P. change
it's role as an agent of the bosses because it
changed its costume and lines? Not in the least.
A coyote with or without a sleeps skin is still
a coyote.
The change, however, represents the ascen-
dancy of Norman Thomas methods over Hill
quits methods. Hillquit is more open in his
championing of the bourgeoisie, Thomas more
slick Hillquit wants to feed betrayal to the
masses in its raw state; Thomas knows that it
will be hard to make them take it that way
and so he sugar coats with militant phrases.
1t is easy for the masses to recognize Hillquit
as the enemy of the workers but it is harder for
the masses to recognize Thomas, no less an
enemy of the workers. Precisely this is the
reason why Thomas is the more dangerous
enemy and must be fought more than ever.
From such a paper, and such Party what
has a worker or workers government to ex-
pect? Certainly what we are getting betrayal,
sel-out and counter revolution. No destruction
of Hillquit as S. P. chairman will solve the
problem. Only the destruction of the S. P to-
gether with the capitalist system which it
serves will answer the demand of the situation.
In Comrade Hendersons letter he says
This (Hillquit's action against Soviet oiD
must not be allowed TO drop; and all workers
in the socialist party must demand that ade
quate measures be taken to clear up this oil
scandal.
In this we agree with Conrade Henderson
Except why should the workers demand" ade-
quate measures-the workers can take adequate
must follow Comrade Hender-
sons example; they must leave the party of the
lieutenants of capitalism parading under the
mask of socialism" and join the party of the
working class-the Communist Party.