UC-NRLF B 3 fllO ET3 UBRARf OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ^■^^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. 1^ — Imp. .1. Allcmanc (commandite d'ouvriers syncliques) •")1, rue Saint-.Sauvcur. RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TOiH^ 202 Main Library 642-3 LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405 6-month loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation L Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW NOV 7 1976 ^ mm OCT 11 76 Alc^H^20,I977 fftcci8.auG23 '(' fCQ O ^. '0^2 Yz.\j <D * \^^^'- '. ' . ^ -; , MAY 16 1997, . 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