'%:
^■TO-LO^
PRICE 5/
THEUNfVERSST
OF TEXAS
APRl 11941
THE LIBRARY
i
PURnPll. rSCKnTlflC-SOCIfiUSm i nTHC-llJCSTCRn-HCfDISPHCK
(L VI - No. 57
BOSTON, MASS. «^»"
DECEMBER 1939
The modern State, no matter what its
form, is essentially a capitalist machine,
the state of the capitalists, the ideal per'
sonification of the total national capital.
SOCIALISM, UTOPIAN AND SCIENTIFIC by Engeln.
IN THIS
ISSU
RUSSGFINNISH
II
HAM AND EGGS
It
THE C C. F. AND
THE PRESENT
WHO'S NEUTRAL?
•
WPA STRIKES
LEADERS LIMITED
[Conclusion]
THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA
and
THE WORKERS SOCIALIST PARTY
OF THE UNITED STATES
Object
The establishment of a system of society based upon
the common ownership and democratic control of the
means and instruments for producing and distributing
wealth by and in the interest of society as a whole.
Declaration of Principles
THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA and THE
WORKERS SOCIALIST PARTY OF THE U.S. hold:
1. That society as at present constituted is based upon
the ownership of the means of liring (i.e., lands,
factories, railways, etc.), by the capitalist or master
class, and the consequent enslavement of the working
class, by whose labor alone wealth is produced.
2 # That in society, therefore, there is an antagonism
of interests, manifesting itself as a class struggle,
between those who possess but do not produce, and
those who produce but do not possess.
3. That this antagonism can be abolished only by the
emancipation of the working class from the domina-
tion of the master class by the conversion into the common
property of society of the means of production and distri-
bution, and their democratic control by the whole people.
4 # That as in the order of social evolution the working
class is the last class to achieve its freedom, the eman-
cipation of the working class will involve the emancipa-
tion of all mankind, without distinction of race or sex.
5 # That this emancipation must be the work of the
working class itself.
g # That as the machinery of government, including the
armed forces of the nation, exists only to conserve
the monopoly of the capitalist class of the wealth taken
from the workers, the working class must organize
consciously and politically for the conquest of the
powers of government, in order that this machinery,
including these forces, may be converted from an
instrument of oppression into the agent of emancipation
and the overthrow of plutocratic privilege.
7 # That as political parties are but the expression of
class interests, and as the interest of the working
class is diametrically opposed to the interests of all
sections of the master class, the party seeking working
class emancipation must be hostile to every other party.
8 THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA and
THE WORKERS SOCIALIST PARTY OF U. S.,
therefore, enter the field of political action determined
to wage war against all other political parties, whether
alleged labor or avowedly capitalist, and calls upon all
members of the working class of these countries to sup-
port these principles to the end that a termination may
be brought to the system which deprives them of the
fruits of their labor, and that poverty may give place to
comfort, privilege to equality, and slavery to freedom.
Those agreeing with the above principles and desiring
enrollment in the Party should apply for membership
form to secretary of nearest branch or local or at
National Headquarters.
SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA BRANCHES
are to be found m
Edmonton, Moose jaw,
Toronto, Victoria, Vancouver,
Winnipeg
* •
WORKERS SOCIALIST PARTY DIRECTORY
Local Boston 12 Hayward Place, Boston
Local New York 5 Sylvan Place, N. Y.
(basement)
Local Los Angeles 149 N. Douglas St.
• •
Activities in New York
Sunday, 8:00 p.m. Lectures, 5 Sylvan Place (basement)
Thursday, 8 :00 p.m. Study Class, 5 Sylran Place (basemeat)
Near Lexington Are., between 120-121 Ste.
Activities in Boston
Sunday, 8:00 p. m. sharp, Forum, 12 Hayward Place, Boston
Thursday, 8*00 p.m., Study Class. "Positirc Outcome of
Philosophy" by Dietzgen at 12 Hayward Place, Boston.
THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA and THE
WORKERS SOCIALIST PARTY OF U. S. are prepared
to furnish speakers for organizations desiring to hear the cas*
for Socialism.
Address all inquiries for arrangement* to 12 Hayward
Place, Boston, Mass.
The fire companion parties bound together by the common
bond of Socialist Determination and Understanding? are :
Socialist Party of Australia
Socialist Party of Canada
Socialist Party of Great Britain
Socialist Party of New Zealand
Workers Socialist Party of U. S.
For further information write
FOREIGN SECRETARY, 12 Hayward Place, Boston, Mass.
**«*% of Texmt
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
Official Organ of the Socialist Party of Canada and the Workers Socialist Party of the U.S.A.
VOL. VI — No. 57
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
DECEMBER, 1939
THE RUSSIAN-FINNISH WAR
AS we go to press, news comes that capitalist Russia
is again on the march. The annexation of nearly-
half of Poland, the domination of Lithuania, Est-
onia and Latvia, and now the military invasion of
Finland are but normal expressions of an expanding
capitalist economy.
The Bolshevik dictatorship, born in the Revolution
of 1917, after a blighted youth, is now a mature,
militant capitalist power capable of challenging its
fellow-capitalist powers for possession of the wealth
robbed from the workers (Russian included) of the
world.
Despite its proletarian pretensions, in the present
world struggles for control of vital trade routes,
natural resources, strategic military bases and exploit-
able workers, Soviet capitalism supports the slaughter
of workers (its own included).
An examination of the Russian-Finnish War once
more confirms these facts.
After an unsuccessful attempt, by negotiation, to
impose a strategic occupation on Finland like that
imposed on the other Baltic countries, the Russian
state resorted to a more direct and "civilized" form
of persuasion, armed invasion.
Let us look at the Finland which Russia so anxiously
attempts to embrace.
HISTORICAL
Capitalizing on the Bolshevik revolution, Finland
declared itself an independent country on Dec. 6, 1917.
A titanic battle ensued within Finland between the
anti-Bolshevik and pro-Bolshevik adherents for the
control of state power. According to the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, "The Finnish Social-Democrats, almost all
Bolshevists, held a majority in the Finnish Diet and
pinned their faith to Moscow. A hastily organized
army of opposition under Mannerhekn proved inade-
quate, so Germany, who hoped to erect a subsidiary
princedom in Finland, sent an army of 12,000. With
this aid the counter revolution, emerged the victor
and proceeded to slaughter, at the least, 15,000 Reds,
4,600 of whom were women and children." Finland
served as a base for armed Allied attempts to get a
"just" PIECE of a weakened Russia. At the Versailles
PEACE conference, Finland was one of the countries
set up as a buffer state to check any possible Russian
expansion.
Since Versailles, Finland has traveled the road of
"the middle way". With land distribution (reminiscent
of the recent Russian measures in Poland) creating
thousands of small property-owners, with manifold
"social security" measures, widespread consumer and
producer cooperatives, and a government called de-
mocratic, the Finnish capitalists helped to lightning
rod the growing consciousness of the working class. .
But the class struggle goes on in Finland as it
does in Russia. There are the rich and the poor, and
the even poorer beneficiaries of "cooperative" relief.
The present call to the Finnish (and the Russian)
workers to defend their "homes and liberties" is a
call to the enslaved to risk their lives for the pre-
servation of their enslavement.
NATURAL RESOURCES
Finland has a population of 3,600,000 and a territory
the size of New England, New York and New Jersey
combined. According to the U. S. Department of Com-
merce, paper and paper pulp make up the principal
industry and 75% of the export income (the total ex-
port income in 1938 was $180,000,000) of Finland.
Certainly the Finnish industries cannot be the main
objective of Russia's war machine. Mining is being
developed among some of the world's richest nickel
deposits by the International Nickle Co. (controlled
by American capitalists) in the Petsamo district, which
has the only year-round ice-free port of Northern
Finland. It is noteworthy that this region is now
the scene of the bitterest fighting of the conflict.
WAR AIMS
The real importance of Finland to Russia is its
geographical position. It has long been an object of
the Russian rulers, even under the Czars, to push
across the northern end of Europe and obtain ice-
free ports on the upper coast of Norway. This would
be greatly facilitated by Russian dominance of Fin-
land. The possession of the Aaland Islands would not
only enable Russia to block the vital German imports
of iron ore from Swedish ports on the Gulf of Bothnia
but also to threaten the important centers of Sweden
itself. The acquisition of Finland would also enhance
the strategic military and economic position of Lenin-
grad, the second largest industrial center of Russia.
For the sake of its profit-making interests at home
and abroad, the Russian masters have sent the work*
ers to war.
SOVIET APOLOGETICS
On October 31, 1939, Molotov, People's Commissar
for Foreign Affairs, in a speech before the Supreme
Soviet said .that Russia required parts of Finland in
order to defend Leningrad, which is only 22 miles from
the Finnish border, within the range of modern long
range guns, and which could be blockaded in the Gulf
of Finland. Using the same logic, England could, and
if her economic interests required, would demand con-
trol of Belgium because she is similiarly at a short
distance from its shores, and could block important
shipping lanes, "In view of this, as well as in view
of the present situation in Europe, it may be expected
that Finland will display the necessary understanding."
Finland did not display the necessary understanding
as far as Russia was concerned. The Finnish capital-
ists, enheartened by Allied and American verbal and
Page 76
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
December, 1939
moral support, could not understand the acceptance
of domination and possible extinction without a
strugggle.
So Molotov spoke again while Russia attacked:
"We are compelled to take immediate measures to
secure the EXTERNAL security of our state/' (em-
phasis ours). The external security of any capitalist
power can only come with the domination of the
entire world! Forgotten is the slogan "not one inch
of foreign soil."
THE WOLF AND THE LAMB
Just as the fabled dialogue between the wolf and
the lamb, the wolf found adequate excuses for the
licking of lamb chops, so the Soviet spokesmen and
their foreign legionnaires in the Communist parties
of the world find sufficient justification for "the world's
leading force for peace" forcing workers to engage in
a slaughter for capitalist conquest.
Just as we were told that the Abyssinian "savages"
poisoned wells and attacked Italian troops; that the
Chinese provoked the Japanese ; and that Polish atro-
cities against Germans wore down the patience of
Hitler, so we are told that Finland, with an army of
400,000 invaded a country with a population of 180
million, covering one sixth of the world's area, and
having' the largest army in the world. The Daily
Worker reports from Moscow (Dec. 1, 1939) that:
"RED ARMY HURLS BACK INVADING FINNISH
TROOPS, CROSSES FRONTIER — ADVANCE 6 to
9 MILES — The Finnish bourgeois-landlord rulers,
incited and supported by world imperialism. . . at-
tacked at two points yesterday morning. They were
repulsed by the Soviet Union which took the necessary
steps in defence of its national interests. The present
Finnish rulers were given the assignment by world
imperialism. . . it must be affirmed that the Roosevelt
administration shares the joint responsibility for
inciting the Finnish. . . to hostile acts."
The capitalist exploiters are shocked; President
Roosevelt is shocked; England is shocked; The Pope
is deeply shocked ; the vultures of the world are shock-
ed — at Russion barbarism. Russia, a modernized
powerful capitalist state, menaces their loot the world
over. After Finland, what next? Bessarabia? The
Balkans? Turkey? China? The world may be de-
manded to safeguard Russia's "EXTERNAL SECUR-
ITY."
The spectre of world revolution haunts the capitalists
of the world. But they need have no fear that Russia
will eliminate their system. Rather, Russia aims to
save the world for State Capitalism. However this
knowledge may be little comfort to the existing ruling
powers who may be "liquidated" by imperialist Russia.
The proof that Russia is no threat but rather a pre-
server of capitalism is found in the program of the
puppet "People's Government of the Democratic Re-
public of Finland" set up by the Soviet Union in a
small town which they had captured. In its declaration,
it states its tasks as "The institution of state control
over large private banks and large industrial enter-
prises and the realization of measures assisting
medium and petty enterprises." A clear cut capitalist
program. Just as in Russia, the worker will be
divorced from the means of production. To live, he
will be forced to sell his labor power for a wage,
which, on the average, is merely sufficient for his
maintenance. Production of commodities for exchange
in the market, money, banks, interest, income tax
laws, inheritance, purges, dictatorship and all the
glories of international wage-slavery will be
perpetuated.
When the Bolshevik Revolution took place in 1917,
The Workers Socialist Party, the Socialist party of
Canada, and The Socialist Party of Great Britain
pointed out that, in view of the historic circumstances,
it could not result in the development of Socialism.
Socialism can only be achieved when the problem of
production is solved and the majority of the workers
are class conscious. These basic prerequisites of social-
ism did not exist then, and are not present now in
state capitalist Russia. The working class should
apply to Russia the same test that should be applied
to Capitalism throughout the world even through it
parades in the name of socialism.
G. G. G.
NOTHING TO DO
HEN Countess Haugwitz-Reventlow, the former
Barbara Hutton, recently arrived in New York
harbor on the Italian liner Conte di Savoia,
she was informed that a picket line of Woolworth
employees was awaiting her.
She petulantly exclaimed to the reporters, "It always
happens to me — that welcome home! I'm tired of
saying I have nothing to do with the Woolworth
stores." (N. Y. Times, Oct. 23, 1939).
She spoke the truth. Although she is a leading
beneficiary of the profits realized in the Woolworth
5 and 10^ stores, having already acquired 45 million
dollars, she has nothing to do with the management
of this concern. In fact, she's never done a day's
productive toork in her life.
While thousands of girls endure the drudgery of
Woolworth employment for from 8 to 15 dollars weekly
(you can't "find a million dollar baby in a 5 and 10
cent store"), the Countess has gained world-wide
notoriety for her spending sprees ; $60,000 for a coming
out party, $2,876,382 for the acquisition of a title
and the Prince Mdivani, $5,000,000 to Count Haugwitz-
Reventlow for a recent divorce settlement, $650 for
the removal of one tooth, $10,000 for the birth of her
child. (See Life Magazine, July 18, 1939.)
That the parasitism of the Countess is not excep-
tional but typical of the members of the capitalist
class is evidenced by the statement of Owen D. Young,
former head of General Electric, who said, "In your
modern business organization of large size we have
completely divorced ownership from responsibility.
Now ownership has little or no relation to the conduct
of business." (Review of Reviews, March, 1929.)
Wake up workers ! Realize that your brains, your
directive abilities, your physical energies when applied
to natural resources are the sole creators of wealth.
You run industry now; why not run it in your own
interest? End the present system which rewards the
parasites and starves the producers.
December, 1939
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
Page 77
The C. C. F. and the Present War
IN our November issue appeared an article dealing
with war sentiment in Canada generally. In this
issue we present the official war policy of • the
Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. (See "The
Canadian Forum" for October, 1939.)
The C C. F. outlines its policy on the war to be
(1) economic assistance overseas, (2) defense of
Canada's shores, (3) no military participation over-
seas, and (4) the preservation of democracy at home.
In support of this policy, the C. C. F. declares
"that its duty, and the duty of every Canadian, is at
all times to secure the unity and welfare of the Can-
adian people. In this crisis we place this loyalty first
without being unmindful of our responsibilities, as a
democratic country, in the present world." Since the
C. C. F., apparently, hasn't yet discovered that the
Canadian people are divided into two economic classes,
the working class and the capitalist class, we take this
opportunity of calling this fact to their attention.
How does the C. jC. F. intend to "secure the unity and
welfare" of these two diametrically opposed economic
groups? Also, exactly what is meant by "our respon-
sibilities"? The working class has no responsibilities
in the administration of capitalism, otherwise described
as "the present world". The real responsibility that
confronts the working class is to introduce socialism.
"The C. C. F. believes that the same struggle for
trade supremacy and political domination which caused
the last war and was perpetuated by the Versailles
Treaty is again the primary cause of the present con-
flict." Inasmuch as the C. C. F. "believes" (in spite
of all the evidence it does not yet know) that economic
factors are the primary causes of war, what becomes
of its claim that the Canadian workers owe "loyalty"
to the economic interests of their Canadian masters?
The C. C. F. bemoans that Canada is in the war
because the people of Canada failed to heed its warn-
ings "that once the principles of the League of Nations
were abandoned and the governments of Europe re-
verted to power politics and secret diplomacy, anarchy
and war would inevitably follow." Further it re-
gretted that "the Canadian people have had no voice
in the foreign policy of the European governments
which has brought us to the present tragic position."
In what respects are the holy "principles" of the
League of Nations, that the C. C. F. cherishes, to be
distinguished from the diabolical designs of the Ver-
sailles Treaty which the C. C. F. condemns?
"The C. C. F. believes that since Canada is now
implicated in the war, Canada's war policy should be
based first on the fundamental national interests of
the Canadian people, as well as on their interest in
the outeome of the war. Canada should be prepared
to defend her own shores, but her assistance overseas
should be limited to economic aid and must not include
conscription of manpower or the sending of any
expeditionary force." (Emphasis their). In their
shamefaced and cowardly support of the present war,
they lack the courage of their convictions. They
fall back on meaningless platitudes that serves to
conceal the admitted economic causes of the war: —
"We consider that in the cause of the Allied Powers
lies a hope of building European peace on a more
secure foundation because, in part at least, the people
of Great Britain and France are waging a war against
aggression", and also for "the survival of democratic
institutions." Under the friendly protection of its
defenders, Canada, England, and France, these de-
mocratic institutions seem to be waging a losing battle
for survival. Witness, the various censorships and war
measures. The British Empire, upon whose territory
the sun never sets, and the colonial empire of France,
have as their foundation a history of aggression that,
in comparison, makes the undemocratic, totalitarian
countries mere tyros.
The C. C. F. has gone on record. Keep in mind
these statements being made by the C. \C. F. now.
Let them not say, tomorrow, that different times and
conditions demand different programs and policies.
The C. C. F. is on trial. History will find it guilty
of deceiving and betraying the working class and its
interests.
Fellow-workers, when you realize that the ONLY
THING WORTH STRUGGLING FOR IS SOCIAL
ISM, you will repudiate the C. C. F. and their ilk
in otker countries.
NONE PROUDER THAN BROWDER
Earl Browder's speech at Symphony Hall, Boston,
on Nov., 5, 1939, evoked plenty of comment throughout
the country. Even the White House took note of it.
No critic, however, rejected the principle expressed
in the following boast by Browder : m
"The Browder family settled in Virginia in the
late 1600's, played an honorable role in carving a
new civilization out of the wilderness, bore arms
against England in 1776 and 1812, and for the
Union in the Civil War, gained honorable mention
in the official History of the Methodist Church of
Kentucky in the earliest day, followed the frontier
until it vanished, was always characterized by
examples of public service, and never abused the
confidence gained from its fellow citizens to amass
private wealth.
"I am proud of my name and of its history, and
in my own modest way endeavor to continue the
family tradition." (Daily Worker, Nov. 6, 1939).
Browder proudly follows in the footsteps of his
ancestors who performed "public service" for church
and state. Going back to the 1600% Browder has
about 2,000 forebears. Can it be there are no skeletons
of tories, villains or horse thieves rattling in the
Browder closet? m
Socialists realize that we do not inherit ideas,
morals or character. Our job is to induce the workers to
get rid of the ancestor worship and its expressions
in blatant Americanism, Aryan theories, and Earl
Browder's boasts.
STARVATION DIET IS INTERNATIONAL
From the letterbox column of the New York Sunday
News, Oct, 29, 1939.
"Larksville, Pa.
So that poor Stuart Rogers family that tried
out a German wartime diet for the New York
Sunday News for a week thinks they would even-
tually starve on Nazi rations.
Well, they ought to try to live on Pennsylvania
relief rations for a while if they want to know
what a real starvation diet is like.
Mrs. J. M."
Page 78
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
December, 1939
The Western Socialist $1000. Publication Fund
OFFICIAL NOTICE
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST is published jointly by the
Socialist Party of Canada and the Workers Socialist Party
of the United States. Subscription, donations and all matters
that are not of an editorial nature should be addressed to
the Workers Socialist Party, 12 Hayward Place, Boston,
Mass. U.S.A. Articles and correspondence for insertion in
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST should be addressed to the
National Editorial Committee, 5 Sylvan Place, (basement)
New York City, N. Y., U.S.A.
Subscript-ion Rates
12 issues (postage included) 75^
4 issues (postage included) 25^
Bundle rates on application
Vol. VI
DECEMBER, 1939
No. 57
"nieriy" Christmas
WHILE the cannons roar and workers die by the
thousands on the battlefields of Europe and
Asia and on the high seas ; in the midst of the
industrial strife — strikes, lockouts, occupational
accidents and disease — here in America as well as
in the rest of the world, Christian "civilization" pre-
pares to celebrate once again the festival known as
Christmas.
Both masters and slaves will gather in their Temples
of Superstition to grovel before a mythical savior and
mouth that most hypocritical of all slogans "Peace on
Earth, Goodwill towards Men."
And, as always, benevolent organizations will
scatter a few drops of sweet charity amongst the
families of those workers who are not fortunate enough
to have exploiters.
The workers, generally, will have an opportunity
to enjoy a brief change from the drab monotony of
life under capitalism. For once they will get a half
decent meal under their belts, and exchange gifts
with one another ; but unless they come out somewhere
near even in the exchange, their stomachs will suffer.
Their Chirstmas stockings will be at least partly filled,
and the grim, constant worry of stretching their pay-
checks far enough will be supposedly suspended until
December 26th.
The capitalists, on the other hand, from those who
profit directly from sales to belligerent governments
down through the various branches of industry and
commerce — not to forget the purveyors of spirits,
(Clerical and Corked) will enjoy a very merry Christ-
mas indeed. For, while the workers slaughter each
other in battle, business, largely as a result of these
holocausts, booms as it hasn't boomed since 1929.
But, notwithstanding the sordidness of the scene
that is presented to us this Christmas, the solution
to it all, socialism, still can be achieved whenever the
workers desire it. The Socialist Party of Canada and
the Workers Socialist Party of the United States
therefore, urge you to study socialism, join our ranks
and help us speed the day when this unattainable
ideal under class society — "Peace on Earth, Goodwill
towards ,Men" — will become the normal behavior
throughout the year.
There exists an emergency need for publication
funds. The continuance of this journal, at the present
moment, depends upon your financial contributions:
We urgently appeal to you to : —
1. CONTRIBUTE THE MOST YOU CAN
SPARE.
2. CONTRIBUTE IMMEDIATELY.
3. SOLICIT YOUR FRIENDS FOR CON-
TRIBUTIONS.
Send all remittances for Publication fund to:
Charles Rothstein f Circulation Mgr.
12 Hayward Place,
Boston, Mass.
All contributions will be acknowledged.
DONATIONS ACKNOWLEDGED
Previously acknowledged $113.00*.
A. P. (San Francisco, Cal.) $5.00; A. F. (Roxbury,
Mass.) $1.00; Local Boston, W. S. P.) $20.00; M. K.
(Brockton, Mass.) $2.00; B. F. (Los Angeles, Cal.)
$1.00; F. J. (Roxbury, Mass.) $1.00; Local New York,
(W. S. P.) $2.00; L. M. (Roxbury, Mass.) 50c; C. L,
(Victoria, B. C.) 50c; H. M. (Somerville, Mass.) 50c;
W. H. (Winnipeg, Man.) $2.00; I. R. (Boston, Mass.)
25c; A. P. (San Francisco, Cal.) $3.00; S. K. (Dorch-
ester, Mass.) 50c; D. S. (St. John, N. B.) 25c; G. G.
(Chelsea, Mass.) 25c; E. S. (Dorchester, Mass.) 25c.
— TOTAL $158.00.
♦Through error $128.00 in November issue.
ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENTS
We urge the reader of THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
to be very critical of its contents. Do not hesitate to
write us for further information or regarding matters
with which you disagree.
We welcome your correspondence. Mail all inquiries
to National Editorial Committee, 5 Sylvan Place (base-
ment) , New York City, N. Y.
LOCAL BOSTON FORUMS FOR DECEMBER
Dec. 3 — DEBATE: Should The Workers Go To War To
Defend The U.S.A.?
Aff. American Action Associates (Gatt, Morrisey)
Neg. Workers Socialist Party (Robertson, Martel)
Dec. 5 — DEBATE: Is Soviet Russia A Capitalist State?
Aff. Workers Socialists Party (G. Fredericks)
Neg. Revolutionary Workers League (S. Okun)
Dec. 10 — LECTURE: Origin And Nature Of Money
(H. Morrison)
Dec. 17 — LECTURE: The Russian-Finnish War
(G. Fredericks)
Dec. 24 — LECTURE: Socialism Utopian And Scientific
(M. Kadish)
Dec. 31 — LECTURE: Happy New Year (I. Robertson)
December, 1939
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
Page 79
\i
HAM AND EGGS
it
CALIFORNIA has just experienced a unique
election, the chief purpose of which was to vote
on the "Retirement Life Payments", more pop-
ularly known as "Ham and Eggs". Had it become
law it would have amended the State Constitution and
created a number of things, including an increase in
chaos and confusion. All citizens with reasonable
residence qualifications, having reached the grand old
age of fifty years, and being neither employer nor
employee were to receive thirty One Dollar Warrants
each Thursday. Each week a two-cent stamp, pur-
chased with cash, would be affixed to the back of the
warrant. At the end of the year, such warrants bearing
fifty-two stamps, ($1.04) would be redeemed with one
dollar in U. S. currency. All the customary wooly-
mindedness of monetary reformers was exhibited with
a few new touches. The scheme required that the
banks "create" money, either by having the govern-
ment print it for them (currency) or by making
"fountain-pen" money (loans). It was claimed that
the "new purchasing power", the "Ham'n'Egg"
Warrants would circulate rapidly because of the ex-
penditure of two cents a week that would be required
to maintain their validity, thus producing a quick
turnover making for general prosperity. There would
be "more business for the business man and more
work for the workers".
Realistic business men, fearing inability to restock
their shelves emptied overnight through this snow-
storm of paper, discovered snags in this plan for an
economic millenium. These bales of purchasing power
would not only be unacceptable to the banks, but
would be of no value outside the state, even if by some
legerdemain, not yet discovered, they were to prove
a good medium of circulation within its borders. What
these business men were interested in was real busi-
ness, the sort that would stand up in capitalist
economy. Intelligent capitalists, and the churches,
which did not want their collection plates filled with
fancy paper instead of real money, realized more or
less vaguely that their "order of things" could not
stand two different kinds of "purchasing power" try-
ing to function side by side in the same area. The
press, radio, and pulpit were harnessed to denounce
this proposition as a menace, with the result that the
Amendment was overwhelmingly defeated at the polls.
Economic Insanity
Existing side by side is depression and unemploy-
ment on the one hand and shortage of ready cash on
the other. This gives rise to the illusion that the
shortage of money causes bad times. What seems
necessary, thar^fore, is to manufacture new and more
money and prosperity will return. This desire to
increase the money in existence gives rise to all sorts
of inflationary schemes, such as the "Ham 'n Eggs"
every Thursday, Aberhart's Social Credit movement,
Dr. Townsend Plan, Father Coughlin's 16 points, etc.
This additional money, it is alleged, will increase pur-
chasing power because it is believed that by increasing
the amount of money a person has, his ability to
purchaselgoods is thereby increased. The fact is that
during boom times there is actually less currency in
circulation but it circulates far more frequently. There
only appears to be less currency during slumps because
it exchanges less often.
The basic flaw in all these money schemes is the
failure to understand money which is a measure of
value and a standard of price. Qnly the socially
necessary labor time wrapped up in the commodity
can determine its value. Increasing the number of
yardsticks (money) necessary to measure goods
(values) cannot increase the quantity of value. It is
obvious that if the yardstick is reduced to 25 inches, it
does not lengthen the article being measured though
it requires more yardsticks to measure it.
Though purchasing power of money may be regul-
ated temporarily by the conditions of the market,
such as supply and demand, it can not be legislated by
either the California State Government or the Supreme
Court. It can never wander too far away from the basic
value of commodities. Economic laws, just like natural
laws, are not governed by statute books. One might
just as well propose that the voters register their
sentiments at the ballot box for standard and regular
times for tides in order to boost business for the sum-
mer beach resorts.
The workers possess only one commodity, their
labor power. The money form of this commodity is
called wages. Its value is subject to the same lawi
as all other commodities. So far as the workers are
concerned all that "purchasing power" means, in the
Jong run, is sufficient food, clothing, and shelter to be
efficient slaves.
"Purchasing power" seems to be a most vital question
because we live in a buying and selling society where
all activities are reduced to a cash nexus. In reality
the real problem confronting us is the question of
ownership.
Education Difficult but Necessary
Among those who campaigned for the "Ham'n'Egg"
Amendment were the Communists, still hewing to the
"United Front" line of the Party (Dimitroff had not
yet given his call for its "liquidation" and the creation
of a new front with left wingers only) . To them the
important thing was not whether the proposition was
economically sound but whether it was a "progressive
issue", and from their viewpoint it was ; it represented
the desire of a large mass of the people, and they are
all for mass movements as we are well aware. The
Communists were joined in this endeavor to save suffer-
ing humanity by drowning it in paper by various
stripes of radicals from old time "Wobblies" — ghosts
of a former glory — to certain "Socialists" of the
( Boy-we-studied-Marx-bef ore-you-were-born-type. )
To these people capitalism is rotten, and something
has to be done (meaning anything) . It does not occur
to them that i* miffht bo a firood thingf co eittiiU sLlll
for a moment and look at the matter calmly and
objectively. When this is suggested the speaker is set
down as a reactionary, or an academician who studies
capitalism in the same way that a professor of ento-
mology studies bugs. "You don't want to end the
damned thing — you just want to see what it will do
under certain conditions." "Marx is a little old fashion-
ed, don't you know! The new "purchasing power" has
been worked out by engineer-economists (whatever
Page 80
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
December, 1939
they are!) right here in Southern California. No
foreign notions for us, no sir ! We don't need to
bother about studying Marx." They are tired of books
— wasted their time for forty years on theory. Now
they want action ! This action, which they want, or
at least support, is a crazy notion of increasing wealth
for everybody by means of merging the engraver's
art with the operation of a printing press.
In a city which not only can boast of a greater
number of orthodox churches than any other place in
America, but can also rightly lay claim to the greatest
variety of "psychologies", "Isms", "Up-lifts", "Out-
thrusts", "Flaming altars", "Lamps of Light", "Self-
realizers", and boot-strap hoisters generally, gathered
together in one place for the edification and purse-
string loosening of the weary retired pilgrim from the
great corn belt, the difficulty of maintaining clear-cut
propaganda may be realized.
Much education will have to be indulged in before
the workers will fully comprehend the fact that they
and the capitalists have nothing in common. In time
they will understand that capitalism alone is the enemy,
not some piece of it, but the system as a complete
economy — that this system can never be reformed
in the interest of the workers. Not by new money, but
through understanding and the conscious effort of the
nation's majority will this system, and its hair-brained
"Engineer-economists", pass into the limbo of forgot-
ten things.
Los Angeles Local, W. S. P.
BETTER LOOK INTO THIS
SIX
' — What did you tell that man just now?"
1 — I told him to hurry."
' — What right have you to tell him to hurry?"
1 — I pay him to hurry."
1 — How much do you pay him?"
( — Four dollars a day."
■ — Where do you get the money to pay him?"
1 — J sell products."
' — Who makes the products?"
( — He does."
■ — How many products does he make in a day?"
'—Ten dollars worth."
■ — Then, instead of you paying him, he pays you
dollars a day to stand around telling him to hurry."
£ — Well, but I own the machines."
■ — How did you get the machines?"
' — Sold products and bought them."
' — Who made the products?"
! — Shut up ! He might hear you !"
TRUE CONFESSION
The former head of the U. S. Marines, General
Smedley Butler says, "I spent thirty-three years and
four months in active service as a member of our
country^ most aerile military farce — the Marine Corps
— and during that period I spent most of my time
being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for
Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a
racketeer for capitalism. Like all members of the
military profession I never had an original thought
until I left the service. My mental faculties remained
in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of
the higher-ups. The record of racketeering is long.
I helped purify Nicaragua for the international bank-
ing house of Brown Bros, in 1909-12. I brought light
to the Dominican Kepublic for American sugar in-
terests in 1916. In China in 1927 I helped to see to
it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."
("You Can't Do That" by George Seldes, p. 184.)
Why A Capitalist Is Depressed
THE hope of the capitalists is often frustrated by
forces over which they have very little or no
control. Among these forces will be found those
of supply and demand. An overabundance of a par-
ticular commodity often spells ruin for the capitalist.
An example is to be found in an editorial in the New
York Sun of November 4th, 1939, entitled "World
Wheat Piling Up", which states:
"A bulletin issued on October 30th by the Bureau
of Agriculture Economics made the somewhat
depressing declaration that the largest carry-over
of wheat in the history of the world is in prospect
for 1940. It is estimated that the surplus will
reach 1,200,000,000 bushels on July 1, 200,000,000
bushels more than the aggregate carry-over of
July 1, 1939."
The rest of the editorial points out that there is
little likelihood that this enormous surplus of wheat
will be reduced to any considerable extent because of
the war in Europe, or that the domestic growers of
wheat can hope for similar conditions to those prevail-
ing towards the end of the war of 1914-1918, when
world supplies were relatively small and prices rela-
tively high.
Two things interest us most in the above quoted
editorial. First, the editorial writer's own view that
this abundance of wheat is "somewhat depressing",
and secondly, the inference that many growers of
wheat see in the European slaughter an opportunity
to make profit. Both attitudes are typical of capitalism
and its cynical indifference to the sufferings of the
working class. That millions of our class need this
wheat for their sustenance apparently does not "de-
press" the journalist. His depression is caused only
by the effect this abundance will have upon price and
profit. That millions will be slaughtered and maimed
on the battlefields of Europe does not concern the sell-
ers of wheat; their concern once again is price and
profit.
The Socialist has long pointed out the ability of
our present social system to produce wealth in an
ever greater abundance. No other period in mankind's
history has shown such ingenuity in that field of human
endeavor. Each increase, each new facility in wealth
production has also brought in its train greater
economic insecurity, and has made more conspicuous
the great contradiction of widespread poverty in the
midst of plenty.
In a society organized intelligently, such increases
in wealth production would be welcome as added means
to satisfy human needs, and each device and mechan-
ism that increased the flow of wealth would be hailed
with joy. In short, the efforts of society would be bent
upon satisfying the needs of its members by the intel-
ligent use of whatever means were at hand. Capitalism
is the antithesis of this.
S. F.
New York Local, W. S. P.
December, 1939
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
***te
WPA STRIKES
KARL MARX, in his writings, predicted that some
day the capitalists would have to take care of
their slaves; that they would be forced to feed
and otherwise keep alive an ever increasing army of
unemployed workers. Modern capitalism has fulfilled
this prediction with a vengeance.
In this era of chronic depression millions of workers
are forced to remain idle. Their mental and physical
energies cannot be utilized in a society based upon
production for profit. These unemployed workers and
their dependents must be either left to starve or be
given a handout in the form of a dole or work relief.
Handouts become the order of the day because the
exploiting class cannot kill the goose that lays the
golden egg._ Furthermore, it is impossible to place
these millions of workers in cold storage until they are
again needed. The problem of what to do with these
"useless" slaves would be rendered much simpler to
the capitalist class if a few million were killed off in
a war. (It must be remembered, however, that the
capitalist nations do not wage wars with the object of
getting rid of the unemployed.)
The following "solution" was actually proposed by
John D. C. Weldon in the Magazine of Wall Street,
Dec. 1935, who said, "Ten million potential workers
and a total of possibly 30,000,000 people are outside
the circle of work, production, and income. They are
not only a burden — they are an economic loss — to
speak with grim realism, the country would be re-
latively prosperous if they were annihilated."
One of the mockeries of capitalism is that in the
midst of this growing reserve army of un-
employed, there exists a shortage of skilled workers.
This is quite conspicuous in Great Britain and Germ-
any. Only this month the N. Y. Times has been carry-
ing British advertisements for skilled engineers.
Thousands of industrial workers and farmers are being
shipped into Germany. Even in the United States,
there exists a shortage in many trades, notably air-
planes, shipbuilding, and toolmaking.
Experience demonstrates that the old method of
private charity can no longer cope with the conditions
resulting from widespread unemployment, and thus
the government is forced to administer relief. Though
many capitalists oppose relief expenditures by the
government as "wasteful extravagance" "harmful to
business', and that vague abstraction, "demoralizing
the recipients", unfolding events compel the capitalist
class, through its executive committee, Congress, to
hand out a dole. Buying off the discontent of hungry
workers is more efficient than maintaining an
enormous police force or employing other repressive
apparatus to keep the workers in subjection. Disorders,
riots, and possible insurrections of desperate workers
are thereby averted.
Despite the realization by the property owners and
their political representatives of the effective role that
government-sponsored work relief and welfare play in
the continuance of the status quo, their efforts are
directed toward the reduction of the cost of relief.
Economy measures are pushed in an effort to reduce
the amount of dole paid welfare recipients and work
relief employees, tending to bring the payments down
to the bare subsistence level. Added to this is the old
attempt to discourage the taking of welfare by placing
a moral stigma thereon. The most recent application
of this policy manifested itself in reduction of the
rolls by quota cuts, extension of the work month to
130 hours, pay slashes and "30-day starvation fur-
loughs." These, together with the red tape, and the
contemptuous attitude adopted toward welfare clients
and WPA workers, are the typical methods employed
to rid the relief rolls of idle workers. The result of
these constant harrying attacks is to impair the pre-
carious and already too low economic standing of the
workers.
The tendency is to drive the standard of living
towards and below the subsistence level. Yet, at the
same time, for obvious reasons, they must see to it
that this standard of living does not fall below the
starvation level. There does arise, however, a point
where the workers must and do resist. Through their
limited WPA unions and unemployed organizations
they attempt to withstand the pressure. This deter-
mination not to submit is inevitable and is the result
of necessity and experience. Success can and has been
obtained for the limited objective of resisting this
pressure. Resistance has taken on various forms of
activity including mass demonstrations, delegations,
work stoppages, and strikes. In regard to the A, F.
of L. strikes on the WPA in July 1939, there arises
an interesting situation. The capitalist government
ruling the U. S. A. refuses officially to recognize
strikes on the part of WPA workers on the trumped-
up grounds that "the people" can not strike against
themselves. F, D. Roosevelt said, "You can't strike
against the government." This statement becomes
absurd in the face of the antagonism between workers
and capitalists.
The real objection by capitalists to strikes of this
kind is that they indicate a tendency that may develop
into a threat to the capitalist state. This situation
can be compared to the sit-down strikers disregard for
private property. Though it is not a clearly formulated
threat to the capitalist system, it does constitute a
definite measure of loss of respect for the sanctity
of the state. Confronted with these WPA strikes, the
New Deal government loses some of its glamour and
"benevolence." The F. B. I. investigations, threats of
arrest, removal from jobs, and the barring of home
relief to WPA strikers betrays the real character of
the New Deal. Whenever it becomes necessary, the
capitalist state, as employer, confronting recalcitrant
workers, is quick to strip off the velvet glove and
wield its naked iron fist.
In view of this fact, it become apparent that
victory for the working class depends upon control of
that power, the state, which now strives to keep the
workers in subjection and attempts to allay their dis-
content by offering them work relief and doles, which
are, as other reforms, insufficient. The capture of
"state power", rather than the resisting of "state
pressure", must become the ojective of the workers.
The concessions in the nature of reforms given to
the workers under capitalism may temporarily alleviate
but will never eradicate the misery of the working
class. The continuation of capitalism with or without
relief will only serve to perpetuate the hardships and
suffering of the workers, both employed and unem-
ployed. Capitalism has to have relief in order to exist.
Ridding society of capitalism with its inevitable un-
Page 82
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
December, 1939
employment is the only solution. It can be seen that
no amount or variety of reform will ever be able to
abolish the workers' discontent. On the day that this
discontent becomes crystalized into socialist under-
standing, we will see the end of capitalism and all its
evil effects.
PETER MARTEL
LEADERS LIMITED
Part II
IN reviewing the considered deficiences of the
Darwinian theory we have no intention of going
on record assuming that the man Darwin is alone
responsible. His disciples and collaborators must
shoulder their share of the guilt. Coming into the
arena later, and having more data at their disposal,
it would be reasonable to expect them to improve the
premise that had been introduced. Instead we find a
more bewildering trail at the end than they found at
the beginning of the journey.
Alfred Russell Wallace, who is credited, and rightly
so, with being the co-discoverer of natural selection,
had sense enough to see the grave limitations of the
theory, and in order to cover up the shortcomings,
was forced to resort to "ectoplasmic" selection. The
kosher Darwinists are never tired of castigating
Wallace for his "spookalogical" connections, but in-
stead of being berated, he ought to be commended'
in his discernment of the fact that, as promulgated,
the theory was not strong enough to stand by itself.
Better far to call in the spooks and give them a hand
in the game than to incorporate the mysticism in a
supposedly scientific system. Science and metaphysics
should be kept in separate compartments.
Herbert Spencer, too, was not quite so obtuse as our
sciolists contend. When he got to the end of the
scientific chapter he dubbed all the rest — "unknow-
able". This was a big improvement over considering
it within the limits of the explainable and then gum-
ming the works. Spencer's greatest error was in
being too sparing in defining the dimensions of his
no man's land. He might well have enlarged it to
include most of his own sociological studies, much of
his philosophy, and even some of his biology as well.
Ernst Haeckel is another of our shining lights in
the field of science who managed to detour from the
road to knowledge. He did not term his limitations
"unknowable", nor did he attribute cosmic changes
to the pranks of spirits. But he did, successfully to
himself at least, smear the Almighty with daubs of
matter that consciously think and act. He worked out
an artful method of explaining what happens by
injecting a force that has no communion with the world
of reality.
These names from the register of science do not
represent the spurious contenders, and crackpot
smatterers, who infest the walks of learning and who,
through the weeding process of "anno domini", have
been explained and exposed. They are names of out-
standing thinkers of their time and who, even at this
late date, are quoted and regarded as being eminently
fitted to prove how cause and effect operate in the
physical world. They are recognized authorities in
the tasks they essayed, and even though their con-
clusions may not all be acclaimed by modern students,
their contributions to the stock-in-trade of science can
neither be ignored nor belittled.
To understand how species and genera graduate
from one to another we must be able to get back
beyond the later variations and into the intricacies of
the life process itself. If we start here on a secure j
foundation, where simplicity of matter and form pre-
vails, then the more complex deviation further along
the scale can be better recorded. As materialists we
must seek a basis independent of religious and meta- I
physical forces. Material factors alone are essential, I
and, to be dialectical, the synthesis we form must rest I
on these alone.
The simple elements can well become our point of 1
departure. As there are close to one hundred of these
primal units known to men today and as all forms of I
matter, both organic and inorganic, are composed of
these elements in varying numbers and combinations, I
the material basis desired is readily supplied. We
do not have to go through the torturous mental process I
of devising ghosts or goblins to perform the task.
No particular form of matter contains all the ele- I
ments. The simpler forms are made up of a lesser
number, and the more highly developed of a greater I
number of elements. These basic units of matter do
not call conventions, organize credential or steering
committees, nor pass resolutions to do the things that
they do. They are forced to function by inexorable
external pressure. Their surroundings coerce them I
into expansion, contraction, and chemical combination,
and life is the outcome of the balance between these \
factors. Simple enough, and yet the key to our under-
standing.
Darwin, in his researches, did not revert to a primal
source in order to prove his theory of growth or change.
He makes his debut at domestic variations and con-
sequently, leaves behind the threshold much material
indispensable to the proper appraisal of the life pro-
cess. Haeckel, too, although he attempted a general
outline of the forms of life, from the single cell to the
complex organism known as man, never grasped the
significance of the means by which the changes were j
accomplished. Without a knowledge of the mechanism I
the meaning. of the metamorphosis is lost.
Both Darwin and Haeckel attributed the changes to I
the influence of variation, but the causes of this factor I
in their day were not known. Variation, natural selec- I
tion, survival of the fittest, and even struggle for
existence are all vague, incomplete and ambiguous
terms unless, and until, we are able to view them in I
proper perspective. This cannot be successfully attain-
ed without establishing a genuine materialist basis
emanating from a knowledge of nature's laws. Granted
this, we can soon dispense with metaphysical elves to
carry the ball to the enemy's line — and we can do it
ourselves.
j. a. Mcdonald
*****
The prime cause of all social changes and political
revolutions are to be traced, not to the heads of men,
not to their increasing perception of "eternal truth
and justice", but to the changes in the method of
production and exchange; they are to be traced, not
to the philosophy, but to the economic® of the respec-
tive epochs.
Socialism, Utopian and Scientific
k
December, 1939
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
Page 83
WHO'S NEUTRAL?
THE repeal of the embargo on the sale of munitions
of war to belligerent powers is an accomplished
fact, and yet the picture, as far as the working
class is concerned, has not changed. The working
class is still forced to sell its energies for wages
sufficient for subsistence only, just as it was forced to
do before and after the fight over the Supreme Court
Bill, before and after the Reorganization Bill, before
and after the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Bill, and before
and after every single measure adopted or defeated
in the interest of the capitalist class.
Neutrality — the fact might as well be faced — is
a grim joke. What counts, first, last, and always, is
Profit. Under the camouflage of high-sounding human-
itarianism, the whole question was fought and settled
on the same old basis of the almightly dollar. Once
again, it is the job of the workers who have a clear
understanding of the forces at work in society to dispel
the illusions created by the spokesmen for the world's
rulers.
Just as certainly as there is a physical material
reason why an electric lamp goes on and off when a
controlling button is pushed, so there is a definite
reason why wars are fought. That reason serves no
working class interest.
It would seem unnecessary to sing the same old
tune with the same old words again, but such, un-
fortunately, is not the case. The workers have still
to realize the fundamental fact that as long as there
i is capitalism there will be war and that neither war
nor capitalism are in their interest. Military wars
fought on the grand scale are but the hugely magnified
scene of two push-cart peddlers coming to blows over
a particularly well-trafficked and profitable street
corner. No one in his right senses would suppose that
the two petty tradesmen were engaged in a contro-
versy over self-determination, democracy, or the state
of their respective livers. What they want is the sweet
music of minted coin jingling in their jeans. Yet
transfer the identical situation to the world scene
where, by virtue of its magnitude, one would suppose
that the true picture would become all the more ap-
parent, and we find that the opposite has taken place.
Instead of a crystal clear understanding, confusion
results, in direct ratio to the size of the scene of oper-
ations. A good solid groundwork for dispelling some
of the illusions is the realization that a possible thirty
percent return over his investment is not calculated
to make a member of the capitalist class neutral. But
mention of percentage, it will be noticed, is conspicuous
by its absence in debate on neutrality.
Relying on the amazing capacity of the working class
to forget, spokesmen for the masters of society have
from time to time unburdened themselves of some very
incriminating testimony. Examined in the light of
events in the history of the capitalist system, the simon-
pure idealism, professedly motivating the actions of
the capitalist class, suffers by comparison with this
testimony. The following is an example:
"What do we all seek? New outlets for an
ever-increasing commerce and for industries
which, producing far more than they can con-
sume or sell, are constantly hampered by an in-
creasing competition. And then? Why! New areas
for trade are cleared by cannon shot. Even the
Bourse, for reasons of interest, can cause armies
to enter into campagn." — Marshal Foch (United
Service Magazine, December, 1918) •
Why the "even" Marshal?
But let it not be assumed, despite the hypocritical
verbiage gushed in the name of neutrality, that the
capitalist class favors war as a means of attaining
its ends. On the contrary war, in the sense of military
force, is undertaken only when all other means have
failed. For war means the expenditure of wealth
which might otherwise be gainfully employed in the
form of capital, wreaking its normal toll from the
sweat of the workers. No sound is sweeter to capitalist
ears than the sound of capital wreaking normally.
But if the master class dislikes war, the slave class
should like it even less. If they are fortunate enough
to survive the rigors of battle, they have served only
to enrich their masters; if they perish, they enrich
the soil. Little enough comfort in either case.
The sum and substance of the matter is that in this
question of neutrality neither the working class nor
the capitalist class has an even chance to be neutral.
By virtue of their very class position they are forced
willy-nilly to be unneutral. For wherever the tentacles
of capitalism reach there is ceaseless war and the
opposing factions are in every case the same, working
class against capitalist class. Whether there is ap-
parent peace on the battlef ronts of labor against cap-
ital or whether there is open warfare, the argument
for neutrality is phonier than the proverbial gold-
brick.
Wherever in the world the master class may send
out its slaves to do battle, the interest of the working
class has not changed. That interest is the capture
of state power by a socialist majority; it is the interest
of the slum dwellers who face each other from opposite
sides of No Man's Land; it is the interest of that
toiling mass of humanity, the proletariat, spawned
only to die in another's battle; it is a revolutionary
interest.
In this greater war, where there can be no neutrals,
the camps are always lined up, though there be no
division of troops. The great masses of the workers
do not know the real enemy. The pitiably sparse ranks
of the workers who are conscious of their class position
need recruits. They are the ranks of scientific
socialism, the fighting ranks which will put an end to
captalist war and class war.
Those who fight elsewhere fight for the enemy.
ALLEN
FOR THE LOVE OF THE LORD
The November issue of The Western Socialist (p. 68)
commented that the legal action which the Canadian
government is threatening against the 75 Ontario
ministers who signed a petition opposed to this and
all other wars was another example of religious free-
dom. The article warned that "it is just possible that
unless the wayward wanderers repent and return to
the path of righteousness, they will have their nose-
bags taken away."
The St. John N. B. Evening Times-Globe of Nov.
20th reports that the good Christian Rev. Dr. J. S.
MacGlashen would not be satisfied with such mild
measures as legal action or removing nosebags. He
declares "Let them (the 75 Ontario ministers) betaken
out at dawn and shot like other traitors, there is
hardly a virtue in having patience with arrant traitors
to the highest cause on earth and in heaven."
Page 84
THE WESTERN SOCIALIST
December, 1939|
SHOULD THE WORKERS FIGHT
FOR REFORMS?
A debate on the above subject was held at Local
Boston headquarters on Sunday, Nov. 26th., be-
tween the Workers* Socialist Party and the
Independent Labor League of America (Loves-
toneites).
Chester Bixby of the I.L.L.A., upholding the affirm-
ative, maintained that socialism cannot be achieved
by workers steeped in the worst depths of poverty,
and therefore reforms are beneficial to the workers.
Fighting for reforms gets workers into organizations
where they can be spoken to; teaches them the need
for political action ; and creates the militant working
class necessary to achieve socialism. He alleged that
by ignoring reforms and merely talking socialism the
W. S. P. fails to hasten the revolution.
Comrade Muse, of the Workers Socialist Party, in
his main address, showed that agitation on the part
of the workers for reforms, arises from the mistaken
notion that their problems can be solved within capital-
ism. Advocating reforms gives support to this false
idea. Using as an example the social legislation of
the New Deal, he demonstrated that reforms cannot
halt the worsening of working class conditions. Inas-
much as reforms are political measures designed to
patch up the present system (quoting numerous
capitalist sources in confirmation) our object, the over-
throw of the system, is not furthered by fighting for
them. However, on the economic field, Socialists must
band together with other workers for the common
object of fighting for better wages and working con-
ditions. He concluded by showing that the only solution
to the problems of the workers is the seizure of political
power for the sole purpose of establishing socialism.
Mr, Bixby, in his rebuttal, claimed that his organ-
ization wanted socialism just as much as the W, S. P.
He admitted that reforms are necessary to bolster up
capitalism. He maintained, however, that at the same
time the workers do benefit from these sops. Citing
the Wagner Labor Relations Act as a method of get-
ing" workers organized, he claimed that a measure such
as this can be used by the workers in obtaining still
further reforms. He . said that the I.L.L.A. seeks
elective office only as a means of allowing successful
candidates to challenge capitalism and "get thrown
out on their ears" ; otherwise the ballot is futile. He
praised the W. S. P. for its valuable socialist educa-
tional work and regretted that organizations to which
he had belonged did not carry on this work. In
conclusion he stated that because socialism is not in-
evitable and requires organization, reforms are neces-
sary to give us that essential toe hold.
Comrade Muse in rebuttal questioned the opposition's
continued support of reforms in spite of their proven'
futility. Rather than fostering a militant working
class, they lead to apathy and disillusionment. He
pointed out that one of the first applications of the
Wagner Act (the only specific reform mentioned by
Mr. Bixby, despite repeated challenges) was the jailing
of workers for alleged violation of it. Although work-
ers must accept reforms, fighting for them is wasted
energy for they must still choose between capitalism
and socialism. He referred to the ballot as the only
available weapon in the hands of the workers at the
present time. Although these "visionaries" ridiculed
the ballot as a scrap of paper, they fail to present any
other practical means of achieving power. They in-|
volved themselves in contradictions by claiming that
the working class, through the franchise, can force thel
capitalist class to make concessions, yet will be unable,^
to achieve socialism by the same means, when a de-'
termined majority. The fault is not with the ballot \
but with the fact that the working class, at present!
insists upon using it in an attempt to reform f|
capitalism.
In the final five minutes allotted to him, Mr. Bixby \
repeated his assumption that socialism can only be
achieved by a working class with a relatively high!
standard of living ; therefore the necessity of fighting |
for reforms to get this standard.
The Western Socialist 1
can be purchased from leading newsdealers everywhere. If |
you are unable to obtain THE WESTERN SOCIALIST!
from your dealer, please notify us.
READ SOCIALIST LITERATURE
Socialism $ -0^8
War and the Working Class 01
Why Capitalism Will Not Collapse 051
Principles and Policy of S.P.G.B J
Czech Crisis 03*
Conscription OSj
Chamberlain and the Labor Party Criticized 0S1
What's Become of the Russian Revolution (Yvon) ... .251
The State and the Socialist Revolution (Martov) 25j
Bolshevism (Sprenger) .15|
Reform or Revolution (Luxemburg) . . . 2^
The Theoretical System of Karl Marx (Boudin) 1.25|
Positive Outcome of Philosophy (Dietzgen) 2.00|
Anti-Duehring (Engels) 2.001
Feuerbach (Engels) . 6(m
Origin of the Family (Engels) 60|
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (Engels) 251
The Revolutionary Act (Engels) 15|
Crises in European History (Bang) 151
How the Gods Were Made (Keracher) 15|
The Right to be Lazy (Lafargue) 101
The Evolution of Property (Lafargue) 6C
Social and Philosophical Studies (Lafargue) 60j
Causes of Belief in God (Lafargue) 101
The Religion of Capital (Lafargue) 1C
No Compromise (Liebknecht) 1C
Marxism and Darwinism (Pannekoek) 1Q|
Free Trade (Marx) .is!
Letters to Kugelmann (Marx) LOOM
The Civil War in France (Marx) 25p
The Eighteenth Brumaire (Marx) 601
Revolution and Counter Revolution (Marx) 60 1
Capital, Vol. 1 (Marx) 1.001
Capital, Vol 2, 3 (Marx) — Each 2.50|
The Poverty of Philosophy (Marx) 1.251
Wage-Labor & Capital (Marx) .10|
Economic Doctrines of Karl Marx (Kautsky) 75 J
Value, Price and Profit (Marx) .251
The Communist Manifesto 051
Science and Revolution (Untermann) 60 J
Order all literature at 12 Hayward Place
Order from Literature Agent
WORKERS SOCIALIST PARTY
12 Hayward Place Boston, Massachusetts!