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 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
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 ^■^^LIFOR^I^^ 
 
^REEOBT OF THE'DELEG 
 
 OF THE 
 
 'SOCIAL DEMOCPiATIC PARTY 
 
 of the lliiilod Slates of America ^//3 
 
 TO THK ^jUo'^ 
 
 INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST CONGRESS /9^0c<^ 
 
 l*ABtK8, IS>00 
 
 Although behind their European comrades in point ol' 
 numbers and influence in their country, the American socia- 
 lists may well be satisfied witii the results of tlieir work 
 when looking back upon the events of the past four years 
 since the last International Congress. 
 
 The rapid growth of a socialist sontiment among the 
 American people gf^nerally and the growing sense of solida- 
 uity and class consciousness among the working people have 
 been prompted by great events (juite new in the history of 
 tiio United States. Although they appear to the Socialist as a 
 natural result of the capitalist system, they have taken the 
 rest of the people completely by surprise and have done 
 more to stir them up and to stimulate thought and interest 
 in political and economic questions than years and years of 
 Socialist propaganda could ever possibly produce. 
 
 Four years ago the bankrupt middle class sought to pre- 
 vent its own downfall by demanding the free coinage of 
 silver at a fictitious value. It is needless to say that in their 
 propaganda the Socialists have done their best to point out 
 to the wage workers that tlieir interests would not be con- 
 served by the triumph of the middle class which had nothing 
 but fine phra«es for the working people. In the elections 
 the middle class lost, and the Republican Party, the party 
 of the great capitalists and trusts, Avent into power. But 
 looking back to the political campaign of four years ago, we 
 cannot now help recognizing that the denunciation of plu- 
 tocracy and the exposure of its scandalous reign ressorted 
 10 by the Democrats for political reasons, had its effect in 
 creating among the people a spirit of distrust to and dis- 
 gust with the rule of the capitalist class and paved the way 
 for the ideas of Socialism and the political solidarity of the 
 vvorking class. 
 
 ivi55a946 
 
Tlie cvcnls of llic siicccedinji; years, llic posilivc work ol 
 our Iriuniphanl ploiilocracy has but added oil lo Lhc I'lames 
 ol" social discontent and wonderlully laciiilaled the educa- 
 tional and organizing work ol" Socialist agitators. 
 
 A period of intense business activity has succeeded the 
 former stagnation, and with it came a change in the relative 
 positions of the various classes and elenienls composing our 
 body politic. 
 
 T he great capit ahsl^havg-CQiUC.to feel the immense power 
 at their command and obedient to the immutable laws of 
 (leYclOpnient which bid~a class' to grow or decay, have 
 'laimched the Uepublic upon a new course of colonia! expan- 
 sion and military conquest. Radical as that departure is from 
 the former peaceful policy of our Republic, fraught as it is 
 with most momentous changes in the further political deve- 
 lopment of America, it is but secondai-y to and a result of 
 another expansion of our capitalist system, which marks its 
 entrance upon a new and higher stage, probably the last 
 before the inauguration of the Co-operative Commonwealth. 
 
 The advent of the trust has stirred all the classes of our 
 people to their depths and has served more than anything 
 else to bring out in striking manner the soundness of the 
 Socialist diagnose of our present system. At the same time 
 it has deeply affected the inierests of each separate class. 
 revolutionizing old methods, ruthlessly destroying and dis- 
 placing entire occupations, thus giving ample time to Ihou- 
 .sands of people to think of the wonderful change wrought 
 by modern capitalism and their possible results. 
 
 The middle class has also been deeply affected by the 
 economic development of the last four years and has practic- 
 ally been divided in tw^o. Four years ago the farmers bur- 
 dened w th debts were foremost in demanding the free 
 coinage of silver, and it was they that furnished the larger 
 j)art of the Democratic votes The coincidence of good crops 
 at home with a failure of crops in Europe sent up the price 
 of wheat and other agricultural products lo an unusual 
 extent, and the farmers not only improved thereby their con- 
 dition, but have come to see that high prices of wheat are 
 possible under a gold currency as well. 
 
 Not so with the industri4l and commercial middle class. 
 While they have also been able to improve their condition 
 to some extent on account of the better times, they base had 
 to suffer greatly from the competition of trusts and are. 
 therefore, more dissatisfied than the farmers. The Dem- 
 ocratic Party has, tlierefore, been compelled to take up the 
 <' trust evil » as its campaign issue, much to the dissatis-. 
 faction of the corrupt ring of politicians who stand at its 
 
licad and who are paid hy llu' orcal corporalious and Irusts 
 fo piwfiil any liostilo k-gislalion that could really iiarni 
 capilalist interi'sts. At llic last moment, however, they saw 
 a way out oi" the dilTiculty in the llopublican policy ol' impe- 
 rialism, which lliey prelen 1 to oppose (allhoiigh, they have 
 never rel'used in Congress to vole appropriations ol" money 
 lor military purpose) and have declared it the paramount 
 issue ol' the campaign. 
 
 Meanwhile, the working people have been listening to 
 the Dcniocralic denunciations oI'iIk^ liopublican policy, liave 
 been reading tlie exposures ol' the I rusts and their methods 
 in the press and been reeling llie (d'l'ects ol' the latent dcAc- 
 lopment of « prosperity ». 
 
 The idea of the nationalisation of the industries con- 
 trolled by trusts as well as of tlu^ inunicipalization of the 
 so-called natural monopolies which has been gaining more 
 and more ground in tlic United States, has served to fami- 
 liarize the American workingman with the Socialist ideals 
 which only a few years ago was a bugbear in the hands of 
 the capitalist press to frighten liim with. 
 
 And, as is everywhere tlie case, the capitalist class took 
 care lest the workingman imbibe the milk and water prin- 
 ciplt s of Socialism which tiie middle class has been sprea- 
 ding. The great conflicts between cap tal and labor w hich 
 have been assuming greater and greater proportions in our 
 country, have helped to show the working class of America 
 that the class struggle is no idle aijstraction of Socialist 
 philosophy. 
 
 It would be impossible to give an adequate account of 
 the great strikes in a short review such as must necessarily 
 constitute a report to this congress. Suffice in to say, that 
 several of them have involved scores of thousands of men, 
 and have invariably led to the interference of the police 
 and the military force in favor of the employers. Wo need 
 not add that the Socialists have utilized these occasions to 
 point out to the working class that wc have a class govern- 
 ment, and that the workers need not expect better treat- 
 ment until they learn to elect their own men to the 
 legislatives bodies. 
 
 The most notable strike for the open brutality and dis- 
 regard for the rights of the Workingmen displayed by the 
 capitalistic government, took place among the miners of 
 Idaho and has been fully. described in a pamphlet by one of 
 our delegates to your congress, briefly told, the Democratic 
 (lovernor of the State combined with the l»epu!)lican Presi- 
 dent of the United States in shooting down peaceful strikers, 
 throwing innocent men into prison, and subjecting t'.iem 
 
10 harbarilics which have not been equalled in (he annals 
 of lal)oi' persecution in Russia. 
 
 The Socialist Movement 
 
 No wonder that such a persistent policy ol' brutality 
 towards and contempt for the working class coupled with 
 the other conditions we have described, facilitated the 
 spread of Socialist ideas and has resulted in a rapid increase 
 of Socialist votes. In 1896, the year of Presidential election 
 and of the International Congress at London, we received a 
 little over 36,000 votes. In 1897, the vote jumped to 55,000. 
 In 1898, the combined Socialist vote of the Socialist Labor 
 I'arty and Social Democratic Party was nearly 93,000, and 
 we may expect double that number when the vote for our 
 presidential candidate is counted next November. 
 
 There was only one Socialist elected to a municipal 
 council in the United States at the time of the last Interna- 
 lional Congress At present we have more than a dozen of 
 Socialist councilmen in the various municipalities of the 
 country; two Socialists are disturbing the peaceful slumber 
 and easy conscience of the capitalist legislation in the Mas- 
 sachusetts legislature. Comrade John C. Chase has for the 
 second time been elected mayor of the town of Haverhill, 
 Mass., the last time against the combined opposition of the 
 Uepublican, Democratic and Prohibition Parties, and comrade 
 Coulter has been elected mayor of the town of Brockton, 
 Mass. 
 
 The integrity, courage and enargy with Avhich these 
 Socialist officials have discharged their new duties and 
 stood up for the interests of the working people who 
 elected them, have done more than years of propaganda 
 could do, l)y giving the working class an ol)ject lesson of 
 the soundness of our position, and instilling new hope in 
 the hearts of those who are struggling for the abolition of 
 wage slavery. 
 
 Still more wonderful has been the progress of our press. 
 In 1896 we had only one English Socialist paper ; at present 
 Ave have nine weekly papers and one monthly magazine, 
 besides a numl)er of dailies and Aveeklies in the German and 
 other languages. 
 
 When we turn from the Socialist movement generally to 
 the inner development and progress of the party, we regret 
 that we have to record a series of strifes' but for which the 
 success of our movement would have been far greater. 
 
 At the time of the London International Congress, there 
 was but one Socialist party in the United States, the Socia- 
 list Labor parly : but shorlly thereafter tactical differences 
 
nianilestcd themselves ^vilhin its ranks Avliich linally led 
 (0 a split in the party. Briel'ly stated, liie eliiid' cause of the 
 spHl was the objectionable, — at present criminal — policy 
 oi" two or three leaders ol' the Socialist La!)or Parly towards 
 the trade unions. Impatient at theslow progress ol' Socialism 
 in the ranks ol' the trade unions, and justly indignant at the 
 corrupt practices of some of the leaders of the American 
 trade unions, these men conceived a new plan for the speedy 
 conversion to Socialism of the American workingmen, namely: 
 the organisation of rival trade unions which they called ll'ie 
 Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance. 
 
 The wisdom of organizing a rival trade union lias always 
 been questioned by Socialists. The last International Con-" 
 gress has left no room for doubt as to its attitude on that 
 subject when it said in its trade union resolution : « Espec- 
 ially difference of political views ought not to be consider- 
 ed a reason for separate action in the economic struggle. » 
 Disregard of the above resolution might be justified perhaps 
 under exceptional circumstances : There might perhaps be 
 sone reason for it if the Socialists constituted a majority or 
 «il least a strong minority in the unions, though even under 
 such circumstances the wisdom of such a step might be 
 (jiicstioncd. But when, as was the case with the Socialist 
 Alliance, a rival organisation is set up by a handful of men 
 lielonging to a few unions mostly in one city, and when 
 that is done not through the initiative of the workers them- 
 selves, but by a few ambitious leaders of a political parly 
 who have never been working at a trade and, therefore, are 
 out of touch with the trade union movement, when moreover 
 such a step is taken by them without consulting the Social- 
 ists who have spent their lives in that movement, then 
 there can hardly beany doubt that such an organization has 
 no right to exist. The Alliance was endorsed at first by the 
 Labor Party on the express promise given by its founders 
 that il would not interfere with the existing trade unions, 
 but would devote itself to organizing the unorganized wor- 
 kers. Even at that time some of the Socialists who had 
 more experience in the trade union movement, predicted 
 that the promises could not be carried out and that the 
 Alliance was bound to come in conflict with the other trade 
 unions. 
 
 Experience has shown that even these non did not forscc 
 all the consequences that were to follow. Soon after its 
 organisation, thcAlliancc came in conflict with the existing 
 printers union, and let its men take the places of striking 
 printers at lower wages ; similar conflicts soon follow^-d 
 with other trades, and the word <• Socialist » came to be 
 
^3'nonvmons with « scab t. (blackleg) amonjj; the trade union- 
 ists. Tlic worst ol' it was that it rcl'lccted upon the party 
 which stood committed to the Allianc«> and whose oll'ieial 
 organ was made also (he oCt'icial organ ol the Alliance 
 without the consent of the membership of the party. Under 
 these circumstances Iriclion within the party became inevit- 
 able, and owing to the arl)itrary conduct of affairs by the 
 party officirs and open disregard and contempt for the 
 wilfof the rank and file, led to open revolt and the deposal 
 of the National Executive Committee. We will spare the 
 Congress the recital of the strife that followed. Suffice it to 
 say, that the deposed officers refused to lay down their 
 mandates although the majority of the party sustained by 
 a referendum vote the action of deposing them, and they 
 and their adherent still continue a separate existence under 
 the name of S L. P. althrough the regular organization had 
 retained the bulk of its membership, every Socialist writer, 
 speaker and trade union agitator of note, and all of its news- 
 papers, except one Jewish newspaper in New-York City. 
 
 At its last convention held in the City of Rociiester, in 
 .lanuary of the present year, the party rescinded the pre- 
 vious resolution endorsing the Alliance and expressed its 
 attitude on the trade union question, as follows : 
 
 « Whereas, the trade union movement of the working 
 class is an inevitable manifestation of the struggle between 
 capital and labor, and is absolutely necessary to resist the 
 superior economic power of capital, to improve the condi- 
 tion of the workingmen, and to maintain their standard of 
 life, and ; 
 
 « Whereas, the class struggle carried on by the trade 
 unions tends to develop in the workingmen the sense of 
 solidarity and political independence by organizing them as 
 a class antagonistic to Hie capitalist class : 
 
 (( Resolved, that we, the Socialist I>abor Party in National 
 Convention assembled, fully recognizing that the exploita- 
 tion of labor will cease only"^ when society takes possession 
 of the means of production, nevertheless, declaring the 
 duty of all Socialists to participate in all struggles of 
 organized labor to improve its conditions under the present 
 system ; 
 
 « Resolved, that we hereby recall any and all previous 
 resolutions expressing preference for one body of organized 
 labor over another : 
 
 ■ liesolved, that we reaffirm tlie resolution of the So- 
 cialist Labor Party adopted in 1893 and re-adopted in ISUr. 
 recitmmeiiding to all members of the party to join the organ- 
 ization of the" trades to which the y respectively belong ». 
 
— 7 — 
 
 Anollicr very important step taken at that (Convention 
 was llie appointment ol" a committee of nine to confer with 
 tlie Social Democratic Parly with a view to bringing about a 
 union ol" the two parties. 
 
 The Social Democratic Party was I'ounded tinier the lea- 
 dership of Eugene V. Debs in 1897, and was composed at 
 lirsl of souK^what heterogeneous elements, its social ism being 
 rather confused as may be seen from the facts that lliey 
 expected to inaugurate the era of Socialism by starling 
 Socialist colonies in the less populated States. However, a 
 period of about one year was sufficient to clear up the vision 
 of its more advanced element, and the colonisation plan was 
 thrown overboard. The only thing after that which kept 
 that party separated from the Socialist Labor Party, was the 
 unsocialislic attitude of the latter towards the trade unions 
 and the fanatical seclarian spirit which actuated its leaders. 
 With tlie change which had now , however, been brought 
 about in the Socialist Labor Party there w^as no more reason 
 why the two parties should not unite into one great liarmo- 
 nious organization and hence the appointment the above 
 committee on Unity at Rochester. 
 
 The Social Democratic Party wliicli met in convention 
 two months after in the City of Indianopolis received the 
 l>roposition of the Rochester Committee with greatli enthu- 
 siasm, and in its turn appointed a similar committee. The 
 two committees met later in New York City and formulated 
 a treatey of union as well as a constitution for the new 
 united party, submitting to the two parties the names Social 
 Democratic Party and United Socialist Party out of which 
 one was to be chosen. By the referendum vote cast by the 
 members of the two parties, the treaty of union was adopted 
 and the name Social Democratic Party chosen for the united 
 party. By the same vote Eugene Y. Debs of the former 
 S. D. P. and Job Ilarriman, of the S. L. P. were chosen as 
 candidates for the respective offices of President and Yice- 
 Prcsident of the United States. The union of the two parties 
 was, however, not to be accomplished without friction. When 
 all arrangemonis seemed complete, the national executive 
 Board of llieold Social Democratic Party issued a « manifesto » 
 advising adversely. The union of the two greatest Socialist 
 parlies had become a necessity and although the officers of 
 tlie former S. D. P. and their adherents still holdout against 
 union and maintain a. rival organization, the bulk of its mem- 
 bership iiad joined the United party and all of the papers of 
 the old S. i). P. except its Engli'sii official organ and the 
 German, both of which are conlrollcd by members of the 
 Executive, are championing the cause of the United parly. 
 
— s — 
 
 Present indications, however, point to a speedy end ol 
 this controversy Avithin the ranks of the S. D. P., and the 
 enthusiasm of the comrades over the accomplishment ol' 
 union, the popularity of our candidates in Socialist and 
 labor circles and the extremely favorable circumstances for 
 Socialist propaganda wicli has been mentioned above, — all 
 point to a great Socialist triumph at tlie polls next novcni- 
 bcr. 
 
 In conclusion we may assure our European comrades 
 that tlio inner struggle through Avhich the Socialist move- 
 ment passed during the last two years has not failed to bear 
 good fruit. The party has entered upon a new era in its 
 liistory and looks back upon the time of its sectarian exis- 
 tence as the initial stage in its movement, unavoidable 
 perhaps, but happily left behind. Its present size, form of 
 organization, and spirit which actuates it make a repetition 
 of any attempts to rule it by any one person or set of per- 
 son?, impossible.. Its frank avowal of former mistakes and 
 its uniform friendship and good will shown the working- 
 men has won it the sympathies of the advanced elements of 
 the working class of America, and make it possible for her 
 in no very distant future to catch up with if not to excel 
 our European comrades in the work of advancing our 
 cause. 
 
 Fraternellv, for the Social Democratic Partv. 
 
 Job HAHRIMAN, Jacob ROMBKU. 
 
 Dr. S. Ingerman, 
 Delegates. 
 
 Xew-yoik^ September 1900. 
 
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