f^mm^mMB^: CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 091 731 368 M* 3. SrmiMm, S 4jS, Sugar Mun, 3^a, Cornell ilr LIBRARY Martin P. Catherwood Library School of Industrial and Labor Relations B Cornell University fj Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924091731368 .^^21^^^=. 1912 THE GREATEST SOCIALIST FIGURE IN THE WORLD SINCE KARL MARX AND FREDERICK ENGELS DANIEL DE LEON THE MAN AND HIS WORK A SYMPOSIUM Properrv o1 UARTIN P CATHERWOOp LIBRARY INOUSTRll^LAHD LABOR fiElillONS Cornell University ILLUSTRATED National Executive Committee Socialist Labor Party 45R«S BOOK I. 1C12J) In Memoriam, Rudolph Schwab Reminiscences of Daniel De Leon, Henry Kuhn ... 1 Daniel De Leon — Our Comrade, Olive M. Johnson 85 BOOK II. With De Leon Since 89, Rudolph Katz 1 To His Pen, Chas. H. Ross . 167 Daniel De Leon— The Pilot. ¥.'R.QvaTm&[ .... 169 De Leon — Immortal, Sam J. French 173 Daniel De Leon — An Oration, Ch. H. Corregan . . 177 Index i-xv Property of *" \ 'vURTIN P. CATHERWOOD LIBRARY NEWYORKSTATESCHOOLOF IH0U$TRIAL AND LABOR RELATIONS Qornell University ILLUSTRATIONS BOOK I. Daniel De Leon, 1913 facing title page Daniel De I,eon, 1886 " page 3 Facsimile First Number Daily People . " " 26 Henry Kuhn 1 " " 63 De Leon's Sanctum Sanctorum ... " " 96 An Intimate Portrait of De Leon . . " " 100 1*87 Ave A, New York " "103 De Leon's "Dining Room" .... " " 134 BOOK II. Daniel De Leon, 1903 facing page 1 "The De Leon Villa" » » 43 The Barn Back of De Leon's Home . . " " 74 Daily People Bldg., 3-6 New Reade St. " " 85 De Leon's Summer Playgrounds ... " " 106 De Leon's Home at Pleasantville, N. Y. " " 138 Daniel De Leon, 1913 " "159 Daniel De Leon, 1904 " " 167 IN MEMORIAM BY RUDOLPH SCHWAB. Let not the muffled drum, nor slow and solemn knell, Mourn for our comrade who has passed away; Nor rain hot tears upon his mortal clay. Furl not the flag, nor let your sorrow swell. Let not your dull and dismal dolour dwell; — The International! Come comrades, play! Salntel The scarlet standard raise today I He served, he led; he served and led us well. Catch up bis flaming torch and hold it high! Forward! The dizzy heights are yet unsealed; Roll drums! Close ranks! March on I Resume the roadi We cry not out for help, we need no goad; Ere ebon night to silver dawn has paled Our scarlet standard from the peak shall fly. BOOK I. The Working Cla&s is THE tMng. It must effect its own emancipation. Who- ever is not of the Working Class owes to that Oass whatever advantages of educa- tion he has enjoyed. It shouM be his pride to bestow such acquisitions upon the Worldng Class. If he affects disdain for it, then has ac^isitions are worthless, and be is in the Movement only to exploit it —DANIEL DE LEON. REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON LEADER - TEACHER — PATHFINDER HENRY KUHN Foracr Nalioaal Secretary, Socialist LaWr Party af Aaeriea INTRODUCTORY When, on Saturday, September 14, 1918, our National Sec- retary, Arnold Petersen, urged upon me that I undertake to add to the present volume such of my reminiscences during the period of my close association with our late comradct Daniel De Leon, as I considered of value as a contribution to the history of the Sodalist Labor Party, I was at first taken aback. I knew what that meant in point of reseaich, in gather- ing again the mass of material that had passed through my hands during the formative and most stressful period of the Party's existence and I also felt that, not being able to give to so important an undertaking a measure of time ample enough to insure painstaking performance, I would have to rely, ex- tensively, upon the indulgence of the reader, the more so since I can not, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered an historian, either by others or by myself. However, the idea once implanted did not let me rest, but continued to revolve in the mind. I realized that the time isr perhaps, not far distant when that which I can say now, as well as the material I can yet gather and preserve in print, for such use as our movement might be able to make of in the future, could not perhaps be said and gathered any more and might be thus lost forever. Accordingly, 1 made an effort to free myself, for a short time at least, from all other work and bend to the task, hoping that, wherever I might fall short in regard to the manner and form of presentation, the reader might find compensation in the substance presented. Inasmuch as this is to be, chiefly, a narrative of the ac- tivity in our movement, and of the effect produced upon that movement, of the most notable man the movement has pro- duced, and only incidentally a narrative of the intimate asso- ciation that existed for so many years between him and my- self, I have endeavored to adhere closely to the text, deviating 2 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. therefrom only when considerations of historic accuracy made it necessary to refer to matters on -which we were fated to dif- fer in spite of otherwise undisturbed and harmonious rela- tions, both official and personal. i It has not been an easy task to do justice either to the man or to the subject. For one thing, De Leon has not gone hence long enough to give all of us the proper perspective of his life and of his work; and, for another, the men and women of his own generation can not, in the nature of things, per- ceive always the full effect his life and his work have had and yet will have upon conditions, political, industrial and social. As the imposing figure of De Leon recedes into the past, and as the further evolution of our social system will add to man- kind's experience and produce new viewpoints, in that meas- ure will the effect of De Leon's work come out clearer and ever clearer. Today, we may be prone often to fail in distin- guishing between cause and effect. A more distant historic perspective will bring out the one and the other, and, when that time has come, an abler hand may undertake to present to the world the true worth of the man as well as the true significance of his work. But such as this present effort is, it must needs be accepted, and it is herewith submitted to the jury of the readers. Brooklyn, N. Y., October IS, 1918. HENRY KUHN. DANIEL DE LEON WHEN.HB FIRST ENTERED THE LABOR MOVEMENT 1886 PART I From 1886 to 1896.— Make-up of Early S. L- P. De Leon's Entrance into the Party. — * 'Bor- ing From Within". — Formation of S. T. & L. A. and Endorsement of Same by S. L. P. Forerunner of Industrial Unionism. My earliest recollection of De Leon dates back to the year 1886, the days of the Henry George campaign and of the "Na- tionalist" movement, a collectivist movement that had sprung up after the pulblication of Edward Bellamy's "Looking Back- ward," a book that stirred up not a little interest in those days and that was industriously s{>read by all who took a more than passing interest in Socialism. De Leon delivered a lecture on some subject connected with that Nationalist move- ment and I had gone over to New York to hear him. Of the lecture itself I have today no recollection whatever, but the lecturer, how he spoke and how he looked, all that I can con- jure up before my mind's eye as distinctly as though it hap- pened yesterday. A portrait of De Leon, published in the 2Sth anniversary souvenir of the Weekly People, depicting him as he looked at the time of his entrance into the Socialist movement, corresponds precisely with the mental picture I have of him when he delivered the aforesaid lecture; if that portrait be made part of this volume, it will greatly enhance its value and be an aid to the reader. It will be observed that, on this picture, De Leon wears a stiff collar; when I got to 4 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. know him better, a few years later, he had emancipated hini- self in that respect and he remained in that state ever after, while the rest of us continued the slaves of convention in the matter of wearing collars. In 1889, the seat of the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Labor Party having been transferred from New York to Brooklyn by the national convention held 'in Chicago that year, the Party's agitation was, naturally, directed from that point. The then National Secretary was Benjamin J. Gretsch, a young Russian law student, and I remember well the day when Gretsch, at one of the meetings of the body, proposed that we arrange an agitation tour with De Leon as the speaker. This tour, undertaken in 1891, and extending as far west as the Pacific coast, brought De Leon over to our meetings, first before he started and again when he had re- turned, and we had, besides, his frequent and comprehensive reports while en route. An Exotic National Committee To my mind, that tour was the begrinning of the change that was to transform the Socialist Labor Party from the body it was then, into the body it became later, the two be- coming more unlike each other as time went on. With the advent of De Leon, a powerful intellect and a masterful and commanding personality was brought to bear upon what was at first a decidedly peculiar situation. Looking backward over these many years, in the light of all that has happened since, and in the light of all I myself have learned, I can not today help thinking that we, the then N. E. C, and the entire Party for that matter, must have looked rather quaint to a man like De Leon. Gretsch and I were, sometimes (as the com- position of the body happened to change), the only ones on that committee able to speak English. Correspond- ence in that "foreign" tongue, unless dealing with simple rou- tine matters, had to be "explained" to the rest of the mem- bers. They were full of devotion to the cause as they con- ceived it, many of them were excellent men in point of char- acter, but they were strangers in a strange land, called upon to handle a situation the potentialities of which they had no REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 5 way of understanding or of meeting. It is true, they under- stood their own organization, because 99 per cent, of that was composed of men like themselves, but what could be done with and could be made of that organization, all that was to them a book with seven seals. S. L. P. Chooses "De Lconite" Secretary A few months after De Leon had returned from that tour, Gretsch resigned his office to take up the practice of law and, for the reasons outlined, the mantle descended upon mc. There was hardly any one else in sight; it was a case of being the "logical" candidate. Well do I remember the misgivings I entertained as to my ability to fill the office creditably, but all reluctance was finally swept aside by the urgings of my co-members on the committee. Little did I know then what the coming years 'would have in store for me and how the con- dition of comparative complacency, then prevailing, would change to one closely resembling a running battle with scarcely a breathing spell between different actions. I took office in September, 1891, and, from that time on, came into ever closer personal contact with De Leon, learning to know him per- haps as intimately as one man may know another. I was then just beyond 32 and De Leon was 7 years my senior. He a man of broad education, of much experience in life, of great in- tellectual force, whose active and comprehensive mind rapidly digested the new experience he was gaining through his con- nection with the Labor movement and, who, thereupon, force- fully reacted upon his environment. I, on the other hand, a proletarian, taken from the workshop and put into an office, still plastic, eager to learn, with some ^practical experience in the Labor movement, both in its economic and in its political phases, having gone through the Knights of Labor during the palmiest days of that order as a member of the Bookbinders' Union and having been, for several years past, a member of the S. L. P. A voracious reader, I had, since 1883, read what Socialist literature I could get hold of, in both English and German, and I shall never forget my first reading of the Com- munist Manifesto and the impression it made upon me. 6 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. De Leon Instrument of Providence Naturally, the influence upon me by a mind like De Leon's was great and did much to shape the entire course of my life, the more so since that influence was constant for over 20 years of close co-operation through the storm and stress, the endless difficulties and the incessant struggles of the Socialist movement of America. Indeed, no sentient human being could have escaped being influenced by a personality such as De . Leon's. His vast knowledge, made mobile and available by a virile mentality, the purity of his motives engendering a flawless devotion to the movement, his absolute fearlessness and steadfastness in the face of whatever might befall, never wavering, never faltering, never perturbed, no matter what disappointments, setbacks and difficulties the troubled waters of the Labor movement might cast ashore, he was, indeed, a tower of strength. It was as though Providence had first shaped and then selected him as an instrument to hold aloft the banner of the Social Revolution at a time and during a pe- riod when, seemingly, no one else could have so held it. And, coupled with these rugged characteristics of the leader, the forerunner, the pioneer of a new Social Order, were the more human characteristics of the man, the friend, the companion, the husband and father. Sunny of disposition, kindly, vivaci- ous, always ready with an anecdote or a jest, which latter he had to "get out of his system or 'bust'", as he often used to say, Daniel De Leon, the man, certainly was a being far dif- ferent from the horned and hoofed fiend his enemies used to depict him when, in their incessant assaults, they could find no vulnerable spot in his armor and were compelled to resort to that style of warfare. The maxim, "If you can't beat yout foe, call him names," is as old as the human race and is always new; perhaps it always will be. Still "Boring From Within" But, even to an intellect like De Leon's, the Labor move- ment was a new problem wherein he had to get his bearings, more especially as to its economic phase. Thus, during the next few years, 1891-1894, we see that strenuous efforts were REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 7 made to inocculate the trade unions of the land with Socialist revolutionary principles by means of a method designated in those days as "boring from within." These efforts were made in the local unions, in the local central bodies and, through these, it was sought to carry the revolutionary propaganda into the national conventions of the American Federation of Labor, as well as of the Knights of Labor, In regard to the former organization, these efforts culminated, in the early 90's, in the election of Lucien Sanial as the dijegate of the New York Central Labor Federation to the annual national convention of the American Federation of Labor, at Detroit,. Mich. It must here he borne in mind that Section New Yorfc S. L, P., was represented in the C. L. F.; that Sanial was the Section's delegate to that body; that the C. L. F. chose him as its delegate to the Detroit convention of the A. F. of L., with the openly understood and expressed purpose of carry- ing the propaganda of Socialism into the latter body. The capitalist henchmen, dominating that body, knew precisely what he had been sent for and the issue was clear. Sanial made a memorable fight in that convention on the question of his admission as a delegate, but his credentials were rejected. K. of L. Invaded De Leon, on the other hand, carried the fight into the Knights of Labor. To the present generation of readers, some brief explanation must be made to make the situation intelligible to them. The Order of the Knights of Labor was an organization originally quite different from the American Federation of Labor, in organic structure as well as in underly- ing principle. It was founded by a set of men who, however deficient in understanding of our social fabric according to present day standards, had a purpose higher and purer than the A. F. of L. ever laid claim to. They really wanted to organize the working class as against the capitalist class, not only the skilled crafts but all of the working class, skilled and un- skilled, with a decided tendency to go after the unskilled first on the theory that they needed organization most. There ex- isted in the Order a distinct revulsion against the craft union spirit and, in a crude and groping way, the/ had hold of the 8 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. germ of the idea of industrial unionism, as far as that was pos- sible in those days. I remember well the zeal and devotion of some of these men and their earnestness, being myself a mem- ber during the 80's and coming in contact with some of the leading spirits in the then famous D. A. 49, the most radical of the "District Assemblies" as the local central bodies of the Order were called. A healthy class instinct animated them and, to paraphrase a familiar saying, "They were on the way, though they didn't know where to go." Often have I mused what might have been had the S. L. P, of 1899 existed in 1883, had it been possible to instil into that fermenting mass the spirit and the knowledge the S. L. F. of 1899 possessed, backed by the power and material resources then at its command en- abling it to transmute class instinct into class consciousness. At one time the Order had a membership far beyond the million mark, but capitalist influences, scenting the rising dan- ger, had provided the antidote by the formation of the Amer* ican Federation of Labor, in 1881, and the incessant fight it had carried on against the Order had told. But that alone would not have mattered so much had not these same capital- ist influences carried the corroding poison of corruption into the Order. Its management had slipped out of the hands of the element that had founded it and a set of crooked politi- cians, headed by one Terence V. Powderly, as General Mas- ter Workman, was at the helm. Thus, when De Leon entered the order, via D. A. 49, the organization had long ago passed its zenith and was on the downward part of the curve. But it still had respectable numbers and, with all the vim of his energetic personality, De Leon set to work to clean out that nest of fakers. He beat Powderly and made him quit, only to see him rewarded with a political job by the capitalist class he had served so well. He beat Powderly's successor, a fel- low named James R. Sovereign, but it was found in the end that the whole fabric of the organization was rotten to the core and nothing could be gained by capturing what had been reduced to a nest of crooks. S. T. & L. A. Formed Then came the next epoch in the development of the So- REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 9 cialist movement of America, the formation of the Socialist Trade and. Labor Alliance. Right here, it is necessary to note, for the sake of his- toric accuracy, that in all this prodigious work, from its very beginning back in 1889, down to the year 1902, r>e Leon had been ably and chiefly assisted by two men; Hugo Vogt, a for- mer student of jurisprudence, whom the Bismarckian anti- Socialist laws had exiled from Germany; and Lucien Sanial, in his younger days a French naval officer, who had long been active in the Socialist movement, first in France and, later, for many years in America. Sanial was De Leon's senior by about 18 to 20 years, while Vogt was about 7 years younger than De Leon. Of the two, Vogt was perhaps the more able and certainly the more efficient, partly because of mental at- tributes and also because, being himself a German, he was in a position, up to 1899, to wield considerable influence within and upon the many German trade and other labor organiza- tions which, in the very nature of things in those days, had to serve as a fulcrum whenever the S. L. P. lever had to be ap- plied to dislodge some obstruction in the path of the revolu- tionary movement. Sanial, lacking this advantage of position, was, nevertheless, a valuable man. An effective and fluent speaker in English, despite his atrocious French accent, a writer of clear and forceful English, a man who had quite a reputation as a statistician, in physique broad-shouldered, heavy-set, of venerable appearance, he was the very antithesis of the rather undersized, frail and young:ish-looking Vogt. Sanial certainly was a good third of the De Leon-Vogt-Sanial team. Vogt, cool, calculating, logical, and wielding a force- ful tongue and pen; Sanial, though old enough to have been Vogt's father, more mercurial in temperament, optimistic often to a fault, often inclined to be visionary, easily impressed with this scheme or that to advance the cause, but for all that al- ways stable in his fealty to that cause. This rapid sketch of the two men is here inserted for the reason of the part they will play in these pages up to a certain point, and, for the further reason of preparing the reader's mind for the astounding later developments, in the course of which both gave way under the terrific strain the movement 10 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. imposes upon men who have to stand in the fbreach, so to speak. These two of the tri-partite team succumbed; the third, De Leon, like a rock jutting out into a raging sea, breasted the dash of the angry waves until the grim reaper, death, laid low the mortal part of him; his other part, that which. in the language of Sam French can not, will trot and did not die, is immortal and will be with us as a living foice as long as the struggle for human emancipation will go on, is influencing our thought and action today and will continue to influence countless other human beings yet unborn. Factors Three Returning from this digression to the subject in hand, and taking up again the thread of the narrative when the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance was about to be formed, several fac- tors must now be borne in mind. One is that the backbone of the new organization was D. A. 49, K. of L. This District Assembly pulled away from the rapidly crumbling parent body and helped to form the S. T. & L. A. It furnished per- haps the best and the cleanest element of its component parts, the one least affected by tendencies to be described later. It was largely an English-speaking element. Another factor that entered into the situation was the Central Labor Federation of New York, a local central body largely composed of German "progressive" unions and these often dominated, overtly or covertly, by influences not always friendly to the new departure and becoming less so when, in the course of time, the revolutionary posture of the S. T. & L. A. became more marked and, correspondingly, more in- convenient to this element. The origin of the Central La- bor Federation goes back to the year 1886, and was the re- sult of a breaking away from the utterly corrupt and faker- led Central Labor Union, a body so rotten and stenchful and so honeycombed with caipitalist political influences that, to use a phrase of Artemus Ward, it was entirely "2 mutch" even for the none too clean "progressive" unions which had fakers of their own aplenty. But the membership in these unions, still to an extent under the influence of the traditions of the movement in Germany, made it advisable and even REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 11 necessary for the "'progressive" faker to be more careful and not ply his dirty trade as openly as did his prototype in the C. L. U. In the C. L. F. fakerism was still an excrescence, to be hidden if possible, and to be explained and apologized for if it came to light; in the C. L. U. it was innate, shamelessly open, part and parcel of its very being. Moreover, the mate- rial interests of these two sets of fakers often clashed, the C. L. U. set being prone often to disregard entirely those of the "Dutchmen." To the two foregoing factors must now be added a third, somewhat loosely connected with the other two, namely, that swarm of "progressive" organizations, forming a sort of comet's tail to the "progressive"' movement, singing societies, sick societies, burial societies, cremation societies, fire insur- ance societies, athletic societies (so-called Turn Vereins), and so on ad infinitum, their membership partly middle class but chiefly working class, the latter portion dovetailing closely into the various unions of brewers, bricklayers, waiters, mu- sicians, framers, carpenters, cabinet-makers, pianomakers, bak- ers, etc., etc., that made up the C. L. F. De Leon's fertile mind invented and added thereto the pretzel varnishers and the horse-tail scrubbers and, while these had no real exist- ence, they nevertheless were instrumental in causing a near- assault upon him at one of the later meetings of the New Yorker Volkszeitung Publishing Association, after the fight was in full swing and the temperature had risen rather high. An irate "progressive," deficient in sense of humor, shook his first in De Leon's face, was shoved back none too gently by him and, rushing back at him again with evil intent, had to be tapped on the nose by an innocent bystander. No one can understand the situation then prevailing, un- less aware of the existence and understanding the significance of these three factors and then adds to them a fourth, the New Yorker Volkszeitung, a daily newspaper professedly Socialist, and serving as the bond that connected the factors two and three. For the sake of historic accuracy it must be noted that there were three other bodies that joined the new organization, a small central body in Brooklyn, called the Socialist Labor Federation, a sort of offshoot of the New 12 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. York C. I. U., the United Hebrew Trades, located in old New York, and a small central body in Newark, N. J., but these -did not materially affect the general situation here depicted, neither of them being "factors" in the sense described. The Brooklyn and the Newark bodies were composed of the same elements as was the New York C. L. F. and ran in the same rut in a different locality. The U. H. T., on the other hand, was not strong enough in those days greatly to affect the complexion of the Alliance as a whole. Immediately upon the formation of the S. T. & L. A., op^posi- tion began to raise its head, at first rather unde- fined and impalpable, but taking shape and coming out into the open after the national convention of the S. L. P., held in 1896', had endorsed the S. T. & L. A. What is here rapidly sketched embodied, of course, an enormous amount of work of which De Leon had an ample share. He was in- defatigable, speaking, lecturing, organizing, both in the trade unions and in the Party, both locally and elsewhere, aside from 'his work as editor in chief of The People, the official Party organ, his efforts ably seconded by the two men al- ready mentioned, Sanial and Vogt. Labor Faker An Indigenous Product At this juncture, it is well again to digress a little and throw a backward glance at what the Party organization had been doing and how it had been faring in the meantime. This was .my specific field and to it I had devoted almost my en- tire attention, taking a hand only now and then in the work on the economic field. The Party organization had developed wonderfully, the number of local "Sections" having increased from 113, in 1893, to 200 in 1896, with a membership increase that sent us close up to the 6,000 mark. The Party's vote showed marked increases where we had been in the field be- fore, and newly-formed Sections, in many parts of the coun- try, had raised the political standard and had added to the total figures. The strikingly able manner in which De Leon conducted The People, attracted to the movement many strong men who, ill turn, reacted upon the building up of the organiza- REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 13 tion. The People had become a paper admired, respected — and feared by such as had reasons to fear it. De Leon knew the American labor faker to be one of the most serious ob- stacles in the path of the revolutionary Socialist movement and he dealt with him accordingly, camping on his trail, ex- posing his crooked capitalist connections and thus conveying to the duped rank and file the needed warning. The capital- ist atmosphere in the United States, productive of rich pick- ings in politics and in industry, breeds the labor faker as a swamp will breed mosquitoes. During an election campaign, the capitalist politician will "shell out" in exchange for labor organization "endorsements" even if he knows them to be worthless as vote producers, while on the industrial field strikes may be threatened, may be called and may be settled; labels and union "stamps" may be granted and may be with- held, all of which furnishes endless opportunities for the labor crook to feather his own nest at the expense and over the back of his rank and file. All of this is rather self-evident and would scarcely deserve mention were it not for the bane- ful effect that condition has upon the general Labor move- ment and, necessarily, upon its revolutionary wing as well. New York City has, during the last thirty years or so, furnished another striking example of the indigenous growth of the American labor faker. At the time when, due to the industrial expansion of Germany the immigration of work- ers from that country began to slow up, a heavy Jewish im- migration began to set in, tending to transform or at least t» affect, vitally, the character of the city's population. Jewish unions were formed in great number and numbers, a Jewish central labor body arose, the United Hebrew Trades, which body became the incubator of a set of labor fakers second to none the country over. De Leon understood this condition, he knew what it meant and that it must be fought day in and day out, merci- lessly, without let-up, never balking at reiteration if .reitera- ation would drive the important lesson home to the rank and file. With the labor faker as an American "institution," De Leon has dealt exhaustively and scientifically in his "Two Pages from Roman History," a pamphlet based upon two 14 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. lectures delivered by him in New York, one that no serious student of the American Labpr movement should be with- out and, indeed, should know by heart. S. L. P. Endorses S. T. & L. A. Under such conditions did the S. L. P. enter upon its ninth national convention of 1896. That convention marked another milestone in the Party's development towards ane»er clearer perception of its true mission in the Labor move- ment of this country. Having grown to a state of maturity, it took a step which, in 1893, would have been impossible. The newly-founded Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance was en- dorsed with the clear understanding of what this step im- plied; that it meant a declaration of war against the "pnie and simple" trades unions of the land, typified by the Amer- ican Federation of Labor, the erstwhile powerful Knights of Labor having in the meantime almost vanished from tbe field. At the convention, the subject was introduced by Vogt, leading off, on Monday, July 6, with a carefully prepared speech which, in substance at least, is to be found in tbe "Proceedings of the Ninth Convention of the Socialist Labor Party," and De Leon then followed by introducing the reso- lution of endorsement, the "Resolved" part of which read: "That we hail with unqualified joy the formation of the So- cialist Trade and Labor Alliance as a giant stride towards throwing off the yoke of wage slavery and of the robber class of capitalists. We call upon the Socialists of the land to carry the revolutionary spirit of the S. T. & L. A. into all the organizations of the workers, and thus consolidate and concentrate the proletariat of America into one class-consd- ous army, equipped both with the shield of the economic or- ganization and the sword of the Socialist Labor Party bal- lot." The opposition, what there was of it in the convention, did not put up as much of a fight as might have been expected; it was overwhelmed, not alone in numbers, but also in t>oint »f ability and forcefulness displayed on the side of the tlus time truly progressive element. When the vote was taken, it stood 71 in favor of the resolution and 6 against, with- one REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 15 delegate not voting. It Is interesting to note that even such a dyed-in-the-wool labor skate as one G. A. Hoehn, of St. Louis, caved in and voted in favor of taking that revolution- ary step forward, though, no doubt, never for a moment in- tending to live up to his vote. But for all that it had been a battle royal, the speeches made setting forth clearly the new road the Party was to journey on. Sanial and Vogt took a ■»ery prominent part in that debate and De Leon's effort, closing the same, was particularly brilliant. Gold and Silver in 1896 Tha political situation of that day was interesting and was also decidedly hot. The capitalist forces had, at the out- set of the Presidential campaign, divided along the line of the creditor and debtor divisions of capitalist interests, the for- mer waving the "full" dinner-pail, while the latter allegedly objected to the crucifixion of mankind "on a cross of gold." The Republicans, headed by McKinley, stood for the main- tenance of the gold monetary standard, objecting strenuously to the cheapening of money, which they clearly saw would result if the Democrats, headed by Bryan, were successful in foisting upon the country the free coinage of silver at the proposed ratio of 16 to 1, i. e., at the ratio of 16 ounces of silver to 1 ounce of gold. The Populist Party had, inciden- tally, been swallowed, hide and hair, by the Democratic Party when Bryan raised the free silver standard and became their joint nominee for President. The free silver craze, an eco- nomic absurdity flying in the lace of the very cornerstone of Socialiist economics, the law of exchange value, had to be combatted by us and we had thus to occupy a rather difficult position, appearing to the igfnorant as though we were sup- porting the position of the pro-gold-standard Republicans. The work of that campaign imposed heavy burdens upon De Leon who, with speech and pen, had to maintain the Party's position under these difficult conditions, in addition taking upon himself the candidacy for Member of Congress, in the old 9th Congressional District, where he conducted a very vigorous campaign and polled a vote of 4|300, PART n From 1896 to 1906. — Enemy Machinations against Parly Policy.^— Kangaroo Outbreak. Kanglets Imitation of Same. — Formation of I. W. W. Formulates Policy of Industrial Unionism. The election over, the internal situation of the Party or- ganization again required attention. The opposition against the Party's trade union policy began to show signs of pos- sessing some degree of organization in a greater measure than had been the case theretofore. In a country like ours, where, to a greater extent than elsewhere, the capitalist class is dependent for its political dominance upon working class votes, it is by virtue of that fact and by the very instinct of self-preservation impelled to watch closely any attempt, on the part of any portion of the working class, that may be menacing to capitalist interests. We may safely take for granted that the steady growth of the S. L. P. did not escape its attention; likewise we may take for granted that the po- tential dangers of that growth were fully understood and ap- preciated; and, ditto, we may take for granted that appropri- ate steps were taken to dispel that potential menace as far as Gould be done. What dark lantern work was resorted to in engaging the leading actors of the conspiracy against the Party, and to egg on their semi-conscious or wholly uncon- scious camp-followers, will probably never be known. The conspiracy soon took shape, however, manifesting itself, at first, in more or less concerted assaults upon the REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON, 17 Party's policy in local organizations, then in ever more con- certed attempts to have that policy reversed by forcing one general vote after the other upon the Party organization, and, when all this failed, by an open attack in the editorial columns of the New Yorker Volkszeitung, which paper, quite naturally, became the rallying point of the conspirators. By the time the Volkszeitung editorial attack was made, things had already come to a head and the fight was on in earnest. Tommy Morgan at Buffalo Concurrently with this work of mining and sapping within the Pa;rty organization, the same kind of work was carried on in the C. L. F., the rather rotten filling in the warp of the S. T. & L, A. Open conflict with the C. L. F. was hastened when, in a Labor Day souvenir issued by that body, advertisements of capitalist politicians appeared, and when the body itself could not be made to take a decided stand against the enterprising fakers who had engineered that soit of thing, the fight was carried into the national convention of the S. T. & L. A. held, in 1898, at Buffalo, N. Y. Both De Leon and I were delegates. To have some sort of counter- weight against De Leon who, as the fakers well knew, was after their scalps, they had secured Thomas J. Morgan, of Chicago, a man who had evoluted froiii a machinist into a lawyer, a rather queer personality, as vain as a peacock and known all over the country as Tommy I. I. I. Morgan, which modification of his name he had earned by the constant re- iteration in his speeches of the personal pronoun, first per- son, singular. He had some reputation as a speaker and writer and had acquired further fame as the introducer of the famous "Plank 10," embodied in the program of the A. F. of L. at the Detroit convention, utterly disregarded by the of- ficialdom of the organization and then knocked out at the next convention, at Denver, Col. Morgan was a Socialist "too." His "Plank 10," calling for the collective ownership of the means of production, was to transform the A. F. of L. into a Socialist body, not all at once but bye and bye, which explains that Tommy Morgan was the possessor of a robtist optimism and withal a rather unsQphisticated man, provided 18 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. we assume that he believed what he professed to believe. Mr. Morgan did not cut a very heroic figure at Buffalo. He had a bad cause (or case) to defend and he knew it; moreover, he had De Leon to contend with, as a counter- weight to whom he was rather too light in the head. The con- spirators had a narrow margin of votes in their favor, yet were powerless to do much with it. A running fight ensued, but before the convention adjourned De Lean was compelled, for some imperative reason, to return to New York. Before he left we held a council of war at which it was agreed that, whenever the majority tried to put through some crooked motion bearing upon the fight, which naturally meant at- tempted exoneration of the fakers, I was to move to refer such matter to a general vote of the membership. That was done. I made the necessary motions; Comrade Jacob Alex- ander, of Albany, N. Y., seconded them. The situation was such that the majority could not hold its vote together to op- pose such motions, some of their adherents not daring to vote against, the result being that every such motion was car- ried to so refer. After that convention the S. T. & L. A. and the C. L. F. parted company. Prior to that convention, the Volkszeitung clement and its co-conspirators within the Party used to ac- cuse us loudly and lengthily for harboring in the S. T. & L. A. such scamps as they declared that C. L. F. leading element to be. After the convention, all sins being forgiven, both these elements promptly fell into each other's arms and joined forces against the Party. The struggle was on. Taxation Taxes Party Patience The supreme test was soon to come. The situation pre- sented several elements that must now be made clear. When, as has already been mentioned, the New Yorker Volkszeit- ung began to attack the Party's trade union policy openly in its editorial columns, The People, of course, hit back and a rather interesting polemic ensued. The Volkszeitung, anxious to raise dust to obscure the real issue, had injected into the controversy a side issue, namely, the question of "taxation," claiming that the working class is made to pay taxes out of REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 19 its wages and that, inferentially, the working class was, for that reason, interested in the taxation policies of the capital- ist political parties. This position was vigorously combatted hy De Leon, as the. editor of The People, and by Vogft, the editor of the German Party organ, the "Vorwaerts." De Leon, in an editorial article under the caption: "Sign-Posts That Will Have to Guide the Party for the Safe-keeping of a Daily People," and published in The People of April 2, 1899, sum- med up the entire register of Volkszeitung sins committed up to that time. The Volkszeitung now felt the pressing need o£ addressing itself also to the English-speaking portion of the Party's membership, so as to make clear to that portion the beauties of its taxation position. Accordingly, there appeared, on April 29, 1899, a sheet ^signaled as the "Monthly English Edition of the New Yorker Volkszeitung," which, in the course of time, came to he known as the "Taxpayer" for short. The paper opened vnth an address "To the Members of the Socialist Labor Par- ty," which related all the grievances the Volkszeitung had by this time accumulated, and for the rest it was given over en- tirely to an exposition of its taxation position. Silly, vapid. Inane, labored, much of it in rather curious English, it was a success as a contribution to the humorous literature of the day, but it also angered the Party. To get that sheet into the jtands of the Party membership, the Volkszeitung had cooly fliade use of the mailing list of The People and, when taken to task about that, it claimed, with equal coolness, 'that it had a perfect right to do so. With this view the Party, of course, disagreed emphati- cally and an acrimonious controversy ensued. To understand Itow the Volkszeitung had access to and could use the mail- mg list of The People, it must be observed that, under an agreement made in 1891, when The People was started, the "Socialistic Co-operative Publishing Association," the cor- poration that owned the Volkszeitung, printed the paper and ia return received the revenue derived from its sale. The same arrangement, entered into at a later date, existed in re- gxrd to the German Party organ, the "Vorwaerts." In the •ctKoxse .flf tile aforesaid controversy, a situation arose that 20 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. finally caused the National Executive Committee of the Party to submit to the membership, for a general vote, the question: ".Shall the Party sever all connections between it and the So- cialistic Co-operative Publishing Association; continue, through its National Executive Committee, the publication of its or- gans, The People and Vorwraerts, and demand from the said Association the unconditional surrender of all property be- longing to the said organs, including their respective mailing lists and the amount of subscriptions paid Jn advance?" The Volkszeitung was now at the parting of the ways. Repudiation by the Party was staring it in the face and the situation, from its point of view, was growing desperate. At the very outset there was no doubt how that vote would go and, as returns began to come in, speculation as to the out- come became certainty. The aforesaid call for the general vote, accompanied by a. statement that set forth the succes- sive developments that had taken place, was issued on June 6, 1899, and the vote was to close on August 1 of that year. For the Volkszeitung, time was both short and precious; ac- tion of some sort had become imperative. Kangaroos Break Loose The fight that had raged for some time past now became still more intense. In the National Executive Committee there was just one loose wheel, a man named Stahl who, an out and out Volkszeitung supporter, tried to obstruct where he could or thought he could but was powerless to do much more than just nag and irritate. But elsewhere the conspira- tors were better represented and they put up as vigorous a fight as they could. We fought in the Assembly District or- ganizations of Section Greater New York, we fought in the Volkszeitung Publishing Association, we fought in the local unions of the S. T. & L. A., we fought everywhere with ton- gue and pen, De Leon always leading, always in the thick of it, yet always cheerful, always full of resource, never falter- ing, never dispirited. It was then often said of him that he would rather fight than eat. Finally, after the contending forces had, on July 8, 1899, collided in actual physical con- flict, at a meeting of the General Committee of Section Greater REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 25 New York, came the culmination of the struggle on July 10, 1899, in the shape of an unsuccessful midnight raid on the Party's national offices, then located in the building of the Volkszeitung, at 184 William street. To enter here into the details of that memorable conflict would lead me too far afield. These details have been set forth, exhaustively and documentarily, in the "Proceedings of the Tenth National Convention of the Socialist Labor Party," to which the student of Party history must be referred. That midnight raid of July 10th was no mere riotous outburst. Far from it. It was premedidated, had a definite purpose and was based upon a theory. This was the theory: On Sun- day, July 9, 1899, there appeared in the Volkszeitung a call for a fake General Committee meeting of Section Greater New York, to be held next day. At this meeting the con- spirators gathered and proceeded to "depose" all Party of- ficers, local, state and national. Then they "elected" a new set of "officers," whereupon, after gathering numerous and promiscuous re-enforcements, and, after providing these with sundry weapons, they came down to the Party headquarters demanding surrender of what they claimed was theirs. They got "theirs." After the fight was over, it was De Leon's coolness under stress, his commanding personality, his knowl- edge of our legal status, that saved the Party's property and foiled the raiders. It is true that, in expectation of the raid, we had removed all we could and thought essential, but enough was left to have made valuable booty for the foe. We, who had fought fiercely in that midnight battle against thrice our numbers, were either wounded or exhausted. He had been planted at his desk, his room securely barricaded and when a squad of police, guns in hand, arrived and stopped the fight, it was he who took the situation in hand. He showed the officer in command that we were in lawful possession, that we had been assailed and he demanded that the invaders be thrown out. They were thrown out. Cleansed Party Wins Legal Battle The abortive coup de main at once cleansed the Party in New York of the disloyal element. Having come out in the 22 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON, open, it could be dealt with and was promptly ejpcted. Hence- forth, these men had to carry on their fight against the Party outside of the breastworks and that fight then took shape in a variety of forms. To begin with, the Volkszeitung at first succeeded in obtaining a temporary injunction against the members of the N. E. C, the purpose of which was to prevent them from publishing The Pfeople: Next came attempts to lay hands on Party funds through various litigations. They sought to confuse the working class of the land by setting up a counterfeit S. L. P., with a counterfeit The People. In its application for an injunction, the legal exigencies of the case were such that the Volkszeitung was estopped from including in its petition the real editor of the real The People, De Leon, who was thus left free to hammer the foe to his heart's con- tent. And, oh, how he did hammer that foe I Reading The People of those days is an education in itself. In this protracted legal battle, the Party finally won out all along the line. We won out in the injunction case and did not go to jail though we came very near it at one time, so near that the Volkszeitung, in a premature but very triumphant news item, announced that we would have to go to the lock-up; we won out on the bal- lot contest and preserved our name and emblem in New York State; we beat them when they tried to lay their claws on funds that had been gathered by the Party for a Daily People. No doubt there were powerful influences at work behind the scenes that favored a different outcome, but the conspiracy's methods had been too raw, its procedure too illegal, to make possible its being upheld in court with- out establishing precedents that would, at one time or .other, recoil upon the established political parties of capitalism whenever they might have a "family row." In the light of subsequent events, it is not without inter- est to quote an utterance of the New Yorker Volkszeitung of a much later date which illustrates the true attitude of that sheet towards the revolutionary Socialist movement. In its issue of September 2, 1909, more than ten years after the fu- tile attempt to disrupt the S. L. P., that paper said: "Yes, the New Yorker Volkszeitung went so far in its defense of the REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 23 American Federation of Labor that it accepted the risk of a split in the Socialist movement of America in order to pre- vent a split in the trades union movement of the land, and to keep up the American Federation of Labor as the united body of American unionism." It must, of course, be under- stood that "accepting the risk" is used in a purely euphonious sense, for the New Yorker Volkszeitung and the elements behind it had little use for a truly revolutionary Socialist movement and certainly experienced no pangs of conscience in trying to disrupt it. The only movement it had any use for was one that it cotild control and that would fall in with the many petty and often unclean interests that centered around the paper. The S. L. P., having grown beyond its leading strings and maintaining an attitude of uncompromis- ing hostility to these interests, was not a thing to be preserved from the Volkszeitung point of view and its disruption, if it could be accomplished, was a "risk" gladly assumed without any qualms of conscience. In 1899 it was not difficult for a Socialist to properly ap- praise the true character of the A. F. of L.; and it was not difficult on September 2, 1909, while today, in 1918, its true character has become so unmistakable that it may readily be discerned by "the man in the street," but while mountains may heave and worlds may fall, so long as the New Yorker Volkszeitung sees in the pure and simple unions the pasture it must graze on, so long will it maintain its conception of "economic determinism." And that, of course, carries with it the defense of the A. F. of L. against the assaults of rev- olutionary Socialism and the maintenance of that champion of "Labor and Democracy" as the "united body of American unionism." Before closing this chapter, and taking leave of the New Yorker Volkszeitung and its works, it is well to revert, once more, to an editorial utterance of that paper in its issue of May 13, 1914, just after Daniel De Leon had forever closed his eyes upon the world and its inhabitants, wherein, and in whose behalf, he had so valiantly battled for so many years. This editorial utterance, written on the occasion of De Leon's death, not only illustrates luminously the petty mind of the 24 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. person who penned it, but is also typical of the set of men- tal misfits conducting that paper. It is safe to assume that even at this very hour, when event after event the world over proves the unerring foresight of De Leon, as well as the immense value of his teachings; when it is clearly seen by millions of men and women, who never heard of De Leon, that the foundation that he sought to place the revolution- ary Socialist movement on is the only safe and feasible one, the oply way out, viz., the integral, revolutionary, industrial organization of the workers of the world, enabling the work- ing class, everywhere, to take and hold and operate the means of production and distribution, so that, in time of a world crisis, when an old social system is seen in the throes of dissolution and a new order is being born, aye, even in such an hour would the insect minds of the VolkszeituniT staff in all likelihood again pen the lines penned on May 13, 1914. Here is the Volkszeitung's editorial. It is a "gem" in more ways than one that should not be left out of this vol- ume but should be embalmed for future contemplation: "DANIEL DE LEON. "He, who expired on Monday evening, fared as did so many before him, he died a few decades too late; he outlived himself. "True to his maxim to destroy what he could not rule, he concentrated, during the last fifteen years, his vitality and will-power upon tearing down what he, personally, had helped to create. "And therein he was great, far greater than in construc- tion and erection. De Leon was, indeed, a destructive geni- us, i. e., he was great in demolishing, in tearing down. With an hatred that was insatiable and unstillable, he fought since his entrance into the American labor movement — since 1892 — against every movement of the working class of this coun- try that showed success and that seemed to be in the as- cendancy. It was contrary to his nature to perform con- structive labor, he was the born caviller, who, everywhere, had to find fault, with whom only one person the world REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 25 Irottnd could do the right thing: Daniel De Leon. "His fights against the Knights of Labor, to whom he himself had belonged, against the A. F. of L. and the So- cialiist Party, which he hated most heartily, no less than he hated the Volkszeitung, are too well known to our readers to deserve here more than passing mention. With the ex- ception of the K. of L., which at the time of the De Leon- Sanial fight were already in a state of dissolution, the en- mity of this man never had any evil consequences for those attacked by him, the sufferer was almost always the Amer- ican working class which was by him entangled in struggles through which the capitalists alone would benefit. The reac- tionaries in the A. F. of L. were for many years greatly aided by the formation, set on foot by De Leon, of the So- cialist Trade and Labor Alliance, and again, later, of the Industrial Workers of the World , and a Gompers, who would most likely have long ago been swept away by a pro- . gressive wave, is still the president of the A. F. of L. '"Therefore, was De Leon's friendship far more .dan- gerous than his hatred. The S. L. P., led by him alone after the split in 1899, soon lost through his methods and tactics all importance, until, during the last years it was nothing but a rump, giving testimony of departed splendor. It died before htm and buried him in its ruins. "His death does not tear a gap " It is hard to say which is the more remarkable in this performance, its animus, or, its stupidity, — real or pretended. It is certainly superfluous to lose one word as to the at- tempted characterization of De Leon, the would-be charac- terizers being utterly unfit to appraise either the man or his work, tut the alleged likelihood of a "progressive" wave that was to bave swept away a Gompers is so ludicrous, when one contemplates the "sweeping" propensities of the S. P. delegations at the national conventions of the A. F. of L., as to cause a feeling of mingled merriment, disgust and anger. If memory serves me right, it was Mr. Victor L. Berger, one of the high lights of the S. P., who at the New Or- leans, La., convention of the A. F. of L. moved to increase Gompers* salary; and it was Mr. Max Hayes, a sort of sec- 26 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. ond-grade light in the S. P., who seconded the motion; and, i£ again memory serves me right, the motion carried unani- mously. Increasing Mr. Gompers' material prosperity and making his job more desirable to him looks like a queer pre- liminary to "sweeping him away"! The Volkszeitung's closing observation to the effect that De Leon's death did not tear a gap is plausible enough, for, surely, it didn't — in the ranks of the Volkszeitungites. They, on the contrary, heaved a vain sigh of relief when they heard the news, vain because dead or alive they can not hope to escape De Leon, who, in his every word and every deed, was and is a standing reproach to the Volkszeitung element, a reproach growing more formidable as time passes on. National Convention of 1900 We now arrive at the time of the national convention of the Party, held in New York, June 2 to June 8, 1900, the largest, the most enthusiastic and the most fateful conven- tion the Party had ever held. Prior to the convention, the local and general situation, having shaped itself as the result of the bitter strife, had led to premature action towards the establishment of the Daily People. At a general meeting of the membership of New' York and vicinity, called to consider this matter, a plausible statement was submitted which tried to show how, by doing this and by not doing something else, the funds in hand would be sufficient to see the venture through. Not being able to see things ia the rosy light pre- sented, I opposed, but such was the enthusiasm of the meet- ing, such the desire for action that would place into the Par- ty's hands a daily paper to meet the constant attacks of the daily Volkszeitung, that I stood practically alone and the motion to begin publication on July 1, 1900, was carried over- whelmingly. Thus, at the time the national convention met, preparations were already well under way and the conven- tion simply endorsed what had been done. Accordingly, the Daily People was launched on the above date with fuiids in hand much below the mark that had always been set as a minimum requirement. That spelled future troubles which, in due time, came thick and fast. Daily # People. W! lEIIIIIIIC. Ik SMIn k M h- oiiat Hue SfitB. FACSIMILE DAILY PEOPLE FIRST ISSUE REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 27 Another momentous step, taken by the 1900 convention, ■was to insert into the Party's constitution a provision that "No officer of a pure and simple trade or labor organization shall be a member of a Section." This, too, was an action that grew directly out of the bitter struggle the Party had gone through, which struggle dominated the minds of the membership and created a psychology favorable to the adop- tion of such a measure. Whefl going over the speeches made at the convention in support of this measure, one is struck by the ever recurring note in most of them that it would pro- tect our membership against pure and simple contamination'; that failure to adopt the measure would make possible their becoming corrupted by the allurements held out to them when officers of such organizations, and that this corruption- would then be carried into the Party organization. Viewing this contention in the light of all that has happened since and in the light of the fact that the S. L. P. has since thought best to again abolish that provision, it may, perhaps, be said that the pure and simpler had about as much ground for the coun- ter contention that S. L. P. men, becoming officers of unions, would be apt to become a danger to pure and simpledom, a menace to the labor faker, that might often disturb his peace of mind and make life a burden to him, due to the revolu- tionary propaganda these men would carry on amongst the membership from the vantage point of officers of the union. The class struggle is, after all, not an affair of today and to- morrow only and it is a long road that has no turn. Unable to see that any good, ,but that, on the contrary, a lot of harm might follow the adoption of such a measure, I opposed it. The idea of protecting S. L. P. men in that way did not appear very convincing to me. I thought that many of them might be able to take care of themselves and, if there were any who could not or would not, we could get rid of them as individuals rather than to "'protect" them by such sweeping preventive legislation. Also I was the National Secretary of the Party. I had my finger on the pulse of the organization, knew a good deal about local conditions and thought I had a fairly clear idea of what was likely to hap- pen as a direct result of taking such a step. The labor faker 28 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON, was not a strange species to me and I knew the pure and simple union to be largely dominated by capitalist interests and even permeated by bourgeois ideology, but I did not for- get that most of these organizations were, nevertheless, formed in obedience to the pressure of the class struggle and that they furnished a legitimate field for our propaganda. The exception, when such unions are formed at the behest of the boss, does not alter this general fact. When such organiza- tions were formed, our men, as a rule better equipped than their fellow workers, were looked to to take office. Forced to decline, because their Party forbid it, they were placed in a position which to maintain required more than can be ex- pected from the average man. Instead of the rank and file being impressed with the rectitude of their stand, it worked the other way. The rank and file naturally regarded such an attitude as an act of hostility against themselves, regarded the party that ordered it as a hostile force and its members in their union as instruments of that hostile force. Thus it meant that our members had to vacate the field and leave the labor faker in undisputed control. It was he and the S. P. that would profit. In the course of time, events proved that we had drawn the bow too tight and when, some years later, the Party abandoned that position, the damage had been done and eould not easily be repaired. In all the years De Leon and I had been working side by side, we had never differed on any matter of importance until this measure was being agitated and, much as I respected his foresight and reasoning powers, I could not be convinced. However, opposition to the meas- ure amounted to little, the lay of the land being such that it carried overwhelmingly in the convention and in the subse- quent general vote of the Party. Troubles and Tribulations The 1900 convention having become past history, the Party now entered upon a phase of its existence different in many respects to any we had so far passed through. To all appearances, we were at the height of our strength. The fight with the would-be disrupters was still on, but they were REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 29 now an outside foe. The struggle Itself had acted like a tonic upon the organization, stirring our members into in- tense action and vastly increasing their aggressiveness, in- dividually and collectively. The phrase, "the fighting S. L. P.", often heard in those days, had a real background and, therefore, a real meaning. The organization, the country over, had suffered but little in point of numbers and that lit- tle was more than made up by a closer drawing of the ranks. We had a clean-cut tactical program, thoroughly understood and accepted by the membership and we had, for that reason, a unity of purpose never attained before. As an off-set we had on our hands a daily paper that was sapping our strength, the maintenance of which imposed struggles which, in the long run, seriously affected that unity of purpose. It is an old, age-long experience of the race, that it is far easier to start a quarrel than to end it. Th!s experience, paraphrased and applied to the Labor movement, may be given expression by saying: It is far easier to start a labor paper than to give it up. It proved so in our case. As parents with a sickly child on their hands, one that can neither live nor die, will strain themselves to the utmost, even to the point of utter neglect of their healthy offspring, so will a labor organization go to almost any length to save a paper. It is emotion, not practical considerations that vi^ill govern — naturally so. Individually, all will be aware that the organization's strength is being sapped; collectively, they will be unable to act in accord with this conviction. Thus, all continue to hope against hope, waiting for some miracle to turn up, meanwhile straining under the load, yet no one willing to assume the responsibility of applying the coup de grace. Such part of the membership as is finally unable to stand the strain drops away, thereby intensifying the burden carried by those who refuse to quit. Frantically casting about for measures of relief, all sorts of plans are proposed, mistakes, or what to some looks like mistakes, are made, opinions collide, animosities are engendered and lead to open hostilities. That, in rapid condensed outline, was our experi- ence. Troubles and tribulations multiplied and most of them 30 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. flowed from the same fountain head, — the heartbreaking ait^ tempt to accomplish the unaccomplishable. Many were the sad features embodied in this chapter of the Party's history and it may be said that an organization that can go through all that and survive, is in truth inde- structible. The elements the Party had sloughed oft before, really were not and never had been S. L. P. They were an incubus, a foreign growth, not part of our being; to get rid of them left our anatomy intact and improved our well-being once the operation . was over with. The defections we were now to experience were of a different character, for it was often blood of our blood and flesh of our flesh that had to be torn away. True, there were amongst the lot characters utterly unworthy, fair weather soldiers, with us while the tide was running high, but flotsam and jetsam cast ashore as soon as the tide ebbed. Such were the Hickeys, Daltons, Schul- bergs, Forkers, Currans, etc., etc., but there were many others who, if not subjected to so terrific a strain, would not have been lost. I have reason to think that even the intrepid De Leon was deeply affected by what happened, many conversa- tions I had with him pointing that way, though, of course, he could not linger with those who fell, and was, by the logic of the situation, compelled to press on resolutely, come what might. Kanglets Cast Their Shadowlet It was in the year 1902 that matters came to a head. Be- cause of the legal fight with . the Volkszeitung, the national convention of 1900 was prevented from placing the manage- ment of the Daily People directly into the hands of the N. E. C. A Board of Trustees, composed of three members, was chosen, consisting of Hugo Vogt, Peter Fiebiger and Joseph H. Sauter. The former became the manager of. the paper, the second its treasurer, and the third became nothing in par- ticular that I can remember. Not one of the three is in the Party today. The first, Vogt, after the experience we went through with him, that will be described later, and after he had become an attorney-at-law, left no stone unturned to wreck the Party and the paper, bringing suit after suit against REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 31 us. He shaped matters so, while still in charge of the mafi- agement, that wage claims of his cronies, claims that he was supposed to have had cancelled and could have had if he acted in time, claims that the loyal Party members w^orking on the paper did cancel, were left uncancelled and became in his hands so many clubs to assail the Party with. The sec- ond, Fiebiger, while he did not commit any positive act against the Party such as many of the others were guilty oi, nevertheless condoned every act of rascality committed by the crew he was with, himself sued the Party for money he had advanced and did so at a time when he and Vogt had reason to believe, or thought they had, that now the psycho- logical moment had come to give the Party the last blow. The third, Sauter, did not do anything at that time, but later, after he had landed in the S. P., he published over his signa- ture, in an S. P. paper, the would-be witticism suggesting that the most appropriate epitaph for De Leon would be: "Here LIES Daniel De Leon, as he always did," a "witticism" which characterizes the "gentleman" better than would a long essay. Marx, while he lived and fought the battle of the dis- inherited of the earth, had bis traducers; and, for the same reason, it is but fitting that De Leon should have had his, yet it is well for posterity to know what sort of vermin such men have had to contend with. So severe was the strain upon the Party imposed by the ever increasing difficulties of maintaining the Daily People, that things began to crack. The first crack showed up in the Board of Trustees. Vogt, entirely misplaced in the position he occupied, began to give way under the strain; he began to drown his troubles in drink. He was surrounded, or sur- rounded himself, with an element which, far below him in mental status, ably assisted him on the downward path. The mechanical department of the paper became demoralized ' and things came to such a pass that the N. E. C. had to inters fere. The legal obstacles that had, in 1900, led to the forma- tion of the Board of Trustees had disappeared; the Volks^ zeitung had been beaten in court and we were in undisputed possession of the paper. Impelled by the situation prevail- ing, the N. £. C. initiated a general vote of the Party to so 32 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. amend the constitution as to abolish the Board of Trustees' form of organization and place the management of the paper directly into the hands of the N. E. C. The Party's vote so decided but, even prior to the taking of. that vote, as early as 1901, trouble had been stalking abroad. There was on the Daily People staff a man named T. A. Hickey, a rather worth- less individual, irresponsible, blatant, shallow, an ardent dis- ciple of John Barleycorn and a crony and protege of Vogt. The latter had helped him out once before, when he had got himself in trouble with the N. E. C. in 1900, because he had got drunk and allowed meetings that he had been sent to cover to go to smash. The phyrric victory Hickey had gained at that time with the aid of Vogt and his followers, made hinx more impudent than ever and also less cautious. He had, in the spring of 1900, agitated in Pennsylvania, under the aus- pices of the State Executive Committee of that state, had taken literature from the N. Y. Labor News Co., a Party in- stitution, had sold the same and had failed to settle. The manager of the Labor News, unable to collect, finally pre- ferred charges in Section New York. Hickey, feeling im- mune because of the support and backing he thought he had, refused even to appear before the Grievance Committee of Section New York when his case came up. He certainly did have all the support and backing "he thought he had," but he also harf made his reckoning without Section New York, which body promptly expelled him. Intrigues Ad Infinitum Thereupon, the Party was made the victim of a series of intrigues which, for sheer impudence, transcended anything I ever experienced in any organization. The intriguers had a safe majority in the New York State Executive Committee, Hickey himself being a member of that body. An attempt was made to disregard the Section's act of expulsion by set- ting up the claim that Hickey was still a member of the State Committee, because he represented on that committee the membership not of Section New York alone, but of the en- tire state. Section New York thereupon appealed to the N. E. C. and that body ruled "that no expelled or suspended REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 33 member can hold office in the Party." The next move was to have the State Committee "give Hickey a trial," which meant that he was to carry his case on appeal before the State Committee although he had refused to stand trial in the Section, A ruling to the effect that a member who refuses to stand trial in his Section thereby forfeits his right of ap- peal disposed of that move. In the meantime, one of the Hickey supporters on the State Committee, Forker, had be- come so utterly discredited that he had to disappear from the scene; another one, Wherry, had eliminated himself before that; the majority the intriguers had on the committee was vanishing; indeed, the election of a new member to succeed Hickey, which had meantime been ordered and was being voted upon, would turn that majority into a minority. De- termined to prevent this, Vogt, the secretary of the State Committee, held up the counting of the vote and the seating of the new member as long as he possibly could. When, finally, he had to do so the whole plot collapsed, for with the seating of the new member, Ebert, the intriguers were re- duced to two, H. Vogt and P. Murphy, as against J. Ebert, A. C. Kihn and myself. ^ Hickey, the individual, it must be borne in mind, was quite too insignificant to have caused all this turmoil, but he served as a pretext, a rallying cry, so to speak, for all those who either had turned or were about to turn against the Party, and who later aimed at its destruction. These events, before their final consummation, of course, led to a complete rupture between De Leon and Vogt, the break taking place in my office and in my presence. Vogt, as already stated, had been holding up the counting of the vote for the new member on the State Committee under all sorts of shifty pre- texts so as to escape being outvoted in that body on the Hickey matter. De Leon, already irritated almost beyond endurance by what he saw going on, was beset by members from all sides who, aroused over the scandal, complained to him about Vogt's wanton disregard of Party constitution and Party procedure. De Leon came up to my office one day, wanting to know what had been done about counting the vote and seating the new member, I replied that nothing 34 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. had been done; that Kihn and I had demanded that Vogt act but that, with Vogt and Murphy on the other side, the com- mittee was tied and Vogt in possession of the returns on that vote. At this juncture Vogt walked in. De Leon turned to him, asking: "Vogt, how much longer are you going to dis- obey the orders of your State Committee?" Vogt turned and walked out of the room and De Leon, in a voice quivering with indignation, again asked: "Is that all the answer you have?" There was no answer and the two men never spoke again. In this way, and over so worthless a, character as this Hickey, ended a friendship that dated back to 1886, sixteen long and eventful years, during which these two men had fought side by side, always in perfect concord as to the prin- ciples and tactics of the Party. It was ^n fact Vogt who had attracted De Leon to the S. L. P., who had made him ac- quainted with the economics of Socialism and had been in- strumental in having De Leon enter the Party as a member. Sic eunt fata hominum. Intrigue, like politics, makes strange bed-fellows. It brought together a Hickey and a Vogt, thereby becoming the instrument that estranged a De Leon and a Vogrt. It then brought together, or at least gave a common purpose, for the time being, to another 'two incongruities, to wit: Julian Pierce and Vogt. While Vogt- was the manager of the Daily People, Pierce was the manager of the Labor News. While by no means the equal of Vogt intellectually, Pierce was by all means the better manager. There was no love lost between the two, the less so since it had been Pierce who had, right- fully, moved against Hickey in order to make him pay what he owed to the Labor News, thus becoming the little stone that started the avalanche that swept Hickey and Vogt out of the Party. Pierce had offered his services to the N. E. C. as manager, of the Daily People when, after the abolition of the Board of Trustees, the N. E. C. took charge. His offer accepted and he installed in the office, Pierce at once pro- ceeded to launch some underhanded scheme to inveigle the N. E. C. into discontinuing the Daily People. Fate got at Pierce, not via the drink route — he being too REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 35 sober a man for that — but he had become infected with some scheme to build up a big printing plant, and the Daily People, demanding so maiiy sacrifices, did not fit into that scheme at all. He had looked over the books, at least he said he had, and by painting in the blackest tints all that looked unfavor- able, while at the same time withholding all information that tended the other way, he tried to sweep the N. E. C. off its feet. He failed. At that time, and with the conditions then prevailing, to propose to stop the paper by simple executive action was either hare-brained lunacy or it was an attempt to discredit the N. E. C. with the Party's membership. Short work was made of Pierce and his scheme. Having made the statement that "the heart had been taken out of him," he was asked to resign which he did. Lampooning Little Kangs We then entered what might rightly be called the period of lampoons. It rained lampoons from all sides, their au- thors proclaiming a burning, unquenchable desire to "save" the Party. These productions look rather funny by retro- spect, especially when one considers what has since become of the "saviors," but at that time this feature was not overly conspicuous; they were, on the contrary, evidences of a rather widely-spread plot either to capture or to destroy the Party. What that element wanted to do .with the Party after the "capture" has never become very clear to me. There seemed to be as many tendencies as there were groups of plotters, each group heartily despising the other. The first of these lampoons was the one of Mr. Julian Pierce. It was a 24-page affair, dated May 28, 1902, full of elaborately gotten-up pre- varication and misrepresentation, directed against De Leon, the N. E. C, the National Secretary, in fact, everyone who had disagreed with him. Then came lampoon No. 2, emanat- ing from Providence, R. I. It was signed by three men: Thomas Curran, James Reid and Herman Keiser, the three professing to represent a Rhode Island state convention, said to have been held on April 27, 1902, the proceedings of which were then and have ever after remained a profound mystery. Although claiming to represent a conventioi^ held allegedly in 36 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. April, the Rhode Island lampoonists hitched their car right onto the Pierce lampoon, dealing with matters that had transpired after the date of the alleged state convention. The ostensible purpose of the production was to stampede the Party into a special national convention, "without the formality of a gen- eral vote, provided a majority of the Sections of the Party demand it," as it was put, evidently hoping that, by means of this trick, they might secure some sort of rump convention and split the Party. Still another lampoon came from a set of malcontents in New York, styling themselves a "Committee of 31," of which one Herman Simpson was the reputed author, but that de- serves but passing mention. The Pierce lampoon was an- swered by the N. E. C. in a manner that squelched that gen- tleman. The Curran-Reid-Keiser affair was met in a way that gave the Party membership a chance to attend to the squelch- ing thereof. A call for a general vote was issued and when that vote had been counted there was but little more to be said on the subject. The Simpson lampoon the N. E. C. paid no attention to at all, but Section New York did, with the re- sult ithat the "Committee of 31" also vanished from the scene. Pierce's Self-Photography When the Pierce lampoon made its appearance, De Leon had received a copy, mailed to him by Pierce himself, as ap- pears from De Leon's letter to me on this subject. This let- ter is characteristic of De Leon. It depicts accurately how he felt and _how he viewed this attempt to throw the Party into confusion. Pierce, by the way, spread his lampoon with a lavish hand all over the country, even timing the mailing of same so that they were to arrive, everywhere, on about the same day. Evidently, he expected a tremendous explosion, and one can imagine how keenly disappointed he must have been when his "clever" scheme produced hardly a ripple. "Milford, Ct., June 12, 1902. "Dear Kuhn: — ^The watch arrived safely and duly, and was delivered at the house. The expressman knows us well. Many thanks. REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 37 "Yesterday's People came in 6 pages. I imagined it was to so continue, and thought the move premature. Today's came in 4 pages. Was yesterday's a 'trial trip'? "At the beach yesterday afternoon I met Langner. The moment he saw me, he said smiling: " 'Did you know there is a new S. L. P.?' "'No. Where?' " 'Pierce started one in Philadelphia.' And he went on to tell me that he had received a voluminous 'statement' from Pierce, in an envelope marked with the S. L. P. Arm and Hammer. He had not yet read the thing all through, but he thought the affair 'smelled of Hanna,' I told him what I thought of the wooden-nutmegger; that he was more ass than knave. "When I got home I found one of these 'statements' in my mail. Pierce sent me one himself. Having other matter (tinkering on the boat) in hand, I laid it away; today I read it through. "Surely, the lies in it are thick enough to cut with a knife.- Yet the thing gave me a certain enjoyment. It forcibly re- xninded me, at every turn, of my 'boyhood pleasure watching a big field rat caught in a trap, rushing at the bars, and grind- ing his teeth at me. For all that, there is a coarse low cunning in the performance that is typical of Master Pierce. He strikes the attitude of having been victimized because he de- sired to impart 'accurate,' 'exact,' 'truthful' information to the members on the 'matter of the Daily People, whereas the fact is that what he sought to do was to stampede the Party mem- bers into abandoning the Daily People upon an inaccurate, inexact and untruthful presentation of the situation, in that all that made against the Daily People was exaggerated, and all that was in its favor was suppressed. Possibly, some un- guarded members may be caught by this birdlime. If so, you •will get questions, and may have to knock him off that false posture. "I presume you will get a copy yourself, and then you will see all its 'beauty spots.' I can't part with mine. It is 'killing* to see him, HIM, HIM, coquetting with the Vogt element; it is charming to see him throw bouquets at Simp- 38 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. son; but I was disappointed to see no bouquet thrown at Mc- Donald for 'valuable services rendered to the Labor News by his German and French translations.' The 'documents' which he reproduces I did not go through very carefully. There is one which it seems to me is missing. The letter he sent to the N. E. C, after he was sacked from the business management of the Daily People, in which he falsely states that he had stated in his 'report' to the Board of Management what was to be done with the Daily People, plant, or something to that effect. "Then, also, I miss the letter to the N. E. C. in which he proposes a temporary management for the Daily People, shortly after his enthusiastic proposition of consolidation un- der himself, and before his alleged discovery of the 'complete wreck' of the Daily. But I will go over the 'documents' more carefully. I would like to know to what extent he succeeds in his plan to throw consternation among our members. It will be a good test of their clearness of vision. The 'state- ment' carries its own refutation. "It is a lovely feeling to be out here, where I am not bound to take notice of this and kindred matters mentioned by you. I remain cool and 'judicial.' Don't, when you get to read the thing, miss the place where he fabricates having told me to be damned. The ass does not realize that by pub- lishing his letter to me and my answer to him, he makes that part of his story look very fishy. "At any rate, let me know all that goes on. We here philosophize on the 'Hexenkessel' [witches' cauldron — H. K.]. "I wish you would let me have the date of the Daily Peo- ple in which I had the translation about the Moscow police. "Fraternally, "D. De Leon." The disturbance of 1899 had been designated by the Party as the "Kangaroo exodus," and from that designation the latter-day disrupters, of 1902, inherited the appellation of 'Kanglets,' indicative of their more diminutive size and im- portance. Following these precedents, if ever there are other attempts to either capture or kill the S. L. P., we shall, per- REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 39 haps, be obliged to descend still farther along the zoological scale and, finally, get down to the field mouse. Rhode Islandiana In all these attempts to capture a Party that did not want to be captured, as soon as the conspirators found that they had lost, they concentrated the batteries of their abuse upon De Leon. It is true, other Party officers came in for their share, but he was by far the chief beneficiary, which goes to show that they reasoned not so incorrectly after all, clearly discerning that he was their chief obstacle. When the first information about the Curran-Reid-Keiser move had reached me, though I had not yet seen the lampoon itself, I had writ- ten to De Leon, then at Milford, Conn., so as to keep him posted. He replied as follows: "Milford, Ct., July 5, 1902. "Dear Kuhn: — Necessarily incomplete as must be the in- formation contained in yours of yesterday on the R. I. call for a national convention, I can form no opinion. It may simply be a circular calling for a vote to secure the necessary five sections' endorsement to serve as a basis for a real 'call for a general vote to hold a convention,' to be issued by the N. E. C. If, however, this is not so, and R. I. has actually presumed to exercise N. E. C. functions, then their conduct is a glaring violation of the constitution. If the matter is legitimate, I would counsel you to raise no objections to sub- mitting the proposition to a general vote for a convention, just as soon as the necessary number of sections has endorsed it Only, the N. E. C. in fixing the date, should see to it that it does not conflict with the campaign.. "While I see a possibility of the R. I. 'call' not being il- legitimate, I must admit that the conduct of those who seem to be running affairs there of late, does not justify the opinion that the 'call' may not really be illegitimate. It is certainly possible that they have wholly lost their heads, and have ac- tually 'issued a call for a general vote to hold a convention.' Government must be with the consent of the governed. If the sections can allow anyone of them to cancel their votes on the constitution and the N. £. C, and to set himself up 40 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. with N. E. C. powers, and thus countenance Anarchy, then, I sa.'y, they are hopelessly gone, and the Party organization is foundered. But all this remains to be seen. It may be well to have a letter-box answer stating the constitutional provi- sions on this head, and bringing out the point that, in order to secure the endorsement of the requisite number of sec- tions, a section could communicate with many or all, but that the vote of the sections on such a communication is not and can not be 'a vote on a call for a general vote to hold a con- vention.' Such a call can only issue from the N, E. C. "I duly received your letter of Sunday, June 29th. It, to- gether with the committee's reports in the Daily People gave me a good idea of the 'Conspiracy of the Pinheads.' What self-photographjr by the men who shout 'bosses,' 'tyranny,' etc. "I sent you yesterday a telegram to the Picnic grounds cheering the Daily. Did not get today's People,' and can't tell whether it reached you. "We had a lovely July 4th. "Fraternally, "D. De Leon." A day or so later, having meantime come into possession cf the Rhode Island lampoon, I wrote to De Leon again, giv- ing him more precise information, but, not haying more than one copy and that one needed in New York, I did not send the document. He replied, still not fully believing in the full crookedness of the Rhode Island move, as is attested by his answer to my letter. "Milford, Ct, July 7, 1902. "Dear Kuhn: — Back this evening from a clam-digging ex- pedition to the Long Island shore, I received your two letters of the Sth and the 6th. So, then, the 'R. I. Call! is as idiotic, malapert and vicious as all that? I have seen none. Would like to see one, so as to see by my own eyes such an exhibi- tion. A. M. Simons had at least the fact before or behind him of two N. E. C.'s in New York. But the only chaos that prevails in New York is the chaotic condition that the pin- REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 41 heads are in, due to the failure of their R. I. allies to throw the section on its beam end. "What is the N. E. C. going to do about it? If you have not erred in your report of the 'call' (!) (?) and it really as- sumes the Anarchic posture of appointing Section Providence an N. E. C, then they have to be dealt with summarily. But how? A Committee of a Convention is not a body recog- nized by the constitution. Such a committee can not be 'sus- pended.' Guess you will have to communicate officially with the State Committee or the Section, or both, so as to get something tangible. "I also think it would be well to send someone to Provi- dence, and see some of the men, and ascertain to what extent the rank and file are hypnotized into making fools of them- selves, and getting material ready for a new organization. In many respects Brower is the fit man; he can connect with our Alliance men. The talk I had with O'Connor showed that they are onto Kroll, at least. It can not be possible that all those men are gone to the dogs. "In a way such a call does put the Party organizations to a test. The section that does not give the thing a back- handed swipe is not worth the powder to blow it to hell. "I don't break my head to fathom Curran. His 'policy' satisfies me that he is deficient in thinking powers, and is not the man I had thought. But what does interest me is the Daily People. The typographical errors seem to increase. And from what you say I judge that all is not well in the composing room. "Well, you people are not having a summer vacation. The crooks are keeping you on the jump. How are the finan- cial aspects? "In a way I do very much wish to see a convention. Of course, not one in response to Anarchy. But a Party conven- tion would afford excellent opportunity to size up the ele- ments and castigate the crooks. Unfortunately these, how- ever, are, one after the other, placing themselves outside the Party. "Glad the Picnic was a success. "MacDonald, I can assure you, is not in ray councils; so 42 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. that he can't know that my purpose in going off on a vacation was to escape the 'general wreck.' And I also need not as- sure you that for penetration arid acumen I, for one, would not go to Frank ["Frank" is McDonald's first name. — H. K.]. The 'general wreck' will be the fate of the pin-heads. I have, however, a pretty clear idea that the S. L. P. is about to cast off a slough. Some meat may have to be dropped or torn off along ,with the slough; and then the organization will 'burn more intensely' and scorch the carcasses of 'the field' more ■mercilessly than ever. The only thing I am now keeping my eyes on is the conduct of the sections. Will these deport themselves as the occasion requires? If they do, all is well. Even if I have to live on bread and water, I shall then fall to. The occasion is critical, and as promiseful as it is critical. No wonder the owlish pin-heads are in a flutter. All the same, I hope the Daily People finances will mend so that I may not need to consume my vitals. > "1 wish you to tell Hossack to be sure and come out here for a few days. Will you have to g^ive up your visit, and Shaynin? "It occurs to me that you will not henceforth have much ■to say against my plan for a new form of N. E. C. At pres- ent any .scalawag can make out the N. E. C. to be in turmoil because of actual or imaginary turmoil in the section. "Be virtoo-us and you will be happy. I who am happy tell you so. The vegetable garden is blooming like the rose: we have green peas and cauliflowers to furnish Legget's ["Legget"— a New York restaurant— H. K.]. The boat cleaves the Long Island sound to perfection and her captain is look- ing like a fighting cock. "When you come, bring an extra pair of stockings for if we take a sail I like to see the boat lean over so that she takes in the water over her gunwales. "D. De Leon." Getting Things Pat Soon thereafter I was able to send to De Leon the docu- ment itself, together with some other matter foreign to this issue and he was then in a position more clearly to judge the REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 43 thing. On the whole he seemed to favor a special conven- tion, doubtless because he felt the urge to meet and annihi- late these fellows, as surely he would have done had the con- vention been decided upon in a regular constitutional man- ner. I did not see the situation in that light at all, not believ-. ing for a second that the S. L. P. membership could be stam- peded into voting for a special convention demanded by such men employing such methods. De Leon sizes up Curran quite correctly when he says the man hoped that the N. E. C. make the mistake of refusing to call for a general vote as that would have given him an opening to call a rump convention. De Leon's next letter reads: "Milford, Ct, July 8, 1902. "Dear Kuhn: — I got this morning your two letters en- closing documents. In a way I am glad to see they do not actually put themselves out of the Party. They make a show of trying to be constitutional. I would close my eyes at the false pretense, and call the thing simply irregular. Let them come to the convention. But I urge you not to oppose the holding of a convention. Remember, that many a man is merely roped into endorsing such a R. I. proposition, but if the N. E. C. acts in a way to make him think it wants no convention, then he goes wholly over. By taking the stand that I outline, such people will easily be held straight, and the R. I. crooks will find themselves left. "As to the document I need not say to you it is dastardly. It is a patchwork of Simpson, Curran, Pierce and KroU. No wonder they were two whole months in getting it out. "Let New York vote quickly and vote for convention and vote for Pittsburgh. "What a Jesuit that Curran has turned out! "Fraternally, "D. De Leon. P. S. Curran does not imagine the Party will Stand by him. He calculates upon some mistake in New York to justify a rump convention. D. DL." n REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. Needless Apprehensions The action of Curran and consorts had created amongst the Party membership red-hot indignation. I had issued in ,the Daily People a warning, pointing out the unconstitutional character of the proposition and urging the membership to keep cool. The New York State Executive Committee had branded the attempt at creating confusion in a stiff resolution, Sand other Party organizations were taking similar action. Both of these matters are referred to by De Leon in his next letter, the first disapprovingly, the second with approval. But De Leon no longer desires that the membership vote for a convention at the behest of men adopting such means to bring it about. "Milford, Ct., July 9, 1902. "Dear Kuhn: — il was yesterday in such a hurry to mail you my letter that I did not say anything about the 'Answer* of the N. E. C. and the 'Statement on Condition of People.' The latter is magnificent and timely. I also enjoyed the in- formation that the former gave me. Of course, we knew Pierce to be a liar. "I also received this morning yesterday's and today's People together. The action of the N. Y. State Committee . I find good. Such action, even perhaps more emphatic, should come from Sections, State Committees and individuals. They must repudiate the Curran Jesuit move, both as to its meth- ods and its contents, and I shall certainly watch with inter- est the conduct of such bodies. ' They are brought squarely to the touch, and can now show what there is in them. "But for the same reason I regret to see your 'Warning' in yesterday's People. In the first place you ought to be cautious. It may be said your office does not authorize you to address the Party members except as the mouthpiece of the N! E. C A color is given to the claim that you pre- judged. In the second place, I hold that in this particular Curran issue the N. E. C. should act with studied neutrality. The Curran statement aims, true enough, at killing The Peo- ple; but it expressly assails and marks out for decapitation you and me — two officers under the N, E. C, At such times REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 45 as these it is the part of. wisdom not to be too strict con- structionists of constitutions. A strict construction 'would re- quire the immediate suspension of the three signers and of every organization that refuses to bounce them. They, in trying to make themselves safe by a not too flagrant or im- pudent violation of the constitution, have actually hanged themselves: they enable the N. E. C. to take the attitude of complete neutrality in a Party row, and thereby to afford the Party a legal way to smite them. I hope the tone in your 'Warning' was a mere outburst of just and excusable indigna- tion, and that the N. E. C. will take the course I map out: Condemn the R. I. method as unconstitutional and unwar- ranted, and at the same time submit to the membership the question whether they care to have a special convention on the R. I. matter. In that way the best good is obtained. "Either the membership is stalwart or it is timid. "If stalwart, it will vote NO on the N. E. C. call; and the Curran crew will thereby get a double slap in the face; their call is ignored, and their purpose is knocked down by the NO. "If the membership is timid and has been frightened by the partly plausible libels of the Curran Committee, then they will want a convention to look into the matter. The ques- tion of a convention being put by the N. E. C, these men will vote on that call, and ignore the Curran Committee. Only those in the conspiracy may vote the other way, but they will surely feel embarrassed, and their conduct be scored against them. No plausible reason would there be for an un- constitutional course, there being a constitutional door opened by the N. E. C. And, finally, the Curran conspirators will feel constrained either to come to our convention — a thing they certainly have sense enough to know will be mighty un- pleasant to them, and which I know will mean their annihila- tion — or they will stay away, and then they stand exposed by themselves as standing out against the Party itself. "Curran wants no convention of the Party; we should hoist him by his own petard by taking him at his word, and furnish him a convention, but a legal one. The bald, brazen, denunciatory language of Curran against the Party itself, is a 46 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. deliberate act on his part to irritate the Party into an attitude that will free him from the necessity of making good his charges. He knows the N. E. C, would never countenance such a convention as he calls, and he expects to see the N. E. C. simply repudiate his convention. IF THAT HAPPENS, THE PARTY IS SMASHED. There would be quite a num- ber of well-intentioned members and people who could be bamboozled into the belief that we were afraid, and have something to hide. "If the N. E. C. issues a call along the lines indicated, I would urge that the tone of judicial calmness and neutrality be preserved. Make no mistake about it: Curran expects no general vote to be called by the N. E. C. on whether a con- vention shall be called or not. Such a call will be a bomb- shell in his house. Let not the ex-Jesuit Seminarist Curran walk into capitalist political preferment upon the strength of carrying the scalp of the S. L. P. dangling from his belt. The unconstitutionality of his course, though expected by him to act upon the N. E. C. like a red rag before a bull, is so clever- ly woven that it will fail to strike many, and nothing but a call for a general vote by the N. E. C. itself, with the Curran charges for the subject of the special convention, will save such members. I have said enough. We have knocked him out at each move. We can knock him out for good now, and clear the atmosphere immensely. Frankly, I have a sneaking leaning for a convention. The subjects these people bring up are all worth thorough exposition. "Is anything being done to find out who was at that con- vention, and what it did really do, and who in R. I. approved of this lampoon? "Fraternally, "D. De Leon." In the foregoing letter De Leon goes into the subject quite closely, considering all possible contingencies. Being away from headquarters, and depending upon information most if not all of which had to be indirect and second-hand, he was apparently apprehensive on two points: One that the N- E. C. might play into Curran's hands by angrily refusing REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 47 to issue a call for a general vote on the question of holding a special convention, thereby enabling Curran to try and get together a rump convention to split the Party; and, the other, that a portion of the membership might be shaken by the wild charges made by the Curran committee. Neither of these apprehensions had any basis in fact. The N. E. C. never dreamed of playing into Curran's hands, having from the first made up its mind as to what he was up to. In due time the call for the vote . was issued on the initiative of the N. E. C. and September 15, 1902, was the date set for the vote to close. That call laid the Curranites out flat. In gathering my mate- rial for this work, I had to reread it and I enjoyed every word of it. The fact that Curran had been the chairman of the Committee on Constitution and had, in that capacity, reported to the 1900 national convention the very constitution that now he wanted so nonchalantly set aside, was used as the un- derlying text and it was used effectively. The other appre- hension, that part of the membership, or a considerable part, might be shaken by the Curran move, was equally without foundation. The brazen effrontery of Curran, first, in that he set himself up as the N. E. C, demanding from an outraged Party that its vote be returned to "him"; second, that in the opening paragraph of his lampoonist call he openly threatened Section organizers with dire consequences if they failed to circulate his production, saying, literally, that "failure on the part of any such person to communicate this statement to the Section and to furnish it to the members of the Section, will be followed by us with definite charges against the per- son so transgressing," and, further, that if any members be- came aware that an organizer had failed to distribute the lam- poon he wanted "prompt advise of the facts in order that we may take action against the guilty person"; and, third, that instead of making definite charges against officers according to their respective functions, he hurled vague and cloudy ac- cusations against what he called "managing powers," all this and more besides simply enraged the membership and caused short work to be made of him and his "call" when the Party took its vote. In fact, the Curran impudence helped to settle the entire "Kanglet" issue much quicker than might have been possible without his "aid." 48 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. Eccentric Centrists But still another nest of treason had to be cleaned out at Pittsburgh, Pa., where a coterie of lightweights, whose vanity had been stimulated by Sanial having made them be- lieve, which they gladly did, that they were the "logi-cal cen- ter" of the United States and that, therefore, they were the right men in the right place to take a hand in this general en- deavor to "save" the Party. They had all along held that to them should go the seat of the N. E. C. and they thought that now had come the time for them to act. Accordingly, they sent an "investigation" committee to New York, evidently ex- pecting to find there disaster, confusion and chaos, plus a disposition to hand over to them the whole Party, boots and baggage. Finding none of these things, nor any sign of the aforesaid disposition, they returned to Pittsburgh and set up an S. L. P. of their own. But this eccentric creation of the "logical centrists" was not to be of long duration, for, rather early in their career, they had the misfortune to lose their treasurer and, incidentally, their treasury, whatever that may have been and since, in addition to this mishap, they had es- tablished and had on their hands a non-supporting paper, they did not linger very long. Exit Lucien Sanial Before closing this chapter, it must be observed that Sanial, too, had succumbed. When that "investigation" com- mittee came -from Pittsburgh he, already rotten-ripe for a fall, threw in his lot with the disrupters. An attempt was made to go and see him to talk matters over, but he evaded meeting the issue after he had at first agreed to meet a com- mittee of the N. E. C. Thereafter, not to be outdone by his confreres, he followed the prevailing fashion and issued a very sonorous lampoon. At the present day, Sanial is a very old man. After he had said good-bye to the S. L. P. he joined the S. P. and re- mained with that party for some years. But he left the S. P, a short time ago and the last heard of him was to the effect that; in conjunction with Simpson, Stokes, Spargo, A. M. REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 49 Simons, Walling, Bolin and a lot of other such "socialist celebrities," not to forget Mr. Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labor, he helped tO organize, at Minneapolis, Minn., the so-called "National Alliance of La- bor and Democracy," which, if memory serves me right, is engaged, besides many other things, in some such undertak- ing as harmonizing the interests of the working class and those of its capitalist exploiters, a task that must be very con- genial to Mr. Lucien Sanial — God bless him! I. W. W. Organized We now come to the events of 1905, the year the Indus- trial Workers of the World was organized at Chicago, 111., an event wherein De Leon participated with all the ardor of his soul, believing that, at last, the hour had struck that would see the working class, in larger numbers than ever before, take the first step towards the formation of a formidable or- ganization on the economic field, based upon the unqualified recognition of the class struggle and all that implies. At the end of 1904, and the beginning of 1905, the N. E. C. had arranged for a national organizing and agitation tour, with Frank Bohn as the organizer and speaker. At the time of the national convention of the Party, in 1904, Bohn had come from Michigan as a delegate thereto, had taken an active part in that convention and had begun to be looked upon as a "coming man." How he came and went will appear later, but in 1905, while en route on the aforesaid tour, he received, at St. Louis, Mo., an invitation to attend a conference to be held at Chicago, 111., where said conference was to work out and adopt a manifesto to be addressed to the "Workers of the World," calling upon them to form a new organization of Labor, based upon the class struggle and being industrial in form as opposed to the old craft union organizations. Bohn reported the matter to headquarters and was instructed to go ahead and attend the conference. Being present at that gath- ering, he became one of the signers of that rather famous manifesto which, when it appeared, had the effect of a trum- pet call and raised high hopes everywhere amongst forward- looking workingmen. so REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. The manifesto was also a call to attend a convention that was to meet on June 27, 1905, at Chicago. De Leon went as one of the delegates of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance and took 'a notable part in the work of that gathering. That convention was the starting point of the organization known as the Industrial Workers of the World (I. W. W.), an organ- ization that 'placed itself, by its declaration of principles, squarely upon a revolutionary basis on both the economic and the political field. The formation of the I. W. W., regard- less of what has happened in after years, must be considered one of the most important events in the history of the Amer- ican labor movement, an event that has already had far-reach- ing consequences and is certain to produce many more, not necessarily by any future action of that organization, because it has become rather discredited with the more solid and sober-minded portion of the working class, but by virtue of the ideas it has formulated and crystallized during the few earlier years oi its existence. Never before had the idea of industrial unionism been so clearly formulated and that idea is today fermenting everywhere amongst the working class, never to disappear again, for our future industrial develop- ment is bound to give that idea ample and continuous nourish- ment. But the forces that were at work when the S. L. P. was split in 1899, at once became active in 190S to carry discord into the ranks of the I. W. W. The launching of such an or- ganization, with such a program for action on both the politi- cal and the economic field, and, moreover, with a form of or- ganization that would make of it a terrible and most direct menace to the capitalist employer, could not but strike terror in the capitalist camp. An organization which, instead of splitting up into autonomous craft units, iwould organize an entire industry into one big union without regard to the vari- ous crafts employed therein; that would then federate all the industries; and that would not enter into any kind of trade agreements with the boss, such an organization would be something not to be regarded lightly. From mere rethorical metaphor, the "Giant" Labor was threatening to become an actuality. Something had to be done to shear this Samson of REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 51 his strength-imparting locks and Delilahs had to be found to attend to the shearing. Anarcho-syndicalist Coup D'Etat To be sure they were found. Internal friction became manifest during the very first year of the organization's exist- ence. Due to the looseness with which the first convention had to be called, discordant elements had found their way into the organization, birds of ill omen that had been active in the past when the ranks of the revolutionary phalanx of Labor had to be disintegrated, a process capitalism will continue to resort to until the rising tide of the social revolution will be- come so strong as to render the efforts of its agents nugatory. After the first convention every succeeding one that the or- ganization has held marked an eruption of some sort until in 1908 the real coup d'etat was staged and enacted. The I. W. W. passed under the control of an Anarcho-Syndicalist, a physical force element, which had packed the convention with a lot of plug-ugly delegates, many of them representing purely fictitious locals, and had refused to seat properly accredited delegates from bona fide organizations, amongst these De Leon himself. This element, once it found itself in control, promptly un- did the work of the 1905 convention; the political clause of the preamble, or declaration of principles, was eliminated and the organization placed squarely upon a physical force basis. Sub- sequent history has demonstrated, amply and convincingly, the logical and inevitable consequences that flow from assuminaf such a posture; the Anarchists did what they are always fated to do, furnish the raison d'etre for the police spy, demoralize the working class and discredit the very name of Labor. The career of the I. , W. W. since 1908, most of this time under the leadership of Haywood, furnishes a striking lesson of what not to do, a lesson that should not be lost sight of by any thinking workingman. That, as has happened, leading spirits of the I. W. W., about one hundred in number, were indicted and, after a sensational trial lasting for about four months, were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment, that in itself does not cover the case, for even the revolu- 52 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. tionary Socialist, fighting the working class battle on the highest civilized plane that is possible today, may be per- secuted by a capitalist government. That has been done in the past the world over and is likely to be done in the fu- ture, but that they — the I. W. W. — so conducted their "or- ganization" as themselves to furnish a handle to their prose- cutors making it possible to convict them on their own show- ing as sabotagers, physical forcists and as men disregarding the political institutions of the land, that is the real offense from the standpoint of the Labor movement. In the last analysis it is the movement that will be saddled with a good portion of the responsibility for the folly and the misdeeds of the comparatively few. De Leon in 1908, with prophetic vision, told them just where they would land, but like so many others before them they would and did not heed. Dc Leon on I. W. W. Convention Returning again to the time prior to that first conven- tion of the I. W. W., I had never seen De Leon so intensely interested as he was in everything pertaining to that im- pending event. So filled up was he with the subject, that we spent many hours going over the ground and casting up the possibilities of the new move, the persons apt to play a role and the good or evil influence they might exert. What were De Leon's views after the convention may be gleaned from h's letter to me written when at St. Paul, Minn., which let- ter I feel happy to have in my possession and be able to add to this volume, as it portrays accurately how De Leon felt at that time and, also, in what position he felt himself to be at Chicago in regard to Debs and in regard to other matters. "Globe Hotel, 260 East 6th St., "St. Paul, Minn., July 9, 1905. "Dear Kuhn: — Although the bulk of my letter is on business concerning Chase, I send it to you lest you grow jealous at my writing to Chase only. "I feel so happy and have so much, so very much to say that I simply could not begin to tell the story in writng. For one thing, I feel very tired. I am writing or starting this let- REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. S3 ter while a bath is being prepared for me, after which I aija going to sleep (I have arrived here from Milwaukee at 11 a. m. and it is now about noon). This forces to my pen two' matters: First, yesterday's Milwaukee meeting. It was' fine. Ex- S. P.'s crowded around me. They have joined us or are about to do so. Berger, they say, is dead. Enclosed clipping tells the tale as to whether we are 'Union Wreckers' and, discredited with the working class. "Second, as to the Chicago ratification meeting held night before last You may wonder and may have grieved that I did not speak. Grieve not. As you may have seen from a previous letter of mine to Chase, I did not much care for that ratification meeting after the speeches of Debs and mine on the convention floor. Nevertheless, if a ratification meeting was to be heldi I was going to speak with Debs and have the matter stenographed. But, the matter of the ratification meeting hung fire due to the lack of funds to secure the -Au- ditorium; besides, the matter was brushed aside by the palpi- tating issues that confronted the convention. When, finally, the meeting was decided on, it was too late for the Audito- rium, and the convention hall had to do. On the speakers' question we beat down the crooks, as you know, and every- thing was in good trim. Thus stood matters up to Friday afternoon. By that time, I began to feel indisposed. For one thing the heat in Chicago during the convention week was intense; for another, the heat in the convention hall and in my committee room (Committee on Constitution with Sher- man who was elected President and with Moyer) was in- tenser; for still another, the work was still intenser; add to that the sooty atmosphere of Chicago, by noon of Friday ,1 had a splitting headache. You know I am on the lookout against apoplexy. This was the alternative — either join the demonstration of the ratification meeting and thert run the risk of breaking the Milwaukee, possibly also the St. Paul date, or give these dates a chance and let the ratification meeting go. My decision depended upon a third contingen- cy — would Debs be present? He had left Chicago to hold a 4th of July oration somewhere in Dakota and he Vf&s to have 54 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. been back on the Sth. He had not yet returned by noon of the 7th (the ratification meeting day) and there were ru- mors that he would not be back in time. If he appeared at the meeting, then my absence would be construed as a demonstration against him; if he did not show up and I did, then his absence might be construed as a demonstration against me. In view of all this, I went to my hotel, undressed and put cracked ice on my head, and arranged with Shaynin (I ant called for my bath; shall continue later). "Here I am again. The weather is pleasant. I had a two hours' sleep. Begin to feel like myself. Well, to pro- ceed. I arranged with Shaynin that he was to go to the hall and keep me posted by telephone. There was a telephone in my room. The first message was 7.4S— no Debg; seconJi^ 8.0* — no Debs; third, 8.1S — no Debs; fourth, 8.30 — meeting* in full blast and no Debs. I breathed freely. If Debs had turned up, I would have taken my chances of a stroke of apo- plexy; as he was not turning up, policy and personal safety coincided. I had Trautmann called up, told him of my phys- ical condition, authorized him to express my deep regret to the meeting and to make my apology. Shaynin remained on g^ard to notify me in case Debs should turn up; I would immediately have gone to the meeting. Well, he did not turn up; I slept — 9 hours — the first sleep in two weeks. That tells tfie whole story and no bones broken. "It is the convention's opinion that the S. T. & L. A. delegation presented the most dignified appearance, and con- ducted itself accordingly. 'Weeping Charley,' 'Moth Maily,' 'A. M. Simons, Editor,' Ex-Governor Coates,' etc., looked like baked owls. We triumphed all along the line. Haywood teHs me The People should be in every miner's hands, etc. But I shall not proceed on these lines or I'll never end. Trautmann, Hagerty and I spoke in Milwaukee last night. "Now to Chase proper: "1.— Enclosed are the stenogrrapher's receipts — $78.75 in all for lOyi days. Having received $75.00 from Chase, I am out $J.7S. "2. — As the stenographer charged for the two half days wfcen the conventioa was in recess for the committees to REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 55 work, I got him to take the ratification meeting without ex- tra charge. He now has everything — from the first word of the first day to the last word of the 11th day at 1 p. m., when the convention adjourned, including the ratification meeting. As I made him put it in the second receipt, he holds the notes in trust subject to the disposition of the Daily People. "3. — Impossible here to condense the run of events Other- wise than to say that the notes are absolutely our property as the convention found no way to join in defraying the ex- penses. Trautmann and Schultz, of Milwaukee, told me the Milwaukee Brewers' Union donation of $25 will be sent to The People. But Schultz wants copies of The People there- for. I have referred all that to Chase. "The remaining amount ($600.00 less $78.75 already paid the stenographer) will have to be raised by us in the way the present fund was raised. I would insert a statement in The People to this effect (stating also exactly when the steno- graphic report will begin to appear) just as soon as Chase will have perfected arrangements with the stenographer for transcribing the notes. I have referred him to Chase with whom he was to communicate immediately. I find I have not his address; by this mail I am writing to Clarence Smith to send Chase the stenographer's address immediately, so that Chase can initiate the correspondence should the stenog- rapher not be as prompt as he promised. CONVENTION MEMBERS AND SYMPATHIZERS WANT THE RE- PORT. The Coates-Simons clique maneuvred to take the stenographic report from our hands and then pigeon-hole it. We foiled them. "S. — I would suggest that certain episodes of the con- vention report be given the right of way. Haywood also is of that opinion, seeing that it would otherwise take very long before those episodes would appear in the regular course. The episodes are the following in the following order: a) Ratification meeting; b) Episode on the exclusion of law- yers; c) Episode of speeches — Debs, I, etc.; d) Episode of debate on adoption of preamble. "I have arranged with the stenographer for this sequence, subject to Chase's decision, he, possibly finding practical o>- 56 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. technical difficulties in the carrying out of this plan. 1 do not suppose that the publication will start before I return. But if it can be started, then the first day's report might go in before my return. Any one at the office could correct the stenographic imperfections. Trautmann is to furnish us all the documents that were read. In that way we save much money for transcribing. "6. — Under this head Kinneally is mainly interested. Chase incidentally. I have received from the Alliance, through Kinneally and Gillhaus, a total of $110.00 in cash. Of this amount, $10.00 was to be kept in reserve in case a levy was made at the convention. None was made and the amount might go to the stenographer's fund. Possibly, how- ever, the Alliance may want it, seeing that a call for funds -will soon be issued from the headquarters of the new organ- ization. If these $10.00 are deducted, I would have had $100.- 00. My bill against the Alliance (18 days, from June 21 to July 8, at $5.00 per diem) is $90.00, leaving me with $10.0Q over and above the bill — unless the S. L. P. assumes the ex- penses for the pre-convention days, in which case the amount due the Alliance would be proportionately larger. But I give notice that my expenses were compulsorily larger than the lariff allows, and I had to incur them. I make a rough es- timate that the three weeks in Chicago, especially owing to the last two, left me about $10.00 beyond the reckoning. "7. — Albert Ryan, an excellent fellow and one of the Western Federation of Miners' delegates is to be in New York, probably before my return. If so, be good to him. H© ■will call at the Daily People -office. "It is with difficulty I refrain from taking up convention and other kindred matters. But I must. A score of thing* occur to me simultaneously. But to dash them off here would be but to jumble them. The New York delegates wilt be back by the time this reaches the Daily People building. I shall let all of you buzz them. Moreover, I expect local comrades to be arriving every minute. The St. Paul Pioneer had it that the 'sane element* Won out and Coates was elected President!!! The enclosing clipping from the Chicago Chron- icle tells a different yawp. It is not the De Leon-Hagerty REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 57 but the Haywood-De Leon combination that won out. Simons is utterly discredited. St. Louis men will join S. L. F. immediately, etc., etc. "I wonder whether Moon-eyes finished typewriting the Sue story and whether Eraser, of Dayton, Ohio, is alive. "Fraternally, "D. De Leon." "P. S. I am told that Hickey is here and is now throwing bouquets at me in order to ingratiate himself with the S. L. P. men in St. Paul-Minneapolis who now are carrying chips on their shoulders. D. DL." The happiness that De Leon speaks of experiencing af- ter the I. W. W. convention no doubt inspired him to that magnificent effort, namely, his lecture at Minneapolis, Minn., on July 10 (a significant date in S. L. P. annals), 1905, on the "Preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World," a lecture that is one of the classics of the Party's literature, setting forth, with crystaNlike clarity, the entire subject of industrial unionism. The Party has published this lecture in pamphlet form and it is and will continue to be a source of inspiration to all who are interested in that question. Haywood's Lost Opportunity All the overt and covert enemies of De Leon never tired of harping on his "bossism," his "intolerance," his "unwill- ingness to tolerate any man of ability working with him" and all that sort of thing. Perhaps, the constant iteration and reiteration of these charges was due to the fact that they were so utterly untrue, for those who knew him best knew that ht would only too gladly have stepped aside and let some one else take the lead if there had been any assurance that the revolutionary movement would have benefited thereby. But one messiah after the other came and went and proved to be a hollow tooth that could not "bite." In the preceding let- ter of De Leon, written at St. Paul, we have seen how care- ful De Leon was of not doing anything that would tend to ruffle Debs' feelings, so long as there was any hope that 5S REMINISCENCES OP DANIEL DE LEON. Debs might prove instrumental in the work of creating in America a united economic Labor movement of revolutionary character. Indeed, those who knt-w De Leon best knew only too well that this very desire often led him to misplace his confidence and expect of some individuals attitudes and deeds to which he himself could readily rise, but which were way beyond the calibre of such men to assume and to perform. The above dbservations are most strikingly illustrated bv a letter of De Leon — written more than two years after his St. Paul letter — addressed to "William D. Haywood, Denver, Colo.", and delivered to Haywood by St. John at Chicago, a few weeks after its date. The term "daily letter" was used by Haywood in a letter sent by him from his prison cell at Boise, Ida., to De Leon, and refers to the .Daily People which Hay- wood had received reigularly during his imprisonment. Never did Haywood answer De Leon's letter of Aug. 3, 1907 — not in writing, nor in person. But this letter is a very interesting contribution to the history of the American Labor movement and I am. pleased to be able to include it in this volume, since it shows, in De- Leon's own words, just how he viewed the pos- sibility of Haywood becoming the rallying point for the rev- olutionary American Labor movement and how he viewed his own position in the movement brought about by the intense work done during its formative period. The real De Leon was quite ready to step aside if the animosities, engendered of ne- cessity during tlie early strugigles of the movement, stood in the way of the movement's unification. It was the movement and always the movement that was to be considered — never the individual, no matter what services he might have ren- dered. We see thus in the real De Leon a man very different from the imaginary De Leon that his enemies constantly pic- tured. How Haywood fulfilled the hopes De Leon at one time placed in him has been shown in the course of time. He, too proved to be a "hollow tooth." REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 59 "Editorial Department Post Office Box 1576 'Phone 129 Franklin "DAILY PEOPLE 2, 4 and 6 New Reade Street (Removed to 28 City Hall Place) "New York, August 3d, 19«7. "Wm. D. Haywood, "Denver, Colo. "Dear Comrade: — "Such, I know, must have been the shower ef congratu- latiors that poured upon you oi} your acquittal tfaat I pur- posely kept in the rear lest my voice be 'drowned by the mul- titude.' Moreover, how glad I felt needed no words; nay 'daily letter' will have reached you promptly, anyhow. "Besides that, I had a special reason to wish to avoid the crowd. What I now have to say I say banking upon the message that your lawyer Miller delivered to me in your name at Boise last April. He said you would bave liked .to meet me and talk things over in the hope of coming to an understanding. I am about to leave for Europe to the Inter- national Socialist Congress. Things in America remain in a disturbed and disordered condition. Nevertheless, it is a state of disorder and disturbance from which your acquittal is calculated to bring speedy order and harmony. The cap- italist class has again wrought better for the Social Revolu- tion than that class is aware — it has, through y.our now cele- brated case, built you up for the work of unifying the Move- ment upon sound ground. Those who have been early in the Struggle have necessarily drawn upon themselves anknosiT ties. However undeserved, these animosities are unavoid- able; and what is worse yet, tend to. disqualify such organiza- tions and, their spokesmen for the work of themselves speedily effecting unification, however certain the soundness of their work may make ultimate unification. Important as their -work was in the past, and will continue to be, not through them could a short cut to victory, through united efforts, be made. The very value of their work in one direction inter- feres with their power in another. As I said, the capitalist class, through this late persecution of you, has 'produced' the 60 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. unifier — the Socialist who understands, as the Socialist La- bor Party does, that, without the ballot, the emancipation of the Working Class can not be reached; and that, without the industrially economic organization of the workers, the day of the workers' victory at the polls (even if such victory could be attained under such circumstances) would be the day of their defeat; last, not least, the Socialist who is unencum- bered by the animosities inseparable from the early stages of the struggle. We are again in the days when the old Re- publican party was organized out of warring free-soil and abolitionist, and of up to ^en wavering elements. Thanks to your own antecedents, your celebrated case, the unanimity of the Working Class in your behalf, and your triumphant vindicatian, the capitalist class has itself hatched out the needed leader. The capitalist class has thrown the ball into your hands. You can kick it over the goal. "The season is so solemn that I shall speak solemnly. U^on the wisdom of your acts it now depends whether the ball is to be kicked over the goal within appreciable time, or not. The S. L. P., of which it has been slanderously said is run by one man, myself, just because it is a self-directing body, is sane enough to listen with respectful attention (even tho" it may disagree) to one who has so long filled my post in its ranks. My individual efforts may be relied upon by you, if you desire them, towards the Work that circumstances have combined to cut out for you. "Meti who are incapable of appreciating straight-forward and consistent action have long been pronouncing the S. L. P. dead, more lately also the I. W. W., and myself as merely anxious to 'hang on to something.' The soundness of the S. L. P. principle, 'coupled with the power of its press, in- sures it against any such death. As I stated in the course of the recent debate 'AS TO POLITICS'— so long as its mis- sion remains unfulfilled, the S. L. P. will hold the field un- terrified; the day, however, when the I. W, W. will have re- flected its own political party, in other words, the day when the vicious nonsense of 'pure and simple political Socialism' will be at an end, it will be with a shout of joy that the S. L. P. will break ranks. REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 61 "I need say no more. Tomorrow I take ship for Europe. Shall be back early the second week of September. I should be pleased to hear from you. In order to insure the delivery of this, and not knowing your address, I forward it care of our mutual friend, Vincent St. John, to be delivered to you in person. "With hearty wellwishes — "Yours fraternally, "D. De Leon. "P. S.— Enclosed I send you a clipping from the Daily People of Septeniber' 22, 1906. It contains my letter, written from Franklin, Ind., on the subject of your nomination for Governor in Colorado. Perhaps you saw it before now." PART m From 1906 to 1918.— Slummists Capture I. W. W. and Embark on Physical Force Career. — As to "Socialist Unity". — De Leon's Death in 1914.— Outbreak of World War and Attitude of European Socialist Parties. — The Russian Revolution and Recognition of De Leon's Work. — The New International. — Epilogue. The following year, in 1906, I resigned my position as the National Secretary of the Party, the reasons being made known to the membership in a statement then issued. That ended the tlose, almost every-day-contact I had for all these years been in with De Leon, and I could only see him occa- sionally. Frank Bohn was elected to succeed me. Whatever hopes had been entertained as to how he would conduct the work of the office were soon dispelled. Very soon De Leon used to send me word to come and see him and when I called he complained about Bohn's ineptitude, his carelessness, lack of method, etc. I had myself observed, when inducting him into the work of the officp, that there was something lacking in the man, but I had concluded that he would learn, adapt himself and break in in time. Before long, however, he de- veloped other traits, assumed an attitude of hostility towards De Leon and began to intrigue against him. A situation arose that finally led to his resignation at the session of the N. E. C. held from Jan. S to 8, 1908. His place had to be filled temporarily, pending the election of a permanent" suc- cessor, and I had to jump into the breach to take charge of the office until the vacancy could be filled by a general vote. For a short time this brought me again in close touch with the affairs of the Party and, also, with De Leon. HENRY KUHN NATIONAL SECRETARY, SOCIALIST LABOR PARTY 1891-1906 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. «3 Natural History of Mr. Frank Bohn A purpose of future usefulness will be served if we now digress a little and devote a little space to the further evolu- tion of Mr. Frank Bohn. Having ceased to be the National Secretary, he continued for a time to linger in the Party's ranks, intending to use it, it may be supposed, as a fisherman uses a pond. In the fall of that same year, 1908, the regular state election was due in New York state and, in due time, the S. L. P. held its nominating convention. Bohn was a delegate to that convention, and so was I. Many of us sus- pected that for a good while past he had maintained close connections with S. P. circles and that he was plotting, but he had not yet been unmasked and could still obtain the votes of unsuspecting members. But "as murder will out," so did he have to show his hand in the end, and he did so at the time of this convention. On my way to the meeting room on the top floor of the. Daily People building, then located at 28 City Hall Place, I stopped at De Leon's office as was my habit when in the building. De Leon, as soon as he saw me, exclaimed: "You are just the man I wanted to see; look at this!" — handing over to me a letter. It was a letter Bohn had written to B. Reinstein, at Buffalo, N. Y., wherein he sought to draw Reinstein into the support of a plot to . pre- vent the nomination of a state ticket by the S. L. P.. Thus, Bohn, after he had himself elected a delegate to a convention that had only one function and that to nominate a state ticket, at' once began to intrigue to prevent the very thing he had been elected for and, worse yet, he tried to enlist other Party members in his treasonable plotting. As a scheme it was about as foolish a thing as could be imagined; only a person utterly ignorant as to the spirit of the S. L. P. membership could have conceived such a "plan." He no doubt took chances. If he succeeded, all the better, for he could then enter the S. P. a conquering hero; if he failed he could point out that he had made an effort and get credit for that. But his inborn ineptitude cropped out again when he tried to make Reinstein a partner in his scheme. He never made a bigger mistake in his life when he permitted himself to as- 64 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. sume that, because Reinsteia advocated a "Unity Resolu- tion" he would, therefore, be available for Bohn's under- handed work. Relnstein, feeling the insult to him implied in such "reasoning," promptly forwarded the Bohn letter to De Leon. I took that letter with me to the convention, my mind made up to put an end to the career of the gentlemen in the S. L. P. Bohn, not having had a reply from Reinstein, prob- ably felt ill at ease and did not know what might be in the wind. At any rate, he was not on hand when the committee on credentials made its report. I deferred action, preferring that he be present at the coming exposure. But he failed to turn up and I finally asked for the floor on a matter of per- sonal privilege, exposed his treasonable scheming and moved that as a matter of form his seat in the convention be de- clared vacant and that the contents of the letter be made part of the record of the convention. Towards the close of the convention he finally did show up and he was then curtly in- formed that he had been unseated. Thereupon he landed in the S. P. — naturally. Next we see him in the role of an or- ganizer of the Anarchist Chicago I. W. W., raiding the head- quarters of the Detroit I. W. W. (now the W. I. I. U.) at Paterson, N. J., driving up with a truck in the dead of aigfat and, with the aid of several henchmen, carrying off the furniture of the organization. After that he again turns to "national politics," and we see him in the New York Times advocating, day after day, the election of Woodrow Wilson as President of the United States. Again he appears, in the company of Gompers, Sanial, Simpson, Spargo, Simons, Stokes, etc., etc., as one of the founders of the "National Al- liance of Labor and Democracy"; again in the New York Times as a writer on international or world politics, dis- pensing, ex cathedra, opinions on the redrawing of the map of Europe and sundry other matters; and, more recently, he went with Mr. Gompers, Russell, Spargo and a few other "socialists" on a quasi government mission to convince the Socialists of England, France and Italy of the error of their ways, from which mission he seertis just to have returned. Verily, Mr. Frank Bohn is a very versatile man, at home in REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 65 every saddle. He also seems to be the happy possessor of an unerring instinct that enables him to discern on which side his bread is buttered. Mr. Bohn, way back in 1906, often urged ate to undertake the work of writing a history of the S. L. F. Today I am rather pleased that I was unable to ac- comodate him, because at this much later date I am able to include in this present effort a part at least of the natural his- tory of Mr. Frank Bohn, rather a mere sketch, it is true, but sufficient to furnish a fairly good photograph of the gentle- man. As to Socialist "Unity" At the aforesaid session of the N. E. C, in Jan. 1908, a matter was broached which, for the second time during all the years De Leon and I had worked together caused me to disagree with him in a matter of importance. It was the so- called "Unity Resolution" introduced by Boris Reinstein on behalf of Section Erie County (Buffalo), N. Y. Reinstein had been at the Stuttgart International Congress and had there received the stimulus that led him to inject that ques- tion into the S. L. F. I was present at that N. £. C. session, De Leon having asked me to attend. Called upon to express my views, I took the floor to point out the hopelessness of such a move. The minutes of the session mention the mat~ ter in these words: "Henry Kuhn was g^iven the floor on the subject and stated his reasons for being skeptical as to the re- sults to be expected from the adoption of such resolutions." If I was skeptical then, I am more than skeptical today, for all that has since come to pass has re-enforced my convic- tion that unity with the S. P. is not possible — and is not de-« sirable if it were possible — at least not now nor for probably a long time to come if human foresight has any value. I stated then that the S. P., predicated as it is upon the A. F. of L., and the A. F. of L., via the National Civic Federation and numberless other influences, dominated by capitalist in- terests, could not if it would, and would not if it could, unite with the S. L. P. upon a basis that left the S. L. P. a factor to be reckoned with. To. have us disappear as an organiza- tion by attachment -to the S, P. as individuals would, of 66 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. course, be entirely acceptable to them, but hardly to oursel- ves. The move made in 1908 came to naught, the S. P. Na- tional Committee taking it upon itself to decline the invita- tion for a conference, not taking the trouble to refer it to its membership. Since then the S. L. P. has several times over been induced to spend and waste time and effort on the same elusive task, the last time at the invitation of the S. P., a gen- eral vote of that party having decided to invite the S. L. P. toa "Unity Conference." There may be such of our members who reason that these unity conferences bring the S, L P. position to the attention of the S. P. membership and that they have, for that reason, a propagandist value. I doubt whether any considerable por- tion of that membership ever hears about the result of these conferences, and I also doubt that the few who do, ever get more than a very much twisted version thereof. There may also be such of our members who are born strategists and who think that these unity conferences pan be used to maneuver the S. P. into an untenable position. These fail to understand the peculiar jelly-fish character of the S. P. organization. They reason from an S. L. P. organ- ization viewpoint — too much so. It is true that the S. L. P., taught in a position that violates accepted tenets of the move- ment, would suffer in standing and in morale, but the S. P. — ■ever. And if there be such of our members as really yearn for •nity with the S. P. on sentimental grounds, who have not gotten over deploring the "split" and all that sort of thing, let these by all means "unite" and leave us alone to fight our own battles. At best they do not understand and live entire- ly in the past. Political parties and movements arc not im- mutable; they are organic structures changing with changing conditions of which conditions they are the products. The lay of the ,land in the United States is today such that there HAS TO BE an S. P., and, for the same reason, there HAS TO BE an S. L. P. This much must be said on the purely practical side of the unity matter: If we of the S. L. P. permit that the fur- REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 67 ther existence of our movement be continually called in ques- tion, for that is the inevitable impression created upon the public mind as vrell as upon our own membership, we simply weaken and injure our movement to that extent. We show a lack of faith in the correctness of our position, which show- ing or which lack — whichever it be — tends to demoralize us and cause discord in our ranks. Europe Blind to American Conditions Far more weighty are the objections upon the ground of principles and tactics. The unity resolutions of the Interna- tional Congresses, from whence our unity advocates derived their inspiration, were adopted with an eye to European con- ditions and with scarcely a thought of us in America. We were, to them, a negligible quantity anyway. These con- gresses, as De Leon correctly stated at the 1900 National Convention of the Party, were really peace demonstrations and their unity resolutions ^manifestations of the instinct of self-preservation. In an atmosphere such as prevailed on the European continent at least, an atmosphere surcharged with the constant danger of impending war, unity, where it did not exist, became a measure of defense; there was always an urgent desire to draw their forces together so that, if the black war cloud threatened to break, they might hope to avert the calamity by concerted action. How these hopes were fated to be frustrated has been amply demonstrated by subsequent events and that, of all men, Daniel De Leon was not permitted to live and see the play of the gigantic forces that broke loose so shortly after his death, that is one of the tragedies of life. There is perhaps not a single S. L. P. man in the land in whose mind the same idea has not arisen; all felt that now we need De Leon, need his counsel, his judgment, his guiding hand. When the storm broke in Europe, we did see some queer and to many unexpected developments in the Socialist move- ments on the other side of the Atlantic; and yet, we need not be overly astonished at what happened there after Au- gust 4, 1914, because what did happen was predicated upon what did exist there prior to that fateful day. A roan sitting 68 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. on top of a volcano and likely to be blown up any minute is not in a position to evolve fine points in tactics. His atten- tion is apt to be absorbed looking for help, however vainly, and his mental processes will be of a kind that scorns fine dis- tinctions as to source and possible effectiveness of that help. This simile may not fully cover movements composed of numbers of men, but it comes near enough to explain how such movements, situated as were those of continental Europe at least, will develop a tendency to look for mass instead of class, using the latter term in a purely sportive sense. Nor could v\re, placed in exactly the same predicament, expect to be any different. De Leon, who attended congress after congress, and who went there with his eyes open for seeing things below as well as above the surface, came back again and again with the same conviction, viz., that so long as conditions in Europe remained as they were, America was the country where, for reasons geographical, political and economic, the true rev- olutionary position of the Socialist movement must l>e worked out. ,We had long talks each time he returned. He under" stood clearly the difficulties of their position; he saw, with equal clearness, their shortcomings flowing from these dif- ficulties; and he saw also the inevitable psychological situa- tion thereby created. But there was no way out that we could see. I distinctly remember a long conversation we had —it was after the Stuttgart Congress, I believe, where Bebel made a speech, saying, in substance, that in case of invasion he, at his ripe age, would shoulder a gun to defend the father- land — in the course of which conversation I asked De Leon whether he thought that the German movement would fall in line behind the government if made to believe that they had to ward off a threatened invasion. His answer was that he thought that was jusl what would happen. We did all along consider a European war unavoidable, it being only a ques- tion as to how long it might yet be avoided. We were also clear upon the point that any capitalist government could succeed fooling the bulk of its people into believing that any war that it might become involved in was a war of "defense." In view of all this, where is the sense for us to be gov- REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 69 criicd, when considering the question of unity HERE in America, by European concepts or by. the utterances of In-- ternational Congresses scarcely ever meant for us? That question must be considered and decided upon grounds that govern OUR conditions of existence — the industrial and po- litical conditions prevailing right here in this country and which are, in spite of all that has happened during the last few years, essentially different from those prevailing in Europe jirior to the war, to say nothing of what these conditions arc there today.' We know we have nothing in common with the S..P. as to ultimate aim and, necessarily, we can. not have any- thing in common in regard to methods and tactics to attain that aim. Victor L. Berger's Different Goal To illustrate the difference as to ultimate aka, and te make clear that, when the S. P'. talks about tht Co-operative Cdsauonwealth or about the Socialist Republic, it does not mitan what we mean by such terms, I shall present the fol* lowing. I have before me a pamphlet, containing a long speech made by Victor L. Berger, of Wisconsin, in the House of Representatives, on Thursday, July 18, 1912. I shall quote froat that painphlet (which, by tlie way, is issued by the Goveument printing office, Washington, D. C.) as follows: Page 16 GOAL OF SOCIALIST PARTY. llfr. CLINE. Mr. Speaker, I understood the gentleman to say in his address that the Socialist Party was in favor of conmon ownership of most of the agencies of production and distribution. Mr. BERGER. For the collective ownership and the democratic management of the social means of production and distribution. Mr. CLINE. How are you going to evolve the system? A NATURAL AND SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATION OF- SOCIETY. Mr. BERGER. We believe that everything that is neces- sary for the life of the Nation, for the enjoyment of every- n REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. body within tlie Nation, the Nation is to own and manase. Therefore we shall take over the trusts, railroads, miaes. telegraphs, and other monopolies of national scope. ^Everythiag that is necessary for the life and deyelop- ment of the State, the State is to own and manage. There are certain business functions that the State will have to take care of, like interui1>an lines, for instance. Everything that is necessary for the life and develop- ment of a city, the city is to own and manage, like, for in- stasce, not only street cars and light and heating plants, but also abattoirs, public bake shops, the distribution of pure aull^ and so forth. Everything the individual can own and manage best, the individual is to own and manage. That is simple enough. In other words, the trust as a business has reached » stage where it is unsafe in private hands; it is a menace to the Nation as long as it is in private hands. It can only be managed by the Nation for the profit of everybody. The same holds good for certain private monopolies in cities, as far as the cities are concerned, THE NATION COULD GET THESE PROPERTIES EASIER THAN THE TRUSTS GOT THEM. Ur. CLINE. How are you going to change the present economic basis? Give us a concrete statement of that prop- osition. Mr, BERGER. That is easy enough. We surely could get the trust properties in the same way the trusts got them. The trusts paid for their ipropenties almost entirely in watered stock, preferred and common. We can give the best security in existence today—United States bonds. Mt. CLINE. Have the government buy them? Mr. BERGER. Have the Government buy the trust properties. Why not? But pay only for the actual value. That will be paid for out of the profits of these trusts in a very short time. Socialist Revolution Purchaser of Social System What does Mr. Berger mean? It must be assumed that llr. Berger, today an S. P. ex- interested towards these policies which encompassed the whole range of Socialist thought' and action. One would rea- sott that the principles of industrial unionism, providing that form of organization of the working class which enable it to take and hold and administer the industries of the land when, the day is here to "expropriate the expropriators" and to sup- plant the political state with the Industrial Socialist Repub- lic, and which also and at the same time provide the form. of organization that can most effectively conduct the work- ing class struggle in present society, that such principles would appeal to the intellect of these men and cause them t« exert themselves to also make them the intellectual property of their rank and file. Yet what did we see? We have seen a De Leon carryis^ this mess3^ge to them again and again, yet hardly able to make an impression. De Leon, a man of marked ability, coii- tfolling the three chief languages used at these internatio«al gatherings, a man abundantly able to make clear what he had REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DrE LEON. Tl to say and amply- energetic to do so. We have seen a Dr. Karl Liebknecht, certainly a man of knowledge, rectitude and proven courage, tour this country under the auspices of the S. P. and studiously avoid coming near the S. L. P., nev- er utter himself upon the palpitating issues that separate us from the S. P., acting almost like an employee vfho feels un- der obligation not to offend his employer. When the point is pressed home to him by an S. L. P. man, he advises that we join the larger party. Sic I Why doesn't he "j(rin the larger party" .today? From all of this we may perhaps deduce that these men, in spite of better knowledge, could not rise above their en- vironment, and that again leads to the conclusion that mate- rial ' conditions determine not only the ideas and actions of the mass of men, but also limit the mental vision of their leaders so that they are unable to see and grasp what is so obvious to us. It is one thing to know and quite another to apply that knowledge to the ever rising issues of the day. Russia to the Fore That the Socialists of Russia occupied a position some- what different f rota that of the other European Socialist par- ties was, of course, due to special causes. Indeed, it may be said that nearly the entire conscious portion of the Russian people was interested in the defeat of Czarism rather than its victory, at least one could infer as much from published and private utterances at the beginning of the war. It is true, there were exceptions, even notable exceptions such as Plech- anoff, but that did not affect the general situation. Under Czarism the work of the Socialist movement had to be con- ducted largely "underground" and had to be managed from foreig^n countries. Moreover, Russia, because of its medieval backwardness, had not developed a numerous and powerful 'bourgeoisie able to hypnotize and poison the working class mind, a process so successfully pursued in other countries. On the other hand, Russia had developed a working class rather numerous, although constituting but a small percent- age of a total population largely peasant. Due to the rather 'iveak mind-poisoning power of the bourgeoisie on the one / 78 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. hanfi, and the savage oppression of the Czarist bureaucratic regime on the other, the Russian proletariat had a good chance to develop a class-conscious organization, comprisintr not only a small part but almost the entire working class. Thus, at the time of the fall of the Czar, the Russian work- ing class found itself with arms in its hands, side by side with a peasantry that was also armed and was without any con- scious reason for opposing a working class program. Five- sixths of the power of the land was at their disposal and they were face to face with a situation that imperatively demanded action. They did act in a manner that history will tell of as long as history is going to be written, for we see today and have seen for almost a year past the government of Rnssia in possession of the most revolutionary part of the Russtas Socialist movement; we see how that government has been molded by the adaptation of the Soviet form of organizatiott in such a manner as to meet the situation Russia is today confronted with, and we have seen how the revolution hsa held its own although beset within and without. From ttnw to time we get glimpses of information showing what a vast amount of constructive work is being done in that country, work along educational lines, work in industry, work wher- ever work can be done. It has been said that the Russian revolution is the biggest event in all history and is well wortk all the war has and will yet cost. This is unquestionably true, for though the end is not yet and man can not tell what the future may bring forth, it is absolutely certain that Russia, far from becoming again what she was prior to the outbreak of the war, is bound to be one of the dynamic world forces that will help to drive the system of capitalism down the road to perdition. From the very inception of the Soviet govern- ment there has been carried on a tremendous propaganda in both Austria and Germany with the outspoken purpose of ripening these fields for the Social Revolution and so men- acing became this propaganda that. the German Imperial gov- ernment had to address protests to and even to threaten the Russiat) Republic. Of all the expressions of the Socialist movement in Ea> rope it is Russia, through the mouth of Lenine, that lias REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 79 sounded the clearest note. Whatever utterance there lias been or has come to our knowledge, be it on a matter of con- structjve action affecting their movement and its tasks, or of criticism pertaining to sins of omisson and commission, with- in Russia and without, or dealing with internal problems con- fronting them, such utterance has been clear-cut and to the point. These men are Marxians and they act and talk like Marxians. It is but natural that in an atmosphere such as now prevails in Russia the logical position of the Socialist Labor Party should find speedy recognition. This was strik- ingly and interestingly illustrated in the New York World of January 31, 1918, which contained a cable from its corre- spondent in Russia, Arno Dosch-Fleurot, saying, literally, that "Daniel De Leon, late head of the Socialist Labor Party in America, is playing, through his writings, an important part in the construction of a Socialist state in Russia. The Bolshevik leaders are finding his ideas of an industrial state in advance of Karl Marx's theories. "Lenine, closing his speech on the adoption of the Rights of Workers' Bill in the congress (of Soviets) showed the in- fluence of De Leon, whose governmental construction, on the basis of industries, fits admirably into the Soviet construc- tion of the state now forming in Russia. De Leon is really the first American Socialist to affect European thought." A similar and also very significant recognition of the in- exorable logic of the S. L. P. position came from another quarter. During the revolutionary struggle in Finland, a Swedish Socialist paper, "Arbetet," put a query to the Social- ists of Finland, to this effect: "By what means and methods can the cause of the Finnish working class be best advanced just now?" Amongst the answers received and published there was one by Allan Wallenius, a Finnish Socialist who had, some years ago, made a trip through the United States and had there come in contact with the S. L. P. and its teachings. Said he in part: "In the future we shall have more battles to fight. In these we should not forget that it is necessary for the work- ers to get hold of the political power through their political organization, but above a]Ii Of the economic power through 80 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. their industrial organizations. If our industrial organizations had been ready and strong enough to take over and to oper- ate the means of production at the time our general strike broke out, then our position would have been entirely differ- ent from what it is now — trembling in the balance. "Means are at hand for the reformation of our trade un- ion movement in a direction so that it will be ready when the time is ripe to take and hold and operate production. This lies in the program which the advocates of industrial union- ism set up against the trade or craft organization. "We have a few things to learn from syndicalism, and also from the Scandinavian trade union opposition. The party which resolutely and without compromise is supporting the teaching of economic and political action in a true Marxian spirit, with a determined stand aganst the Anarchist teach- ings of physical force and the anti-political character of syn- dicalism is the Socialist Labor Party (America, Australia, England). The tactics practised by this party must finally be adopted also by us, for the reason that this program is the surest and best way to be pursued for the annihilation of cap- italism, while it at the same time unfailingly erects the foun- dation of the Socialist society." In this connection it will not be amiss to relate how ia still another way the S. L. P. made "contact" with the Rus- sian revolution. Comrade Boris Reinstein, of Section Erie Co., (Buffalo), N. Y., having decided, after the revolution, t» gfo to Russia on private matters, was authorized by the Par- ty's N. E. C., at its meeting of May 1917, to represent the S. L. P. at the International Congress scheduled to be held at Stockholm that year. For reasons universally known that congress did not take place and Reinstein proceeded from Stockholm to Russia. Due to unreliable mail connections we did not often hear from him direct, but the public press frotn time to time had reports from Russia in which he was mea- tioned. On one occasion it was said that, after the fall of the Kerensky regime, in November 1917, he had been placed Itt charge of an International Bureau of Revolutionary Propag- anda orgranized by the Soviet government, seemingly the same bureau that was carrying the revolutionary propaganda into REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 81 Austria and Germany, Finally, a few months ago, John Reed, the well-known journalist, who had been in Russia dur- ing the revolution and had there been in personal contact with Reinstein, returned to America and, at a meeting of the N. E. C. held May 4, 1918, related his experience and brought greetings from Comrade Reinstein. But Reed brought more than that, he brought news that not only was highly gratifying to the men and women who, for so many years, have battled in the foe-beset ranks of the S. L. P., but, what is of much greater importance, news that showed on the part of the men now guiding the destinies of Russia a clear and keen perception of the value :of the work De Leon had been doing in America, plus a clear recognition, as clear as can be desired, that in order to safeguard the rev- olution in Russia they must shape their course along the lines mapped, for the guidance of the International Proletariat, by Daniel De Leon. So irnportant is this news that, for. the sake ^f rescuing it from the fate of an ephemeral item in a paper and ^ve it the greater permanency imparted by publication in, book form, I shall quote from the Weekly People of May 11, 1918, as follows: "Premier Lenine," said Reed, "is a great admirer of Daniel De Leon, considering him the greatest of modern So- cialists — 'the only one who has added anything to Socialist thought since Marx. Reinstein managed to take with him to Russia a few of the pamphlets written by De Leon, but Lenine wants more. He asked Reed to try hard to send several copies of all of De Leon's published works, and also a copy of 'With De Leon Since '89,' a biography by Rudolph Katz, which is now in process of publication by the Socialist Labor Party. "Lenine intends to translate this into Russian and write an introduction to it. "It is Lenine's opinion that the Industrial State as con- ceived by De Leon will ultimately have to be the form of gov- ernment in Russia. The government is now based partly on workshop committees. The Soviets are directly responsive to their constituents, as a representative can be recalled and his place filled in one day." S2 REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. The New^ International The world war and all that thereby hangs has buried the old International. It is well that the abortion has gone hence — never to return. How the new International, the one that must arise after the war, will shape itself it is as yet too soon to predict. The elements that will constitute it have not as yet been clearly evolved and the convulsions society is still going through will yet weed out here and add there worn-out or new constituent parts. Much depends upon the further duration of the war, for the longer it lasts the more will the capitalist social fabric be affected. One thing, however, is certain: The bourgeois connections within the Socialist movenusnt, so clearly revealed by this war, must be cut out as with a knife. A sharp line of demarcation must and Will be drawn between those who would end capitalism and those who would mend it. It is a pity that De Leon is not with us to help us build the new temple upon the foundation that he strove and fought and lived for, but we of the S. L. P. must and will do as he would have done. As things look today, the lead in laying the beginning of the new structure may devolve upon Russia for the reason that Russia today holds the imagination of the revolutionary working class the world over. Let us hope that, when the time comes, she will be in a position to take the lead. Perhaps, who knows, other na- tions may by that time have trodden the path that Russia was the first to venture upon; almost anything is possible in a time like this and with the Russian example at hand. In the new International, freed from the rubbish of bour- g;eois connections that hampered and stifled the old and caused its disgraceful collapse when the war-cloud broke, the Socialist Labor Party of America will at last come into its own, will contribute 'to the building material of the new struc- ture its undying principles so clearly enunciated by De Leon and will thus help to clear the road for the emancipation of the working class which today more than ever means the emancipation of the human race from the bloody nightmare of capitalism. REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 83 Who would y this he rescued tfor the English-speaking world a work of clear and readable history in fiction form, written from the point of view of the class struggle as seen and felt by the oppressed, which but for him might have re- mained a closed book to the English-speaking world because of the existence of the very agencies, still active, that so bit- terly hated Sue and his latter-day works. Add to this that De Leon prepared any number of official documents, reports, and addresses, took an active part in. Party work, went on lecture tours, and catered to flie demand of keeping "open house" and holding continuous receptions in The People of- fice for comrades from near and far. And with this we never heard him complain — ^though, to be sure, he escaped to his home in order to work. He never pleaded being rushed or overworked; never made a wry face at bein,g interrupted, ex- cept sometimes by a crank or a fool, such as used to blow into the office in great numbers, particularly previous to the split Of '99. De Leon often said that by attracting the freaks to itself the Socialist Party had rendered him immeasurable service. A sample of this kind of visitation is found in the following anecdote. De Leon was sitting at his desk when there en- tered a middle-aged, restless, nervous fellow. "Is this the Editor of The People?" "Yes, sir, what can I do for you?" DE LEON'S SANCTUM SANCTORUM THE "DAILY PEOPLE" EDITORIAL ROOM 2-6 New ReaJe Street, New York DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. VI "1 believe The Peotple is devoted to the cause of fcU' jnanity?" "Yes, sir I Take a seat. What can I do for you?" "Well, 1 am the reincarnation of Jesus Christ!" "You don't say! Wonderful!" "Yesl And I am the reincarnation of Napoleon!" "Well, virelll This is indeed remarkable!" "Yes! And I am the reincarnation of Adam!" "What I You don't mean to tell me—?" "Yes! I am Adam reincarnated!" "What, the whole of Adam?" "Yes! The whole of Adam!" "Impossible! Where does my share come in!?" .Startled by this extraordiflary demand, uttered in sten- torian voice, the lunatic grabbed his hat and dashed out of the editorial sanctum. The secret of De Leon's unusual working capacity I have always laid a great deal to his remarkable ability of com- plete mental relaxation, a secret which too few possess. De Leon knew the full value of play, and knew how to extract out of play all the good there is in it. He played physically and he played mentally; he was always on the lookout for a good joke. He placed very little store upon the possession of things. Property and chattels he considered burdensome encum- brances and responsibilities, which could only hamper his usefulness to the cause he had chosen as his. I have heard of his first visit to the home of a friend who had a quite lavishly furnished place. After enjoying the sight of a number of the rare and beautfiul things he found, he looked ajppreciatingly, almost sympathetically at the hostess and said, shaking his head in his characteristic manner: "But my, what an awful responsibility." Of the home at Pleasantville he was wont to say: "The .comrades have done this for me out of the kindness of their hearts, but I begin to feel the burden of property; I begin to feel myself sympathizing with the bourgeois 'taxpayer'; I feel responsibilities growing on me that I had hoped never to be afflicted with," — and then he would laugh and turning to Mrs. 98 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. De Leon would say: "Now Bert, dominate the home, don't let the home dominate you," and then he would have another laugh. He could never stand pretense, petty pride, or airs that lacked genuineness. Here are a couple of anecdotes which show the quiet fun he could have at the expense of false pride and airs, while at the same time he could give a neat little lesson to the presumptuous. He was riding in the smoker of the parlor car on a New York Central train with his friend Joseph Darling just after "the corrupt election campaign of Flower for Governor of New York State. Darling and Flower were acqiiainted, but Dar- ling was out of the smoker and Flower sat in the chair next to De Leon, who, while he recognized Flower, paid no atten- .tion to him. De Leon was smoking his clay pipe, as was his custom, and soon became aware that Flower was observing him. He thought that possibly he took offence at a clay pipe in a parlor smoker, but presently, when the train passed Hav- erstraw, Flower said: "I polled a large vote here." De Leon looked up startled and said: "Is that sol Were you running for constable?" "No," said the Governor-elect, "I have been elected Governor of the State, I am Roswell P. Flower." "Oh!" said De Leon and continued his smoking. A little later Flower met Darling and asked: "Who is that eccentric old man smoking a clay pipe?" Darling answered: "Oh! He's a Chicago millionaire and doesn't care a damn about the Gov- ernor of New York State I" When Elizabeth Flynn was commencing to be hailed as a seven-day wonder, she naturally wanted to show herself off to De Leon. She was appropriately gotten up for the occa- sion, including a volume of "People's Marx" which rested on her arm. After the. usual formalities had been gone through, De Leon said abruptly: "Let me see what you. read while you are traveling about the city." "Ohp just 'People's Marx,' " said the presumptuous youngster. "Now, I will show you what I read," said De Leon, laughingly, and pulled out from his satchel a copy of "Three Men in a Boat" by Jeromt K, Jerome. De Leon, himself a great linguist, continually either poked DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 99 fun at or pretended to attempt to learn the languages he could not understand. His excursion into Hungarian did not go far. In his block on Avenue A. was an Hungarian grocery store, the pretty little lady of which he was very anxious to greet in her mother tongue. Most unwisely, however, he choose for his tutor a young wag, a student friend of his son. Well instructed, he started off and said his polite "Good morning" in what must have been very good Hungarian, for the dear lady at once snatched up an apple with each hand and made a threatening gesture, then, seeing his aston- ished expression, she burst out in rippling laughter, and, to quote De Leon himself, "All my Hungarian oozed out of me %y all my pores and I never made an attempt at that villain- ous language again." With the Swedish he succeeded far better. Having very serious and most patient instructors, he actually managed to acquire the use of four words quite accurately, both with lE^peech and pen, in the course of the fifteen or more years that the "People" and "Arbetaren" were under the same roof. One of these words was "famntag" which means "hug." He learned this at a Swedish Party affair where some old- fashioned song-games were played. From that time on he always "famntagged" us in every letter clear across the con- tinent. What a useful thing language really is may be shown by the following extract from a letter written just after a visit at his office by Comrade Tholin, delegate from the Swedish trade unions, visiting this country in 1910 in behalf of the great general strike in Sweden. "You will have seen from The People that Tholin visited tiie office. Did you meet him? He is a burly, boisterous fel- low. Acts as if he highly appreciates the S. L. P. T under- stand he says there is no Socialist movement in America, but what there is of it is S. L. P. I spoke to him through an in- terpreter, a young S. L. P. Swede, whom I often see. Can't fix his name in my mind. Through the interpreter I informed Tholin that I knew only one Swedish word safely — 'faain- tag.' Tholin's Aldermanic face brightened up instantly; he threw open his arms, and we 'famntagged.' He informed me through the interpreter that with that one word it was enough 100 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. for me to travel safely throughout Sweden. So, then, I got jny passport. Tholin tells me we shall meet at Copenhagen." He gathered about him a few very intimate friends and was as happy as a child when any one of these came to visit him. On the other hand, he disliked nothing worse than "com- pany." Those who came to his home had to be "at home." However, De Leon's was just the place where a person was "at home" at once, i. e., unless he wished to mimic the actions and phrases of empty politeness of the aristocracy. How his "company" might become installed is illustrated by the fol- lowing eipisode. A comrade, whom we may call Mr. B., visited De Leon's for the first time. Of course, he was dressed in his Sunday best and felt so keenly the honor of being with De Leon that he was rather uipset by it, particularly as every one attended to his or her business as if there was no visitor at all. At last Mr. B. strayed out in the yard, where he walked about in high collar and stiffly starched cuffs, and looked truly bored. De Leon spied him and took pity on him. He hied to the kitchen, picked up the empty water bucket, held it out at the door and called: "Here, B., fetch a pail of water!" B's features lit up. With one jump he was at the door, took the bucket, turned up his cuffs, flung off his collar, pumjped uj) the water, and was from that moment perfectly at home. "You see," said De Leon, when he laughingly related the story, "B. is a fine fel- low. It only took one ipail of water to take the starch out of him and he has never become stiff again since." As soon as De Leon arrived home in the country, he hastened into what he called his "farmer uniform," white jacket and overalls. Then he lighted his clay pipe and was haM>y in his little circle. About one of his clay pipes evolves another anecdote. During the many summers when the fam- ily lived at Milford, De Leon usually took the same boat on Saturday up Long Island Sound to Bridgeport. Thus he be- came recognized on board. One day a talkative old sailor came up to him. "Excuse me, sir," said the tar very politely, "I have seen you very often on this boat, and you never smoke anything but a clay pipe. I am very curious to know why you smoke a AN INTIMATE PORTRAIT OF DE LEON PLEASANTVILLE. N. Y., SEPTEMBER 1913 (Happiest In His White Duck Farminif Suit) DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 101 clay piipe." This was all spoken in a tone as if he meant to say: "You look, sir, as if you might as well smoke a meerr schaum — if you cared to." "Well, you see, sir," answered De Leon just as politely, "a clay pipe is the only pipe that never becomes sour." "Is that possible?^' exclaimed the other in surprise. "I never heard that before. How does that come about, do you supipose?" Absolutely "accidentally" the pipe, just at that instant, fell from De Leon's hand and crumbled at his feet. The tar asked no more questions that day. Although De Leon, because he placed his principles higher than the social position he could have held, if he had deserted the Socialist Labor Party, lived very plainly and simply, he was far from being one of the class of "intellectuals" Who go about and make a virtue and a fashion of poverty. He ab- Iiored poverty and misery and often complained about the ii^ born habit to suffer, common to the proletarian, which causes him to live satisfied with scarcity and continuous deprivation. On the other hand, he despised thoroughly the boastful ig- norance of the money aristocracy, which prompts it, in season and out of season, to exhibit its possessions and luxuries. An- other anecdote shows how neatly he could ra

^. ■.■wmmiMti-rf ^R flfl F 1487 AVENUE A, NEW YORK WHERE DE LEON LIVED FROM 1887 TO 1913 (Third Story - Two Windows To Tlie Left) DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 103 "August 21, 190S.— You will not take it ill if I start by saying that your esteemed letter of the 24th of last month might still remain unanswered, were it not for certain infor- mation that reaches me from California, and upon which I would like to speak to you without delay. "Indeed I am pleased with the work of the Convention! I had gone determined to withdraw if I had to struggle for the right thing. I had enough with my K. of L. experience. There was no sense in having to put men upon their feet, and thea struggle to keep them there. I was through with that sort of work. The information I had a year ago when I drafted the Trades Union resolution for the National Convention, the last clause of which was, to my sorrow, changed; the further information that came in and that caused me to embody the spirit of that resolution in my report to the Amsterdam Con- gress; the seeming comprobation, of all that I could glean, by the Manifesto — that all made me expect to have the Chicago Convention act like a climax and mark the epoch. It did. The victory was all won before. Berger viciously declares: ' 'De Leon found them dead easy.' This is an insult to these men. They were not 'dead easy.' They had been S. L.P.-ized before they reached Chicago. The Convention did mark an epoch — it recorded the ripeness of time and the logic of events. I fre- quently of late am reminded of the keen satisfaction of my boyhood days when I solved my first geometric problem. The beauty of the logic of things was charming. That old satis- faction, multiplied a thousandfold, was my satisfaction at Chicago. The .S. P. was built uipon the double fallacy that a party of Socialism need not stand upon a Socialist economic organization, and that the party of Socialism may rise upon the tacit groundwork of pure and simpledom. For these many years we have been ramming away at those false underpin- nings. At Chicago the underpinnings went down At last we have a Socialist Union, equi-extensive with the nation and consisting of material that readily admits, and gladly so, that there is no literature worth reading except S. L. P. literature. "From One source I learn that our Pafty members in Cali- fornia are somewhat at sea in this I. W. W. development; from another source I learn that at the recent I. W. W. meeting in 104 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. San Francisco our Party men denounced the S. P. The two. bits of information dovetail. Indeed our men must be 'at sea' if they conduct themselves in that way. "At I. W. W. meetings neither praises for the S. L. P. nor attacks upon the S. P. should be indulged in. What should be indulged in is the rubbing in of the fact — stated in the Pream- ble — that economic unity is essential for Labor's emancipation, and that such economic unity is imipossible under the A. F. of L. This must be illustrated by A. F. of L. misdeeds, and burnt in with illustrations taken from the conduct of well known S. P. men. Their names should be mentioned, not their party. Their papers, their national and state officers, all of whom are pro-A. F. of L. and traducers of the I. W. W., these should be quoted by name. At I. W. W. meetings our men must. stand squarely upon the piinciple that sound unionism is the basis of political unity, and that the latter will take care of itself. There is not toderiod of tran- sition into ripeness. There may be snags -ahead. If we run up against any the safety will lie in our express S. L. P. political attitude, a thing that did not exist at the time of the Chicago Anarchists. Moreover, I opine that nine-tenths of the An- archist talk comes from the mixed locals. That sort of talk will lessen in the measure that the locals are assorted into their separate industrial departments. When there will be but one party, the difficulty will have been materially overcome.. I would suggest that our men emphasize at the I. W. W. meet- ings the language of the I. W. W. Preamble which demands 'political as well as economic unity.' That excludes Anarchy. "The apprehension is that this Russian uprising will set all our small pots hot. They will fail to realize that in Rus- sia initial violence is praiseworthy, there being no other meth- od available. We may, therefore, expect somewhat of an An- archist wave. I should say, however, and I can not dwell upon the fact with too much delight, that the existence of the I. W. 106 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. W. affords us S. L. P. folks a means to counteract that wave that we would not otherwise enjoy." It was not very long, however, till it became plain that my apprehensions had "been well founded. De Leon's optim- ism (or was it not rather his defiire to see at last a genuine eco- nomic organization of Labor) led him to entertain hopes for the eventual triumph of the I. W. W. that few of' us who saw what was going on in th« field, fwere able to keep up much af- ter the first year. It was probably due to that freak-frauddom of California, which De Leon feared, that the Anarchistic tendencies developed there quicker than anywhere else. How- ever, it was not long before De Leon was fully aware of the situation, the culmination of which was a most vicious attack upon the Party, from inside and out. In relation to this De Leon wrote: April 13, 1908.— "What does all this mean? It is the cul- mination of an issue that started with Bohn's inauguration as National Secretary. He came here with the deli'berate inten- tion to run the S. L- P. to the ground. Birds of a feather flock together. That explains his intimacy with Connolly. Of course he is a dull fellow, but he has the knaclc to rope in fools. He did that. They did not know where they were be- ing led to. Got all twisted, and then vicious. Some have fallen away from him since. The Bohn move was joined by the Otto Just-Trautmann move, and there is where the don- key Williams came in. Through 'Bohn, the Trautmann end of the scheme was made to believe vve -were busted up. Wil- liams came to give us the finishing touch — lead into the Traut- mann treasury the funds that now flow to the S. L. P. He was smashed, as you noticed. Then came the howl and the stam- pede. This is the story in a nutshell. It was a case of cheats cheating cheats. When they got knocked down they did not know what struck tbem." , The culmination of the I. W. W. tragi-comedy was reached during the Spokane' so-called "free speech" riots, when De Leon wrote: "When you say you hope the Spokanites may stop 'before they make another '86' [the .Chicago Haymarket bomb trage- SOME OF DE LEON'S SUMMER PLAYGROUNDS At Milford, Connecticut SWEET HOUSE, POND STREET, 1895-1896 AND 1898-1900 CAPT. FORD'S HOUSE. LAFAYETTE STREET— -1897 FELTIS' HOUSE, SEASIDE AVENUE. 1901-1906 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 107 dy], you touch upon a thing that has given me not a little worry. I have all along been apprehensive that some of those Knipperdollings would throw a bomb. That apprehension is substantially removed. I learn that the poltroonish attitude of the leaders, 'Joan' [our private pet name for Elizabeth Gurley Flynn who had been called the 'Joan of Arc of the Labor Movement'] among the lot, when arrested, in trying to show the white feather, has cooled off the dupes. But another ap- prehension is now taking the place of the first — the throwing of a feomlo by some police-agent to discredit the Labor Move- ment. Hence it is that I have been hitting so hard. I have been trying to keep the S. L. P. skirts clean against such an eventuality. Indeed, I take the flattering unction to myself that The People has, at least, contributed towards rendering such an eventuality less likely. I notice with pleasure that some of the Spokane capitalist sheets are quoting The People on Spokane. So that they know there are Socialists who spurn I-am-a^bummism, and all that thereby hangs." In the latter ipart of 1908, the I. W. W. having turned out a complete fiasco, and a new situation presenting itself to the Party, Mr. Johnson and myself, then living in California, con- ceived the idea of drawing up an Open Letter to the American Proletariat for the purpose of putting the situation before them. After the letter had been drawn up and before proceeding fur- ther in the matter, I wrote to Comrade De Leon asking him his opinion as to the advisability of sending the letter to the So- cialist Party press, and other matters. This letter, along with other matters, resulted in a correspondence which extended through more than six months, during which many subjects were touched upon. Some of De Leon's observations are hereby given: Dec. 26, 1908. "First of all your letter was a disappoint- ment. Don't condemn me in advance for discourtesy. I had expected to hear from you something definite with regard to that address that you had told me you and Mr. J. were hatch- ing. You do not now say more on the subject than you said before, except things from which I infer that the address is meant to be to members of the S. P. If this is your plan, I 108 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. would strongly urge you against it. An address is good — but to the thinking proletariat. If there be any in the S. P. they would be included. "The I. W. W. is smashed, upon that we seem to agree. The supposed basis for unity is knocked out: agreed again. But to me it looks this way. "l^The knocking out of the expected basis was done by the agency of the S. P. Hence its rank and file, the dominant portion thereof, is not worth bothering with. Th« exception- ally good, like D. B. Moore of Granite, Okla., will either come over of themselves, or stimulated by a proper address. "2 — ^The election returns prove the S. P. worthlessness. Its increase over 1904 is only 16,000 with all the whoople of the in- terested Republican press to blanket the S. L. P. Nor is this all. Even that paltry increase would have been more than wiped out but for the freak 21,000 Oklahoma vote. Nor yet is this all. Commencing with N. Y. City (Manhattan and the Bronx), where the S. P. went dawn 1,300, it has declined in all the other industrial centers. In Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton — in short, in all the industrial centers of Ohio the 1904 vote was smashed. Without the rural vote of Ohio the S. P. would have dropped from the ballot. You know how it fared in Chicago. Similarly in the rest of the industrial centers. The S. P. has today (out- side of the German vote which is mainly labor, and the Jewish vote which, even if largely 'intellectual,' is revolutionarily attun- ed, and both of which I generously estimate at 100,000) — the S; P. vote is 'American' flotsam and jetsam: 'Christian Socialist,' ex-Populistic frayed material, etc. I don't believe it polled 50,- •00 (out of the remaining 300,000) that is English speaking La- bor. "3— The bulk of these 50,000 will go over, eventually 'if not sooner,' as the case may be, to the Labor Party that the stuipid sentence ol Gompers, etc., is bound to beat into existence — sooner or later, depending on circumstances. Unforeseen events may deflect this course of events for a time, but it is in *Hie cards, as far as facts are accessible. It will be an imitation of the British affair, possibly upon a higher plane. "Consequently — I am not so sure or clear as to what will become of the S. P. I know that there is the devil to pay in its DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 109 own ranks. An address cognizant of all these facts whether all be stated or not, will accelerate events. The propagandistic importance and mission of the S. L. P. rises in importance. Beyond that the motto that guides me is: 'Let us labor and wait."' Jan. 25, 1909.— '"I hasten to answer yours of the 16th, ar- rived this morning. "My hurry is to arrive before you have sent tne the answer that you announce to my last letter, I want to arrive before you have sent off that letter in order that it may contain an answer to the question that this letter of yours suggests: — What S. P. paiper do you expect will do your Open Letter the insult of considering it worthless, so worthless as to be pub- llAed by it? Outside of the 'Wage Slave' I can think of none that will. And, judging from one thing and another going on there, I doubt that paiper will publish the Open Letter. "Of course I do not mean to deter you from trying. Try by all means. "Once writing, I shall refer more in detail to what you say. "Shall be glad to see your Open Letter. Almost everything depends upon that before I can draw any conclusions. "I can see no breach of Party discipline in the mere act of a Party member addressing people on his own resiponsibility, and of his own motion. I, for instance, did so last night when I spoke in that Christian Fellowship Church on the Vlth Psalm. But it seems to me you have an idea that a letter ad- dressed to the public by you as the, or a, signer will be taken as not coming from the S. L. P. I guess a letter bearing your signature — such a 'notorious' member of the N. E. C. — runs small chances of being taken so innocently. Of course, if it does, the field it reaches from the start would be much wider. — ^Try it, and we shall watch and see; but then meseems, THE PEO- PLE should give the other papers a chance, time, ample time, to publish it, if they are going to. For THE PEOPLE to print it soon as sent would rather tend to spoil your plan — a plan that should be tried, at any rate. "As to my opinion of the S. P. ma!ce-up, you will find in my letter that I do recognize some proletarians among it — both among its members and its votes. But that element is not no DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. dominant; it is dominated. This takes us back to my scepti- cism regarding your expectations of such an Open Letter beinf:; published by the S. P. privately-owned press^es(pecially when the letter comes from a 'notorious' S. L. P. national officer. I don't want to discourage you. Try your plan. But I fail to un- derstand the ground on which you base your expectation of 'reaching' that desired proletarian element in the S. P. through a press that is owned by the very leaders whom you recognize the proletarians are 'fighting.' "You ask me whether I do not believe that 'if the letter is all right the plan is all right too'? I smile. All the more 'all right' the letter is, meseems the plan will prove the reverse of 'all right' — the S. P. press will not give it publication. The evi- dence, to me conclusive, is that the S. P. is developing from left to right. Its leadership is waxing more and more reac- tionary — ^and they own the press.'' Feb. 2, 1909. — "Last night I received and read your Open Letter. Have just given it a second reading. "I'm no longer 'disappointed.' Now I'm 'puzzled.' How do you exjpect so 'orthodox' a document to be published by the more and more 'heterodox' S. P. press? I was wondering, be- fore the Oipen Letter arrived, what scheme you were to pursue to present orthodoxy in such heterodox garb as to have it slip through. Now I only wonder how that letter can be accepted. On this subject and kindred ones I wrote inquiringly to you in my last letter, and also in one that preceded it, and which two I expected you to answer jointly. The letter accompany- ing your Open Letter was evidently sent off before you re- ceived that one. Shall put no more questions but wait. "The Open Letter is first rate. But how ^there, I'm go- ing to ask questions. "I have no suggestions to offer. The argument is cogent all the way through. It ought to 'take.' There is just one sug- gestion that occurs to me: — "On page 63, or perhaps somewhere before that, it were well to take a stitch. That the workers would be slaughtered in case of a ipure and simple political victory is well worked out. Somewhat sudden, however, is the conclusion that the slaughtering would be avoided if industrially organi;:ed. I DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. Ill •would insert some sentence to indicate that the industrial form of organization, through its concentrated powers, furnishes a matchless physical force. I rather have you frame the sentence yourself than patch up the paragraph in my language. I worked out the argument repeatedly in the 'As to Politics' pamphlet. "Good luck to youi^ plan. "I'm hastening this off to go with tonight's mail, and shall hold my breath until I hear from you again." Feb. 12, 1909. — "Yours of the 1st was duly received on the 8th. After reading it again I came to the conclusion that the space you devote to justify your 'plan' indicates a desire to know my views definitely on the 'plan.' What my views are on the 'plan' are indicated in the passage that you quote from me in which I say that all plans, every plan and none too many plans, could be adopted. "I don't look at the plan with 'pity.' I look upon it ex- pectantly. I simply hold my breath. That I am not wholly sceptical of its success, or at least of its partial success, appears in my faith in trying each and all methods. I now know ex- actly what your sources of confidence are to see the Open Let- ter published by the S. P. papers. As to the Oakland paper I think you will probably succeed. As to others — I shall wait and see. "You should dismiss the feeling that the Open Letter is 'tame.' I don't think it is. It is pitched in a recitative, or con- versational key. That is good for its purpose. I think you will find out that the S. P. leadership consider it hot stuff enough — hot enough to be touched with a long pair of tongues — and dropped. "I smile broad smiles at your passages about whether the S. P. are afraid of the truth, or fear to be ground to pieces by S. L. P. logic. Why, yes; that is just what they have been all along. Nevertheless, a time is bound to come when, whether afraid or not, conditions will force the gentry to try their teeth on the S. L. P. file. That time may be now; may be not. Let's try and find out! Even if that time be not yet, the Open Let- ter will surely contribute towards bringing on that time. Some S. P.'s will read it; some will think; and it will have a corrod- ing effect — to some extent at least. 112 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. "A word on the S. P. situation. Its 'revolutionary* mem- bership, as a liulk, are hypnotized with num.bers. They got their first shock this election. Th^ey believe in boring from within. They are crazy optimists. If the S. P. develops to- wards the left of a bourgeois movement its existence will .be extinguished — just as was the existence of the Populist Party when it developed towards the Democracy. Then will their 'revolutionary' elements droip over to «s, just as the 'revolu- tionary" elements of the Pops dropped over into the S. P, In the meantime, we must try all methods to reach the revolu- tionary element — whether within or without the S. P. April 22, 1909. — ^"Your scheme of accompanying your O. L, with stam'ps for return, in case of non-acceptance, and a 'very nice' letter was ingenious. That insured something. And I see you are gathering the crop. "The only paper you did not mention and which is publish- ing the O. L. is the Holland, Mich., 'Wage Slave'— the one I stated that I expected would. Had I known then what I knovr now about the 'W. S.' I would have added that it might be de- sirable it did not. From inside information J have it that the 'W. S.' is hard ipushed, and from outside information I see it has become utterly characterless. It is publishing everything and anything, the most contradictory. It takes praises from, and sings them to the 'I-am-abums*; and it publishes contrary articles — anything to get readers and shekels. "Your 'nice and polite' letter to the heathen will surely be productive of inside lights for present and future use. — ^For in- stance, that letter of Mary Marcy, Associate Editor of 'Int'l Soc. Rev.," serves to confirm inside information I have, and the inside information may explain the Editor's letter to you. [This letter was very complimentary of the Open Letter and promised to publish the same, which promise, however, was never fulfilled.] There is a rumipus in the.S. P. brought on by the Kerr & Co. It recently has been publishing articles in- sulting to the 'intellectuals.' The articles are .of the vicious, 'horny-handed' variety. The 'intellectuals' are boiling over with wrath. In Indiana all sorts of things are .beipg done to the "Int'l Soc. Rev." To me it is an evidence of an earthquake which I am trying to promote by the re-iteration of the S. P. DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 113 decline in the industrial centers — a fact they hate to swallow, but swallow they must. My policy in emphasizing this — St. Louis and Chicago and Milwaukee city elections have furnished fresh material — is working both ways. In New York it is hav- ing the effect of causing the 'intellectuals' to be acting still more 'intellectually' against the proletariat; elsewhere it is causing what I said is happening in Ind. and Chic. In both cases the boil is being ripened. [In the latter part of May the International Socialist Review returned the Open Letter^ with the excuse that as the letter had already appeared in The Peo- ple the Review could not publish it as it was its practice never to r^rint from American publications. It should be noted, however, that the Letter had been in the hands of all S. P. pub- lications ample time before it was used in the Daily People. De Leon's comment was: "Well, Kerr took backwater! And what a backwater! He knew you had sent the O. L. to all radi- cal papers. According to his excuse, he would only take what all other papers reject. It would have been a sight to see the O. L. in K's publication. To talk 'horny-handed' sons of toil, and go for 'intellectuals' is one thing. To present the argu- ment in systematic form like the O. L. does can't suit Kerr's."J "I shall watch with interest your California papers — 'Com- mon Sense,' etc. "Be sure to let me know quick what the Appeal to Reason writes to you— if it does. Also the N. Y. 'Call.' The thing must be a hot potato in the hands of both." (From The Appeal we never heard the slightest peep, so there was nothing to re- port.) April 27, 1909.— "As I now make out, the O. L. is published, besides in THE PEOPLE, in two other papers [English] one S. P. (Wage Slave), and The Referendum. And you have promises from two others, Mont. News and Int'l Soc. Review, both ,S. P. That is, already, 200 per cent, better than I ex- pected. "And so the 'Call' sent you a regulation card? These cards are great schemes. All capitalist papers have them. They save a lot of trouble. Poor 'Call' is just now sorely afflicted. "As to the Seattle 'Socialist,' which I had at the time half iioped, would publish the 0. L., the half hope has now evapor- 114 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. ated. The paper appears now only in 2 pages. It looks ridicu- !ous, and declares it may have to suspend." May 11, 1909. — "I don't quite understand the theory upon which you go on 'praying* that the 'Appeal' and some other pa- pers which you mention, may return your O. L. I have been praying the other way. The O. L. having been written, it might as well be given full chance. I notice that my prayers are not being heard. Well, that's an experience in itself. As far as within the Party is concerned — the O. L. has had excel- lent effect. That private Jap and that private Swede's letter to you are instances in point. There are many more. "I know that Kate S. Hilliard had published the O. L. Was glad, when I saw it, that I thought of her. She is a trump. She must have 'laid down the law' to the 'Morning Examiner* [Ogden, Utah]. It was quite a feat for her to widen her 'Col- umn' so as to take m the whole O. L. She is a 'girl' you should cultivate. "Whatever can be the matter with Berger and the 'Volks- zeitung* that you have not heard from them. I have not the remotest hope they mean to publish the O. L. Miracles don't happen anymore. [Neither of them did answer or publish, and under a later date De Leon wrote: "Send me legal authority to collect the 2-cent stamp from the Volkszeitung."] "As to 'Common Sense' it has been ap{>earing in the size of a postage stamp. It certainly couldn't handle the O. L. It would have to be published in installments extending over a year or more." Aug. 1, 1909.— "I have been avirare that the Open Letter made its appearance in the Oakland 'World,' and that it has not yet done so in the Montana 'News.' It is as it was to be expected. The S. P. press that. knows enough to, apd is able to be true to itself, refused publication to a document which analyzed their policy as false, and unerringly cast their horo- scope as 'in the scrip.' The only two that did publish it are on the rocks — the 'Wage Slave' has wildly 'cast anchors to windward' and is trimming its sails for readers. It has be- come downright disreputable — a regular asylum for such ele- ments as the Eberts, Williamses, and I-am-a-bums generally. DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 115 As to the 'World,' the San Francisco 'Organized Labor' has it 'where the hair is short.' "The logic of the situation and of events is smashing the S. P. in good shape. Of ourse, if we had more forces much more could be done. But, then, if we had more forces now the problem would be different. We shall have to raise ourselves by our own bootstraps — and we will. Pure and simple bomb- ism and pure and sikiple politicianism — the two elements, kin- dred elements, in the S. P., oq the one hand, and in the I-am-a- bums on the other, are ripping apart fast. That affair in 'Frisco is charming. Who would have thought the A. F. of L. had the useful mission to perform that it is performing in California generally? I wish you would let me have some inside informa- tion — if you can gather any, from the S. P.'s who 'are coming our way.' Of these I hold they are 'floaters.' It would be a sad day if many of them did cO'me to us. They are essentially freaks, and the worst sort of freaks', at that, — freaks who are 'on the make.' More and more I admire the Lassallean words: 'Petrus, upon this rock (the Proletaire) shall I build.' Of course, the statement must not be used demagogically, and there is grave danger of its being so used. You hit the nail squarely on the head where you say in the Open Letter — educate first and organize afterwards, and that, as a consequence, the po- litical, that is, propaganda organization must needs be small at this stage Gompers's trip to Europe, the experience he is mak- ing there, the evidence of our Socialists of Europe being 'on to him,' the inevitable effect of that upon the Europeans' senti- ment towards the S. P. — all that, and things here, make me feel particularly good. The S. L. P. is the Capitoline Hill, which alone, of all Rome, escaped the Gallic invasion, and from which the invaders were finally driven back, never.again 'to appear in Italy except as captives. All we need is a little cash, plenty of good health, and lots of good nature to enable us to draw fun out of the struggle." This Open Letter experience was very rich to all of us in as far as it furnished us an insight into the methods of the S. P. and its officialdom. As a climax to the private discussion 116 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. and. expression of opinions by letter which had been brought out by it I have selected the following: Nov. 25, 1909.— "As an 'element* I consider the S. P. folk* worthless. If they were to come into the S. L. P. in any num- bers I should want to have them strip to the skin; I would burn their clothes to kill the microbes; then the stripped S. P. I would put through a Turkish bath, and then through a Rus- sian bath, and then I would hang him by the heels for a spell and let the fresh air blow through him. Such a rotten element as they are! The development (or decomposition) now taking place in its ranks is logical to a tittle. One set is becoming more and more bourgeois radical and pronouncedly anti-pro- letariat: the letters that appear in the 'Call' since election are rich; another set, the Frisco, for instance, is approaching pro- letarianism; and a third set, which the International Socialist Review is trying to exploit, is developing I-am-abumward. The three sets fit well together. They have this in common^ — they are chickens without a bead. All along the line, the thing is meeting its fate. And, indeed, I bubble over with joy. The logic of events is simply inspiring. It is as good to me as two months' vacation. The experience will surely protect the S. L. P. against much of its frequent 'good nature.' Don't worry in the least about the good element in the movement whom S. F.ism has disgusted with politics. The lesson will sink in as to what kind of political education is disgusting. Not in vain has the S. L. P. been standing its ground." The distinguishing note in all these letters as far as they serve to throw light upon the character of De Leon himself is that of a cheerful optimism. It was always so. His letters never recited troubles, he never stopped to whine about past disappointments. Never in all these years, except just once and that merely in passing, did he mention the terrific financial strain under which the Party and The People were continually working and suffering. As a fitting conclusion, therefore, of this chapter, I shall quote from that same letter of February 12, 1909, when we were talking about the "plan" of the Open Letter. De Leon feared, I am sure, that I was building great hopes of sudden revolutions upon such an address as I was preparing, and, therefore, that I might become disappointed DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE., 117 afld perhaps "sore" at the "stupid and ignorant" working class, as so many who believed themselves capable of "great things" had become before. This drew from De Leon a beautiful de- finition of his own particular brand of optimism, the optimism of science: "Hugo Vogt, whose intellect marched like cattle on att fours, used to tell me that I was 'optimistic' My answer in- variably was: 'Optimism is very bad if one pins his expectation upon it. It is then bad, because, in case it leaves the optimist in the lurch, he grows despondent, and gives up. Optimism, however, can do no harm, and may do lots of good, if the op- timist knows that he is venturing. Then in the case of failure^ he is not disappointed, he does not throw up the sponge. He knows he ventured upon unsteady facts, and the failure of these does not overthrow the sound facts upon which he other- wise stands,'" The Pope — The Boss — The Rabbi No sketch of De Leon, however meager, would be at affl complete without saying something about the abuse of whide he was the continuous target. This started with the struggles in the Knights of Labor, gathered force during the days of the formation of the S. T. & L. A., and reached its highest velocity and viciousness at the time of the Kangaroo outbreak in I895L From that time on it continued at pretty even pace until the day of his death, when he was very nicely eulogized from the most varied sources, and if it w.ere not for the preverseness of some of his pupils in keeping his life work going, he would probably by this time, or at least in the very near future, be a canonized saint. To make so sweeping a remark, however, does some in- justice. There was one S. P. paper at least which remained true to its hatred of De Leon even in death. This was the New Yorker Volkszeitung. Frorn its "farewell shot" we quote: "He, who expired on Monday evening, fared afe did sm 118 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. many before him, he died a few decades too late; he outlived himself. "True to his maxim to destroy what he could not rule, he concentrated, during the last fifteen years, his vitality and will-power upon tearing down what he, personally, had helped to create. "And therein he was great, far greater than in construction and erection, De Leon was, indeed, a destructive genius, L e., he yfAs great in demolishing, in tearing down. With an hatred that was insatiable and unstillable, he fought since his en- trance into the American labor movement — since 1892 — against every movement of the working class of this country that showed success and that seemed to be in the ascendancy. It was contrary to his nature to perform constructive labor, he was the born caviller, who, everywhere, had to find fault, with whom only one person the world around could do the right thing: Daniel De Leon." Had I the time for research among the old documents that must still exist in the editorial office of the Weekly Peo- ple, I have no doubt that I would find a great deal of really amusing evidence of this campaign of vicious slander, the only weapons that the enemy really possessed against him — argu- ment and logic they never dared to try, for then their weapons flew to pieces like wooden swords against steel. Since I took charge of the office, I have found in a crev- ice an old tablet on which De Leon had taken copious notes at several Volkszeitung Association meetings in the Spring of '99. There we have them all photographed in the very first onrush against De Leon and The People — ^Jonas, Hillkowttz, Koeln, Schneppe, Leib, and all the ethers. It is one long at- tack on The People the tactics of the Party, its stand on the question of taxation, and on the Socialist Trades and Labor Alliance. How clearly the split was % split on the tactics of the movement is shown by these notes. In the pocket of another notebook from the days of W, I came across a lot of the slanderous circulars from the historic Kangaroo "Don't Vote" campaign of '99. These are now his- toric documents of real value, and I can not resist in this eon- nectiM to make the exhibition of a few. DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 119 The following are facsimile reproductions of two circulars that beautifully illustrate their authors. Socialists, Don't Vote! DANIEL DeLEON, .aidea by TAMMANY Police Board, stole the Name and Emblem of tbe i Socialist Labor Party* Re Is a ^NIONIYTIECKER, an ENEMY of ! Organized Labor. Socialists I Don't Vote for this Adventurer*. 130 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. Don't Vote for F ramlsl the Socialist Labot Party bas-ao l^lt^Jttt io the field this year, ^k Candidates under the \tf emblem, ate SOt Socialists. That Embleni was stolen. {rouf the regular Party. Don't vote for De-Leon. He Is an enemsr of Labor, a wrecker of labor organi' .Nations, an adventurer, who has done more mischief in workeri- ranks, thai- any other fiend of organized labor. HIS record: T&841 A paid spellbinder for the DemSPTIitiO. Tpitftyr t886 a Singk Taxer. t8S8. a Nationalist. 1889, a Socialist (?) (899, a nominee through the favor of a TaU- many Police Board aided by BepubUcaOS IVhat Next? A forelgaer himMlf he hates end denowicw rrvrj fonigB txnn citizen. V» Soeiallst, no hineet worIiiii;BU on yot« iot IkiB mm, Baaealbtt, the Soclaliet IiSbor Party hM' i^ Ufket in the field this ^eai. 16. Assembly District, 6. L. Pv ^Sbk, The following two "documents," the first printed iit €er-. man, the second in both German and Jewish, show tkat the zealous Kangaroos left no stone unturned in order to expose this "vicious adventurer." I. "To the Organized Worlcers of Greater New York! "Friends and Comrades: "The election is at our door and how shall class-coascious workingmen vote? "This is the question which every worker, who has fully- grasped his class position, must put to himself. "Perhaps never before has the working class of New York been forced into a position like the present one. "The faction, functioning in the elections of this year as DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 121 tke Socialist Labor Party, is NOT the party of labor, it doe» NOT represent the rights of the proletariat; the Arm and Ham- mer, the symbol, has fallen into the possession of people who do not stand for the principles of Socialism. "How does this happen? Just like this: "The Socialist Labor Party is a party which forms the po- litical organization of the proletariat, which must march hand in hand with the economic — the trades union movement. It is a sad experience in the modern labor movement that elements sneak into its ranks who have not grasped the great struggle for the liberation of the proletariat, who give the world-re- deemiag principles of Socialism a wrong interpretation, in short, who want to force the party, with might and main, upon the road of a suicidal policy. And this was the case also in our party. "In 1896 it was Daniel De Leon, Vogt and consorts, who proposed to the convention of the 'Socialist Labor Party,' in session in New York, the endorsement of the 'SOCIALIST TRADE & LABOR ALLIANCE,' with the remark that the same had set itself the aim to orga.iize the unorganized work- ers and thus to protect them against the ever and ever more developing power of also organized capital. The convention welcomed the existence of the S. T. & L. A. "But soon the S. T. & L. A., under the baneful influence of De Leon, 'became a competing trades union. It sank ever deeper until it led only a hybrid existence. Yes, Daniel De Leon went farther, he as a leader negotiated with capitalist ex- ploiters, how to get scabs for them, as soon as they would rec- ognize HIS S. T. & L. A. With might and main he worked to the end of breaking the economic weapon of the working class — ^the organization — to lame it and to cripple it. Workingmen, remember the Seidenberg ghost! Remember the dishonor! "To such a state of affairs there had to be opposed an im- perative Halt! On July 10, 1899, the entire clique was deposed by the membership of the party represented by delegates — for the good and welfare of the workers organized economically and folitically. "Soon thereafter, a referendum vote took place and con- JQrmed the deposition of the treasonable officers of the party 122 DANIi^L DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. with an overwhelming majority. The would-be bosses, instead of abiding by the mandate of the party membership — the high- est tribunal in the party — dared to proclaim themselves as the party; they continued to UTTER INVECTIVES against the existing TRADES UNIONS, they bid defiance to the will of the party and brought their rightfully effected deposition be- fore the courts, claiming the right to the party emblem — the Arm and Hammer. We proved how unjustified this demand was and hoped confidently for the seemingly inevitable vic- tory. "But — ^we forgot that we live in a class state. We did not consider that BOTH of the ruling, capital-serving parties — the Republican and the Democratic — would give the emblem to that faction, of which, for very GOOD REASONS they need have no fear, because even if it would elect its representatives — which, of course, is impossible — would not stand up for the welfare of the workers, they who have succumbed to the cor- rupting power of capitalism, who did not offer resistance to the money, to enticement, but wore down thereby. In the en- tire city, the rumor circulates, that De Leon, Vogt and Kuhn have made a pact with the capitalist parties and soon proof thereof will be found! "Fellow Workingmen! Can you vote for a dead letter? Can you give your votes to a DANIEL DE LEON, VOGT and KUHN, men whose single purpose went in the direction of splitting tbe trades union movement, to make it impotent, wherein they have several times succeeded!! As honest work- ingmen, as Socialists, you must not do this. "No party is this year in the field that represents your in- terests. No representatives of the working class that proclaim the rights of the working people and enforce them. "The Socialist Labor Party is not in the field. Daniel De Leon, Vogt and Kuhn and their few adherents, who, by means of treason, have snatched this name, are a mongrel breed of the existing capitalist parties, are capital's henchmen and work for the existing wages slavery. "We, the true Socialists, for whom the honest workers would vote, have been pushed aside. But only for this one year, because stronger, the ranks cleansed of unworthy ele- DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 123 Dients, shall we, in the presidential campaign, appear in the field, opposing capitalism in every form. "Workingmen, whichever way you would vote this year, you would vote for your exploiters, for the masked retainers of capital. "DO NOT VOTE ! Your silence will be a protest against the gang, which has usurped the name 'Socialist Labor Party,' and which makes front against the entire proletariat, organized in trades unions, and wants to ruin the same. "DO NOT VOTE! Be on your guard! The Arm and Ham- mer is in possession of your foes; stay away from the ballot- hox in this coming election and agitate with tongue and pen amongst your unsuspecting fellow workers. "ABSTENTION FROM VOTING IS THE SLOGAN! "Whatever the clique, DE LEON, VOGT and RUHN, may undertake to suppress or to hush the true revolutionary spirit of the time, and, with the aid of capitalist politicians to Overcome Socialism — it is in vain! Next year we shall again be on the field of battle, whilst De Leon, Vogt and consorts shall lie shattered on the ground, overwhelmed by the workers or- ganized in trades unions. "Show that you comprehend the shame perpetrated upon you, in that you do NOT ViOTEl "AWAY FROM THE BALLOT BOX THIS YEAR! "DO NOT VOTE! "By order of the United German Trades Unions, repre- sented in the Parade Committee of the S. L, P." After the foregoing wind-up there follows, on the leaflet, in big, flaring type, covering one-half of a page, the following: "DO NOT VOTE! ABSTENTION FROM VOTING IS THE SLOGAN!" IL VOTERS ! "READ WHAT THE SOCIALISTS [SAY?] ABOUT DANIEL DE LEON, THE ADVENTURER, WHO LIVES ON 84th STREET AND AVENUE A, 4 MILES FROM THE 16th ASSEMBLY DISTRICT. 124 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. "THE FOLLOWING EXTRACTS ARE TAKEN FROM THE SOCIALIST ORGAN 'THE PEOPLE':* " 'The members of tke N. Y. Section of Socialists were in- salted and vilified until their patience was exhausted. The ■wjority were called "DUTCHMEN." "JEWS," "BEER- GUZZLERS," "LIMBURGER CHEESE COMRADES," and the like; not only at open meetings by De Leon and others* %at even in their official organ (July 16, 1899). "'These comrades heard it repeated several times that he represented the American movement, while the foreigners, the -DUTCH" and the "JEWS" were the ones that did not under- stand the spirit of the country and were against his politics Guly 23, 1899). "De Leon and his adherents were suspended out of the So- cialist Labor Party, for UNFITNESS AND MISUSE OF AUTHORITY which they held because of their position (July 16, 1899). "'De Leon's district is very hostile to De Leon and his administration (July 16, 1899). "'Not only endeavored the adherents and supporters of De Leon to restrict the freedom of the press for the members of the party, but they also tried to suppress the freedom of speech. AND MEN ACCUSED OF SUCH CRIMES SHOULD NO LONGER BE TOLERATED IN OUR KANKS (July 23, 1899). "In no manner scrupulous as to applied methods, there ex- isted an IMPUDENT MISMANAGEMENT and an appropri- ation of party funds for personal purposes (July 30, 1899). "'Morris Hillquit, in an open letter to De Leon, on Oc- tober 3, 1899, wrote the following: "'You and your adherents have neither the RIGHT nor «he JUSTIFICATION to call yourselves the S. L. P., and such aa act is A DECEPTION of the people, and, particularly, of ihe ORGANIZED WORKING CLASS.' "One after the other leaves the stranded ship of the firm De Leon & Co. 'After the split the Kangaroos published a sheet which ther also called The People. They attempted through the courts to prevent the Party fr«m asm; the name "The People," but lost, and were themselves enjoined from using the name. The statement in the German-Yiddish handbill refers t* She bogus People. DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 123 "Benjamin Hanford, the able speaker, and candidate last year for Governor, sent his resignation to the Beekman street party with the request that it be published in their paper. But imtil NOW, his just DEMAND has not been complied with (October IS, 1899)." The "German" of this last document is rather funny and its Yiddishness is unmistakable. It is not possible to preserve mttcb. of this in translation, though I have tried the best I could. Quotation marks are used rather indiscriminately and these have been faithfully copied as found. And here a couple of stanzas of a German "pome," a real gem of "pote's" art, evidently produced in the midst of the Volkszeitung's fight to retain possession of The People, for in the corner of the paper, on which it is pasted up, is marked "Gross— N, Y. Arbeiter Z. Apr. 25/99." I certainly feel that it would be unfair of me, having made this find at this day, to deprive those who are fortunate enough to be able to read German of this treat. A comrade who went through the fight with De Leon says he thinks that the author is M. Winchevsky, *a individual who did all he could to add to the confusion of Hut day. Ordonanzen, OrdonanzenI Die Sektionen muessen tanzen Wie ich ihnen aufgespielt. Eins-Zwei-Drei und Runde, Runde! Tanzet, oder geht zu Grunde, Wenn der Boss es Euch befiehlt Lernet Disziplin begreifen, Euer Fuehrer wird Euch pfeifen Und Ihr werdet ihn verstehn. Immer steifer, immer strammer, Hoch die Hand und hoch der Hammer! Rings um mich sollt Ihr Euch drehn. Ich verbiete, ich gestatte; Ich belehr' und ich erstatte, Wenn's mich gut duenkt, Euch Bericht Straeubt Ihr Euch, bring' ich am End um Wahl und Wort und Referendum, Die pro forma Ihr gekriegt. 126 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. Ordonanzen! Ordonanzen! Die Getreuen muessen tanzen. Wie ich ihnen aufgespielt, Tanzet Deutsche, Juden, Polen, Wie der Daniel Euch befohlen, Wie der Hugo ihm befiehlt. In the same pocket I found also two letters, written at that period, which throw so much light on the insidious prop- aganda carried on against De Leon and the effects thereof, that I feel they ought to be made public property. If I could go over the old files of the national office I might find many such, perhaps even better ones, but I can not spend the time that this would require. Besides, I feel that De Leon kept just these two in that place, together with the other documents on the campaign of slander, because he considered them typical, and perhaps even had in mind to use them some day in about the manner they are being used now. They speak for them- selves, so I give them without comment. "Kansas City, Mo., Aug. S, 1899. "A. M. Simons, Dear Comrade: Yours of the 2nd in reply to my letter in regard to Chicago's proposition to settle the N. Y. muddle and call an early convention was rec'd several days ago. Nothing has yet transpired to cause me to change my mind about the matter. No emergency exists requiring an early convention and the N. Y. trouble has been, or is being, settled, and settled right. I did not suspect that the Call had aspirations as official organ, but I did state in my letter, as you will remember, that the action of Sec. Chicago would con- vey the idea to some that there was a 'motive in their madness,' and now I see I reckoned correctly. Personally, I believe the Section's action was intended to be good, but the comrades were unnecessarily alarmed and excited. I believe you are en- tirely mistaken about the N. E. C. 'opposing' the Worker's Call. They may have expressed doubts about the expediency of at- itempting to establish the paper, but I am satisfied they have never raised any serious objections to it as a party paper, or as to its contents. I am also of the opinion that you arc mis- taken about De Leon having tried to smother the Tocsin and DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE, 127 Class Struggle with a personal motive in view. To claim that he will kill anything that he does not immediately control is preposterous. If he has attempted to 'smother' them as indi- cated for personal reasons, if you will furnish the proof I will prefer charges against him, if you have any timidity in doing so. I am also a believer in the so-called 'narrow' tactics of the N. E. C, but am not a man-worshipper and will not defend De Leon or any other Socialist when he or they attempt to use the party for personal ends. The reply to Chicago's action may appear to you to be harsh and not in good taste, but you may decide later on that the N. E. C. is remarkably clear- headed and has a correct understanding of the proper use of the English language. Again De Leon may be guilty of send- ing out secret circulars libeling somebody, but being 'from Missouri' I must have the proof. If he is guilty of this conduct you can rest assured he will have to answer to the party for it. I have heard such charges made against De Leon before, but somehow or other De Leon always comes out on top and toes the scratch smilingly with the facts and the evidence to sustain him. One thing is certain: If De Leon is a designing trickster and schemer (for personal ends) he will not much longer re- main prominent in the ranks of the S. L. P. Bear in mind constantly that no movement can rise above its source, and if our national officials and editors are men of low moral char- acter and are designing tricksters, devoid of honor and prin- ciple, then the party can claim little or no reasons above the ordinary political party for its existence. These men are be- ing pretty thoroughly tested and up to the present time the test is entirely satisfactory to me. "I have recommended the Worker's Call and never miss an opportunity to say a good word for it and all other straight party papers, but I am not yet convinced that the policy of es- tablishing papers here and there before the party is able to properly support them, is the best policy. We should use ev- ery means to concentrate our forces and it is a question whether this can not better be done by putting all our means and ener- gies into one paper until the party is able to support two or 128 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE* more. This is probably the view of the N. E. C. and should not be misconstrued as being 'opposition/ "Fraternally, (Signed) "O. M. Howard." "Holyoke. Mass., March 27, 1899. "Mr. D. De Leon. "Dear Comrade: — Comrade Malloney wrote to me today asking for a letter I had received from the Debs Headquarters in Chicago. (There is going to be a debate between Malloney and Gordon at Winchester.) In looking up this letter I came across two letters you wrote to me at the time of the Casson affair and I owe it to you to admit what you prophesied has happened. What seemed to me then a harsh and dogmatical letter seems now a bit of mighty good and friendly advice. Events .proved your words true. I have sent the letters to Malloney to read them to his audience in case Gordon should come out with his old chestnuts about your bossism and tyr- anny, etc. It took me several years to see the truth, but it is all the plainer now after reading your letters, and then Gor- don's, Carey's, Casson's, etc. In conclusion let me say The People is laying a solid foundation for Socialism and when I BOW hear people kicking against The People I know that they do not understand Socialism. The work of The People will be appreciated and honored when such things as Gordon, Casson and Carey lay rotting in the ground, forgotten. "Yours fraternally, "M. Ruther." An anecdote from the "Association" days illustrates how hard these Kangaroos were put to it in order to furnish the ■'goods" to their dupes, and how angry it made them that De Leon kept himself free from alliances, adhering strictly to the goal he had set, and that no allurements of place, pay, or pre- ferment could dissuade him from his course. An old German member of the Volkszeitung Association, commenting on this, exclaimed: "Der De Leon hat Recht, und das schlimmste an der ganzen Sache ist, man kann ihm nichts anhaben!!!" ("De Leon is right, but the worst about the whole thing is, we eta ■ot get anything on him.") DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 129 But De Leon never allowed the torrent of abuse, however rapid and vicious, to get on his nerves. In fact, he often as^ sured us that he "waxed fat upon it," as he got many a healthy laugh out of it. That the manner in which he took this akuse was part of a well-worked out philosophy is shown by the fol- lowing extract from a letter he wrote me in 1903, advising me not to refute some silly lies which the Kanglets had been set- ting afloat about me. "It dawned upon me at an early day that the policy which the Kangaroos decided to pursue against me was to irritate me. They hoped they could get me angry, and that then I would either fly off the handle and do something silly, or cave in. They failed. They could not irritate me. If they only Vnew, they would find out that their moves only amuse me, and make me more deliberate. The Kanglets tried the same thing. But they being so infinitely more insignificant, actually amonnting to nothing, failed even more egregiously than the Kangs. The»e had to be taken notice of, the Kanglets can even be ignored. I know that they are smothering in their own rage to see I take no note of them, of their silly paper, or of their silly selves. Had I been less on my guard, they would have been less un- happy." Here are a couple of the best anecdotes that I know, relat- ing to this subject. At one of the I. W. W. conventions some one got up and raved in the usual billingsgate fashion. When he finally cried out pointing to De Leon — "This Pope, this rabbi," De Leon rose calmly and asked the floor on a question of personal privilege. "Mr. Chairman," he said, "We are getting ourselves into religious complications here, which we had better straight- en out before we become entangled beyond recall. I am per- fectly willing to be a Pope; I am perfectly willing to be a rabbi, hut I insist upon having a ruling from the chair whether I am to be a rabbi or a Pope, for to be both a rabbi and a Pope im- plies a religious absurdity which I refuse to be a party to." Then he sat down. The convention by this time was roaring, the raving orator felt like the proverbial thirty cents, and I bxve no doubt that from that time to the day of his death he 130 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. calls De Leon the most abusive fellow he ever met, just be- cause he had been completely disarmed by De Leon's quick wit and kindly, razor-edged humor. At a meeting in one o{ the middle western cities, after a lecture, the usual crop of questions on the difference was being fired at him, when a very irate little man came running up to- ward the platform and in a strong German accent cried out: "You are a Pope, you are a Pope." "Come, now," said De Leon with a smile, "You can't even spell 'Pope."" "Yes, I can," shouted the angry man, "B O B E," and with that the audience was in convulsions. To illustrate the fun we used to extract out of this foolish abuse and vituperation, and how the rest of us became imbued with his own good, humor in regards to it, I quote a stanza from one of the birthday effusions which we sang "at him" on his sixtieth birthday: "His adventures have been numerous, terror to poor Kan- garoo, Speared the elephant, kicked the donkey, kept old Sammy on the go. Pope De Leon, Rabbi Loeb, wicked are your shafts for fair, All the animals quake with terror when your arrows rent the air." The Thorns in His Crown De Leon, however, was mortal, and it would be too much lo expect that he could pass through the reefs and breakers of his long activity in the Labor Movement unscathed and with- out annoyance and some bitter experiences. De Leon had plenty of annoyance, and there were certain kinds of this which wtre very wearing upon him and which might indeed have made htm bitter if he had not been so well balanced. "The sharpest thorn in my crown," he often used to say, with the expression of a genuine martyr, "is that of poets. There is continually a fresh crop ripening in the Movement, and they naturally look upon The People as their le^timate stamping ground, and when I dare, as I generally am obliged DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. 131 $o do, to shoo them off, they invariably become vicious. Poets can be the most vicious of men." His pet aversion certainly and beyond a doubt was the flippant, know-nothing newspaper reporter who continually pestered him for statements or interviews, but who was utterly incapable of reproducing one single sentence straight as it had been given. How he regarded this class of pests may be gleaned from his own description of them at the Tenth National Con- vention of the Socialist Labor Party: "If a capitalist paper wants to report a regatta, it picks out a man skilled in sailing and navigation, so he can report intelligently. If they want to report a pugilistic encounter, they pick out a specialist in that department, so that he can un- derstand the relative qualities of the fighters; if a billiard tour- nament, they pick out an expert bllliardist, knowing very well that none but such can give a correct report. But when the capitalist press wants to report a labor meeting, they pick out the biggest jackass they can lay hands on, and just as soon as they have ascertained the biggest jackass possible, they give him the appointment, and that jackass must win bis spurs or his long ears, whatever the case may be." The worst worry of his life, I should say, was the Editor — the "natural born Socialist Editor." The terrific birtli- rate of this genus during De Leon's life-time was simply amaz- ing. The charged atmosphere these species could create when their genius was rudely prevented from blossoming forth, was such, at times, that it all but converted us to the idea of pri- vate ownership of the party press. This certainly is a safety- valve, as the "natural born" can then rush right into the enter- prise of editing his own paper, and by the time he has squan- dered all the savings of his admirers and been thoroughly "misunderstood" by the masses he will generally go way back and sit down. But in the S. L. P. there is no safety-valve, so each newly- ripe product immediately made an onrush upon The People. How they could criticize! How they could advise I How exact- ly they knew why The People did not appeal to the billion znasst How sublimely ignorant each one was that his own most 132 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. original ideas had been proposed a dozen times beifore, audi that his most cherished plan had been tried and found wantiagl Nearly every assistant in the editorial office — the younger and greener he was the surer he was to catch the disease — soon developed an ambition to sit in "the chair," and conceived tke notion that it was a real mistake of the Party not to realize that he should be there, and make the change at once. The policies and tactics of the S. L. P. were very good, indeed. De Leon should be given credit for having contributed to make these clear, but he failed entirely when it came to making them attractive to the masses — ^in fact, as an editor, an organizer, and a leader be was a back numlber, and if it was not for the fact that he was a boss and an incurable egoist, he would rec- ognize this and step aside and give place to "number one"! How painful this subject really was to him may be see* from the following story. After one of the N. E. C. meetings, when we had gone through an unusually hard siege of aspiring "E's" or "A.E/s,* as we used to call them for short, my brother wrote De Leaa a formal application for the assistant editorship. As reference of his ability, he stated the fact that for a "whole year he had been the editor in chief of the Swedish 'Bazar Nisse' " (a bazar program, issued once a year, containing, besides the program, some advertisements, a few jokes, and perhaps a foolish tale or two). To demonstrate his literary ability he wrote, in very- halting English, a joke on De Leon himself which had taken place a few days previously at a Cooper Union meeting. With a properly suppliant mien, I handed this "application" to Com- rade De Leon. De Leon read it, and, instead of roaring, as I bad expected, the "A. E." martyrdom expression spread over his features, and I saw a sigh gather in his bosom as he handed the letter to John Hossack, then manager of the Labor News Company. As Hossack read his -eyes danced, for he perceived it at once to be a perfect satire on the "A. E." De Leon no- ticed this; out came the sigh, and it was one of genuine relict "Is it a joke?" he gasped, and with that Hossack and I both doubled up. It really took De Leon as long to see this as it takes that proverbial Englishman of American creation to see a joke, but when he finally did he laughed heartily and said it DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. »33 ■was a good joke on the "A. E." — that it was also one on him- self, he -would not condescend to admit! The contributor was scarcely less of a problem at times. The fact of a Party-owned press translates itself to some literal minds into the conception that they ought to do as they please with it, and that anything they send in should be published without comment, question or abridge- ment. If this "inalienable right" is infringed upon it can only be because the editor, who should be a ser- vant of the membership, is a "boss" and a "tyrant." At every N. E. C. meeting we had a batch of appeals from De Leon's "arbitrariness" to settle, and De Leon always came out on top— he never ruled out anything unless he had a very good reason. The most insistent complainants were, naturally, peo- ple with "literary talent" and ambition, the class that is always "misunderstood" and "suppressed." The workingmen in the Party caused him little or no trouble of this kind. These would send in news from the field of action in plain, direct, and often crude language, and were pleased if they saw it edited and printed or made use of in a news item; if they heard noth- ing of it they took for granted that it was not worth the print- er's ink. Not so the "literateur." If his effusion was ruled out, his child was smothered. If it was "edited," his offspring was mutilated. In either case he would yell blue murder, and there was the devil to pay! The trials and tribulations this sort of thing would cause De Leon is also demonstrated in a passage from one of his let- ters. A most stupid criticism of Henrik Ibsen by Plechanolf had appeared in The People, translated by some ambitious as- pirant for literary honors, and showing nothing except the au- thor's absolute lack of appreciation and understanding -of the great Norwegian. When I read this in The People, I was "rip- ping," and I "let it rip." De Leon wrote back: "Ibsen I Plechanoff! That Plechanoff is a pedant. You will see him at Copenhagen. I can tell you lots of things about him. Pedant embraces them all. If all the fellows who have been scheming, intriguing and otherwise wearing out their nerves to put me out and become editors of THE PEOPLE only knew how often an Editor must make concessions by let- 134 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. ting in stuff that he dislikes, these intriguers would soonef shout, 'Saint r 'Martyr!' at me than 'Boss!' By the nature of some of the things that go, into THE PEOPLE you may judge of the nature of the stuff that I sit down upon. I am not han- kering after rows: hence this 'critique' (!?!?) of Ibsen by P." De Leon Immortal In these days of world-wide calamity scarcely one day; passes when some one of our comrades does not break out in a tone of sorrow and regret: "Oh, that De Leon is dead! That the one pen, which could clearly and powerfully have analyzed the situation of the day, is laid at rest for everl" There is not much doubt, indeed, that De Leon's voice, often quite prophetic, would now at last have commanded at- tention. There is surely no one now so bold as to declare that De Leon was a fanatic in his often bitter criticism of the pres- ent labor movement. Does any one dare to deny that he was correct when he pointed out weaknesses in the International movement which would surely lead to disaster? The hour has arrived when the workers must barken to his warning that right without might is as weak as an infant, and that the power Of the Labor Movement consists, not in beautiful, sentimental phrases, not in long condemnatory resolutions, not in imitations of crooked capitalist politics, but only in a powerful, class- conscious Socialist organization, which, at the same time as it secures the political power for the workers, also creates the economic power which is necessary to back up that right. However, De Leon would feel deeply wounded could he perceive our giving over a single moment at this hour, when action is needed, to moping over his death. Such was not his idea of a soldier in the revolutionary movement. Not for that did he train and inspire us. He has given his contribution to to the Movement — the tactics and the constructive basis. It is for us to build. And in this work of building, in this activity, De Leon is the active, living force today. This I realized as soon as I had gotten over the first shock of his death, but how infinitely more have I not come to real- ize it since events conspired to throw me to the helm p^^':.6«' ,,,,..■•' -■3^ .- .^S?^ >Mlv DE LEON'S "DINING ROOM" Pond Point, Milford, Coimecticut DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE, 135 of The People. Frightened, inexperienced, unused to act on my own responsibility, I feel that I would have gone com- pletely to pieces under the strain had it not been for the fact that De Leon was at my elbow— literally at my elbow. Ott every serious question, in every dilemma that presented itself, I needed but to consult him — the living, active force. More and more his genius will inspire the working class — and we are near the day when he must and will conquer. In his life-time he was too often like a prophet thundering in the desert, or, as in the words of Ibsen: "Like one that floats afar, storm-shat- tered on a broken spar." But now his time has come at last and beyond a doubt. We see evidences of it on every hand. And now, in conclusion, comrades of the S. L. P., working- men of the United States and the world, all of you for whom . he lived and worked, let us resolve to live as he lived, true to the cause, giving to it whole-heartedly the very best there is in us, so that, in fact, the day may not be far off when he and we together shall have conquered — ^the day when the workers, as free men, shall hail the day of the establishment of the In- dustrial Republic. To conclude this little sketch fittingly and in his own spirit, let me linger over his memory just one moment more and relate my favorite anecdote of Comrade De Leon, one that deserves to live, for it is so much in his spirit — the living ac- tive spirit, with nothing of the sickly sentimentalist. On De Leon's very first tour through the country, back in the eighties, before Populism had killed thousands of freaks, and before the S. P. had gathered nearly all the rest to its ten- der bosom, it was only natural that he should attract them, for they were naturally attracted by anything that called itself radical — ^De Leon himself was as yet scarcely more than a radicaf. After De Leon's lecture in Minneapolis a long-whiskered can- didate for Populism stepped up toward the platform, swung his long arms, and bawled out in a tear-filled voice: "Comrade De Leon, you have given us a beautiful speech, you have touched our hearts; but tell me, Comrade De Leon, do you love the cause so much that you would die for it?" De Leon rose with a serious and thoughtful expression, stepped deliberately up to the footlights, and took on the profound mien which 136 DANIEL DE LEON— OUR COMRADE. might indicate a long and passionate peroration, and then he said: "MY FRIEND. ONE LIVE REVOLUTIONIST IS WORTH MORE THAN A MILLION OF DEAD ONES." BOOK II. No man can make a Movement, surely not such a mass movement as the Social- ist must be. It is the movement that builds up its men. Impossible for a movement that is all things to all men, to build up men. Intolerance is bad; but wabbliness must not be allowed to sneak in un- der cover of fighting "intolerance." A revolutionary movement owes it to itself to build up men. Two plus two make four. The movement that is so broad as to tol- erate the theory that two plus two make five— such a movement will build up tight- rope dancers, — paladins of the Revolution never. DANIEL DE LEON. WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. RUDOLPH KATZ DANIEL DE LEON CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR, NEW YORK STATE 1902 PRIOR TO J 889. Collapse of the Henry George Movement — Dis- sension in the Earlj Labor Movement — 111- Starred Rosenberg-Bushe Struggle for Sounder S. L. P. Political Policy In 1887 the Henry George movement went to pieces. Only a year before, in 1886, Henry George, candidate for mayor of New York on the ticket of the United Labor Party, had loom- ed up a big figure in the political arena. Sixty-eight thousand (68,000) votes were cast for Henry George, not in modern Greater New York, but in old New York limited to a much smaller number of voters than are now eligible to vote in the Borough of Manhattan alone. The fact is also to be borne in mind that this happened in the days when ballot-box stuffing was quite freely indulged in, repeating being practised by both Tammany Hall and the Republican Party. So general was this foul practise that men boasted openly of having voted early and often; and many, in fact, considered themselves good American citizens because they ndt only voted once on election day, but a number of times, each time in a different district. The oftener they voted, the better American citizens they considered themselves to be. Of course, all the ballot-box stuffing and repeating was the work of the old parties, and wflien, in spite of all of it, Henry George polled sixty-eight thousand votes, there was good reason for the old party chiefs to fear the new move- 2 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. ment. Accordingly, the press denounced Henry George as an Anarchist and Socialist, This might not have had the desired effect so far as the voters were concerned; they cared little for these denunciations of Henry George, as the vote indicated, for George had been denounced by the so-called public press as an Anarchist during the '86 campaign; but it did have the desired effect with Henry George himself. Reasoning like all men who become afflicted with inflammation of the head, which results in its swelling to a size out of all proportion to the size of the individual, Henry George thought that he was the movement, and that since he received sixty-eight thousand votes with the odium of being a Socialist upon him, how many more votes might he not receive with the odium of being a Socialist removed! So, at the convention of the United Labor Party, held in the city of Syracuse in 1887, Henry George declared that "the tail must not wag the dog"; the Socialists were read out of the party, the "tail" was cut off. The Socialists, and here begins my story, formed the Pro- gressive Labor Party, and put up a state ticket in opposition to the Henry George party. Henry George, who in '86 received sixty-eight thousand votes in New York city alone, received in 'SI for the office of Secretary of State in the whole Empire State thirty-three thousand, the candidate of the Progressive Labor Party for the same office receiving seven thousand votes. The Henry George -party was dead. Daniel De Leon, who had been active in the United Labor Party up to the time when the "tail that wagged the dog" was amputated, declared that "the operation had been too successful, Henry George having cut off the tail right back of the ears." Dissension Not Introduced into the Labor Movement by De Leon De Leon joined the Nationalist movement, organized by Edward Bellamy, who became famous at that time through his book, "Looking Backward." Many times we have heard from the lips of professional slanderers the accusation that where De Leon was there was sure to be dissension. Well, the labor movement, both political WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 3, I and economic, was a witches' cauldron, seething with dissen- sions before De Leon joined it. There were three central bodies of unions in New York — the Central Labor Union, the Central Labor Federation, and District 49, Knights of Labor, i There was no love lost between these central bodies of "organized labor." Billingsgate was indulged in on all sides and each accused the other of scabbing. Corruption, too, was rampant. One instance may be cited here. After the strike or lockout of brewery workers by the "pool brewers," as the organization of the boss brewers was called, and a boycott against these brewers was lautiched that became really effec- tive, because it was actually carried out by the Germans in their trade unions which were indeed an important factor in beer consumption, it was discovered that a bribe had been paid to certain "labor leaders" in the Central Labor Union to annul the boycott or work to that end. One delegate of the Brewery Workers' Union pretended to be willing to take the bribe. He received $500, which was deposited; and later, in a sworn statement before a notary, the whole affair was exposed. On the political field, as during the George campaign, the Socialists had thrown their activity and organization into the United Labor Party, and were unceremoniously thrown out again. The Progressive Labor Party was at best only a make- , shift to deal the United Labor Party a solar plexus blow, which it did. | There was much more, however, of this kind of "peace" be- fore Daniel De Leon entered the movement. For even among those who were in the old Socialist Labor Party, — which at that time was only a "party of propaganda," so styled by some who wanted it to remain forevermore a "party of prop- aganda" and endorse whatever radical movement might spring up — there was a good deal of hobnobbing with Anarchists and also with freak reform movements. In the proceedings of a convention of the old Socialistic Labor Party (as the par- ty was called at first, this being a literal translation, from the German) held as early as 1883 in the city of Allegheny, Pa., the national secretary of the .party. Van Patten, was censured for having opposed the formation of military clubs. Albert Parsons, who later figured in the Haymarket affair in Chi- 4 WITH DE LEON SINCE '&9. ago, was a delegate to that convention. J. P. McGuire, the notorious labor "leader," was at that convention elected as the party's delegate to the International Congress. From 79 to '89 the organization remained very much the same. When light began to break and the few American Sec- tions wanted a real Socialist political organization without fu- sion and without taking a vote at every meeting whether po- litical action should be endorsed or rejected, they met with the opposition of the New Yorker Volkszettung and the ele- ments influenced by that paper. For the most part agitation was conducted in the German language, but now and then a native agitator would make his appearance in New York and be immediately sent on an agi- tation trip through the eighteen towns where the party had or- ganized Sections. There being no established party policy, everyone was free to agitate his particular kind of Socialism and express his own ideas as to party policy and tactics. Most all the native agitators had some scheme wherewith they were to transform conservative American working^en into Social- ists. I Early Fight Over Independent Action Many there were who came with the fixed idea that So- cialist propaganda should be based upon the Declaration of In- dependence and the Constitution of the United States, at any rate brought into harmony with these documents, so as to re- more prejudice against Socialism. It is in the make-up o£ the nativistic know-nothing individual to engender such na- tions. Artemus Ward, the humorist so much admired by our late Comrade De Leon, tells us something that fits these fel- lows who have a hankering for making everything subject to the Constitution. Artemus Ward in his talk to the members of the community of Shakers, in bidding them "adoo," says: "Meanwhile the world resolves around its own axel-tree ev- ery twenty-four hours, subjeck to the Constitution of the United States." The Constitutional cranks have not altogether disappeared even in these latter days. After the experience made by the Socialists of New York with the Henry George movement It began to dawn upon the younger element, or perhaps rather upon those who were iu WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 5 earnest, that the time for experimenting with all sorts of schemes had about passed, and that the Socialist Labor Party should become a real political party, not only a party of prop- aganda. Several Sections, under the leaders'hip of W. Rosen- berg and F. Bushe, editor of the Workmen's Advocate, the of- ficial party organ' — the American Section of New York among them — took the stand that the time had arrived for the Social- ists to enter the political arena not here and there and at in- definite periods, but to unfurl the banner of International So- cialism on American soil without compromise or fusion with any other political party. It was here that the New Yorker Volkszeitung did its nefarious work by using its influence to drive both Rosenberg and Bushe out of the party, and all those who 'stood with them as well. Rosenberg and Bushe thpught they had the whole party organization to back them up, and without doubt the majority of active Sections endorsed their stand. But what wais a little thing like party organization to the Volkszeitung and its co- terie of directors, most of them "has beens" in the Socialist movement, who were perhaps Socialists in their younger days over in Germany, but who in America, by becoming store- keepers and shopkeepers, made peace 'with capitalist institu- tions and were Socialists in name only. In those days when Daniel De Leon was not yet in the party and sweet peace was accordingly supposed to have reign- ed, the Volkszeitung began a campaign of slander against the Rosenberg-Bushe faction. Sections in New York, which were entrusted by the party with the election of the National Exec- utive Committee, were easily captured by the Volkszeitung Publishing Association, with the exception of the American Section. This American Section was American to the extent that the English language was the language spoken at its meetings. The members of the Volkszeitung Publishing Asso- ciation were "it" in the German Section in New York, and the German Section had the majority of party members in New York, so that practically the election of a National Executive Committee was in the hands of this association, and not of the farty. The Sections outside of New York stood with Rosenberg 6 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. for a while, but then came the coup d'etat of '89. The Volks- zeitung elected a new National Executive Committee, and the party's offices and papers were taken possession of by a well- organized physical raid. Bushe complained that even his per- sonal property was confiscated by the Volkszeitung followers down to his best pair of trousers, which he kept in the office. Rosenberg and his faction moved their headquarters from New York, and there arose then what became known as the Roch- ester faction (Rochester .Richtung). This faction was com- pelled to change the seat of its headquarters to Cincinnati and then to other cities, and every time headquarters were estab- lished in a new city the faction was rechristened accordingly— Rochester faction, Cincinnati faction, iCleveland faction, etc. The Volkszeitung, because of the frequent change of head- quarters,, called it "Die Richtung auf Reisen" (the , travelling faction). / Rosenberg wrote circulars to all •the Sections, and when , he saw he was losing ground he wrote more circulars and let- ters. But the Volkszeitung's influence won out. Moreover, the Rosenberg-Bushe faction was maneuvered into taking a stand which "brought it into conflict with the German trade un- ions, which circumstance soon reduced the Rosenberg faction to a "Richtung auf Reisen" indeed. The Volkszeitung, in- stead of answering Rosenberg's arguments, which he submit- ted to the (party members in his circulars, dubbed him "der schreibselige [blissful scribbler] Rosenberg." To make your opponent look ridiculous is a sharp weapon; the Volkszeitung made good use of ik FROM DE LEON'S ENTRANCE TO THE FOUNDING OF THE S. T. & L. A. (1895). De Leon at the Time of His Joining the Party — His First Campaign — Lucien Sanial and De Leon— Character of "The People"— Ex- periences Within the Craft Unions Proof of the Correctness of De Leon's Policies A year after the split in '89 Daniel De Leon became a mem.- ber of the Socialist Labor Party. He was received with open arms by those who were in the movement because they were Socialisits, as well as by tihose who were Socialists to be in the movement, no matter what the miovement was, so long as it moved without running couater to their immediate interests. The honest element welcomed De Leon because they recogniz- ed that his great intellect in the service of the proletarian movement would result in the building up of a great Socialist organization. The stoirekeepers and saloonkeepers of course figured that the larger the movement the lai-ger their oppor- tunities. The honest element had the right instinct, the busi- ness element had not — ^whicb to their sorrow they soon dis- covered. Daniel De Leon was then in the prime of his manhood, 8 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. his countenance beaming with intelligence; every line in his face bespoke his great intellect, his fearlessness, his piofound convictions, unquestionable sincerity, and lofty morals. His hair was even then very gray; his beard white at the tips, but jet black at the roots; his gray-blue eyes penetratingly clear. Those who met Daniel De Leon could easily make up their minds upon two points at least: that De Leon was a man who had drunk deep at the fountain of knowledge and that he wa's in dead earnest. What a contraist between De Leon and most of those who up to that time had been strutting the sitage of the labor movement as leaders I What a contrast be- tween Daniel De Leon and the fellows who only possessed the gift to talk, with nothing to back up what they said; the fel- lows with the glib tongue, or those with the freakish scheme to solve the social question; or the variety who were Socialists for a while as a matter of style or fad, all dressing up for the meetings where they were to appear, wearing loud neckties and a sweet-sour smile to please everybody, like the clerk be- hind the bargain counter nrho wants to please all customers for his own good. Confidence and Enthusiasm Inspired by De Leon's First Campaigh In 1890 a dignified campaign was conducted in New York city by the Socialist Labor Party and brought good results. Five thousand votes were cast for the mayoralty candidate, Au- gust Delebar. De Leon was an active participant in that cam- paign. Hall as well as street meetings were held, at many of which ihe was the principal speaker. Those who wanted a "party of propaganda" only were no longer listened to. De Leon's presence in the party councils changed the situation considerably, and his personal activity and participation in the campaign inspired the membership and creaited not only con- fidence but courage and enthusiasm. Those who were the writers and speakers in the party pre- vious to 1890 were not averse to making their appearance at Cooper Union when a mass meeting was held, where they could shine in all their glory, or to writing "Was Nun?" edi- WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 9^ torials in the Volkszeitung. But to speak from the rear end of a truck on street corners, insist on agitation meetings being held frequently and attend them — that was a horse of a differ- ent color. Here was Daniel De Leon, coming as he did from Columbia University, a lecturer on international law, who did not think it was below his dignity to speak at street corners; -who did not offer apologies for the existence of the Socialist Labor Party, but who, on the contrary, made it a point to at- tend meetings; who spoke not like a man who gropes in the dark, but in a manner that showed his profound convictions based upon sound information. Every Sunday morning during the campaign Daniel De Leon lectured at Pohlman's Hall on Second avenue, near 74ta street, and all the members of the party who lived in that vi- cinity were there to listen to him. This place was the head- quarters of the old 22nd Assembly District, where De Leon resided and of which district he was a candidate for the As- sembly in that year. At that time the writer of these remiit- iscences was a youth of twenty summers and content with the distinction of having been elected on the committee to attend Street meetings and distribute leaflets among the audiences. At times, difficulties of a more or less serious nature were experienced at street meetings, but as a general rule De Leon's dignified appearance commanded respect even from the rough element on the upper East Side, to whom "Tammany Hall was a. sacred institution. Policemen at that time were not yet "educated" and were apt -to take sides with disturbers. Only on one occasion did I see an attempt made to dis- turb the meeting when De Leon was addressing the peoplt. That was when someone hit the horse hitched to the truck, the rear end of which was the speaker's rostrum. The horse start- ed on a gallop down toward the East River, only, a couple of hundred yards away. De Leon was not at all disconcerted by the interruption; he jumped off 'the truck, the horse was caught, brought gack, unhitched, and De Leon co«tinued his speech as though nothing had happened. There were, however, frequent attempts by hoodlums when other speakers were holding forth. 10 WITH DE LEON SINCE; '89. I had a friend who lived on East 81st street, whom I was eager to convert to Socialism. I had not succeeded and was grieved over it. A meeting was scheduled to take place on the corner of 81st street and First avenue, and I insisted upon my friend coming to listen to De Leon, But it turned out » double disappointment. De Leon spoke elsewhere that eve- ning, and the substitute speaker, who did his best, met with some resentment. A huckster with a wagon-load of cabbages passed by, and the next minute a head of cabbage whizzed through the air, aimed evidently at the speaker. But alas!— the friend I had invited was abnormally tall, and the cabbage hit him in the back of the head. I never could persuade him to attend another meeting to hear De Leon or any other S(H cialist, were he ever so great. "The People" Started— De Leon Succeeds Sanial as Editor — The Two Compared After the 1890 campaign the publication of a paper was de- cided upon, and The People was started as a Sunday paper, containing a whole lot of pages made up mostly of plate mat- ter, and printed on the Volkszeitung press. The paper was a yard square and did not look like other papers. It was called a "mammoth paper" by the publishers, and they must have known. Lucien Sanial was the editor. It seems that the intention was to make of it a paper that would reach and be attractive to all the members of he fam- ily. The Workmen's Advocate was consolidated with the new venture. To be sure, it was some improvement upon the Workmen's Advocate. In 1891 Daniel De Leon was appointed national lecturer of the party and toured all states where the party had organiza- tions, including the Pacific Coast. The result of this tour was the cementing of the affiliated Sections into a homogeneous national organization, the real beginning of the Socialist La- bor Party as a factor in the labor movement In the fall of die same year De Leon was the standard bearer of the party in Mew York state and received over 13,000 votes for governor. The People was now a year old, Sanial resigned as editor WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 11 to make place for De Leon, wiho up to that time bad been as- sociate editor. Sanial pleaded old age and bad eyesight a's the reason for his resignaition, but the real reason, no doubt, was that he rec- ognized in De Leon the superior man and above all the sys- tematic, tireless and steady worker, who was equal to the big job of making The People not a "family paper" filled with plate matter (which is at all times of questionable quality), but a paper filled with orig^inal matter — an organ of a great move- ment, a movement whose task it is to accompli'sih the greatest revolution which has yet taken place in the history of mankind. With De Leon in the editorial chair The People became indeed a journal worthy of the great cause of international So- cialism. Be it said here, however, in justice to Lucien Sanial, that what ihe did write while a member of the Socialist Labor Party was good, and that as a speaker and agitator he was a man of marked ability; but the difference between him and De Leon was great and all in favor of De Leon. Sanial was like many an artist or poet, wlho paints or writes poetry w'hen- ever he is in the proper mood — ^when he gets an inspiration, Sanial wrote many a page of educational matter, and at other times delivered lectures and speeches both instructive and en- thusiastic. But to work as De Leon did, to be the one who con- tinually forges new weapons and finds the strategic paths that lead to victory, one who gives his w'hole self to the movement — only a great man is capable of that. Sanial was not a great man. Sanial was a number of times delegate of the Socialist La- bor Party to 'the International Congress. Upon his return he made verbal reports to Section New York or perhaps wrote a letter to the party members, but to write a report as did De Leon in "Flashligihts of the Amisterdam Congress," wherein he take's the measure of tihe leaders in the Socialist movement in Europe and furnishes his constituents with a picture such as that pamphlet contains, — that again only a great man can accomplish. Sanial liked to be regarded as the teacher, and told me (and I presume everybody else) that he wais De Leon's tutor while the latter was his associate editor. A few years later, at a 12 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. mass meeting held in the Opera House at Syracuse following a convention of the Socialist Labor Party, De Leon and Sanial were the speakers. De Leon spoke first and delivered a rous- ing campaign speech. Sanial followed him. "I am not a man of eloquence," Sanial said. "I am a man of facts and figures." The next time De Leon and Sanial spoke together at a meeting, Sanial spoke first and repeated the same declara- tion. This time De -Leon spoke last, and had a chance to re- ply. He certainly did reply, explaining that a man who was not "a man of facts and figures" had no place in the Social- ist movement. Sanial never repeated that phrase again, at least not at a meeting where De Leon was present. National Campaign of 1892 Followed by Growth of Party and Its Organ In 1892, only two years after De Leon joined the party, a national campaign was entered upon. Delegates from the State Committees of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Connecticut met in the Labor Lyceum on iEast Fourth street in New York city, and nominated Simon Wing of Massachusetts and Charles H. Matchett of New York ifor President and Vice-President respectively. This was at a (time when the People's 'Party had made its appearance and {bad made some mighty sweeps in a few Western states. ■ There were the old fusionists who wanted the party vo Ijoin this new movement, as some of them did individually. Rappaport of Indianapolis, who was publishing a German (weekly in that city, was one of that brand of Socialist; he iwent, paper and all, over to the People's Party. Twenty-one thousand (21,000) votes were cast for the can- didates of the Socialist Labor Party in its first national cam- paign. My first vote was cast for Wing and Matchett in 1892 and in the same year I was a candidate for alderman in the third ward of the city of Troy, N. Y., where after considerable roaming about I had settled down. It was there that I got more closely acquainted with Comrade De Leon. He spoke in Troy that campaign and gave me privately a lecture upon how WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 13 agitation meetings should be conducted, and the many things which were neglected in connection with agitation meetings, including the meeting addressed by him in Troy. We had called a meeting, but not a piece of English literature was pro- vided for it; in the advertising we had omitted the name of the party; the meeting room was adjoining a bar-room. De Leon criticized all this severely, and we mended our ways in Troy, as will be shown later. After the campaign In 1892, Sections began to sprout up everywhere, and Daniel De Leon was hailed by all as the man to raise high the banner of Socialism in America. The Ger- man comrades admired him and were delighted to hear him talk German. De Leon on some occasions spoke German even at public meetings, although he complained that after a lengthy talk in German he had to rub his jaws with vaseline! The English-speaking comrades saw in De Leon the man who understood American conditions; the Jewish workers oi New York packed the halls whenever De Leon was announced as a speaker in their districts. But there were some even as early as '92 who did not like De Leon. Fellows who had un- clean motives, who had schemes to hatch out, saw in De Leon a man who would be a hindrance ain their path.. As De Leoa used to say: "I have not always a good nose for crooks, but the crooks have a good nose for me." Following the first national campaign of the Socialist La- bor Party, in which such satisfactory results were achieved^ The People gained in circulation and prestige, and began to reach and be appreciated .by workingmen even in other Eng:- lish-speaking countries. The virile, clear-cut, logical and in- imitable style of its editor differed as much from previous writings in Socialist papers' in the English language (and for that matter in other languages) as a piano differs from the tom-tom of the savage. There were a good many German papers published then, claiming to be Socialist — ^private ventures, or in some cases owned nominally by co-operative associations. Besides the Volkszeitung in New York there were Das Tageblatt in St. Louis and a paper with the same title in Philadelphia; there were alleged Socialist papers in German published in Cleveland, 14 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. O., Buffalo, N. Y., Chicago, 111., and even a little town like Belleville, 111. (16,000 population at that time), sported an Arbeiter-Zeitung, edited by Hans Schvrartz. In New York city there was also a Bohemian daily which flourishes to this very day, and plies the same trade as all pseudo-Socialist pa- per; did then and do now, of exploiting the Socialist senti- ment among the workers for their own private interest — always ready to bow to any old or new superstition so as not to of- fend some readers; or hiding some criminal act of the capital- ists so as not to lose the good will of advertisers and the casih along with it. To insert lor hard cash gold-brick advertisements, and around election times to publish advertisements of candidates of the "boodle parties" (a term frequently used then), was the least among tihe wrong-doings of the publishers and editors of these papers. They invariably proclaimed themselves to be the official representatives of the working class; they invaria- bly announced in heavy type: ''Dedicated to the Interests of the Working Class" ("Den interessen des arbeitenden Volkes gewidmet"). They invariably were everything but the official representatives of the working class; they invariably contain- ed matter that was dedicated to the interests of the work- shirking people; and when taken to task the editors and pub- lishers invariably offered the excuse that the paper could not exist if it told all the truth. Again the contrast between these publications and The People edited by Daniel De Leon. De Leon many times said that a Socialist paper that could not afford to tell the truth had no right to live. The People was only a small four-page paper, but every article it contained from De Leon's pen was based upon facts, breathing that enthusiasm that only a sound, scientific posture can bring forth. The everyday struggles of the working class were reported truthfully, the errors made by the workers fearlessly criticized, and the misleaders and betrayers of the proletariat so mercilessly lashed that it made them foam at the mouth with rage. The capitalist system was dissected with the knife of Marxian economics, and the cap- italists and their hangers-on had a searchlight turned upon them that revealed them in their hideous nastiness. Last but WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. IS not least, the road to victory, the road of uncompromising rev- olutionary tactics was clearly pointed out. "Truthful Recorder of Labor's Struggles," "Unflinching Advocate of Labor's Rigihts," "Intrepid Foe of Labor's Oppressors"— these were the mottoes of The People. Those for whom the pace set was too swift were asked to stay in the rear; a few did slink away. Still, there were those who thought that if the name Socialist were dropped, progress would be more rapid. To them De Leon replied that no his- toric movement can sail under false colors. There were not many who openly opposed De Leon in the party. In New York, now and then, a fusionist to whom the S. L. P. seemed to follow a path too narrow would stand up for more "tolerance," "broadness," and fusion. Such was Char- les Sotheran, wfiio, being somewhat of a spellbinder, made a little fuss for a while. Sotheran, however ridiculous this may sound today, charged De Leon with wanting to establish tac- tics a la Berlin in the American Socialist movement. This was by no means a ridiculous charge then, for in Uliose days Wilhelm Liebknecht was at the ihelm of the Social Democracy in Germany. Up to the year 1892 there were only eleven Social Democrats in the Reichstag. In that year thirty- six were elected. The Socialist Labor Party of America col- lected $5,000 within six weeks for the 1892 election campaign of the German Social Democracy. The party in Germany had not then voted for war budgets and the Haases* and Scheide- manns were not yet heard of. Sotheran had very few to stand for his Populistic fusion schemes, and he and his and the Socialist Labor Party parted company. The Homestead strike took place in 1892. There were many other large strikes at that period, but the Homestead Strike attracted more attention. The strikers were mainly the skilled English-speaking workmen in the Homestead steel ♦Since this was written (in 1915) Haase has, with a score or so of other German Socialist leaders, broken with the con- servative wing of the party and come out in opposition to the war. 16 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. mills. Hired Pinkerton thugs drove the Homestead strikers ta desperate acts of violence. When additional thugs and strike-- breakers virere being brought to Homestead by boat, some of the strikers got possession of a cannon and trained it upon the boat. The captain lost his head, not metaphorically, but ac- tually; his head was shot clean from his shoulders. This gave lihe capitalists a chance to get in the militia, and six strikers were killed by the "boys in blue," and many others wounded. It was at this time that the Anarchist, Alexander Berkman, went into the office of H. C. .Frick, the steel mag- nate, with the design of performing an autopsy upon that gen- tleman first and letting him die afterwards. The autopsy did not turn out quite successful, however. Outside of a scare and a penknife scratch on the abdomen, Frick succeeded in post- poning the autapsy to a time when it could be performed with- out any inconvenience to himself. Berkman, however, got twenty-two years in state prison, fourteen of which he served. A private in the militia, whose name was Yates, thought that Berkman was right, and he gave vent to his thoughts and . feelings. As a punishment for being so indiscreet he was hung up for several hours by the thumbs. In 1893 the Socialist Labor Party made substantial gains at the polls, and by 1894 the vote had risen to 33,000. The party was becoming a factor on the political field; the correctness of the uncompromising "De Leon tactics" was demonstra.ted. Boring from Within— The "Victory" at the 1894 A. F- of L. Convention On the economic field the Socialists were "boring from within," De Leon in District 49, Knights of Labor, o5iers, I among them, in the American Federation of Labor. The joy among the borers from within the American Fed- eration of Labor was great when in 1894 the independent po- litical platform was adopted by a referendum vote of the fed- eration. This platform comtained ten planks; the tenth plank called for collective ownership of all means of production and distribution. The fact t/hat the resolution containing tihe plat- form of ten planks was carried did by no means denote great ^ WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 17 progress of Socialist thought or class consciousness, for besides those who agfitated for thi's political action resolution from the standpoint of Socialists, there were "labor leaders'' who want- ed to scare the old party politicians into granting them some recognition, mainly at the time when officers in the various; departments of the Government were appointed and contracts for Government work given .out. "Organized labor" needed more recognition, and the sicare of an Independent Labor Party was to do the trick. The rank and file of the trade unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, including the cigar makers' and printers' unions voted for this independent political action platform containing the ten planks, but when the convention of the A. F. of L. took place at Denver, Colo., the ten planks were buried ten feet deep. At this convention Gompers was defeated by the Mine Workers' delegate, McBride, who was, if anything, more reactionary than Gompers. I must admit that the ten planks had carried me off my feet somewhat. I really thought that after all Gompers and the rest of the labor leaders, so-called, were too harshly dealt with in The People, until the convention of '94 took place, when the scales dropped from my eyes, and I saw 'through the wlhole farce. At that time a paper called Labor was published by a num- ber of S. I* P. members in St. Louis. The Sections of the So- cialist Labor Party were appealed to from St. Louis to sub- scribe for Labor, and as an inducement any Section that would get 120 subscribers could have a local edition of the paper with whatever name the Section pleased to give it. Many Sections thought this a good chance to reach the workers, as it was promised also by the management of Labor that the last page of the paper could be used for local matters at the rate of six cents an inch. Over night there sprang up everywhere papers called Labor; there was Buffalo Labor and Troy Labor, Chicago Labor and Kalamazoo Labor, etc. Poor labor! As soon as a Section secured 120 twenty-five cent pieces it could sport its own local paper and local manager and editor. The paper, however, was 18 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. mailed from St. Louis, though this was not generally known by the subscribers. The party administration had no grounds on which to op- pose the scheme ait that time. De Leon and the National Exec- utive Committee in New York knew that sooner or later the scheme, like all sdiemes, would spring a leak. And it did. The past office authorities, when they discovered the deception, compelled the publishers to mail the paper from the town where it was daited, so the paper had to be sent by express to the city where it was to appear as a local paper. We in Troy, too, 'had our Labor experience. An old Ger- man comrade was elected editor and I was elected manager. I ^'managed" to get the 120 subscribers, and the local editor "edited" the inches on the last page, at six cents an inch. Some- times we Ihad ten inches of local editorial matter, sometimes more, depending upon the funds. As local manager, I had fre- qis a delegate of Mix- ed Assembly 1563 he entered the central body of the Knights of Labor, District Assembly 49, in July, 1891. Attempt to Cleanse Knights of Labor De Leon, too, bored from within. His boring made the labor fakers in District Assembly 49 dance a dance they had never danced before, Tammany heelers. Republican political crooks, and Populist wind jammers who were formerly at one another's throat were driven into one camp. The lines were drawn between Socialists and reactionists of all shades. Many of the delegates were won over by De Leon, some of them joined the Socialist Labor Party. So effective was this boring by De Leon and those who stood >Vith him that at the general WITH DE. LEON SINCE '89. 2? assembly of the order. General Master Workman Terrence V. Powderly was defeated for that office and James R. Sovereign elected in his stead. Sovereign was flesh of the flesh and bone of the bone of Powderly. The downfall of Powderly brought about chiefly by the Socialists under De Leon's generalship was meant to be a lesson to Sovereign. Sovereign did not heed the lesson. The same corrupt practices of Powderly and his satellites were repeated by Sovereign and his gang. In 1894 the con- vention of the Knights of Labor, or the general assembly; as it was called, was held in New Orleans. Sovereign was taken to task by De Leon and his Socialist co-delegates, and an- other chance was given him upon his promise to mend his ways. Sovereign and the general officers of the order gave a pledge to the Socialist delegates to let them name the editor of the official journal of the Knights of Labor. Sovereign broke his pledge. He knew, no doubt, that w^ith the journal in the hands of the Socialists there would be little chance for crooked acts. In District Assembly 49 the reactionists were whipped com- pletely. Williaim L. Brower was elected district master work- man by a large majority, but not without a lively combat. It was mainly the tireless work of De Leon whose activity and most strenuous efforts brought in newly organized locals. In those days there was hardly a night that De Leon was not delivering a lecture, attending meetings of the party organiza- tion, local assembly, district assembly, committee meetings, campaign work, — all this in addition to his writing as the editor of The People. Boring Stopped; S. T. & L. A. Started By this time another general assembly was to be held at Washington, D. C. This was in 1895. Sovereign and his clique knew that their heads would fall into the basket. De Leon, heading the delegation of District Assembly 49, together with the honest elements in the order, could easily have got the majority. Accordingly, the general assembly at Washing- ton had to be packed, an easy task for those having the mile- age fund, the books, and the whole machinery of the organiza- 30 WITH DE LEON Sli«rt;E '89. tion in their hands. The general assembly was packed, to be sure. With the assistance of men like one E. Kurzenknabe, an infamous, characterless labor faker, the Sovereign clique re- mained in power. This ended De Leon's boring from within. On December 6, 1895, a delegation from District 49, Knights of Labor, met in conjunction with the general execu- tive board of the Central Labor Federaition#of New York and constituted the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance. This bold step on the part of the Socialists headed by Daniel De Leon, created consternation in the ranks of the 'dishone'st trade union leaders. "Opposition union," they cried in chorus. That the A. F. of L. was an opposition union iagainst the Knights of Labor the shouters of "opposition un- ion" evidently had forgotten. Be it said here to the glory of (the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance that its most vehement adversaries at the time of its birth were the niost despicable among labor's misleaders. Men like Kurzenknabe of the Brewers', H. Wcissman of the Bakers', and Harry White of ithe Garment Workers' were the loudest in their denunciations. All three were eventually found out by their own constituents. Weissman got to be a lawyer and became the attorney for the association of boss bakers. In that capacity he fought the unions of bakery workers whose head officer he had formerly ibeen. To mention H. Weissman's name after that among the bakery workers was like mentioning the name of Benedict Ar- nold among school children who had just received, their les- son about the American Revolution. Harry White was found out somewhat later, but found out just the same. He was caught red-handed carrying on a traffic in the Garment Work- ers* union label and kicked out of that union. He cared little, as he had made his "pile" before his practices were discovered. Great Significance of the Alliance The Alliance started life with a membership of about 15,- 000, mostly of local unions in New York and vicinity. Soon, however, the organization spread out over the country. The textile workers of Rhode Island joined the S. T. & L. A. in large numbers; the shoe workers of Brooklyn had locals num- bering 800 to 900 meimbers. Locals were organized in many WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 31 of the industrial centers. The leaders of the "pure and sim- ple" trade unions had indeed good cause to fear the S. T. & L. A. The founding of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance "was the first recognition and application of the principle of strategy in the Socialist and labor movement in the world. It was declared that without the organization of the workers into 'a class conscious revolutionary body on the industrial field, Socialism would remain but an aspiration. It was "charged" that the idea of organizing the Socialist Trade and Labor Al- liance originated in De Leon's head. It did. That "charge," at least, was true. So much the better for De Leon. Recent developments across the Atlantic have demonstrated beyond doubt the impotence of the pure and simple political move- ment. Credit Due Daniel De Leon's Work To Marx belongs the discovery of the economic interpre- tation of history and the scientific application of the theory of value. To De Leon belongs the discovery of the necessity of forming the industrial battalions that can "take and hold" the -wealth power now in possession of the capitalist class. True, at the time of founding the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance not all the functions of the revolutionary So- cialist economic organization were recognized. That the in- dustrial union was to be the Republic of Labor in embryo was seen only after the S. T. & L. A. ship had approached closer tto the shores of the Socialist goal. Columbus, who set out to discover a new and shorter route to India, discovered a new continent. Columbus sailed west, his conviction being that, the world being round, by sailing west he must strike land. The distance and all else was of much less moment. Columbus erred in regard to distance and Other matters, but his central and principal claim was correctly based upon scientific ground. So it was with De Leon, The central and principal point in organizing the S. T. & L. A. was the absolute necessity of arraying the economic forces of labor alongside the revolutionary political party, for the realization of So- 32 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. oalism. Whether De Leon then regarded the economic task greater, or not as great as the political, is a matter • of sec- ondary importance. As Columbus overcame all obstacles, from the procuring of ships to the mutiny of his own men, so did De Leon overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles to bring the working class upon the road that leads to victory. At the time of the birth of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance the Socialist Labor Party had grown to be a factor to be reckoned with. Over two hundred Sections were then in existence. The People made more gains in circulation, and l£faere was not a labor leader "pure and simple" or impure and simple who did not know and fear that little paper published at 184 William street, New York. Within the five years that De Leon had been a member of the Socialist Labor Party a transformation had taken place in the movement. It was no mushroom growth, but a succession of steady gains made in all directions and in many ways. There was growth not only in numbers, but the warm breath of social revolution could be felt in the atmosphere wherever The People was circulated, wherever the Socialist Labor Party gained a foothold. The- first real national convention (though nominally called the ninth annual convention) of the Socialist Labor Party was beld in 1896, at Grand Central Palace, New York city. It was the first real convention of the party not only because all in- dustrial centers were represented, but mainly because it was a convention representing the membership. At former conven- tions, including the one held in the city of Chicago in 1893, many of the Sections of the party had been represented by proxy delegates, who in all cases represented their own views or the views of the membership in their respective localities, and not the views of the membership for which they bore cre- dentials. At the Chicago (1893) convention, for instance, Sec- tion Troy, N. Y., was represented by one Suesskind, a member of Section Chicago. Why we in Troy selected Suesskind I do not know. No member in Troy knew him or any other mem- ber whose name was sent to us as being willing to serve as a proxy delegate. Perhaps we in Troy selected Suesskind (lit- erally "sweet child") because bis name sounded so sweet. WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 33 though we found later that he was not quite as aweet as his name. The system of proxy delegates had been abolished when the 1896 convention gathered. Twelve states were represented by about ninety delegates. 1896 Convention Takes Up Union Question The question of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance was the most important question the convention had to deal with. On the third day of the convention a delegation of the S. T. & L. A. was given the floor. Hugo Vogt was its spokes- man. Vogt read a well-prepared speech, setting forth the rea- sons for the organization of the Alliance. Whatever Vogt be- came afterward, at that time he was De Leon's co-worker and no one stood higher in De Leon's esteem and confidence than Hugo Vogt, editor of the S. L. P. German organ. After Vogt's speech De Leon introduced the following resolution: "Whereas, Both the A. F. of L. and the K. of L., or what is left of them, have fallen hopelessly into the hands of dishon- est aiid ignorant leaders; "Whereas, These bodies have taken shape as the buffers for capitalism, against whom every intelligent effort of the working class for emancipation has hitherto gone to pieces', "Whereas, The policy of 'propitiating* the leaders of these organizations has been tried long enough by the progressive movement, and is to a great extent responsible for the power which these leaders have wielded in the protection of capital- ism and the selling out of the workers; "Whereas, No organization of labor can accomplish any- thing for the workers that does not proceed from the principle that an irrepressible conflict rages between the capitalist and the working class, a conflict that can be settled only by the to- tal overthrow of the former and the establishment of the So- cialist Commonwealth; and "Whereas, This conflict is es'sentially a political one, need- ing the combined political and economic efforts of the workin^g class; therefore be it "Resolved, That we hail with unqualified joy the forma- tion of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance as a giant B4 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. stride toward throwing off the yoke of wage slavery and of the robber class of capitalists. We call upon the Socialists of the land to carry the revolutionary spirit of the S. T. & L. A. into all the organizations of the workers, and thus consolidate and concentrate the proletariat of America in one irresistible class-conscious army, equipped both with the shield of the economic organization and the sword of the Socialist Labor Party ballot." The moving of this resolution for adoption brought the matter before the house. Many delegates took part in the de- bate. Sometimes the enemies of De Leon went about with the slander that De Leon was a party boss, insinuating that he was some kind of Richard Croker, who whipped everybody into line. If they had accused De Leon of everything under the sun, nothing could have been further from the truth than this slanderous statement. Bosses of parties hold sway be- cause of the jobs they have to distribute. De Leon had none to bestow upon those who stood with faim — quite the oppo- site, it was he whose election to the editorship of The People was in the hands of the assembled delegates. De Leon's Logic Wins for S. T. & L. A. Nothing would have disgusted De Leon more than to have had a lot of manikins about him who would jump at his bid- ding. Whatever De Leon proposed in the party he gave his reasons for. It was his sword of logic that won out — a mightier weapon, no doubt, than a mere whip, and steel that could be crossed only with steel — a broomstick would not do. It was De Leon's sword of logic that brought about the adoption of the above resolution by an overwhelming majori- ty. The reformists were at this convention. The A. F. of L. .boosters were there: G. A. Hoehn, of St. Louis; Erasmus Pel- lenz, of Syracuse, whom in those days they called "silver- tongued orator"; Frank Sieverman, the bosom friend of John Tobin of the Shoeworkers', and others. They came prepared to cross swords with De Leon, with their speeches rehearsed and committed to memory. When the time came they found that theirs were not swords but broomsticks. And how De Leon did wield his sword of logic at that WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 35 convention! Never before or since have I seen him look more determined, or heard him speak with greater fervor than at the 1896 convention. De Leon's style of speaking was not a finely spun chain of epigrammatical phrases, nor the bubbling enthu- siasm of impulsiveness, and least of all an appeal to sentiment brought to a climax by dramatic posing. I can close my eyes and see De Leon as he appeared then, pleading the cause o£ the S. T. & L. A. I can recollect but not describe his gestures, his tone of voice, and the effect it had upon the delegates. De Leon spoke at length, but hi's viras not the talk of a long-winded speaker who speaks against time, who when his memory fails him will fall back upon "As I said before," and begin his story all over again. De Leon's words were like hammer blows from the arm of a giant. Facts and logical de- ductions from facts, clothed in language which was incisive and comprehensive, were uttered in a manner so convincing that De Leon's opponents were completely routed. De Leon's resolution was adopted by a vote of 71 in favor and six against. By adopting De Leon's S. T. & L. A. resolution the So- cialist Labor Party took a long step forward. The 1896 con- vention was the beginning of a new epoch in the Socialist move- ment. At that convention Charles H. Matchett was nominated for President, and Matthew Maguire for Vice-President. In the spring of 1896 Magruire had been reelected to the board of aldermen in Paterson, N. J., with an increased majority. De Leon for Congress in the Ninth In the same year Daniel De Leon ran for Congress in the ninth Congressional district of New York. The campaign in that district was the first of its kind in the history of the So- cialist movement in America. De Leon received 4,300 votes, or rather, that many votes were counted by the Tammany and Republican election officers. This vote was not a complimen- tary vote for De Leon, it was a vote cast to send a revolution- ist to Congress. The workingmen in the district were aroused as workingmen were never aroused before or since in a po- litical campaign. New York city, that great proletarian center, had seen many lively 'skirmishes between the forces of capital and la- 36 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. bor, but the revolutionary atmosphere had never been warmer than during the campaign of 1896 in the ninth Congressional district Thousands gathered at the street corners where De Leon spoke, and his words were listened to with the -closest attention. The message that De Leon brought to the men and women in that district, who were among the lowest paid, most exploited workers in the city, was the message of the Socialist union that was to deliver them from wage slavery, the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance. That was the issue in the De Leon campaign — ^the revolu- tionary spark imbedded in the breast of every wage slave in that district was fanned into flame. If there was any conspiracy on the part of capitalists and their politicians to break up this movement of which De Leon was the champion (and many are the reasons to believe that there was such a conspiracy), it must have started in that year. That the capitalist politicians were much afraid of what might come from such a move- ment is certain. As a matter of fact, opposition of any conse- quence within the Socialist Labor Party to its revolutionary position dates back to that very year and to that very district. Whether there was actual collusion between certain promin- ent Socialists and the capitalist politicians, who can say? Per- haps it was only the true instinct of some "intellectuals" in the Sociali'st movement, who could feel that in a movement such as the Socialist Labor Party stood for there would be no pos- sibilities for big salaries, ten-story buildings, and a good time in general, that made them rise against De Leon's "dictator- ship," d.s they pleased to call De Leon's insistence that a man should not be a labor faker at one corner of his mouth and claim to be a Socialist at the other corner. Disrupters Not Satisfied by Clean Vote The campaign in the ninth Congressional district with De Leon as the candidate showed the power that was latent in the Alliance. Four thousand, three hundred votes should have satisfied even those who were after votes only. But that was not the point. What good are such votes that bring only more struggles and no revenue? Besides, a revolutionary movement makes one so insecure in one's possessions! So WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 37 thoie who were "leading Socialists" in the party, officials oi the pure and simple unions, and speculators in real estate or, ot'ier schemes, and petty lawyers whose activities included the drji'iticg of agreements between sweatshop owners of New York's East Side and their slaves, at so many dollars an agieement, could not be expected to sit idly by and let a "dic- tator" like De Leon, a "tyrant," a "pope," etc., etc., start a movement that would deprive such gentry of their jobs and "contract" fees which amounted to great sums. Every cock- roach contractor in a tailoring shop had an agreement with his employes, which was not worth the paper it was written' on to the employes, but which protected the bosses against strikes, at least for the period of a season. These arc not unsubstantiated assertions. We may look today at the men who were the loudest protestors against De Leon's "dictatorship": Abraham Cahan of the Jewish Daily Forward, whose income out of the labor movement exceeds that of Gompers and some of his lieutenants besides. Louis Miller, formerly of the Jewish paper, Wahrheit, who recently started another daily paper on the East Side, is another exam- ple. Miller's real estate speculations were very successful — no wonder De Leon's attitude was not cherished by him I Last, but not least, there is Morris Hillquit, a lawyer and now also a "Boersianer," or speculator in Wall Street. Hillquit's "origi- nal accumulation" was derived from fees in writing the agree- ments mentioned above. Original accumulations and the rev- olutionary Socialist movement do not go hand in hand, hence the starting of the opposition on the East Side at the time when De Leon as a candidate of the Socialist Labor Party for Con- gress polled such a large vote. Bryan Populist Storm Let Loose While De Leon was battling in the ninth Congressional district, into which campaign he had thrown his great energy and personality, there was a political upheaval taking place throughout the land that was unprecedented in the history of American political life. William Jennings Bryan, "the peer- less orator" from Nebraska, had risen to leadership in the Democratic Party. Grover Cleveland, who was elected Presi- 38 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. dent of the United States at the 1892 election, lost his Demo- cratic majority in the House in the election of 1894. The in- dustrial panic which began in 1893 was blamed on the Demo- cratic administration. Factories were shut down, and great numbers of workers were unemployed and destitute. Soup houses were opened in all large cities instead of the "good times" promised by the Democratic politicians. Farm prod- ucts were lower in price than for years previous; 3 bushel of wheat sold for fifty cents and less. (This latter fact, by the way, was the material basis of the existence of the People's Party.) The small farmers had to mortgage their farms, their farm products did not yield the price to assure their existence and make small farming possible. When the Democratic Party met in convention at Chicago, Bryan unsaddled the old leaders, and proposed a platform that was to solve the economic problem. Free coinage of silver, at the ratio of sixteen ounces of silver for every ounce of gold coined, was to do the trick. This was the sum and substance of the Chicago Democratic platform proposed by Bryan. The free coinage of silver was to increase the circulation; an in- creased money circulation would bring a boom in business. That was the lure to get the workers' votes. Thfe farmers, with cheaper money, would get a dollar for a bushel of wheat instead of fifty cents, and, besides, could pay off the mort- gages contracted when money was dear with money cheapened. Many Workingmen Sadly Humbugged Millions of people were made to believe that silver could by law be given a fixed and determined value as compared with gold, regardless of the amount of crystallized social labor power it contained. Bryan's speech at the Chicago conven- tion had the effect upon "suffering humanitjr" desired by that wily politician. It seemed to the masses of starving workers like actual relief; to the farmers it looked like the rising of clouds heavy with rain after a long period of exceedingly dry weather. Bryan was hailed by the small farmers, who were the backbone of the People's Party, as the Israelite, Joseph, was hailed by the Egyptians of old. "You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold," was WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 39 one of Bryan's catch-phrases. And it did work like a charm with the species of which it is said that there is one born ev- ery minute. There were many poor people who believed that the proposed increased money circulation, or larger percentage of silver dollars, would automatically put so many silver dol- lars into their pockets. "Sixteen to one" was the topic every- where, for Bryan had declared and kept on declaring in every speech he made, that the "16 to 1" silver question was "the paramount' issue of the campaign." When the Socialist speakers were delivering their orations on street corners, as we did in Troy and Albany, it was best when criticizing Bryan and his party, to pronounce Bryan's name very short. Whoever might try to say "William Jen- nings Bryan" and be long in doing it was sure to provoke a cheer for the Nebraskan. The Populist movement caved in like an empty shell, and fell into the lap of Dame Democracy. It did not disappear — it vanished. Some of the People's Party leaders had made pre- tensions of being Socialistically inclined. Their Socialistic in- clinations were reflected in the People's Party demands that the railroads should be owned by the Government, so as to have cheaper shipping facilities for the small farmers; was this not Socialism? Bryan, though defeated on election day, was the most popular candidate. His defeat was brought about by the pres- sure of the superior economic power of the industrial capital- ists as against the power of the middle class backed up by the silver mine barons. Workingmen in the industrial centers were intimidated into voting against Bryan by threats of shutting down mills and factories. Troy was the only city in New York state that gave Bryan a majority over McKinley. When Bryan spoke at Albany on the large square near the state capitol, 20,000 came to hear him. I was there too, but little could I see or hear of Bryan, so dense was the mass assembled there. While I did not hear Bryan I did hear the utterances of those standing near me, venturing their opinion of Bryan and his greatness. Now and then a turn of the breeze would bring a portion of a sentence spoken by Bryan to where I stood: " to labor"; "paramount issue "; "increased per capita." 40 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. Every time such a fragment of Bryan's stereotyped phrase* reached the place where I stood, those about me would start a murderous din of applause. Though they could not hear a sin- gle coherent sentence the comment was just as sure to follow every such fragment of one of Bryan's phrases as the applause: "Isn't he the greatest speakerir— "Isn't that wonderful!!" etc., etc. Way Cleared for Socialist Labor Party The silver lining in this cloud of the "Bryan storm" was that when it passed it had cleared the atmosphere somewhat, ■since the Populist movement disintegrated, and thus at least one obstacle was cleared out of the way of the onward march of the Socialist Labor Party. De Leon's activity in the campaign of 1896 was not limited to the precincts of the ninth Congressional district of New York. He toured the country, delivering speeches and lectures in many cities. East and West. On a previous page it was related how De Leon severely criticized our shortcomings in arranging agitation meetings on the occasion of his visit to Troy when he ran for governor in 1891, and how we in Troy mended our ways. On his way back to New York in 1896 De Leon was booked to speak in Troy again. This time a meeting was arranged that gave no room for criticism; in fact, De Leon was pleasantly surprised to find ' that Troy had made such progress. Instead of holding the meeting at Apollo Hall, the headquarters of the German Turn- Verein, as was previously done, with a keg of beer on tap ad- joining the meeting hall, the auditorium of the City Hall, hav- ijig a seating capacity of about one thousand persons, was hired. Keir Hardie, M. P., the leader of the Independent La- bor Party of Great Britain, had also spoken in this hall the year before. Keir Hardie, shortly after his election to Parliament, was engaged by Chicago labor unions to deliver a series of lectures. The Socialist Labor Party invited Hardie to speak under its auspices on his way back from Chicago. Keir Hardie was ac- companied by Frank Smith, an ex-Salvation Army colonel, a very clever speaker, but wholly sentimental, who soon after- WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 41 Ifnrd again became a Salvationist. Hardie's meeting in Troy had been attended by about five hundred people; we were de- termined to have even a larger audience for De Leon. An Example of Self- Discipline A parade was proposed. The old timers objected to this because we could not get, they said, more than a corporal's guard to turn out. Still the parade was decided upon, condi- tionally however, — it was to take place provided one hundred comrades and sympathizers of the movement would give their written promise to join the march. We got the hundred sure enough to sign, and they turned out, too, to a man. They were not all from Troy, of course, but from all the vicinity, which took in the city of Albany to the south, and Watervliet, Green Island, Cohoes, and Lansingburg to the south and west; even the village of Sand Lake was represented, — but the hundfed were there; every man who signed kept his promise and an- swered the roll call on the night when De Leon was in town. This is not funny, or a matter of little importance, for it demonstrated the feeling ot comradeship that prevailed, and the conscientious carrying into effect of a self-imposed obliga- tion. One hundred men in line under the banner of the Social- ist Labor Party in a city like Troy at the time when people were half crazed with the Bryan "16 to 1" mania, was indeed a sign that the Socialist Labor Party was an organization that brought conviction to its members and sympathizers. De Leon bimseU made the number a hundred and one. Jacob Alexander of Albany brought with him the members of a band to which he belonged, and though they were only four in number, our parade headed by them created a healthy sensation in Troy and vicimty. The following account of the meeting and parade ap- peared in The People in October, 1896: "Stupefying Fakers and Politicians" "Troy, October 16. — The Socialist Labor Party threw this evening a strong breath -of fresh and purifying air into this city, that reeks with the corruption of politicians and fakers. It held a parade and a mass meeting. The parade was the first 42 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. ever held here by the Socialists. It was headed by a good brass band and a banner bearing a large arm and hammer. Besides that there was one bearing the names of the Presidential nom- • inees, Matchett and Magiiire, and several others, one of which read, 'Neither gold bugs nor silver bugs; down with all hum- bugs.' The paraders illuminated their own . path with Greek candles and marched through the most populous sections of the city, calling considerable attention and stupefying , both fakers and politicians. It took a large crowd with it to the City Hall, where another large crowd had already gathered. Daniel De Leon was the speaker. The meeting was twice as large as Keir Hardie's; it was the largest Socialist gathering Troy has ever seen. The great crowd listened attentively and broke forth into frequent applause. The meeting adjourned with three cheers for Matchett and Maguire, and three rousing ones in addition for the Social Revolution." Opposition's Poisonous Work The vote of the Socialist Labor Party in 1896 was 36,564, a 'gain over the Presidential election of 1892, but a loss in com- parison with the vote of 1895. As already stated, the People's Party was annihilated. Bryan's endorsement by that party showed the flimsiness of its structure. When the Socialist La- bor Party emerged from that political cyclone with 36,000 votes it denoted the quality of the material that the party was made of, and could nqt be construed as retrogression. The "opposition" found in this reduced vote an opportuni- ty sought, namely to claim that the party's tactics were all wrong, that the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance would ruia the party. The only spot where the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance was the issue was the ninth Congressional district, and in that district the Socialist Labor Party made phenomenal gains; elsewhere the question of the Alliance did not penetrate to the surface, so thick was the crust of the Bryan "free sil- ver" demagogism. For those who sought a pretext to com- bat the revolutionary tactics of the Socialist Labor Party the pretext was furnished anyhow, la 1897 I left Troy, to live in New York. Here the "op- position" was at work outside and inside of the Socialist La- "THE DE LEON VILLA" Pond Pbint, Milford, Connecticut THIS WAS HIS SUMMER PLAYGROUND, WHERE HE SPENT HIS SUMMERS FROM 1907 TO 1912. MALIGNERS USED TO REFER TO IT AS ABOVE, INSINUATING HE LIVED IN A VILLA IN CONNECTICUT ON EARNINGS MADE IN THE iSOCIALIST MOVEMENT WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 43 bor Party, aye, outside and inside of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance. The struggle between progress and reaction was on. As long as the attitude of the party was only express- ed in revolutionary sentences, however terse, De Leon was spoken of as Professor De Leon (though De Leon requested everyone not to use that title). When the time came, as it did after the organization of the Alliance, when it was no longer a question of revolutionary talk but one of action — the concrete thing, not abstract theory — many of those who had spoken of De Leon as the learned professor began to parrot the slanders of the venal Weissmans and Kurzenknabes. The Volkszeitung supported the party's adopted stand, but in a half-hearted manner, and on the quiet its editors and reporters, of whom there was more than a bushel, were siding in with the opposition. Some pure and simple union advertis- ing had already been lost, not to speak of the donations to the Volkszeitung, for there were many of these so-called progres- sive unions that donated a sum either to the party or to the Volkszeitung Conference, an organization of delegates from various unions and benefit societies gotten up for the special purpose of keeping the Volkszeitung alive. Such a donation gave the donating "progressive union" absolution for sins com- mitted and sins to be comniitted against the Socialist move- ment. "Trooble" vs. the Spring Sunshine Some of the officials of the unions that joined the Social- ist Trade and Labor Alliance were bribed with promises of good jobs if they would turn against the Alliance. Ernest Bohm, the first general secretary of the S. T. & L. A., turned against the organization, and as a reward was provided with a little; income in the Central Labor Union — was put on the pen- sion list, as it were, and is the recording secretary of that body to this day. Many of the old German comrades were visited in their homes by self-constituted committees and told that the party was in "danger"; that after all it was the German Socialists who had built the party and now the party must be "saved'' by them; that in Germany the Social Democratic Party did not 44 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. meddle in the affairs of unions; that De Leon, not being a Ger- man, did not understand scientific Socialism anyhow; that the party was being run high-handedly; the vote was getting smaller — in short, the poison of dissension was being injected by unseen hands. Many of the honest "alte Genossen" (old German comrades) resented the slanders — did they not see and hear De Leon speak and sometimes in German, too? No, they could not believe that De Leon was not all right. But then came the last card of the fellows who worked in the dark: "Don't you see that the Alliance means opposition un- ions? You are a carpenter; tomorrow they may start a car- penters' alliance; what will you do then — lose your job, fight with your walking delegate?" "No, no, not that; I don't want no 'trooble' with the union or the walking delegate." Then the members thus worked upon would come to the meetings of the assembly district organizations and register a kick against the party policy and against De Leon who is continually look- ing for "trooble." This "trooble'' became quite a joke. In one of the up- town assembly districts there was an old German comrade whose name was Von ElHnger. He had a long, red beard which he kept nicely brushed and shined. Von ElHnger^ at one of the meetings where De Leon was present, took part in the discussion upon party tactics, and made the statement that De Leon was all wrong, always taking a stand that meant "trooble." "Why," said he, "Socialism will not come if yon make nothing but trooble; der Sozialismus muss kommen wie die Fruehlingsonne." (Socialism must come like the spring sunshine.) De Leon ever after called Von Ellinger, "Genosse Fruehlingsonne." This nicknaming of some of the oppositionists was made much of by them, and sometimes furnished them with ammu- nition which they otherwise would have been lacking. To call Morris Hillquit by his real name, Moses Hilkowitz, was also taken ill by some. A Hf tie light thrown upon this subject may be in place. De Leon did not partake of any stimulants; only on very rare occasions would he join some friends in drinking a glass of Wuerzburger^ But to stand the tremendous strain which WITH DE LEON SINCE '89, 45 he stood for a quarter of a century, in a movement the van- guard ol the forces of the social revolution, bound as a matter of course to be not a bed of roses but a path every inch full of struggle, or in the words of the "alte Genossen," full of "trooble," there had to be something in De Leon's life which kept him young in spirit at sixty. That Something was hu- mor. De Leon had to have hb dose of mirth every day, a good hearty laugh, or else he would have succumbed much earlier than he did. De Leon generally found a humorous side to serious matters and had his health-giving laugh. Turbulence Centered in New York The period between the 1896 convention and the raid of the oppositionists upon the party's national headquarters in July, 1899, was a most turbulent one. There was "trooble" galore. New York city was the place where the friction be- tween the opposing forces made the sparks fly. The National Executive Committee was still being elected by Section New York, as was the case in 1899. The Socialist Labor Party had its main strength in New York, and so did the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance. There were not more members of the party or the Alliance in New York than in the other cities and towns combined, but Section New York was the largest unit in the party organiza- tion, and the Alliance had a larger membership in New York than in any other district. The forces opposing the revolution- ary attitude of the Socialist Labor Party both within and with- out the party were also centered in New York. The assembly district organizations of which the Section was composed be- came the battlefield where the question of party tactics was fought out. Some of these assembly district organizations fell under the influence of the oppositionists; there were certain assembly district organizations which were known to be loyal and others that were known to be the opposite, and still others that were doubtful. Some of the assembly district organizations that fell into the hands of the opposition had to be suspended and reorgan- ized. The first sub-division of Section New York which had to be cleansed by reorganization was in the district where 46 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. those swayed a majority to their side who afterward clustered around the Jewish Daily Forward. Some of them still cluster there today. This fact of itself speaks volumes. Later the opposition spread to some of the German assembly districts uptown and across the East River to Brooklyn, but at no time Irom the beginning of the struggle to the final rupture of 1899 did the opposition control one single English-speaking subdivision of the party< This fact also speaks volumes. Not that the district or- ganizations that were known as English-speaking were com- posed of men whose ancestors came over on the Mayflower; some of them were American born and others were of that "foreign" element that followed the advice of Frederick En- gels who, when he visited New York in 1891, said that the first thing the Socialists from abroad should do was to acquire a knowledge of the language of the land. Of course the im- migrants from Great Britain and Ireland did not come under the category of "foreigners." At one of the meetings an Irish- man was heard saying, when he saw the names of Matchett and Maguire upon one of the banners: "Magnire for Vice- President, is it? And sure, Oi thought all thim Socialists vras foreigners." Conflicts in the General Committee In 1897 there were assembly district organizations of Sec- tion New York, Socialist Labor Party, where "Americans" with a Tipperary brogue predominated, such as the 18th As- sembly District, and these were among the loyal subdivisions of the party. Some of the assembly district organizations were subdivided into language branches, all subdivisions being represented by delegates in a general committee. In this gen- eral committee many lively discussions between delegates who represented the loyal subdivisions and those who leaned the other way took place. De Leon attended practically all the meetings of the gen- eral committee as a delegate from his assembly district and did not tire of meeting every oppositionist who showed his head in the general committee. He would go over the ground WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 47 again and again with his sound reasoning, and many a fellow was re-converted to the uncompromising revolutionary posi- tion of De Leon. An instance in point was Charles Vander Porten, who was. elected by the 30th Assembly District to go to the general committee and "crush" De Leon. Vander Por- ten came. After a discussion on the subject, in which De Leon took part, Vander Porten said to De Leon: "Comrade De Leon, I came to this meeting of the general committee to lick the 'Boss,' but I admit that I am the one who got licked." As to Vander Porten, I shall have a little more to tell about him later. The opposition had started some sort of club that was to teach the S. L. P. things about tactics and principles. This club they called "Der Mohren Club," in imitation of a club of the same name which was said to have played an im- portant part in the German Socialist movement. History was to repeat itself, and it did. According to Marx, history pre- sents itself first as a tragedy and again as a farce. This Mohren Club was made up of some of the suspended opposi- tionists and kindred spirits. The thing would not be mentioned here, except for certain reasons, for it had no effect or influ- ence upon anyone. At one of the meetings called by this Mohren Club, which I attended, several matters were clearly revealed. The first was that no other but Alexander Jonas of the Volkszeitung was the speaker, showing the connection be- tween the Volkszeitung and the opposition. "Sound, But Too Slow," the Argument Jonas's speech on this occasion showed where the sowing of the seed of dissension came from. The subject was the tac- tics of the S. L. P. Jonas's contention was that the S. L. P. position was wrong, that there were in New York city 100,000 workingmen Socialistically inclined, and that the party must adopt a policy whereby these 100,000 Socialistically inclined workingmen would be reached and drawn into the movement; that the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance had the opposite effect, since it would lead to the organization of dual unions; that the leaders of the American Federation of Labor were in- sulted instead of being converted; that the Socialist Labor 48 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. Party insisted upon a sound position. "Yes," said he, "the So- cialist Labor Party is as sound and solid as the Rock of Gib- raltar, nor has it any more motion; it makes no progress." This was in 1897. At the polls in that year the Socialist La- bor Party received 55,000 votes, and only a year after, in 1898, Che party's vote rose to 82,000, in spite of all the opposition. We see today, eighteen years after (those who sided with Jonas having a party of their own), that the 100,000 "Socialis- tically inclined" workingmen in Greater New York have not yet been reached, the leaving of the revolutionary path not- withstanding. Moreover, if there were 100,000 "Socialisticaily inclined" workingmen in Greater New York in 1897, there sure- ly must be 200,000 of them in 1915, since a very large number of workers came from all European countries within the past eighteen years, from countries, too, where we were told every third person was a Socialist. The Opposition's "Tolerance" Jonas's speech is only one reason why I mention the Moh- ren Club. Another reason is that, notwithstanding the fact that Jonas S'poke harshly of the Socialist La'bor Party at a meeting arranged by outspoken enemies of the party, he was not disciplined, which disproves the charge so often made by anti-De Leonites of all shades that no criticism was permitted in the Socialist Labor Party and that any one who made bold to oppose the party administration was thrown out There is a vast difference between criticism and sandbagging. Though Jonas's talk belonged to the latter class, yet it was tolerated, and those who were actually suspended or expelled from the Socialist Labor Party in those days were men whose conduct was such that they had to be dealt with severely if the party was to retain its self-respect. Still another reason prompts me to refer to this Mohren Club. The loyal delegates to the general committee of Sec- tion New York were accused by £he oppositionists of entirely suppressing the minority; it was charged that there was no tolerance of other opinions. Of course this was a false charge. But how did these fellows in the Mohren Club act? When Jonas had finished his speech, I asked for the floor. A Volks- WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 49 zeitung reporter was the chairman. The floor was g^yen tnc, mainly because the chairman, did not know me. I proceeded very cautiously in answering Jonas, but did not get very far with my explanation. As soon as the chairman saw that I was not an oppositionist, he simply declared me out of order and my protests were howled down by the mob. Robert Glaser, another loyal member of the party, who was also present, was assaulted by a blue-label committeeman of Cigar Makers' Un- ion No. 90, R. Modest. The substantial gains at the polls in 1897 and 1898 had a tendency to strengthen the revolutionary wing of the party. Some promising elements formerly affiliated with the People's Party joined the movement. The future looked bright in spite of all the opposition from within and without. True, -the So- cialist Labor Party movement had the capitalist class to com- bat in front, the labor lieutenants of the capitalists on both of its flanks, the enemy within its own camp in the rear; still, k forged ahead. The many enemies, the assaults of the capitalist forces, the howling of labor fakers, the hissing sound of the traitors, all this only stimulated the fighting S. L. P. The opposition was in despair. Referendum votes to change the party tactics were proposed, voted upon, and de- feated. How hard did the oppositionists work at times to deal the party a blow! "Intellectuals" like Dr. Ingerman were at work to spread more of the poison of dissension, proceeding no doubt from the theory, "Throw mud, and keep on throwing it; some of it is bound to stick." Die Liedertafel ; De Leon's Joke A center for the Genossen who were going to have, all "trooble" in. the movement abolished and have the Socialist Republic ushered in with songs was "Die Socialistische Lieder- tafel." This singing society was also a subdivision of Sec- tion New York, paid dues the same as an assembly district or- ganization, and had also the same rights. It developed that the meartbers of this singing society branch who would permit no one to participate in their singing and drinking exercises without paying his quarter of a dollar, did permit fellows to vote upon a referendum vote on party matters, and the ques- 50 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. tion whether the individual who voted had paid his dues to the party was not taken so seriously as was his participation in song and drink — especially the latter. A number of times I was elected chairman at the session of the general committee, a job which was not an easy one. There were always from ten to twenty hands raised asking for the floor and not all could be permitted to speak at the same time, and there was not enough time to have all speak in succession. Some had to be disappointed. The delegate who raised his hand first and asked for the floor in the proper man- ner was recognized. The minority delegates were never sup- pressed. On one occasion the Liedertafel elected a new dele- gate, who came to the general committee with his mind made up to tell De Leon and the rest what he thought of them. He did not ask for the floor in the usual manner, that is by rising from his seat and addressing the chair; instead he made wild gestures, snapped his finger^, etc., and as he could not arrest my attention he finally whistled at me. He had to wait, how- ever, until those had spoken who asked for the floor in a de- cent manner. When his turn finally came he was so over- wrought with anger that he started his speech by cursing. He did not proceed further than the curse; down came the gavel with a crash; the delegate of the Liedertafel was out of order and had to sit down. De Leon was not at this meeting.but he had heard all about it, for when I happened to call at the office of The People a few days later, De Leon wanted to know whether I had heard what the Liedertafel had done because I declared their delegate out of order at the general committee meeting. "The Liedertafel has decided not to sing at your funeral when you die," said De Leon, with his characteristic chuckle; "but when one of the members asked what would be their action if De Leon should die they decided they would sing at his funeral with pleasure." Debs and the Pullman Strike While the struggle within the Socialist Labor Party between the revolutionists and the reformists was proceeding merrily, events were taking place in the world of labor outside of the WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 51 party that were bound to have a great influence on the devel- opments within the Socialist Labor Party movement. The great strike of railroad workers affiliated with the American Railway Union took place in 1894. Eugene V. Debs was the man at the head of this new organization. Seventeen railroad lines of the West and Middle West running into Chi- cago were tied up. It was a strike more general than many a strike that is called a general strike. It started by a lockout of the employes of the Pullman Company at Pullman, 111., where this company had with pretentions of philanthropy instituted some sort of capitalist paternalism, where the workers had the opportunity not only to work and be exploited by the JPullman Company in the workshop, but where they were given also the opportunity to live in the company's houses, deal in company stores, be treated by the company doctor, etc. The lockout of the Pullman employes followed their refusal to accept another ■of the company's gifts, namely, a twenty-five per cent, reduc- tion in wages. The directors of the Pullman Company are the originators of the phrase, "We have nothing to arbitrate." They would not even negotiate with their locked-out employes. Debs Misled by the Disrupters The American Railway Union rose to the occasion. Trains with Pullman cars attached were not handled by the members of the American Railway Union, and thus the great strike was precipitated. This strike paralyzed transportation and alarmed the capitalists greatly. The demonstration of solidarity by the American Railway Union, which during the strike claimed a membership of over 100,000, struck the chords of class feeling among the workers of the land, and the spectacular nature of the strike, as of all such strikes, especially railroad strikes, in- creased the feeling of sympathy on the part of the members of the working class and the opposition on the part of the capital- ists. Governor Altgeld of Illinois was reluctant to order out the state militia and thus comply with the wishes of the cap- italists. Grover Cleveland, however, for whom so many poor wage slaves had shouted when he was running for President: "Four more years of Grover and then we'll be in clover," order- ed out the Federal troops. Injunctions against the strikers and S2 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. the officials of the American Railway Union were issued whole- sale. Debs was finally sentenced to six months' imprisonment in the Woodstock jail for "contempt of court." This act of class justice had the tendency to make Eugene V. Debs quite popular. Debs's name thereafter had the sound which re-echoed the blow dealt by the railroad workers in the Pullman strike to the capitalist class — a sound pleasant to the workers' ears. This fact, together with Debs's talent as speaker and organizer, gave him great opportunities and power for good or evil in the labor movement, whichever influence he might choose to exert. Debs was not a Socialist at the time of his in- carceration. He voted for Bryan in 1896, but did declare his conversion to Socialism in 1897. Why did not Debs join the So- cialist Labor Party, then the only party flying the flag of So- cialism? Was the Socialist Labor Party so fundamentally in the wrong that a new party had to be started? Or was there something fundamentally wrong with Debs that he started one, or rather that he allowed 'his so well sounding name to be used to start a new party? We shall see. Debs, while serving his sentence in Woodstock jail and af- ter that, up to the time that he declared himself to be a Social- ist, was being sought by the elements for whom the Socialist Labor Party was too narrow, dogmatic, sectarian, etc., etc., and also by those who were forced out of the party in 1889 by the New Yorker Volkszeitung. Freak "Social Democracy" Started While there is no documentary evidence in my possession, I doubt that Eugene V. Debs would deny that lie was besieged by men who pictured to him the Socialist Labor Party as an or- ganization of fanatics who were devoid, of tolerance hi regard to the opinions of others, and men who had no understanding of American conditions. Oh, irony of fate! The very elements in the Socialist Labor Party who were actually gniilty of such ac- cusations were those which after the split of 1899 within the So- cialist Labor Party Debs took to his bosom; or, to be more correct, he was grabbed to their liosom, where he has teen held ever since, mainly for advertising purposes — for the sound that re-echoes that outburst of wage slave solidarity, the Pullman strike, still clings to the name of Eugene V. Debs. WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 53 It was said that Rosenberg, the national secretary of the Socialist Labor Party in 1889, and deposed by the Volkszeitung in that year, was one of the correspondents of Debs while Debs was imprisoned in Woodstock jail. That Rosenberg depicted the Volkszeitung cabal in its true colors there can be no doubt; they were the very gang of would-be intellectuals whom De Leon and those who sided with De Leon had to combat within the Socialist Labor Party. As to the rest who sought to kidnap Debs, there was Berger, of "buy out the capitalists" fame. Ber- ger at all times respected De Leon, though he did not agree with him, but time and again he showed his cotitempt for the Volkszeitung and its adherents. When, in 1897, the American Railway Union had lost the bulk of its membership Debs gathered the wreckage together, and with Wayland of the Appeal to Reason, and others, organ- ized a new political party, the Social Democracy of America. There was little attention paid in the East to this new venture, for this new political party was to establish Socialism by colo- nizing the state of Washington, and John D. Rockefeller was to be appealed to to furnish the means. Naturally, all those who wanted to establish Socialism in that fashion flocked to the standard of the Social Democracy of America. Most likely Debs was allowed to proceed with his colonization idea to a certain point, just to demonstrate to him and his followers the folly of such schemes. Unquestionably, there were men in the Social Democracy of America, including Berger, who knew bet- ter. Children must be allowed at times to have their own way, especially when ill or weak; the time comes when by their own developing reason they mend their ways;- the rod is the last re- sort with sensible parents and teachers. Victor Berger was a wise parent and also principal of a German school in Milwaukee. In 1898 the Social Democracy of America became the So- cial Democratic Party of America, and in a few isolated places entered the political field with candidates set up in opposition to the Socialist Labor Party. It is a most significant fact that the first man elected on the ticket of the Social Democratic Par- ty of America was James F. Carey of Haverhill, Mass., who voted in favor of an appropriation of $15,000 toward the build- ing of an armory at Haverhill, and who had the brass to offer 54 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. as an excuse for his action that it was a. sanitary armory he had voted the appropriation for. Winner of the "First Victory" James F. Carey was at first a member of the Socialist La- bor Party, and as such was elected to the board of aldermen in IHaverhill, but the Socialist Labor Party being too narrow for him, he refused to submit to its discipline and turned toward the broad Social Democratic Party even before the Socialist Labor Party had a chance to turn him out of its organization. Carey, otherwise known about Haverhill as "weeping Jim," claimed to be consumptive; this helped Jim to a good many sympathetic votes. The last time I saw him. he looked very sleek and fat, with nary a sign of consumptiveness. This armory builder was the first candidate elected on the ticket of the "So- cial Democratic Party of America," the present Socialist Party* I The Socialist movement in the state of Massachusetts, former- ly the Star of Bethlehem of the opposition to the Socialist La- bor Party, is weaker today than it was before the party that was to bring "Socialism in our time" started on its career of destruction eighteen years ago. With this short description of the events outside of the So- cialist Labor Party we can return to the activities within the organization, especially the doings in New York city. We must needs return later to tell more of the Social Democratic Party, Debs, and some others. The 16th Assembly District organization was one of the most active and loyal subdivisions of Section New York, So- cialist Labor Party. The membership in that district was com- posed mainly of men who were not influenced by "Mohren clubs" or by any other set of oppositionists. While the poison of dissension spread like gangrene in the assembly districts which were the component parts of the ninth Congressional district, and where De Leon made such a great fight in the campaign of 1896, the 16th Assembly District, although border- ing on the ninth Congressional, remained unaffected. The evil Influence of Cahan, Winchevsky, Zametkin, Barondess, and others, who were much comforted by the organization in the West of the Social Democratic Party, did not reach to the 16th WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. • SS A. D.; their evil influence had not in those days got beyond Houston street. The revolutionary spark that had glowed so warmly and so brightly among the mass of proletarians jammed together within the borders of the ninth Congressional district the year before, was being extinguished with bucketfuls of nastiness, thrown about and squirted around by the "literateurs" of the lower East Side. At the business of emptying buckets of dirt over the heads of their adversaries, these gentry, in the lan- guage of Artemus Ward, were "ekeled by few, exeled by none." Any one who would have tried any slanderous work in the 16th Assembly District organization would have fared badly. De Leon's Big Vote in 16th A. D. When the time came to make party nominations in 1897, a delegation from the 16th Assembly District recommended that De Leon be offered the nomination as a candidate in that dis- trict This was agreed to by the general committee, and De Leon accepted the nomination for member of the Assembly from the 16th. The campaigns conducted in that district from 1897 to 1900 were lively affairs, and the 16th Assembly District became known throughout the land. The election returns from the district in 1897 made Tam- many Hall sit up and take notice. For Daniel De Leon 1,854 votes were cast. The column on the official ballot with the uplifted arm and hammer began to look threatening. The vote cast for De Leon was 400 higher than the vote cast for the Re- publican candidate. Tammany received over 3,000, but the very fact that De Leon's vote was second highest in the district had a depressing effect upon the Fourteenth street •'wigwam." How this vote did cheer the ranks of the Socialist Labor Party! It was not a vote gotten by promises of palliative measures, not a vote secured in the manner and by the method of political re- form parties. The issues were "the unconditional surrender of the capitalist class" and the Socialist economic organization, the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance versus "pure and sim- ple" unionism of the American Federation of Labor. The membership in the 16th Assembly District worked with the zeal and enthusiasm of new converts to the cause of 56 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. Socialism. A large proportion of the members were young- men; many of them developed to be speakers — quite a number of soap-boxers got their first training in the 16th. Those who could not speak on the corners distributed literature, and can- vassed every tenement house in the district. De Leon himself was there every night, speaking some- times at three open-air meetings in one evening after a day's hard work in The People office. As the party grew so did the share of work in De Leon's office. Visiting comrades from out of town called on De Leon. Some had important happenings from their localities to relate, others just came to have a look at the man the very mention of whose name made the labor fakers squirm; still others called just because they could not help it. A Caller at "Dec Leawn't" Office De Leon received all those cordially whose calling had a purpose. Overburdened with work and responsibilities of such a magnitude as De Leon was, he had no time to waste with people who came to see him and bother him with trivial mat- ters or freakish schemes of all sorts. Unlike the ordinary po- litical leader who pretends to be delighted to meet every Tom, Dick and Harry who comes along, De Leon did no such pre- tending; he was at times painfully frank in telling some who called out of curiosity or similar motives to go. Many a sen- timental chap who thought that De Leon should turn himself into a reception committee to receive him, felt offended and \yent forth to denounce De Leon as an aristocrat or an auto- crat. Many a freakish individual who looked up De Leon in his office to have De Leon's opinion on some freakish scheme or other became quite indignant when De Leon had no time for such business. On one occasion when De Leon was steeped in serious work, a fellow called with a good-sized bundle of manuscript ■under his arm. He looked like an incarnation of Mark Twain's "Connecticut Yankee at the Court of King Arthur." He was not a bit backward, but went- straight to De Leon's desk. "Is >this Mr. Dee Leawn?" he asked, in long-drawn nasal tones. WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 57 "What is it you wish, sir?" asked De Leon in turn, in a rather brisk manner, seeing at a glance what kind of a hairpin fae had before him. "Mr. Dee Leawn," began the stranger, looking around for a chair to sit down on, but, seeing none offered, preferring to stand — "I have written a book on — " "I have no time now, sir," De Leon interrupted. "But, Mr. Dee Leawn, this book which I have written shows the way to solve the social question, and I want you to read it, and—" But De Leon Had Read It "I've read it, sir, I've read it," De Leon broke in. "You're mistaken, Mr. Dee Leawn, you^— " "I am telling you, sir, I have read it." "But," the "author" still persisted, "you certainly are mis- taken; how could you have read my book when it has not yet been printed? Here is the manuscript, and — " "I've read that book, don't bother me," insisted De Leon. The fellow went, with the manuscript of the book that was to solve the social question under his arm, much dejected and swearing vengeance against the tyrant "Dee Leawn." The so- cial question remained unsolved! The man or woman who called on De Leon with a real purpose concerning the great cause, for which alone De Leon labored, always received merited attention, it mattered not who the individual happened to be. No matter how great was the volume of work that De Leon had to attend to in those days, eight o'clock in the evening found him at the open-air meetings, where large crowds were waiting to hear the "Old Man," as De Leon came to be known in the 16th Assembly District. In the same year (1897) Lucien Sanial was the mayoralty candidate of the Socialist Labor Party in Greater New York. The vote of the party in the first election under the charter of the Greater City was 16,000. There was quite a scramble among the old party politicians for the spoils that lay in waiting for the victors. Besides the regular nominations by Tarnmany Hall and the Republican Party, there was Seth Low, president of Columbia University, in the field, nominated for mayor by 58 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. the Citizens' Union. Old Henry George was dug up by the "Jeffersonian Democracy," ibut died a few days before election day. George's son, Henry George, Jr., was nominated to fill the vacancy; the ballots, in fact, were already printed, so no change in the list of candidates was possible, and it made little difference anyway, for the popularity of George had faded away ten years before. While the 16th A. D. was the storm center in the Socialist Labor Party campaign, the rest of the city was by no means neglected. Every other assembly district had its organization, and carried on a vigorous campaign. There was no lack of speakers; literature was distributed throughout the city in large quantities. There was a fife and drum corps composed mainly of sons of Socialist Labor Party members. De Leon's son, Solon, was a member of this corps. Sanial's Mistake in the Band This fife and drum corps was of course an innovation. Many there were among the party's speakers who would regu- larly denounce the old parties, by force of habit, for having mu- sic, parades, etc., at their meetings. It so happened one night during that campaign that Sanial, the candidate for mayor, spoke at the corner of 70th street and First avenue. The crowd of listeners that had assembled was large and appreciative. Sanial's speeches were always full of vim and enthusiasm. While Sanial was telling the audience that "before the century closes the bottom will fall out of the barrel of capitalism in Eu- rope," and that "the crimson banner will soon wave from ev- ery capitol across the Atlantic," a Tammany band wagon halt- ed across the street, decorated with the flags of all nations, the flag of the Emerald Isle predominating, for it was an Irish dis- trict, (In Italian districts this was changed a bit.) Tammany had evidently arranged for a meeting, too. Sanial turned on them. . "Yes, fellow workingmen, the capital- ist politicians come to you before election with music and other tomfoolery to get your votes, and after election they give you different music — music from the rifles of the militia and the gatling guns of their military. We do not come to you with music," Sanial continued. Just then I heard from the distance WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. S7 the sound of other music — it sounded like the "Marseillaise,'' the favorite march of the Socialist Labor Party fife and drum corps. I looked up First avenue and was sure it was our band. Sanial was still hammering the capitalist politicians and their music. I pulled Sanial's coat tail to give him warning, but he was too wrapt up in his subject to pay any attention to me. The crowd grasped the situation sooner than Sanial, and was quite merry. Finally the fife and drum corps had reached our corner and swung around into 70th street, still playing the Marseillaise. Sanial was still denouncing the music and red fire of the old parties. The audience laughed. Sanial saw the joke, too. He took out his r^d bandana handkerchief, wiped the perspiration from his high forehead, and said: "Friends, I made a mistake, these are our boys." Then he added: "They will play the death march of capitalism." De Leon Shamelessly Slandered The following year, 1898, De Leon's vote in the 16th As- sembly District rose to 2,207. Tammany Hall was alarmed. The labor leaders in the Central Laibor Union, who as a general rule were boosting Tammany, were stricken with fear. The oppositionists in and outside of the Socialist Labor Party were stricken with something like yellow jaundice. Not only in the 16th A. D., but everywhere, the party made gains; 82,000 votes were cast for the Socialist Labor Party. Something had to be done. The cry that "the party makes no progress," that was raised a couple of years before could not be raised this time. The oppositionists redoubled their efforts in the spreading of slanders. De Leon was denounced by them as an anti-Semite in Jewish districts; as a Jew among Gentiles; as a man who hated the Germans, among the Germans, etc. The basest falsehoods were told in the East Side cafes albout De Leon. Gompers in his paper made the allegation that De Leon's name was Loeb, not De Leon. The name of Henry Kuhn, who was then na- tional secretary of the Socialist Labor Party, was woven into a tale to the effect that there was a connection between Kuhn, Loeb and Co., the noted banking firm, and- Daniel De Leon and Henry Kuhn. Be a slander ever so ridiculous, there are always oeople who, having a mentality resembling a savage's, can be 60 WITH DE LEON SIKCE '89. easily stuffed, and others willing to be stuffed. The faiCt, how- ever, important for all who seek to find the truth, is that the oppositionists against the Socialist Labor Party and its revolu- tionary principles and tactics were blowing the same born with the crew of political office seekers bedecked with the mantles of labor leaders and Tammany Hall itself. De Leon pointed out on numerous occasions that it is not the dishonest men who are dangerous to the movement, but the honest, well-meaning people who, deceived by the crooks, become the source of danger. This was the case at that time. Many well-meaning Socialists were deceived by the schemers with ulterior motives. Especially was this the case among the Germans over whom the Volkszeitung exerted its pernicious influence. Not that the Volkszeitung came out openly with slander and calumny just then; no, the time for open hostilities between the Socialist Labor Party and the Volkszeitung had not yet arrived. Long before the split of 1899, when the Volks- zeitung still claimed to be loyal to the Socialist Labor Party, the members of the Volkszeitung Publishing Association were as busy as bees in poisoning the minds of their compatriots, in the German trade unions, sick and death benefit associations, pinging societies, and pinochle clubs. Disrupters' Narrow Selfishness The Volkszeitung had its agents well distributed. In Cigar- makers' Union No. 90 it had, besides others, two brothers who were both employes of the Volkszeitung, and both ex- cigarmakers, and who still retained their membership in that organization, although neither of them had made a cigar at. the bench for years. These were Adolph and Ludwig Jablinovsky; one was in the business department, the other in the editorial department of the Volkszeitung, and both were top-notchers in the slander department. There was nothing that Adolph and Ludwig disliked more than to be compelled to work in the cigar shop where work is hard and wages small — nothing like the job on the Volkszeitung. A revolutionary attitude on the part of the Volkszeitung might have endangered the existence of that paper and incidentally the jobs of these two ex-cigar- makers, hence their opposition to De Leon and the Socialist Labor Party. WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 61 In other organizations there were similar agents preparing the ground everywhere for things that were to come. The stories that were told about De Leon by these agents, his al- leged hatred of Germans, his desire to wreck unions, and stories about the vulgar language in The People, made some people actually believe that De Leon was a monster. Whatever hap- pened upon this planet that was bad they blamed on De Leon. While on the road for the party in New York state some years ago I encountered an individual in a remote part of Schoharie County, who told me with candor that when the Democrats were in power we did not have half enough rain. Similarly there were mental cripples who blamed De Leon for everything. In the 28th Assembly District, the district where De Leon lived, the party organization was about evenly divided between the loyal S. L. P. men and those who were leaning toward the opposition. At the business meetings of this district there were always warm debates. At times De Leon was even threatened with physical harm by the very fellows who were afraid to fight the labor fakers in the unions. At every meet- ing of that district some new slander was hurled at De Leon by the oppositionists. When De Leon demanded facts, the slanderers were stuck. They could only make allegations in a general way; when a specific statement was demanded they could not give any. Dc Leon's "Vulgar" Language The spokesman of the opposition in that district was one Loewenthal, a brother-in-law of Jablinovsky. He came to ev- ery meeting with a new accusation, and was in every instance shov/n up to be unreliable; yet was sure to come with another story the following meeting. At one meeting the allegation would be made that De Leon had used unduly harsh language against some official of the A. F. of L., when in fact the "un- duly harsh" language was not half harsh enough, as De Leon would show. At the next meeting again Loewenthal would come with a claim that the general committee was dictatorial in its dealings with subdivisions. When facts disproved this some other accusation was made at the next meeting. 62 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. Once a lady member of the 28th Assembly District, who belonged to the category of well-intentioned people, told me in great excitement that Comrade De Leon was using terribly bad language in dealing with his opponents in the discussions at the meetings of his district. "Why, it's a shame for an educated man, a professor, who should be polite and refined, to use such language. Ach! Such language I Wa? ist denn los mit Comrade De Leon?" When I asked her what the horrible language was she would not tell me. From Harlem to the Battery it spread, this tale of De Leon's using bad language at the meeting of the 28th A. D. This bad language, as upon inquiry I found out, amounted to this: De Leon when referring to Loewenthal, which means when translated into English, lion's dale, referred to him as "Comrade Lion's Tail," or in German, the language spoken at the meetings of the 28th Assembly District, as "Genosse Loewenschwantz." This was the horrible language us^d 'by De Leon, and it was quite excusable at that, for there were a number of men about with similar names, like Loewen- fuss, etc. Opposition Organized With the advent of the year 1899 it became apparent that the opposition had effected some sort of organization on a na- tional scale. Connections had evidently been established by the New York oppositionists with those of other cities. At any rate the disgruntled elements were getting bolder and more and more boisterous and bothersome generally. Instead of de- voting the time to agitation work, party meetings were dragged out for hours with wrangling; the energies even of the loyal members were exhausted with endless discussions upon party tactics< It was felt that a storm was gathering that had to break, soon or late. From within the party came the cry that the progress made was too slow, in spite of the fact that really substantial gains were made. The party had now nearly four hundred Sec- tions throughout the sfates, the destructive work of the ob- structionists notwithstanding. From outside of the party or- ganization rose the slogan of the newly formed Social Demo- WITH DE LEON SINCE *89. 63 cratic Party, "Socialism in our time." A short cut to Socialism was discovered by Wayland and his little Appeal. The re- formists have somewhat altered their position since then. They say now: "We can safely leave the evolutionary process of transformation from, capitalism to Socialism to future genera- tions." Finally, the Volkszeitung made bold to come out in the open and take issue with the official organ of the party, The People. But it was not upon the attitude of the party toward the trade unions that the Volkszeitung fired the first shot Upon that question the Volkszeitung was not so sure of its ground. The first shot fired was against the position of The People relative to taxation. De Leon sought to guide the So- cialist Labor Party organization out of the quagmire of reform upon the revolutionary path, but the party platform had still its quota of "immediate demands." The tax question gave the Volkszeitung an opening. That was an issue that made it easier for the Volkszeitung to beguile its followers. Taxation Queition First Assault ' De Leon maintained in The People, as the Socialist Labor Party does today, and as at least some of the Socialist Party members have since learned, that workingmen do not pay taxes; that all wealth is produced by labor, including the wealth out of which taxes are paid, but that taxes are paid out of that part of the workers' product of which under the wage system they have been filched anyway. This Marxian position the Volkszeitung readers did not understand and would not learn to understand. That the workers are robbed as producers and that to receive the full value of their product must be the aim of a party of Socialism, all other questions and issues being misleading, including the question of taxation — that they did not grasp. Although most of them had the pictures of Marx and Engels nicely framed to decorate the walls of their best room, Marxian economics were not for them to read and study. The Volkszeitung knew its "Pappenheimers." Nothing ap- pealed to its readers more than this tax question. They re- garded De Leon's position as absurd. "Tht idea, workingmen don't pay taxes!" they would exclaini with disgust; "Bah!" It 64 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. was useless to argue the question with them. The Volkszeitung in support of its stand on the tax question quoted every Social Democratic paper of Germany, Austria, Italy, and other coun- tries. The same Socialist papers may be quoted today as en- dorsing the bloody butchery now going on in Europe, each in its own way, either as a struggle for German "Kultur"; or for the "'national ideals" of Italy. But the quoting of the European papers settled the question with the readers of the Volks- zeitung. Even many who up to that time had stood by the party now swung around; the taxation question and De Leon'3 position regarding the same was "too many" for them. Now that the ice was broken, the whole position of the Socialist Labor Party was wrong; the party had to be remodel-! ed, and De Leon and De Leonism abolished forevermore. How was this noble aim to be consummated? Oh, that was; easy. Simply get the majority of delegates to the general com-: mittee, then elect all officers of the Section, suspend the Na- tional Executive Committee, and the Volkszeitung's new exec- utive committee would do the rest. In other words, repeat the coup d'etat of 1889. This time, however, things went dif- ferently. » Dc Leon the Storm-Center The lines were now drawn between the loyal party mem- bers, who were in favor of the revolutionary stand the Social- ist Labor Party had taken, and the oppositionists of all shades. There were indeed many shades to the opposition faction^ Som6 of them claimed that the attitude of the Socialisf Labor Party toward trade unions was correct, but that it was pre- mature to sever connections with the old trade unions and t» set up a Socialist union. Others, again, claimed that Socialism was sure to come in a decade and to bother with labor unions was superfluous, — all economic organizations of the workers were out of date. Another shade maintained that the Amer- ican Federation of Labor was all that could be expected, and that it would eventually become a class conscious body. All, however, were a unit upon changing the Socialist Labor Party, making it repudiate its principles and tactics, and incidentally getting rid of De Leon. WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 65 The most despicable methods were employed to attain this end. Fellows who had not "bothered" with the Socialist move- ment for years were proposed and taken in as members; those of the opposition who had been in arrears for months paid up' their dues to be able to vote for delegates to the general com- mittee. De Leon had to be decapitated. It was all nicely map- ped out by the Volkszeitung board of directors, board of edi- tors, managers, assistant managers, etc., also by the members of blue label leagn^es as well as by members of label leagues of other colors. "'Raus mit De Leon!" they cried in chorus< One J. Obrist, who claimed to be on the side of the loyal members, but who turned only a few weeks before the split, told me that De Leon had to be removed because he had "failed to capture Debs." Obrist was regarded as an important per- sonage by the opposition. He at first fought against the slan- derbund of the Volkszeitung, but when the question of "Who pays the taxes?" was raised, he toppled over like many others. Obrist's statement in regard to De Leon's failure to capture Debs would not, of itself, merit a mention. Obrist repeated what he heard at the confabs presided over by the opposition's high moguls, like Alexander Jonas and Herman Schlueter, editors of the Volkszeitung. His statement only showed what sort of "arguments" were used by these gentlemen to rope in fellows like Obrist. De Leon was not out to "capture" any one. He was not in the capturing business. De Leon contended that men may be captured for false movements, but for the building up of a movement that is to reduce the citadel of capitalism men cannot be captured or kidnapped. Moreover, he who can be kidnapped is not worth having. •'The Best Laid Plans, Etc." So sure of success were the ones who were to carry out a revolution in the Socialist Labor Party that they went about boasting how it would be done, and who would be allowed to stay in the party and who would be expelled. Of course, De Leon was on the list of those that were to be put out; so was Vogt, Sanial, Kuhn, Forker, Keep; the organizer of Section New York, Lazarus Abelson, was also on the list of those who were not to be taken into the party. They were especially bit- 66 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. ter against Abelson, for in his capacity as organizer he had on several occasions to execute orders of the general committee IB reorganizing some unruly subdivisions. Sometimes they called Abelson re-organizer. Things did not turn out to be quite as easy as the dis- rupters imagined. Henry Kuhn, in a neat parody on a song known by all who speak German, summed up this "revolution" in the S. L. P. To this day I remember every line: ("Wir saszen so froehlich beisammen.") "We sat all so snugly together. And held one another so dear; We gave each a lift in his business. Had that lasted the. coast had been clear; But it could not forever remain thus, A malevolent fate cut it short. That Cuckoo, De Leon, the old cuss. Kicked us out and himself holds the fort." First Attempt at Physical Force On July 8, 1899, the general committee of Section New York was to bold its regular meeting and elect officers for the ensuing six months. The meetings of the general committee were then held at the Labor Lyceum, so-called, a sort of party headquarters for the city. At a previous time officers of the national organizations had also been in this building. On the ground floor was a saloon, above the portals of which was written in large gilt letters the legend, "Labor Lyceum," and in still larger letters, "Beer Tunnel." On the floor above the "beer tunnel" was the meeting hall for the delegates to the general committee. On the Saturday night of July 8, 1899, this hall was filled to its utmost capacity. Not all those pres- ent were delegates. There were always some visitors, but on this night the number of visitors was much larger than at any other time. Abelson called the meeting to order and asked for nomina- tions for chairman. Henry Kuhn was nominated by the loyal delegates. Bock by the other side. It became evident that it would be difficult to bold a meeting right then, for those who WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 67 had come to make the "revolution" would not wait until their credentials were presented, but wanted to vote on the chair- manship before they were seated. Men who were not at all delegates also wanted to vote. Hillquit was there to give advice to his side, — lawyers always give advice. The organizer insisted that those who were not as yet seated as delegates could not vote for the chairman. Hill- quit began to give advice and started a harangue. He was called to order but refused to obey. The organizer, not being able to preserve order with his gavel, called for a committee to assist the sergeant-at-arms. Several members, among them Arthur Keep, volunteered. Hillquit, who insisted upon speak- ing, was approached by Keep and requested to sit down. Then the fighting began. Several fellows fell over Keep; the opposi- tionists had come prepared for a physical encounter. Many blows were struck, but nothing very serious happened. The object of the Volkszeitung to put the loyal party members out was not accomplished. After an hour's fighting the janitor put out the lights, and the meeting of the general committee did not take place. Next morning, however, the Volkszeitung published a notice calling a meeting of the general committee for Monday, July 10, in a hall on the Bowery. This, of course, meant bolting from the Socialist Labor Party. Rump Meeting on the Bowery The office of the National Secretary of the Socialist Labor Party and the editorial rooms of The People were on the third floor at 184 William street, the building where the Volkszeitung was published. This office of the National Secretary was rented from the Volkszeitung Publishing Association. There another battle royal took place between the opposing forces. This was the memorable night of July 10, when the oppositionists tried to capture the offices of the National Secretary and The People. When it became known that the rump body would Jneet on the Bowery, some party members came to The People of- fice, suspecting that their presence would be needed. It was needed, and no mistake. At first it was doubted that any at- tempt would be made to take by physical force the national 68 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. party headquarters. Reports soon came, however, that this question was being discussed at the meeting on the Bowery and finally that a raid had been decided upon. When that re- port reached the party members who had assembled at 184 Wil- liam street, they organized themselves to defend the S. L. P., its offices, and documents, if need be with their lives. On the ground floor of the building at 184 William street were the business office and the editorial room of the Voll^s- zeitung. On the third floor was the editorial room of The People. This room De Leon shared with Vogt, the editor of the party's German paper. On the same floor was the office of the National Secretary of the party. Dividing Kuhn's office from that of De Leon there was a sort of ante-room w'here com- mittee meetings were often held. It was there that the loyal party members, about thirty in number, were assembled awaiting the onslaught of the Volksi zeitung reactionists. Ben Hanford and Herman Simpson were there, at that time full-fledged S. L. P. men. Brutal Attack Repulsed by S. L. P. Men It was long after midnight wlien the attacking party ar- rived. Henry Slobodin, an East Side lawyer, whom the rump general committee made the national secretary of what devel- oped to be the kangaroo party, accompanied by the illustrious Loewenthal, came up as a parliamentary committee and de- manded the surrender of the party property and insignia of of- fice. They were told that there would be no such surrender* They departed, and soon after came the charge, noit of "The Light Brigade," but the heavy-booted, light-headed brigade. How many there were would be hard to tell, but the stairs were packed with them; there musit have been about two hundred. The first onslaught was met by the boys from the 18th As- sembly District, who were especially handy in delivering upper- cuts, hooks to the jaw, etc.; who, in short, were quite proficient in the gentle art of self-defense. The crowd of raiders, among whom were many non-party members, came armed with blud- geons, mallets, and clubs. The only man who was armed with a club on the side of the party was Ben Hanford. There was an attack by physical force, as brutal as it was WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 69 disgraceful, and for which the Volkszeitung alone was respon- sible. A dozen of comrades who fought for the S. L. P. were more or less seriously wounded, but others took their places, and the fight for the possession of the party's property continued until the police, attracted by the noise and the crowd in the street, came into the place with drawn revolvers. Many of the raiders were hurled down the two flights of stairs, and for a while it looked as though some one would get killed. The mid- night robbers never got into the ante-room, in spite of thejr large numbers. The police were compelled to recognize those in posses- sion, and the coup miscarried completely. As we all left the building that night, the police alone remaining, we saw when down the street that all the Volkszeitung crowd had disap- peared; only Jablinowsky, the reporter, stood at the entrance of the Volkszeitung business office. Being protected by a re- porter's badge he had picked up courage to stay when all his friends had gone. He made a wry face and mumbled some- thing as De Leon passed him. "This is not '89!" De Leon called to him as a parting shot. That night few of those who were at the place of this physical conflict went to bed. The Labor News Company, the party's literature agency, had then a store on 23rd street. I went to that place and stood on guard until the manager arrived in the morning. Bogus "People" Issued by Bolters Next day all party property was removed to 61 Beekman s'treet, where the party headquarters were established. There was nothing left in the rooms that The People and the party's National Office had occupied except the whitewash on the wall — and that was not very white. The People was printed in the Volkszeitung's printing plant and its finances were handled by the Volkszeitung man- agement. The agreement made between this publishing asso- ciation and the Socialist Labor Party gave that association certain rights in electing the editor, but it was clearly stated in the stipulation made that if any disagreement between the Na- tional Executive Commitee of the Socialist Labor Party and the Publishing Association should arise the members of the 70 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. party were to decide by a referendum vote. The power to elect an editor was thus vested in the party. The Volkszeitung was, however, in possession of the subscription money, mailing lists and of everything except the editorial office. This circum- stance was to have finished the job of killing the S. L. P. A bogus People was now issued by the Volkszeitung; being in possession of the mailing lists the Volkszeitung was in a posi- tion to use these. But the bogus People, not only printed but also edited by these gentlemen, was a sight to behold. It was the incarnation of Aesop's fable about the ass in a lion's skin; its braying deceived only children^ or adults with a child's men- tal faculties. There were thus two papers printed, each claiming to be the organ of the Socialist Labor Party. The bolters claimed to be the S. L. P. The bogus People in the first week reached the readers first, and the management of the Volkszeitung, hav- ing been intrusted by the party with its publication, was rec- ognized at first by ,the postal authorities. Many of the new readers of The People were positively puzzled when instead of receiving one copy of the paper they received two, each claim- ing to be the genuine, each claiming to be the official organ of the Socialist Labor Party. "Kangaroos" Beaten in Court The Volkszeitung crowd nominated candidates and made attempts to parade as the Socialist Labor Party. It was on that account that they were christened kangaroos by De Leon, re- calling the kangaroo courts of Civil War times that established themselves in localities where they were not known, called a sitting of the court, chose jurymen, held trials, imposed fines, collected the same, and then jumped, kangaroo-like, to another place just before they were discovered — so much like the Volks- zeitung fellows who were usurping the name and functions of the Socialist Labor Party. The name "kangaroo" stuck to them for some time even after the abandonment of their claim that they were the Socialist Labor Party. The courts had finally to decide who was who and why. The party secured the services of the talented attorney at law, Benjamin Patterson, whom De Leon knew from the days at Columbia University. The kangaroos, knowing they had a hard WITH DE LEON SINGE '89. 71 case, hired lawyers who stood high up in politics: Abe Gruber, the Republican politician, and ex-Governor Black were hired by them. Hillquit, their own Hillquit, did not dare alone to take up the case and cause of the usurpers of whom he was a leader; the political pull of an ex-governor was needed to pull them through the courts. But it was of no avail. The kan- garoos lost all the suits brought against the party; their case was too flagrant a violation of all parliamentary law, common law, as well as the unwritten law of decency. That a rump body composed of delegates from a few assembly district or- ganizations could assume the functions of claimant, judge, jury, and executioner alt at once, and at a single session prefer charges against, hold court, find guilty, suspend or expel the majority of members, suspend or expel all the officers of the organization in New York, depose all the national officers of the party, including editors of party organs, — that was too much even for a capitalist judge sitting in a capitalist court to endorse; such a precedent could not be established. The kangaroos were in desperate straits. Everything they undertook turned out as their midnight attack upon the party headquarters had turned out — a failure. In the cities outside of New York where attempts were also made to capture the party organizations and their belongings, they fared no better. In Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, everywhere their kangaroo attempts were frustrated. Party Weathered the Storm At that time I was sent by the New York State Executive Committee on a trip to visit all Sections in the state. Roches- ter was the only large city where the kangaroos predominated. They had their most precious Frank Sieverman in Rochester, who had opposed the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance at the national convention of 1896. Sieverman boasted at that time of his successful "boring from within" in the Boot and Shoe Workers' Union — how successful can be judged today by the number of labor fakers turned out by that organization. The only other Sections of the party that "kangarooed" in New York state were Section Portchester, a small-town in West- chester County, and a Section in Oneida composed of cigar makers. FROM 1899 TO THE LAUNCHING OF THE I. W. W. IN J 905 Hard Fight of Party and S. T. & L. A.— Daily People a Rall3dng Point — "Little Kangaroo" Affair — Conflict in International — Rise of So- cialist Unionism In spite of what had haivpened within the party in 1899, Itrliich was surely enough to disrupt any organization, the party more than held its own on election day and even made gains where a ticket was put in the field. In the 16th Assembly Dis- trict in New York city the straight party vote was increased, and De Leon's sympathetic vote of 2,000 was held. Throughout the whole country the vast majority of the four hundred Sections stood with the party and its duly elected National Executive Committee. Only in comparatively few places did the usurpers with their s^ecretary, Henry Slobodin, get recognition, endorsement, or support. In Cleveland, Ohio, Robert Bandlow and Max Hayes, publishers of the pure and simple paper. The Citizen, were such exceptions. At San Fran- cisco the notorious politician, Job Harriman, swayed some to the Slobodin side. While in New York city, with a few ex- ceptions, all the crovvd reading the Volkszeitung "kangarooed," the bulk of the German comrades throughout the country re- mained true to the Socialist Labor Party. F. Kalbitz held the fort in Chicago, Richard Koeppel and Albert Schnabel, Sr., in WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. U Milwaukee, Christiansen in Cleveland, Luedecke in Rocheste*', aBd many other German comrades of prominence elsewhere repelled the attacks of the Volkszeitung which claimed now t* be the mouthpiece of all German Socialists in America. Unfortunately, the Volkszeitung Publishing AsseciatiOM had been entrusted by the party with the publication of its German official organ, Vorwaerts. This paper, previously pub- lished by the party itself in magazine form, had been a few years before converted into one publication with the weekly- edition of the Volkszeitung, and was now in the clutches of the Volkszeitung crowd. The party was left without an organ in the German language. Through the most strenuous efforts of Boris Reinstein the Buffalo Arbeiter Zeitung was taken over by the Buffalo Section and made a party organ, and later the Cleveland Volksfreund became the official party paper in. German and has remained such to this day. Kangaroos and Tammany Hall The 16th Assembly District occupied in the 1899 campalgm the center of the stage, even more so than in the previous tw« campaigns, due to the fact that De Leon was again the party's standard bearer in that district. That all the forces the kan- garoos, combined with Tammany labor fakers could mustei^ were deployed in the 16th, goes without saying. Tammany politicians, labor misleaders, walking delegates, label commit- tee beneficiaries, shyster lawyers and East Side "cadets," these were the allies of the infamous gang of the Volkszeitung. Again I must reiterate that these are not unsubstantiated assertions. The proof of the statement is revealed by the fact that the man whom Tammany Hall put on its ticket to run against De Leon was Samuel Prince, a member of Cigar Mak- ers' Union No. 144, the same local in which another Samuel was a member, namely Samuel Gompers; the same Cigar Mak- ers' Union whose delegates to the label committee, together with the delegates from the other locals of that organization, notably the so-called Progressive No. 90, were conducting a "Systematic label agitation" described at length in a previoMt chapter. The selection of Sam Prince by Tammany for the can- 74 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. didacy on its ticket in the 16th showed the underground con- nections among De Leon's opponents. Tammany was not ia the habit of throwing its nominations for office to fellows who could not pay spot cash for such "honors," and Tammany heel- ers were never known to work for love of cause or principle,* The nomination of Prince, who could not buy a round of drinks unless he was doing label agitation, and thus paying with the union's money, was a sacrifice by Tammany to save itself from defeat by the Socialist Labor Party at the suggestion of the; Volkszeitung element. Prince stood as low morally and intellectually as a man can be imagined to stand in the labor movement, — a vulgar ig- noramus, he was a disgrace even to the A. F. of L., which re- quires no great standard. While Tammany was whooping it up for this fellow as candidate for the Assembly in the 16th, the Volkszeitung came to his aid by the distribution of leaflets telling Socialists not to vote, that there was no Socialist ticket !■ the field, that De Leon had been expelled from the party, and that he was a union wrecker. Tammany held the same language. Feverish Work to Beat De Leon The scum of the great metropolis was let loose in the 16th; so great was the fear that De Leon would carry the district that open-air meetings of the Socialist Labor Party were broken up by the police. "Big Chief" Devery, then head of the whole police department of New York city, sardonically answered the Section's protest with the reply that the meet- ings of the Socialist Labor Party were interfered with because the Democratic Party had applied to hold meetings on the very same corners a. long time ahead of the Socialist Labor Party. On the day of election I saw a Socialist Labor Party chal- lenger at the polls slugged by plug-uglies, such as are not seen by daylight at any other time of the year, but who make their sippearance on election day and who appeared in profusion in that particular election in the 16th A. D. If there be any comrade in the Socialist Labor Party, or one in sympathy with the party, who is blessed or damned with earthly possessions and who may not be contributing much PB THE BARN BACK OF DE LEON'S HOME Pond Point, Mil^ord, Connecticut WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 75 thereof to the movement because he considers a donation from one who is not a proletarian to a proletarian revolutionary movement to be conducive to unhealthy growth, let him aban- don such scruples. For even though a contribution from one who is not a member of the woricing class to the Socialist La- bor Party may be regarded as promoting artificial growth let it be remembered that it would require a good deal of such ar- tificial support to counterbalance the artificially created oppo- sition to the Socialist Labor Party. Let all such open their pocketbooks wide and dig in deep in support of the Socialist Labor Party. Following the year of the kangaroo rebellion came the Presidential election of 1900, the starting of the Daily People, the conflict of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance with the Cigar Makers' International Union, and other important hap- penings. All these will be touched upon in their order. What the S. T. & L. A. Faced The developments in the Socialist Trade and Labor Alli- ance must be considered as of prime importance, since its suc- cess as a factor on the economic field signified the strength- ening of the Socialist Labor Party, its failure a corresponding loss. The Alliance started out vigorously enough, but could not overcome the many enemies it had to face. From the day of its birth at the close of the year 1895, the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance had to withstand the enmity of all its op- ponents, all of whom fought underhandedly and with unclean weapons. All the old trade union officials recognized in the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance a most dangerous foe; to fight the Alliance was to fight for their own existence. It was the en- deavor of Gompers and the rest of the A. F. of L.-ites to put the Alliance on the defensive. In this endeavor Gompers was well supported by those who claimed to be Socialists, many of whom were members of the party. They contended that boring from within was the correct policy. Under normal conditions it would hardly be possible for a reactionary body to put a revolutionary organization on the defensive. The conditions under which th& Alliance was 76' WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. started lacked the necessary' compactness and harmony within its own ranks to maintain a successful offensive position. There were two central labor bodies in New York city. It will be remembered that with a few other unions outside of New York, District Assembly 49, formerly of the Knights of Labor, and the Central Labor Federation, constituted the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance. District Assembly 49 was practi- cally free from the craft union form of organization — at least, no craft union spirit pervaded it, while in the Central Labor Federation the craft union form and spirit were the dominant factors. From the very start there was not the homogeneous organization which was necessary to carry the day against the fierce opposition the Alliance had to meet. Corruption and Its "Denouncers" Though the industrial form of organization was not then in vogue in District Assembly 49, there' was a tendency toward such a form of organization and against the narrow, pure and simple craft union. De Leon used to speak jokingly of the "Amalgamated Association of Pretzel Varnishers" and the "United Brotherhood of Journeymen Horse-tail Scrubbers," thus ridiculing the craft unionism of those days. The leading spirits in the Central Labor Federation were Augiist Waldinger and Ernest Bohm, both of whom had sofnej executive ability. Bohm was a good secretary, and Waldinger an excellent sergeant-at-arms. De Leon was reproached by the anti-Alliance members of the party, because such fellows as Waldinger and Bohm, the latter being the first national secre- tary of the Alliance, were the officials of a Socialist economic organization for which the Socialist Labor Party stood spon- sor. It was not only hinted but openly claimed by some of the oppositionists that both Bohm and Waldinger were so crooked that they had to sleep in a washtub! De Leon defended them while there were no specific charges made, but fought them when at the 1898 convention of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance corrupt practices were proved against the two. The exposure of Bohm and Waldinger resulted in. the with- drawal of the Central Labor Federation from the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance. Most of the locals of the Central WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 77 Labor Federation were with the cHicient secretary, Bohm, and the ao less efficient sergeant-at-arms, Waldinger. The Central Labor Federation shortly after merged with the Central Labor UnioB into what was christened the Federated Labor Union. Bohn was given the job of recording secretary, and Waldinger retained his important post which he occupied in the Central Labor Federation. The act of corruption proved against both these gentlemen at the 189S convention of the S. T. & L. A. was that they sought and accepted advertisements of candidates of the capitalist po- litical parties in a souvenir program published by the Central Labor Federation. The interesting part of this episode was the circumstance that after Bohm and Waldinger had been proved guilty of these unsavory practices, the oppositionists in the party who had denounced them as crooks before, now took their part, again blamed De Leon, and once more raised the cry that wherever De Leon was there was sure to be dis- sension. When Bohm thereafter became the secretary of the Federated Labor Union he was spoken of by those who had denounced him as a villain while he was national secretary of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, as a very good and honest fellow — so honest and good that one could have come to the conclusion that Bohm had really to hold on to something solid on this earth to prevent sailing straight heavenward, the law of gravity notwithstanding. Strikes Under the Alliance Wm. L. Brower, of District Assembly 49, was elected ia Bohm's stead as national secretary of the S. T. & L. A. During his incumbency in office most of the struggles of the Alliance took place. The most important struggle of the Alliance waS the strike of textile workers at Slatersville, R. I. Though the strike was lost the firm was unable to reopen the mills in that town, — the members of the S. T. & L. A. preferred rather to leave the place than to return to work under the bosses' terms. A large strike in the Shoen Steel works at Pittsburgh, Pa., was also conducted by the Alliance and attracted great attention at the time. Many minor struggles were fought under the banner of the Alliance. Most numerous among the trades that or- 78 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. ganized in the S. T. & L. A. were the textile workers, shoe workers, and metal and machinery workers. Charters were is- sued to locals in many other trades in a large number of indus- trial centers. There is no doubt that the time was as ripe for a class conscious economic organization of the workers twenty years ago when the S. T. & L. A. was born as it is now. There was, however, a lack of men equipped with the knowledge and de- termination and self-reliance to carry out the plans of the or- ganization, which, in its cradle, was called by would-be friends of the revolutionary movement a "still-born child." How "still- 'born" it was we may gather from the efforts that were made hy all the enemies of Socialism to strangle the child, especially during this fighting days of the Pioneer Cigar Makers' Alliance, to have been a member of which I cherish as a badge of honor. The Lie About the Cigar Strike The main facts of the Seidenberg and the Davis cigar shop affairs have been published several times. The lie that the members ol the Pioneer Cigar Makers' Alliance scabbed in Davis'$ cigar shop has heen repeated by every A. F. of L. jour- nal, by every pseudo-Socialist privately owned sheet; the lie has been repeated by every S. P. soap-boxer, by every A, F. of L. organizer. Some even claimed that De Leon was a cigar maker and had worked in the Davis shop. Let the facts be re- stated with a few sidelights thrown upon the matter that have perhaps not been mentioned before. When in 1900 the cry was raised that the Alliance had scabbed in the Davis shop many who were friendly disposed toward the Alliance were taken off their feet. To hear that an A. F. of L. body has scab'bed on another A. F. of L. organiza- tion or upon unorganized workers does not as a general rule come as a surprise; that is an everyday occurrence. The charge sounds different, and rightly so, when made against a Socialist organization — 'just as everyone is jarred when a Socialist is sent to prison for wife-Beating or a similar offence, while no one is at all astonished that Democrats, Republicans, and "In- dependents" fill the prisons and jails. A heinous crime com- mitted by a member of the Socialist Labor Party would create WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 79 a sensation, while the same crime committed by an adherent of any other political party would be taken without special notice of the criminal's political affiliation. This is a tribute paid unconsciously to the ethics of Socialism in general, and the ethics of the Socialist Labor Party membership in particu^ lar. So it was at the time with the Alliance and the charge of scabbery. A. F. of L. Dark Practice in Davis Shop Out of 259 employes in the Davis cigar shop only. 22 -were members of the International Cigar Makers' Union; some be- longed to the Alliance; the rest were unorganized. The strike •was decided upon by the advisory board of the A. F. of L. cigar makers* locals in New York and sanctioned by the execu- tive board of their union, without the knowledge or consent of the cigar makers who did not belong to the union. When Al- bert Maroushek, of the A. F. of L. cigar makers, called a shop meeting of the Davis cigar shop he found a few members of the Alliance who were ready to strike, but not under the aus- pices of the Cigar Makers' International Union, after the ex- perience they had made in Seidenberg's, where a strike had taken place shortly before, and where Alliance men had struck with the International only to strike themselves out of their jobs. The workers had been gotten out on strike with the promise of higher wages; the strike was settled under old prices or even lower, but all had to join the A. F. of L. union and enjoy the privilege of paying their dues to the same. The men who had made this experience knew the dark ways of the officials of the A. F. of L. Cigar Makers' union, and pro- tested that a vote be taken, which showed only those who were members of the A. F. of L, union to be in favor of a strike, the overwhelming majority being against. Maroushek, the union delegate, declared that it did not matter how the vote stood, that "the union," his union, "declared the shop on strike, and any one who would remain would be branded as a scab." The workers wanted higher wages, to be sure, but they knew. that Maroushek's union would not get them that. They refused to be bulldozed and called upon the Alliance to make a demand for higher wages to the firm. This was done. Davis to WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. agreed to pay the wages demanded, which were the same con- tained in the A. F. of L, union's price list. The shop was or- ganized and held by the Alliance. Those who were afraid of Maroushek's threat stayed away. It was a question which or- ganization should control the shop, and not in the remotest way could the action of the Alliance be construed as scabbing. Chorus of Calumny Raised The A. F. of L. saw its opportunity. The word was passed to the 400 locals of the Cigar Makers', to all the rest of the A. F. of L. unions throughout the country that "Alliance men ar« scabbing!" Without the activity and zeal of those who had seceded from the party this would hava had little or no effect. The kangaroo press, the Volkszeitung. leading, in sore straits as they were, beaten by the S. L. P. at every turn; not only joined the chof us, but. were loudest in their denunciation of the Alliance. Abraham Cahan, against whose methods of bossism and exploitation in these latter days' the writers on the Yiddish Vorwaerts went on strike, was as a matter of course also one of the loudest in calling, tiie "S. T. & L. A. men scabs. Cahan told the Jewish workers down town that the Alliance "scabs" were only "dumme (Sojim" ("ignorant gentiles"). The Bohemian daily papers up- town, the New Yorske Listy, a Tammany sheet, and Hlas Lidu, subsidized by Tammany one year and by the Republican Party the next, wrote that the Alliance "scabs" were "only Jews." As a proof of the state^ient as to the foul methods that were resorte* to by, the many and varied enemies of the S. T. & L. A. the below sample from the Bohemian daily paper, New Yorske Listyt referring to the Pioneer Cigar Makers' Alliance, is here exhibited. The article in question was an attack upon the Bohemian Socialist Labor Party organ, Pravda, which was then published in New York. A few lines will suffice. From New Yorske Listy, Feb. 20, 1899: "The gentlemen of Pravda, those Knights without fear or -feiult, reformers who are boasting about their laborism, are so mnch in favor of labor that tbey work with much enthusiasm for a certain union which is composed of about two dozen Polish Jews." WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 81 In answering the New Yorske Listy, the organ of Tammany and the misnamed International Cigar Makers' Union, the Pravda wrote: "We hold that there should be in existence a fighting un- ioa, not a sick benefit society. Furthermore, we wish to tell the New Yorske Listyj in answer to its allegation that the new union is composed of Polish Jews, that we are truly interna- tional; that a worker who is true to the working class and its interests we esteem much more highly, be he a Polish Jew or anything else, than a scoundrel who under the mask of pa- triotism comtmt& treason against the working class, evea though it be an editor of a Bohemian daily paper How about the International Cigar Makers' Union—what is Samuel Gompers' or Adolph Strasser? And here in New York the lo- cal leaders, David Heimerdinger, Abraham Levy, Solomon Ro- senstein, Benjamin Ash, Isaac Bennett, and Moses De Costa? Are these any different than the Jewish members of the Al- liance because they emigrated from Poland to America a few years earlier?" Race Prejudice Appealed To The opponents of the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, by appeals to racial feeling and to the superstition of the masses, succeeded in creating the impression that the Alliance had actually committed a wrong act. Those who utter a lie over and over again are apt to beKeve finally that they speak the truth. After a short period Davis tried the capitalist trick of cheating the workers out of their gained wage increase. The Alliance men and women went on strike and their places were immediately filled with A. F. of L. cigar makers. These indeed -were the scabs. Throughout the country, nevertheless, the lie was hurled at the Socialist Labor Party that the Alliance had scabbed in the Davis cigar shop. Each slanderer had a different version of the affain The most absurd tales were told and believed by many. Thus did men who claimed to be Socialists, united with the open foes of Socialism, stab in the back the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, and stain their bands with the blood of 82 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. the organization that sought to emancipate the working class. The A. F. of L., which seeks to perpetuate the system of wage slavery, has benefited thereby as well as capitalism itself. The bolters from the Socialist Labor Party held a conven- tion at Rochester, N. Y., and decided to unite with the Social Democratic Party — in fact, that was the only thing left for them to do. Seceders Forced Themselves on S. D. P. At the Indianapolis convention of the Social Democratic Party some sort of union between that organization and the Kangaroo party was decided upon, but the rank and file of the S. D. P. rejected the union by a referendum vote. The Kan- garoos stuck to the S. D. P. just the same; hatred of the So- cialist Labor Party was with them the most important factor. They pocketed the kick administered to them by the referen- dum of the Social Democratic Party and supported the Debs ticket in the 1900 Presidential election with might and main. All adversaries of the Socialist Labor Party now saw what they thought was a chance to deal it a death blow. The year 1900 found many outspoken anti->Socialists giving their support to the S. D. P., hoping thereby to bring about a speedy end of its feared enemy, the fighting S. L. P. The Socialist' Labor Party h^d to fight for its life. Had the party been merely a vote-seeking organization the wish of its enemies would h^ve been gratified. But the life of the Socialist Labor Party never depended upon the vote it could poll for its candidates and least of all in the 1900 Presidential election, when the elements who regarded the vote as all im- portant had left the party. The life of the party did depend at that time upon its ability to maintain its press, for in that year (July 1, 1900) the Daily People was started and had to be main- tained. The name of Debs, with its sound of popularity combined with tolerance toward all sorts of reform ideas, from municipal ownership a la Glasgow, New Zealand "Socialism," to A. !F. of L. unionism, and every other ism that leads away from the revolutionary path that alone means victory for the working class, gave the S. P. P. 97,000 votes. The Socialist Labor Par- WITH DE LEON SINCE '89, 83 ty received 36,000 votes for its Presidential ticket— Joseph F. Malloney, a machinist of Boston, Mass., and Valentine Rem- mel, a glass blower of Pittsburgh, Pa. The enemies of the Socialist Labor Party thought that now the solemn ceremonies at the funeral of the hated S. L. P. would be held, but they found to their sorrow a "corpse" very fliuch alive and kicking. S. L. P. Immediate Demands Dropped The convention of 1900 cut off from the party platform the tapeworm of immediate demands and thus took a step for- ward. De Leon, like all great tiien, rose to his full height in the hours of danger and his teaching of the uncompromising attitude the proletarian movement is to follow and the neces- sity of economic organization without which the social revolu- tion cannot be carried out were studied now more closely than lefore. T)ie financial aid given to maintain the Daily People by party members and sympathizers indicated clearly enough that the Socialist Labor Party would stay in the field until it had fulfilled its mission. Whatever weak spot there was in the S. L. P. membership was of course now discovered. There were those who could not remain with an organization that had a world of enemies to fight against; these soon left the party, De Leon worked with greater zeal than ever. His editorials in the Daily People were like cannon shots aimed at the armor of capitalism. With De Leon's none of the writings in the best of the Social Democratic sheets could be compared. There still remain to be told many happenings of the days ■ of the so-called split and the campaign of 1900, a year there- after—happenings that deeply wounded the young movement which had been guided by the master-hand of Daniel De Leon to make straight for the proletarian revolution. Well may the deeds that inflicted the wounds upon the Socialist Labor Party be called the Crime of 1899. What slander failed to ac- complish the false prophets of reform sought to bring about with promises of immediate relief for the workers. Fifteen years have passed since this Crime of 1899, and «4 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. tweaty-five years since the forces of reform and revolutioB locked horns in the Socialist Labor movement of America. Well may we ask in this year of our Lord, 191S, where are the immediate relief measures promised? Where are the beautiful things that were to be showered upon workingmen and women, upon the aged and upon the babes? Is there one among the adherents of reform who is not a self-seeker, and who would deny that the sweet promises made have not materialized, or in De Leon's words, that the promised loaf of bread that was to fall into the worker's lap is not a loaf of bread but a stone? Is, there an honest man who can deny that .the lot of the wage worker today has not been improved, that immediate relief has not been secured? Yet, that was the tune hummed into the ears of the workers then, and the same tune is hummed into their ears today: Socialism a step, at a time, with something now, while the step is not toward Socialism, and the something now turns out to be added misery for the working class. Party Members Stand True Once more the 16th Assembly District must be mentioned. In the campaign of 1900 De Leon was again the Socialist La- bor Party candidate for member of assembly, with the "Hon- orable" Samuel Prince running against him on the Tammany ticket, and a dishonoraible Kangaroo on the Social Democratic ticket; The statement made in an East Side ca{£ the year be- fore the split by a fellow called "Humpy" Hanover, a Tam- many heeler, that there would be a split in the Socialist Labor Party and that there would be two Socialist parties in the field '< in the 16th A. R. came true. De Leon received fifteen hundred votes, or five hundred less than the year before. The Social Democratic candidate running against De Leon received two hundred votes. Prince was re-elected, — Tammany was saved. The joy in the Tammany cainp and in the Volkszeitung camp was unbounded. The Socialistische Lieder^fel made ready to sing at the funeral of the Socialist Labor Party; how many kegs of beer were consumed in addition to the regular supply only God and the brewing company know. They were a sadly disappointed Liedertafel, for the Socialist Labor Party THEDAHYPEOPLEBUOMG AT TwfiTO SIX hLV(NUU STOkLT.NOw NIW Yomtt C|1V:TH^(il^STM0W|fc Bf TML DAILY PiS^LB^J^NBOCl-UPIKD B* ■ SOT THLi'0fO'">LOF't(.C,. tHt LAN I C-DTHiSei'lLD. Tit f MfcTIMl.Tttb LDlTIA* LBTnt FOUKTM — F^OBNamd BCLCax-MDrroRiAiMMM ftCCUPICDTHt IPACb INbiCATLft BY TH£FouniViNI>0wA *•!.•« 1 HE. COUKN or Tfwt rkoon OHip|[.fiKauNcn»wi o'TnLBLopLi. And t~l niw Tonn La. B0KNLlV&COMPAIIV.THI.pl.JtnT WAS SITUATM IN Tnt bMlHILHt WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 85 did not show any signs of dying, in spite of the loss of votes. Those who remained in the Socialist Labor Party were convinced that the party had taken the correct stand, and that sooner or later the working class would realize this fact and turn to the Socialist Lal>or Party; that the logic of events, to- gether with the educational work of the Daily People would raise the S. L. P. to be recognized as the only party of So- cialism. The devotion, the sacrifices, the work in behalf of the maintenance of the Daily People will forever remain the bright- est day in the life of the party. On the day of its birth, after a march through the streets several hundred comrades waited until four o'clock in the morning. to receive the first copy of the paper, the first, and in fact the only. Socialist daily ever published in the English language. The building situated at 2-6 New Reade street, the birthplace of the Daily People, was torn down several years ago. The party members named it the Djiily People Flatiron Building, and it saw many of the strug- gles that followed the ones of 1899. All party institutions were housed in this building. The. basement was used by the mechanical department; the ground floor by the Labor News Company, the party's literature agen- cy; while the third floor was occupied by the editorial rooms. On the top floor were the offices of the national .secretary, also of Section New York, and the national office of the So- cialist Trade and Labor Alliance. De Leon's Sharp Discernment De Leon's room on the third floor was the point of the triangle facing due east; a very small room it was, but with plenty of air and morning sunshine. Here De Leon labored day after day pondering over the difficult problems confront- ing the Labor movement, and here he forged many a weapon with which the arsenal of the Socialist Labor Party bristles and which the workers will use some day to the undoing of capitalist class rule. An interesting incident at the 1900 national convention may serve to show the prevailing enthusiasm and also how not the smallest of doings escaped the eyes of De Leon. At that con- 86 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. yention I was one of the delegates of Section New York. The convention decided to hold an executive session, when impor- tant matters dealing with the publication of the Daily People were to be acted upon. This decision meant that only the delegates could be present at that particular session, barring all visitors, even party members. This course had to be taken to prevent the financial Weakness of the undertaking being re- vealed to the many enemies of the party. Among the daily visitors to the convention was Comrade A. Klein, who realized the urgent need of keeping away the spies, but who, being a most loyal S. L. P. member, could not see why he should be kept out of the executive session. Klein and I being members in the same assembly district, and personal friends besides, he came to me, greatly excited, and declared that he must be ad- mitted to the executive session. I informed him that I had only one vote in the convention and could not make special rules for anyone. Klein was not one of those who could be put off so easily. He had a very deep and strong voice that trembled with emo- tion when he was speaking about the movement. So brimful of enthusiasm and devotion to the S. L. P. was he that he imagined the destiny of the movement in the 22nd assembly district and the rest of the universe rested upon his shoulders. Klein turned on me, his large eyes growing larger, and in his deepest basso voice he pleaded with so much sincerity that I promised to find a means to have him admitted to the executive session. I did not know how this could be done, until a for- tunate thought struck me. The convention had appointed a non-delegfate, a member of Section New York, as sergeant-at- arms, as is usually done at conventions. That an executive session needed more than one doorkeeper was a good enough theory to advance to have Klein appointed as the assistant sergeant-at-arms. My motion to that effect went through like greased lightning; no one objected— except De Leon, who called to me after the motion was carried, not angrily but neverthe- less reprovingly: "Katz, that's a scheme to get Klein into the executive session." Shortly after the 1900 national convention of the Socialist Labor Party the International Socialist Congress was held in WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 87 the city of Paris. It was at this congress that the "Kautsky Resolution" was adopted. This resolution, proposed by Karl Kautsky, who posed as the sage of the movement in Ger- many, aye, in all Europe, was voted for by all the parties rep- resented at that congress, with the exception of a few scattered votes from Italy and Bulgaria, the Irish Workers' Republican Party, and the Socialist Labor Party of America. M. Millerand, the present [July, 191S] Minister of War iH France, was then an active member in the French Socialist movement. "To save the Republic" he accepted a portfolio in the French ministry, in the same cabinet with General Galliffet, the butcher of the Commune. Jules Guesde and his faction demanded that the International Congress should repudiate Millerandism. Jean Jaures, who at that time had faith in the "co-operation of classes," asked for an endorsement of Miller- and's action. Kautsky's resolution was to solve the question,— was he not the best informed Marxist on earth? The **Kautsky Resolution" Kautsky's resolution, which has since become famous^-or infamous, according to the viewpoint of ordinary mortals — did not solve anything, and everyone was free to construe the same to his own liking. The Russian Socialist paper Iskra called it for that reason the "caoutchouc resolution." The resolution read: "In a modern democratic State the conquest of the public power by the proletariat cannot be the result of a coup de main; it must be the result of a long and painful work of pro- letarian organization on the economic and political fields, of the physical and moral regeneracy of the laboring class, and of the gradual conquest of municipalities and legislative assem- blies. "But in countries where the governmental power is cen- tralized, it cannot be conquered fragmentarily. "The accession of an isolated Socialist to a capitalist gOT- ernment cannot be considered as the normal beginning of the conquest of political power, but only as an expedient, imposed, transitory, an4 exceptional. "Whether, in a particular case, the political situation nece^- 88 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. eitates this dangerous experiment, is a question of tactics and not of principle; the International Congress has not to declare itself upon this point, but in any case the participation of a Socialist in a capitalist government does not hold out the hope of good results for the militant proletariat, unless a great tna- jority of the Socialist Party approves of such an act and the Socialist minister remains the agent of his party. In the con- trary case of this minister becoming independent of bis party, OT representing only a fraction of it his intervention in capital- ist government threatens the militant proletariat with dis- organization and confusion, with a weakening instead of a for- tifying of it; it threatens to hamper the proletarian coaqnest of the public powers instead of promoting it. "At any rate, the Congress is of the opinion that even in snch extreme cases, a Socialist must leave the ministry when the organized party recognizes that the government gives evidences of partiality in the struggle between capital and labor." The "kangaroos" loved to tell the tale of how Kautsky dis- liked De Leon. Perhaps Kautsky did; it does not do stuck honor to Kautsky if true. Most likely it is true. The authors of snch resolutions and Daniel De Leon have not mucli ia conixnon. Sanial and the "Ninnies" Lucien Sanial headed the delegation of the Socialist Labor Party to Paris. I used to take pride in being able to imitate Sanial's French accent, which was so pronounced that once after a mass meeting held at Cooper tJnion, where Sanial was;, as usual then, one of the principal speakers, a comrade who had not attended our meetings before, wanted to know who the man was that had spoken in French! Sanial's report was in- teresting, and my desire to reproduce all Sanial said and the way he said it to the members of my dear old 22nd Assembly District, has left an impression still in my memory. Sanial said: "I was on the commission that had to. deal with the Kant- sky resolution; so was Jaures, whom I severely criticized. In answer to my criticism Jaures retorted sharply that be could WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 89 stand all my sarcasm; that he had pretty broad shoulders. Whereupon I replied, 'Comrade Jaures, you may have broad shoulders, but they are not broad enough to carry the Kautsky resolution to the members of the Socialist Labor Party in America.' " Sanial in concluding his report denounced the Social Dem- ocratic Party whose delegates had of course voted in favor «f the Kautsky resolution. These were his closing remarks: "I would rather have 36,000 men who are revolutionists and who know what they want, than a million ninnies who don't know what Socialism is." Two years later Sanial joined the "nin- nies" — not only Sanial but quite a number of others who were functionaries of the party, agitators, organizers, members of the editorial staff oil the Daily People, secretaries of state com- mittees, writers in prose and writers in rhyme — all went helter- skelter down the incline from the heights occupied by the So- cialist Labor Party. So many went down and with such swift- ness that De Leon remarked that he had to look at himself in the mirror at least once a day to find out whether he bad net gone with the others! The "Little Kangaroo" Exodus How did it all happen? What caused the "kangtet" or "little kangaroo" outbreak of 1901-1902? Did the Socialist Labor Party change from its revolutionary position; did the party renounce its attitude toward pure and simple unions; did De Leon violate any of the party's principles? No, noth- ing of the sort happened, but those who left the Socialist La- bor Party, or others who were made to leave, had changed their minds, even as did the ones who according to the books of Moses returned to the flesh pots of Egypt. Some got tired when they realized that the onward march of the revolutionary Socialist Labor Party would not be a suc- cession of brilliant dashes carrying with it all the glory in a day. Others saw a very meager opportunity for an easy life; some were made to believe that the Socialist Labor Party was doomed, and still others of the rank and file were misled, the majority of whom, however, realizing their mistake, came back again into the folds of the party. 90 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. Here we come across Charles Vanderporten again. Id 1901, at a May Day meeting, he thus explained the difference between the Socialist Labor Party and the Social Democratic Party: "The difference," said Vanderporten, taking a silver dollar out of his pocket and showing it to the audience, "is this: this is a genuine silver dollar. There are imitations of everything that is genuine; there are counterfeit silver dollars, ibut," continued Vanderporten, to the delight of his auditors, "the counterfeit dollar hasn't got the ring. So with the S. D. P., it's a counterfeit of the Socialist Labor Party, and does not ring true." Vanderporten a few months after this speech joined the party he himself had characterized as counterfeit. Vanderporten no doubt sounded afterward the coin of the counterfeit party and it must have sounded good enough to him. S. p. Corruption a Brake Altogether, the shock which the party received when the "little kang" affair followed so closely the Crime of 1899 was the supreme test of its strength. The Socialist Labor Party survived it all. The intrigues failed. The danger was great, the life of the Socialist Labor Party was certainly threatened. When the membership saw Vogt, Sanial, Fiebiger, Forker, Curran, and a score of others who were speakers and writers, turn against the S. L. P. it required moral fibre, strong convic- tions, and unbending determination to hold aloft the S. L. P. banner. At least in a negative way at this time, in a manner to be described here, the Socialist Party, as it now styled itself, rendered valuable assistance to the Socialist Labor Party. While intrigue agrainst the party by former Socialist Labor Party officials was the order of the day, and resignations of individuals and even state organizations came thick and fast, and all looked dark as night, so that members and sympathiz- ers of the Socialist Labor Party were overcome by a feeling of uncertainty, the Socialist Party conducted itself in a manner that wis bound to turn one imbued with revolutionary prin- ciples to the Socialist Labor Party. The corrupt practices, the log-rolling with capitalist political parties, the grovelling^ be- fore the American Federation of Labor leaders, and the hunt WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 91 for votes without considering Socialist principles, did much to keep steady the hand of Socialist Labor Party men and women, and had a tendency to make the latter realize that no matter who left the Socialist Labor Party, no matter how many lam- poons were sent out by soreheads, the principles of the party were correct, that the Socialist Labor Party had to be upheld. So the resignations of prominent members finally had the effect that greater efforts were made to maintain the party and its press. The 1902 eruption started with the notorious Hickey case. T. A. Hickey had been employed by the Socialist Labor Party as agitator and organizer, and at the time here mentioned he ■was a member of the editorial staff of the Daily People. Hickey as a speaker was applauded to a degree that completely wiped out his modesty, of which he never possessed any great amount. Because he was regarded as a good speaker, aided by his Irish witticisms, which generally took well, Hickey be- came possessed of the belief that he was the most important asset of the organization. He failed to appear as a speaker where Sections had arranged liieetings, and sought to excuse his conduct with most flimsy statements. Conduct of T. A. Hickey For literature sold en route Hickey had no inclination to account, and when asked to appear before the grievance com- mittee of Section New York' he claimed the Section had no jurisdiction over him. He, the great Hickey, would not allow such a conglomeration as the membership of the Section of the party in New York to judge him. His work on the Daily People was altogether unsatisfactory — in fact, he left the work to others, and was finally dismissed. Party members who heard Hickey going around denounc- ing the membership of Section New York were indignant against him. Among these were Julian Pierce, the manager of the Labor Newe Company, the very one who preferred charges against Hickey, but who later joined the queer set that de- nounced the Socialist Labor Party, and which included Hickey. Politics makes strange bed-fellows, and so does intrigue. Hickey's protestations and denunciations alone would have 92 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. been without any effect, for in spite of his abilities as a soap- box orator no one ever suspected Hickey of possessing force of character or faculties for deep thought. Hickey's cause was to the surprise of all taken up by a man whose name has been mentioned in these reminiscences a number of times, Hugo Vogt, the former editor of the party's German organ, the able writer and lecturer, who was regarded as a tower of strength in the movement. Little did the party members know that Vogt, who was now the manager of the Daily People, was breaking down under the weight of the responsibilities heaped upon him, work and responsibilities to which Vogt was unaccustomed. Vogt was a clever theoreti- cian, a forceful speaker, but he was not at all fitted for the office he held as Daily People business manager, and should certainly not have accepted the job. Vogt barely measured five feet and had a frail physique. The "Brotherhood of Booze" It was the fact that Vogt was rapidly breaking down, phys- ically, mentally, and morally that made him associate with and- take the part of Hickey. Hickey having Vogt to defend him, went around like a desperado, shouting defiance at the party, especially when under the influence of liquor, which was very frequently and for long periods. Max Forker, another one among the agitators and or- ganizers, the best German speaker in the Socialist Labor Party and Vogt's "college chum," was in a great degree the cause of Vogt's conduct. Forker was one of those who have the Hxed idea that the elixir of life and action is to be found in the glass filled to the brim with the juice of the grape, hops and malt, or barley, or corn, or rye (he was not particular which, so long as the juice was well fermented or distilled). Forker had the physique to stand a good quantity of any beverage or liquor without any visible signs of bad effect, and since Vogt was overworked Forker recommended the stimulative cup to him, which, however, had a disastrous effect upon the physi- cally weaker man, Vogt. This partaking of stimulants became a regular habit among a few other members, until several of WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 93 them formed "the brotherhood of booze" that was bound to have serious consequences and deplorable results. Again, in other quarters at this same period member^ who had at first no connections with this "brotherhood" began to find fault with the party administration. The principal oaes were a few members of the party in Pittsburgh, Pa., at that time a bright spot on the map of the Socialist Labor Party. Among the latter was the secretary of the Pennsylvania State Committee, Eberle, and his associates Goff, Adams, Schulberg, and others. They contended that Pittsburgh should be the seat of the national headquarters of the party, that the organization of the Socialist Labor Party and the Alliance was more for- midable there than in New York; that there was a greater tonnage of wealth produced in the Pittsburgh district than elsewhere (which was quite true, as pig iron is heavy of weight); that Pittsburgh was the "logical center"; that head- quarters should be moved to Pittsburgh forthwith, with Eberle incidentally in the position of National Secretary, for while I did not hear Eberle sing that song, "I want a situation. I want it very badly, etc.," that was the real object of the chief of the "logical centrists," as they were called afterward. Disruptive Elements Combined A member from New York who had moved to Pittsburgh, one Wegeman, who was extremely bald-headed and who wore spectacles, posed as a sort of intellectual celebrity. Wegeman had in addition to his baldness of head a diminutively flat nose, and wore a Van Dyke beard, so that at first glance he looked all head and whiskers. This individual denounced the party administration in New York to the members in Pittsburgh, who evidently mistook Wegeman's baldness for a high fore- head — a dome of intellect chockful of knowledge and wisdom. Many of the members discovered this optical illusion soon, but not before a whole lot of harm had been done. The "brother- hood of booze" in New York was pleased, and welcomed the new allies, the "logical centrists." The "logical centrists" and the "brotherhood of booze" received aid and comfort from unexpected quarters. H. Keiser, James P. Reid, and Thomas Curran, of Rhode Island, a.11 very 94 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. influential members of the party in "Little Rhody," also turned against the Socialist Labor Party, and thus a sort of "triple alliance" was formed to smash the party. This combination was joined by an additional or fourth element in New York, which trained with Julian Pierce, then manager of the Labor News Company. Pierce had nothing in common with Hiclcey or Vogt; he was a sober man, in fact the very one, as already stated, who preferred charges against Hickey at the outset of the whole affair. The fellows who stood with Pierce were the two Ephraims: Ephraim Siff and Ephraim Harris, and a few others with saintly names but Luciferic motives. They wanted to discontinue the Daily Peo- ple and turn the Daily People plant into a money-making en- terprise. The Pierce-Siff aggregation became known, accord- ingly, as the Daily People Killers' League. United by Jealousy of De Leon The "triple alliance" became a quadruple concern, but none of its component parts dared openly to assail the Socialist La- bor Party principles or tactics; they all claimed to be in accord with the basic principles of the Socialist Labor Party. In at- tacking the party they all hid their real object behind gener- alities and personal attacks upon De Leon, Kuhn, and what they termed in their lampoons the "managing powers." Vogt had only contempt for Siff and Pierce; the "logical centrists" were not in love with their Rhode Island allies, and Pierce disliked all the rest, for he considered himself a "logical center" all by himself. The only thing they all had Tn com- mon, like their predecessors of 1899, was hatred for the man whose inferiors they all well enough knew themselves to be, intellectually and morally — Daniel De Leon. Those were indeed critical days. Lampoon followed lam- poon — sent broadcast by the four groups that were bent upon killing the Socialist Labor Party. Some good fellows were drawn into the vortex that for a spell gained quite some force. Peter Fiebiger, who because of his good nature and his liberal contributions to the party funds we called "Saint Peter," and Peter Damm, who because of his name was frequently called "Damn Peter," were two men of the latter kind. WITH DE LEON SINCE "89. 95 It was at this time that old Lucien Sanial was persuaded by Vogt and Eberle to join the "logical centrists." Sanial sent a letter of resignation from the S. L. P. to the National Execu- tive Committee. The sending of a resignation from the party to any other body than the Section of which Sanial was a mem- ber betrayed the man's knowledge of facts relating to party organization and its laws and regulations. The National Exec- utive Committee notified Sanial of his mistake, but wishing to save Sanial for his own sake, offered to send a committee to Northport, L. I., where he lived, to have the whole situation in the party gone over thoroughly. Sanial' s Avoidance of an Understanding De Leon, who at that time was with his family at Milford, Conn., wrote that he too would like to meet Sanial; in fact, De Leon suggested that Sanial should be the judge in the case. De Leon closed his letter by saying, "If Sanial finds that I am in the way of harmony in the party, I am willing to migrate to Kokomo." Sanial replied that the committee need not call, that for the time being he would withdraw his resignation, and that he would come to Nevir York to meet the committee which had been elected by the National Executive Committee to meet him. (This committee consisted of John J. Kinneally and Henry Kuhn.) Sanial did not keep his word. He did not come to meet the committee, nor did he make his appearance in party head- quarters. Instead a lampoon written against the S. L. P. by Sanial was added to the number already issued by the dis- rupters. All the four groups of the latter were heard by Sanial; they looked him up and filled his ears with tales of a horrible reign of terror in the Socialist Labor Party. Sanial knew bet- ter, but evidently a bit of jealousy against De Leon played a part. That Sanial knew better was shown by his escape from facing the committee of the N. E. C. which he promised to meet but did not dare to meet. He refused to act as a judge in open court where all sides would have been heard, but did assume all the functions of a judge in a court where accusations 96 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. were whispered, where the defendant could not appear, and the lig-ht of day could not break through. After presiding in such a court Sanial issued his "opinion," closing with the fol- lowing words: A "Boomerang" Prophecy ' "Every bad tendency will run its course, and Socialism will survive; then woe to the men whose petty interests, mean ambitions, and vile intrigues may have for an instant arrested its progress and smirched its name." De Leon had a column in the Daily People reserved for the "little kangs," under the headline: "Light Is Breaking." la this column the above prophetic warning written by Sanial was kept standing. It was like the feather cast by the eagle that feathered the arrow which pierced the eagle's breast. The bad tendency did run its course, and Socialism and the Socialist Labor Party did survive. The four-cornered conspiracy disintegrated and most of its leaders, including Sanial, Pierce, Eberle, and others found their way into the Socialist Party, the same party so vehemently denounced by all of them. In the 1902 election the Socialist Labor Party received over 50,000 votes. The Daily People blazed uninterruptedly its shot of fire against capitalism and its outposts, — the Social- ist Labor Party square remained unbroken. In the 1902 Congressional election the Socialist Party re- ceived nearly a quarter of a million votes, votes caught in the manner that fish are caught, and by no means cast for rev- olutionary Socialism, The opportunistic immediate demands, palliatives, reform of and within the frame of the capitalist po- litical State were the main issues, besides the catering to th^ American Federation of Labor, — which organization De Leon characterized as being neither American, nor a federation, nor of labor— brought votes to the Socialist Party* If votes alone had been the only factor in decreeing the fate of the Socialist Labor Party,, again the wishes and prophecies of its enemies would have been fulfilled, and the Socialist Lator Party would have died once more. WITH' DE LEON SINCE '89. 97 The Socialist Party, intoxicated with its big vote, enlarged and spread out wider its vote-catching nets, heralding every reformer who was suspected of being in favor of government ownership of railroads or municipal ownership of water-works or garbage-iburning plants, as "coming our way." And with the possibilities of landing somebody in office the Socialist Party attracted to itself large quantities of would-be intellec- tuals, physicians without a practice, lawyers without clients, ministers of the gospel without congregations, all with hearts bleeding for the suffering working class, all possessed with the itch for office and the gift 6i smooth talk. Thus the So- cialist Party grew rapidly. Once having gained the numbers, that in turn gave that movement the momentum to gain still larger numbers and still smaller proportions of the kind of numbers that are need'ed to carry out the social revolution. S. L. P.'s Tenacity a Surprise The innocents among the rank and file of the Socialist Party could not understand why the Socialist Labor Party re- fused to abide by the majority and how it continued its exist- ence. That the Socialist Labor Party could publish a daily paper in the English language was a puzzle to a good many of these innocents, who were bled by the bigger party to main- tain its many papers, all privately owned. The leaders of the Socialist Party tried to explain how it was "all on account of that fiend De Leon," "who was being supplied with funds by capitalists," and "whose influence alone kept the Socialist La- bor Party together." Other similar tales were told, such as before the period of enlightenment were told to children to keep them well-behaved and" afraid of the bad bogey-man. While mere numbers were thus gathered the Daily People and its editor were held in awe by these story-tellers, because their many schemes to turn a dollar out of the movement by all sorts of fake advertisements, "get rich quick" methods, sell- ing of gold mine stock by "millionaire Socialists," and other gold brick swindles, all under the cloak of Socialism, were promptly exposed in the columns of the Socialist Labor Party organ. So also were exposed the crooked political deals of So- cialist Party candidates in accepting endorsements from botii 98 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. the Republican and Democratic camps of the capitalist political parties. The Socialist Party editors of the privately-owned papers simply denounced every exposure of their ill-doing as a, "Daily People lie," notwithstanding the fact that De Leon offered for inspection in every case documents proving the charges. Two "'answers" the S. P.ites had always ready (and it is so even unto this day) when the incriminating documents were held under their noses: First, that the party was not respon- sible for the acts of individuals, locals, or state committees; second, that they had the vote anyway. "What was the good of taking the correct position, preventing corruption, and not have votes?" De Leon's Educational Work Thus, while the Socialist Party leaders were employing every method to get votes, more votes, with an office captured here and there and everywhere, and Socialism was used ky them as a means to feather their own nests, De Leon bent down to the task of supplying the English-speaking proletariat with most useful knowledge, by translating from the German Marx's "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte," Bebel's ("Die Frau und der Sozialismus") "Woman under Socialism," and from the French the monumental masterpiece of Eugene Sue, "The Mysteries of the People, or History of a Proletarian Family Across the Ages." Again, what a contrast between De Leon and the writers of books, the "authors," in the other camp. There, writers of pamphlets and books mostly without an original thought, a re- hash of what others had taught and written, in some instances even plagiarizing De Leon's great lectures, "What Means This Strike?" arid "Reform or Revolution," and invariably paid for by a publisher; here, a man who, having all the qualifications of a man of letters, preferred to translate what he thought use- ful for the training of the class conscious workers, and equip- ping them with the knowledge requisite for their emancipation, rather than appear as the author on the title page, with his autograph at so much per volume. For all the literary work outside of the editorship of the Daily and Weekly People, in- WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. . 99 eluding the voluminous Sue book translations (21 volumes), De Leon did not accept a cent, and when a magazine such as The Independent paid De Leon for an article of his, De Leon turned the amount over to the party. De Leon was denounced by some people as a fanatic. The Socialist Party certainly cannot be charged with having in its midst any such "fanatic"; quite the contrary. James Connolly's Trip to America At this time (1902) James Connolly, editor of the Irish Workers' Republic, a paper published in Dublin, came to America on a lecturing tour, by invitation and under the aus- pices of the Socialist Labor Party. Connolly played a very sorry role in after years, so it may be well to tell here how Connolly happened to receive the invitation of the party to cross the big pond and make speeches in America. The party administration was not very much in favor of inviting men from abroad to deliver speeches in a country in which they were strangers and the conditions of which they did not understand and did not care to study and understand. This attitude was based on the experiences of the Socialist Labor Party with practically all the orators who had been in- vited before Connolly. Some had turned out to be Anarcho- reformists or reformo-iAnarchists, like Serati, who came from Italy, or like Palm of Sweden who, after touring the United States, told his countrymen that America was an Eldorado for workingmen ! The plea that was made in behalf of Connolly by his friends in New York, the reason advanced why he should be invited to lecture for the Socialist Labor Party, was that he would not be coming to teach but to learn; that all the British pure and simple labor leaders who had visited "the States" were misinforming the workers in Great Britain and Ireland about the Socialist Labor Party, and that when Connolly wanted to expose them he was told, "What do you know about the labor movement in America? You were never there; we were." Connolly wanted to visit America to be able upon his return home to grind to dust all the misleaders of labor in Dublin and Cork. IM WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. A young, enthusiastic Irishman, a member of Section New York, Barney O'Toole, appeared a number of times before the National Executive Committee urging that Connolly be invited. Connolly came, and an extensive tour was arranged for him. He received a weekly salary while lecturing for the Socialist Labor Party, and was also granted the privilege of selling sub- scriptions to the Irish Workers' Republic. Connolly made some pretty good speeches, sold quite a number of his sub- scriptions, and returned home. But soon afterward (as some comrades had predicted) he returned to this country. Evidently he liked things here better than the "annihilating" of labor fakers abroad. Connolly's Sorry Role Because a situation was not given him by the party when he arrived, Connolly began finding fault with the editor of The People. He insisted upon certain articles of his on wages, mar- riage, and the church being published in the Daily People. Connolly's contention, embodied in these articles, was that Bebel's "Woman under Socialism" was a lewd book. The ap- pearance was that Connolly's letters were inspired by Ultra- montanism, - and ' De Leon refused to publish some of them. The 1904 national convention of the party to which De Leon reported the "Connolly matter," endorsed De Leon's action. Still Connolly's expression of his opinion, contrary though it was to the opinions of the whole membership of the Socialist Labor Party, did not lead to any ill feeling on the part of De Leon toward him nor did the party Sections show any ill will toward Connolly. On the contrary, many of the Sections in- vited him to deliver speeches at their meetings, and a friend of the Socialist Labor Party secured a job for Connolly in a ma- chine shop. When a man has the ambition to wield the pen and deliver orations from the public rostrum it is mighty hard to be cottt- pelled by cruel fate to use a monkey wrench instead of a pen, and the workshop Bench instead of the speaker's stand. Con- nolly thought himself outraged because he was not employed on the editori&l staff of the Daily People, and awaited his time to strike a blow at De Leon, who he thought was in his way in reaching his objecL WITH DE LEON SINCE '89, 101 That time came a few years later, the description of which will form another chapter in these reminiscences, but Con- nolly's subsequent acts will be more easily understood by re- membering these happenings relating to his first coming to America. Western Federation of Miners The year 1904 was an eventful one in the history of the American Socialist and labor movement. In the Western mining states it seemed that an awakening had taken place. The object lessons given the workers by Governor Feabody of Colorado and Governor Steunenburg of Idaho, two represent- atives of raw-boned capitalism, were indeed sufficient to war- rant such an awakening. The members of the Western Federation of Miners struck to enforce the eight-hour law, a law the passage of which it had secured through a constitutional amendment in the state of Colorado after a long-drawn struggle. De Leon's statement that "the tiger will fight for the tips of his mustache with the same ferocity with which he would defend his very life," was illustrated in the bitter class war in Colorado in 1903-1904. The deportations of members of the Western Federation of Miners, the violation of every law of decency by the ruling powers, the erection of so-called bull-pens, where workers were imprisoned without due process of law; the turning of the mining districts of the state into military camps, with all that such a condition implies, — all this was surely enough to create an awakening in the ranks of organized labor. The Western Federation of Miners had withdrawn from the American Federation of Labor in 1897, and was regarded as a progressive economic organization. The American Labor Union was practically only another name for the Western: Federation of Miners, called into existence to give the miners' union a national character. It was the organ of that body, the American Labor Union Journal, that gave cause for the hope that an awakening had taken place. The articles in this paper denounced craft unionism as well as pure and simple Socialist politics. It looked very much as though the leaders of this Western movement had at last grasped the situation and wer ; beginning to heed the teachings of Daniel De Leon. 102 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. How much, in this formative period of industrial un- ionism, the articles in this journal resembled De Leon's posi' tion may be seen from the following quotations, the first from De Leon's great lecture, "The Burning Question of Trade Un- ionism," delivered at Newark, N. J., on April 21, 1904, and the second from an article in The American Labor Union Journal in the December issue of the same year. From De Leon's "Burning Question of Trade Unionism": Followed De Leon's Lead "The parliament of civilization in America will consist, not of Congressmen from geographic districts, but of repre- sentatives of trades throughout the land, and their legislative work will not be the complicated one which a society of con- flicting interests, such as capitalism requires, but the easy one which can be suinmed up in the statistics of the wealth needed, the wealth producible, and the work required — and that any average set of workingrmen's representatives are fully able to ascertain infinitely lietter than our modern rhetoricians in Congress "In the first place, the trade union has a supreme mission. That mission is nothing' short of organizing by uniting, and uniting by organizing, the whole working class industrially — not merely those for whom there are jobs; accordingly, not only those who can pay dues. This unification or organiza- tion is essential in order to save the eventual and possible vic- tory from bankruptcy, by enabling the working class to assume and conduct production the moment the guns of the public powers fall into its hands — or before, if need be, if capitalist political chicanery pollutes the ballot-box. The mission is im- portant also in that the industrial organization forecasts the future constituencies, of the parliaments of the Socialist Re- public." From American Laibor Union Journal, December, 1904: "The economic organization of the proletariat is the heart and soul of the Socialist movement, of which the political party is simply the public expression at the ballot-box. The WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 103 purpose of industrial unionism is to organize tlie working class in approximately the same departments of production and distribution as those which will obtain in the Co-operative Commonwealth, so that, if the workers should lose their fran- chise, they would still possess an economic organization intel- ligently trained to take over and collectively administer the tools of industry and the sources of wealth for themselves." The leaders in the American Labor Union were members of the Socialist Party — at least a good many of them were. This made the situation still more hopeful, for if the men who advocated industrial unionism should carry their convictions into the Socialist Party camp it could only mean the recogni- tion of the correctness of Socialist Labor Party principles, and unity would be bound to follow. The members of the Socialist Labor Party in the East did not question the integrity of the American Labor Union leader- ship; least of all did De Leon himself, who, judging men by his own standard of sincerity and earnestness, trusted the men at the head of this new movement to be sincere. At the 1904 national convention of the Socialist Labor Party a delegate from Colorado, Chas. H. Chase, who knew most of the officials in the American Labor Union, declared his doubts as to their integrity. Time proved Chase's suspicions well founded. Nev- ertheless, the events that followed demonstrated that De Leon ■foresaw the birth of the industrial union from which the rev- olutionary Socialist could not stand apart, and that, regardless of the character of some of its founders, was a long step toward the social revolution. De Leon at Amsterdam Congress At the 1904 national convention of the Socialist Labor Party, Charles H. Corregan of New York and William W. Cox of Illinois were chosen as the party's standard bearers in that Presidential election. Corregan's speech at a ratification meet- ing held in Cooper Union still lingers in the memory of many Socialist Labor Party men who heard him that night. The "little giant" was at his best. In August,'^904, the International Congress was held at Amsterdam, De Leon represented at that Congress the So- 104 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. cialist Labor Faity of the United States, and held also creden- tials from the Socialist Labor Party of Australia and of Canada. The Kautsky resolution adopted at the Paris Congress in 1900, which practically confirmed the acceptance of a ministerial post by Millerand, was the most important question to be acted upon by the Congress. Millerand had become a party to the shooting by the military of striking workmen at Chalon and Martinique by remaining a member of the French Cabinet while those butcheries were perpetrated. The revolutionary spirit among European Socialists was not then so conspicuous by its absence as in these latter days; the words of Wilhelm Liebknecht, that "to parliamentarize means to sell out" were still ringing in the ears of many among the rank and file. The International Congress of 1904 was looked up to to wipe out the shame of the Kautsky resolution. The original Kautsky resolution was not repealed or reaffirmed, 'but was replaced by another resolution originally adopted at the national convention of the German Social Democratic Party held in 1903 at Dresden. The only resolution submitted that unqualifiedly and without sophistry repudiated the Kaut- sky resolution was the following one submitted by Daniel De Leon: De Lcon^s Resolution Against Compromise "Whereas, The struggle between the working class and the capitalist class is a continuous and irrepressible conflict, a con- flict that tends every day rather to be intensified than to be softened; "Whereas, The existing governments are committees of the ruling class, intended to safeguard the yoke of capitalist exploitation upon the neck of the working class; "Whereas, At the last International Congress, held in Paris, in 1900, a resolution generally known as the Kautsky Resolution, was adopted, the closing clauses of which con- template the emergency of the working class accepting office at the hand of such capitalist governments, and also and es- pecially PRESUPPOSE THE POSSIBILITY OF IMPAR- TIALITY ON THE PART OF THE RULING CLASS GOV- ERNMENTS IN THE CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE WORKING CLASS AND THE CAPITALIST CLASS; and WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. ' 105 "Whereas, the said clauses — applicable, perhaps, in coun- tries not yet wholly freed from feudal institutions — were adopted under conditions both in France and in the Paris Congress itself, that justify erroneous conclusions on the nature of the class struggle, the character of capitalist governments, and the tactics that are imperative upon the proletariat in the pur- suit of its campaign to overthrow the capitalist system in countries, which, like the United Stateis of America, have wholly wiped out feudal institutions; therefore, be it "Resolved, First, That the said Kautsky Resolution be and the same is hereby repealed as a principle of general Socialist tactics; "Second, That, in fully developed capitalist countries like America, the working class cannot, without betrayal of the cause of the proletariat, fill any political office other than thejr conquer for and by themselves." That De Leon's vote alone was cast in favor of this clear- cut resolution demonstrates that De Leon stood head and shoulders and some more above the leaders of the Socialist movement in Europe. In De Leon's "Flashlights of the Am- sterdam Congress" men and conditions in the movement abroad are depicted in a manner which subsequent happenings have proved to be as accurate as pictures of a panorama caught upon the film by the camera. At the Amsterdam Con- gress the following "Unity Resolution" was adopted: Amsterdam Unity Reiolution "In order that the working class may develop its full strength in the struggle against capitalism, it is necessary there should be but one Socialist party in each country as against the parties of capitalists, just as there is but one proletariat in each country. "For these reasons all comrades and all Socialist organi- zations have the imperative duty to seek to the utmost of their ■ power to bring about this unity of the party, on the hasis of the principles established by the International Conventions; that unity which is necessary in the interests of the proletariat. 10« WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. to which they are responsible for the disastrous consequences of the continuation of divisions within their ranks. "To assist in the attainment of this aim the International Socialist Bureau, as well as all parties within the countries where unity now exists will cheerfully offer their services and co-operation." Following the Amsterdam Congress the columns of the Daily People were opened to the discussion of the question of unity, and this theme became the all absorbing topic, interest being increased by the fact that at the same time the Industrial Union movement had begun to take shape, presupposing on the part of its advocates the acceptance or recognition of So- cialist Labor Party premises, the necessity of a class conscious economic organization. A young man just out of college made his debut at the 1904 national convention of the Socialist Labor Party. Many; thought that the young man was quite an acquisition to the movement. With the physique of an athlete, the air of a col- lege professor, and the politeness of a funeral director at a first class funeral, when the funeral fees are paid in advance, he was hailed by the delegates as the man of the hour. This young man was Frank Bohn. Adrent of Frank Bohn Bohn was made national organizer of the party, made ex- tensive trips through the country, and wrote very many re- ports and letters to party headquarters, depicting how he was carrying the message of the Socialist Labor Party to the workers everywhere, aye, even into the darkest corners of the Socialist Party. De Leon held Bohn in high esteem and regarded him as a man who had the capacity to take his (De Leon's) place in the editorial chair of the Daily People. It may be, too, that Bohn at that time actuUly was what De Leon and other party men^bers thought him to be — a well-informed, level-headed, studious, able, and devoted adherent of the sacred cause of pro- letarian emancipation. The fact that a few years later he turned on the Socialist Labor Party, the organization which be himself had declared to be the only true party of Socialism, WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 107 docs by no means determine insincerity in his earlier days. Men are not born traitors, and the most degraded prostitute was without doubt a virtuous maiden once upon a time. While traveling as an organizer of the Socialist Labor Party Bohn came into personal contact with some of the lead- ing men who were at the time laboring to bring about a con- crete body of the revolutionary forces of the labor movement on the economic field. Some of the conferences held at Chicago by officials of the Western Federation of Miners, the American Labor Union, and individual members of other organizations for the purpose of calling a convention to form such a union of workers were attended by Bohn, and when the Industrial Union Manifesto was issued in February, 1905, Bohn's signature was one of those attached to it. Bohn was the only member of the So- cialist Labor Party who had his signature attached to that document. The other signers were practically all members of the Socialist Party. Industrial Union Manifesto Very few members of the Socialist Labor Party and the Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance questioned the integrity of the authors of the Industrial Union Manifesto. Some of those who had their signatures attached to that document, however, had an unsavory reputation, such as A. M. Simons and a few more of his kind. It was explained by Bohn, however, that Simons had his signature attached to save the circulation of the International Socialist Review, and that fellows like Simons were the fifth wheel of the wagon anyhow — the men who were actually the prime movers, the head and soul, were Wm. D. Haywood, of the Western Federation of Miners; Clarence Smith, editor of the American Labor Union Journal; Wm. E. Trautmann, editor of the Brewery Workers' Journal; Thos. Hag^rty, the ex-priest, — ^all of whom were known to have publicly given utterance against pure and simple poHticianism. Eugene V. Debs, whose signature also was attached to the Manifesto, did not personally participate in the conferences; his signature was obtained by appeals to his consistency, by reminding him of his verbal declarations and his promises. 108 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. The Manifesto threw a breath of new life into the Socialist and labor movement; it aroused the working class spirit of class consciousness among men who had formerly not been reached by the advocates of revolutionary unionism; in the ranks of the Socialist Labor Party and the Socialist Trade and Lahor Alliance it was hailed as the "turning of the lane," as a realization and acceptance of all that Daniel De Leon had taught and insisted upon. Among the American Federation of Labor, leadership and Socialist Party officialdom it created ap- prehension of what might be in store for them should the new movement succeed. The Manifesto called upon all trade union bodies regard- less of immediate affiliation and upon all individual members of the working class to attend a convention in July, 1905, at Chicago. De Leob at First I. W. W. Convention De Leon and twelve other Socialist Trade and Labor Al- liance delegates attended the first convention, where the In- dustrial Workers of the World was founded. I was not pres- ent at the first or the second convention of the I. W. W., but the stenographic reports of the proceedings of these two con- ventions are today historical documents that can be read by all who are seeking to be well informed. It is not within the scope of these reminiscences to de- scribe in detail the many interesting and important happenings at the first I. W. W. convention. Suffice it to say that it was due to Daniel De Leon that the stenographic report of that convention was taken. De Leon foresaw what might come. No one can prevent the enemies of the movement, the wolves in sheep's clothing, from spreading their slanders, nor can every <;ilanderer be answered even when he deserves answer. As regards the motives of De Leon and the S. T. & L. A. delegation, the stenographic report of the first I. W. W. con- vention answers them all in advance. It shows that De Leon stood for and fought for the essential principles without which Socialism would remain an aspiration and the goal never be reached. The Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance was installed in WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 109 the Industrial Workers of the World with a membership of 1.400. Not one of the S. T. & L. A. men was elected at the first convention to the General Executive Board. and yet the S. T. & L. A. was the only body that became part of the I. W. W. that had the actual membership it claimed to have, and upon which the vote in the convention was alloted. The Western Federation of Miners delegates claimed 27,000 members, but never actually paid the per capita tax to the or- ganization. The Metal Workers claimed 3,000 members, and the voting strength of its delegates was based upon that num- ber, but it existed only on paper; yet one of its delegates, Sherman, was elected president of the new organization. Wm. E. Trautmann was elected general secretary-treasurer. Leaving the convention, De Leon delivered his great lec- ture on "The Preamble of the Industrial Workers of the World," at Minneapolis, Minn. This lecture is in itself a strategic chart of the course that must be taken by the or- ganized workers to assure the road to victory. FROM 1905 TO THE SPLIT IN THE I. W. W. IN J 908 High Hopes Raised by New Union — Perfidy of the S. P.— Discord Within the I. W. W. and S. L. P.— Dc Leon's Fight Against "Physical Force Only" The Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance not only actnally installed its membership in the Industrial Workers of the World, but became the most active force in the new organization. All the pent-up energy of the S. T. & L. A. was now put into action. Locals of the I. W. W. were organized wherever the S. T. & L. A. and the S. L. P. had adherents. The zeal displayed by these organizations in behalf of the I. W. W. gave the officialdom of the Socialist Party and other reactionary elements a pretense to make all sorts of allega- tions to the effect that De Leon and the S. L. P. were out to gain control Of the L W. W., to use such control to bolster up *'the dying S. L. P.," which after having been proclaimed dead and buried many times, again was attested to be alive and full Of vigor. How sincerely the membership of the S. L. P. !worked for the I. W. W., expecting the only reward that men and women who hold a cause higher than all else expect, was shown by the fact that the year following the first L W. W. convention the political propaganda work of the party was con- sidered secondary in importance, and in some states wholly neglected. In New York city the existing S. T. & L. A. locate, which WITH DE LEON SINCE '89, 111 were all chartered by the I. W. W., fonned the basis f»r an industrial council, a central body of industrial unions that looked very full of promise indeed. Although the fcrmer S. T. & L. A. men were in the majority in this district council they did at no time as much as assert their connection with the S. L. P., so as not to give offense to some delegates who were S. P. members, like Hanneman; ultra conservatives like Ke- ougb, of the stationary engineers, or Anarchists like Dumas, of the silk workers. The self-denying, conciliatory demeanor of the former S. T. & L. A. men was of no avail, for it soon became as plain as day that no matter to what lengths of tolerance the delegates who were true industrial unionists went, there were always some who shouted that they were abused by De Leonites. High Hopes Raised by Debs In December, 190S, Debs came to New York to speak for the I. W. W. His first speech was delivered before a large audience in one of New York's largest halls, the Grand Cen- tral Palace. This speech was taken down stenographically and afterward published in pamphlet form. Surely none could find fault with anything the speech contained. It was perhaps the soundest speech Debs ever made. That day, Dec. 10, I saw some of the brightest expressions on the faces of both S. L. P. and S. P. men, — the revolutionary union, presaging the unity of the workers on the political and the economic fields, was here. There were also some very, very sad countenances to behold, such as the notorious peddler, Michaelovsky, for whose special edification De Leon had a "Letter-box" answer appear in The People in Hebrew charac- ters. Michaelovsky, a dyed-in-the-wool S. P.ite, an old man with a white beard, paced nervously back and forth in a room back of the stage while Debs was speaking, with knitted brow and clenched fists. "Ah I" he said to me, sneeringly, "now you have got a new Moses!" We had our fun with the Volkszeitung, too, then, Shurt- leff, the official representative of the General Executive Board of the I. W. W., organizer of "musical industrial unions" and organizer for the New York district of any other kind of in- 112 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. dustrial union, etc., etc., was bent upon having the Debs meet- ing advertized in the Volkszeitung. I accompanied him to the Volkszeitung's office; it was the first time since July 10, 1899, that I had stepped on Volkszeitung premises. The advertisement we presented was not only for the meeting at Grand Central Palace where Debs alone was to speak, but for two other meetings as well, where Debs and De Leon were to speak together. When the Volkszeitung employe saw what the ad contained he changed colors. "Wait a minute," he said, and rushed to the editorial department. He returned more composed and with a forced smile. "All right, we will insert it." "How much?" asked the grand musical organizer, who, I forgot to say, was an S. P. man. "Seventeen dollars," replied his S. P. comrade of the Volkszeitung. The ad went in; the I. W. W. Tfiii. the price; it was dear, but it was worth the money. Debs and De Leon Together Of coarse, the Daily People and all other S. L. P. organs published all announcements of meetings of the I. W. W. with- out asking payment, no doubt some more of that De Leon- istic fanaticism, of which Socialist Party papers are utterly devoid. The night following the Debs meeting at Grand Central Palace, Debs, Sherman, and De Leon spoke in a large hall in the Bronx. Sam French was appointed by the District Coun- cil to act as chairman. French was late, and I had to act in his stead as chairman of this memorable meeting — memorable because the first where Debs and De Leon addressed an audi- ence together, and because both Debs and De Leon were at their best. Sherman was sandwiched in between the two and cut a sorry fig^ure. It wag a grand meeting. The audience consisted of men and women from both the Socialist Laibor Party and the So- cialist Party, members and sympathizers. Debs's speech was better than the one stenographically reported which he had delivered the day before. De Leon's speech was a master- piece. The audience applauded both speakers loudly and long. In introducing the speakers I was hot prepared to deliver WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 113 a eulogy; it is not S. L. P. style, anyhow. I introduced Sher- man as the president of the I. W. W., the future Workers' Re- public, and Debs as the hero of Woodstock jail. De Leon 1 introduced as the man "without friends" — and, hesitating there a moment, I added — "among labor fakers." The principles and form of organization of the Industrial Workers of the World became the all-absorbing topic in the world of labor. It certainly looked as though the new union would carry everything before it. Workingmen flocked to the meetings where the speakers of the I. W. W. were to dwell upon industrial unionism; the atmosphere was getting warm with the heat generated by the propaganda of revolutionary economic action of the working class. Labor "Leaders" Feared the End "An injury to one is the concern of all," was to be applied in the everyday struggles of the workers; no more craft divi- sions to divide the workers; no high initiation fcies and dues to bar them from unionizing; no more labor fakers to use the union as a ladder to climlb to political office while preaching "no politics in the union." One thing was sure, that should the I. W. W. succeed in firmly establishing itself and drawing large numbers of work- ingmen and women to its standard, it would be "all off" with the well-paid advocates of the theory of brotherhood between capital and labor, in the old labor unions, and incidentally "all off" with their counterparts, the political hucksters in the So- cialist Party, who claimed to be neutral toward unions while supporting the American Federation of Labor craft unionists and advocates of brotherhood between capital and labor. The success of the industrial union movement would sound their death knell, and they were aware of that fact. The Industrial Workers of the World could not be attack- ed with the same weapons and in the same manner as the So- cialist Trade and Labor Alliance had been. The Davis cigar shop tales and other similar falsehoods could not be warmed up and used over again (though such attempts were made), so other means were resorted to to combat the new organization. Men joined the I. W. W. for the sole purpose of creating dis- 114 WITH DE LEON SINCE 'S9. sension; to obstruct, create suspicion, and play all the reles that true disciples of St. Loyola are masters of. New Jersey Unity Conference How otherwise can one explain the following occurrence? At the beginning of the industrial union agitation, shortly af- ter the Industrial Union Manifesto was issued, at the time when the waves of industrial unionism ran high, a state con- vention of the Socialist Party of New Jersey invited the So- cialist Labor Party to a unity conference to find a basis for unity of both parties. After the invitation had been accepted by the Socialist Labor Party and sessions held (beginning De- cerriber 17, 1905, and ending March 4, 1906), the delegates of both parties arrived at the same conclusions and unanimously recommended a basis for unity — a, basis that 'was indeed the only kind to bring about unity, namely, the recognition of the necessity of a revolutionary economic organization such as the I. W. W. then was. But the conclusions unanimously ar- rived at by the delegates of both parties were rejected by a referendum of the Socialist Party in New Jersey with all against some thirty votes! How could it have happened that the thirty "revolutionists" swallowed all their statements made at the unity conference? How could it have happened that one of the thirty, and he a delegate to the unity conference, Wm. Glanz, whose denunciations of the American Federation of Labor and of private ownership of the party press were em- phatic, joined both the I. W. W. and the Socialist Labor Party, only to get out again when enough poison of discord had been spread, and with canine felicity return to his vomit and rejoin the Socialist Party? It goes without saying that the conclusions of the confer- ence were adopted practically with a unanimous vote by the Socialist Labor Party organization in New Jersey. The fol- lowing is the finding on unionism of the New Jersey Unity Conference, embodied in a manifesto adopted by the confer- ence and rejected by the Socialist Party referendum: "The Conference holds: that, unless the political move- ment is backed by a class conscious, that is, a properly con- structed economic organization, ready to take and hold and con- WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 115 duct the productive powers of the land, and thereby ready aad able to enforce if need be, and when need be, the fiat of the Socialist ballot of the working class — that without such a body in existence the Socialist political movement will be but a flash in the pan, successful, at best, in affording political preferment to scheming intellectuals, and thereby powerful only to attract such elements. On this specific head the Conference moreover holds that a political party of Socialism which marches to the polls unarmed by such a properly constructed economic or- ganization, but invites a catastrophe over the land in the meas- ure that it strains for political success, and in the measure that it achieves it. It must be an obvious fact to all serious observers of the times, that the day of the political success of such a party in America would be the day of its defeat, im- mediately followed by an industrial and financial crisis, from, which none would suffer more than the working class itself. "The Conference holds that for the Socialist political movement to favor A. F. of L. craft unionism is 'bluntly to de- ny Socialist principles and aims, for no matter how vigorously the A. F. of L. may cry 'Organize! Organize!' in practice it seeks to keep the unorganized, the overwhelming majority of the working class, out of the organization. The facts can easily be proved to a candid world. High initiation fees, limitation of apprentices, cornering the jobs for the few whom they ad- mit into the organization, are 'but a few of the methods used to discourage organization, which results not only in lack of organization, but by the craft from of what organization they do have, they isolate the workers into groups, which, left to fight for themselves in time of conflict, become the easy prey of the capitalists. On the other hand, the readiness with which certain portions of the exploiting class force their victims to join the A. F. of L. is sufficient condemnation of the organiza- tion. "By its own declarations and acts the A. F. of L. shows that it accepts wage slavery as a finality; and holding that there is identity of interest between employer and employe, the A. F. of L. follows it out by gladly accepting the vice- presidency of the Belmont Civic Federation for its president, Gompers, thus allying itself ■with an organization fathered by 116 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. the capitalist class for the purpose of blurring the class strug- gle and for prolonging the present system which is cornered upon the exploitation of labor. "For these reasons the Conference concludes that it is the duty of a political party of Socialism to promote the organiza- tion of a properly constructed union, both by elucidating the virtues of such a union and by exposing the vices of craft un- ionism. Consequently, and as a closing conclusion on this head, it rejects as impracticable, vicious, and productive only of corruption, the theory of neutrality on the economic field. The Conference, true to these views, condemns the A. F, of L. as an obstacle to the emancipation of the working class. "Holding that the political power flows from and is a re- sult of economic power, and that the capitalist is entrenched in the government as the result of his industrial power, the Con- ference commends as useful to the emancipation of the work- ing class the Industrial Workers of the World, which instead of running away from the class struggle bases itself squarely upon it, and boldly and correctly sets out the Socialist prin- ciple 'that the working class and the employing class have nothing in common' and that 'the working class must come to- gether on the political as well as on the industrial field, to take and hold that which they produce by their labor.' " S. P. Action« Contrary to Words In several other states besides New Jersey the Socialist Party, for the sake of expediency, feigned attempts at unity with the Socialist Labor Party. All these ended as the New Jersey Unity Conference had ended. The Socialist Partyites agreed on all occasions with the Socialist Labor Party men in regard to principles and tactics; they agreed that industrial un- ionism was requisite to the Socialist movement and the reali- zation of Socialism; that the Industrial Union was the Social- ist Republic in emibryo, They agreed also on other vital ques- tions, such as party ownership of the press, and on the ques- tion of discipline in the movement, but they would have agreed with anything and anybody as a means to extricate Itteir party, caught in a cleft stick, as it were. Their actions "WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 117 did not square with their declarations of desire for the unity of Socialist forces. The cleft stick the Socialist Party was caught in was this: to oppose industrial unionism openly or to combat it meant certain destruction in case the Industrial Workers of the World should succeed in organizing large numbers of the working class under its banner; openly to line up for indus- trial unionism, on the other hand, meant to endorse what they had been denouncing as "rank Dc Leonism" — it meant noth- ing less than the recognition of the correctness of the Social- ist Labor Party position on the question of the attitude of the party toward the economic organization of labor. To oppose the new industrial organization that threatened to sweep every- thing before it was to be swept into oblivion along with other rubbish; to be allied with it meant to promulgate Socialist La- bor Party tenets, promote the growth of that party, and admit the incompetence of their own Socialist Party. Hence all the talk of unity, all the unity conferences, etc. Perfidy of S. P. Press There was no sincerity in all the declarations of Socialist Party conferees, as subsequent developments demonstrated. The Socialist Party press, with its self-appointed editors, ac- cordingly did not dare openly to fight against the Industrial Workers of the World, or to fight for it, but all these editors sought to harm the new union by minimizing its successes and magnifying its mistakes and shortcomings, or by resorting to the method employed by the capitalist press toward the So- cialist movement, by silence as silent as the grave. The only means for saving the Socialist Party was to cre- ate discord and dissension in the Industrial Workers of the World. Slowly but surely this was accomplished. Insinua- tions of the basest sort against the Socialist Labor Party in general and against Daniel De Leon in particular were thrown about by men wearing the mask of industrial unionism — all calculated, of course, to disrupt the I. W. W. The following episode is an instance in point. The star witness in the case is a member of the Socialist Party, a very prominent member too, one of the secretaries of the New Jer- 118 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. aey Unity Conference of yore, member of the Socialist Party National Committee a number of times, speaker, lecturer, writ- er and what not, as sleek as an eel, but not sleek enough to have escaped from the hand of De Leon, who got James Reilly, foe it is no other, to give the testimony ag^ainst his comrade, Algernon Lee, over his own signature in the columns of the Daily People. This testimony of James Reilly throws light in only one dark corner, but it is sufficient to prove my allega- tion. A Ghost-Story About Dc Leon After a mass meeting held by the I. W. W. on Union Square, New York, where both De Leon and Reilly were speak- ers, a number of comrades invited De Leon to a glass of Wurz- burger. Reilly, too, went along. The conversation was, of course, regarding the situation in the movement, and inciden- tally the talk turned to the horrible tales that were being cir- culated about De Leon by his friends of the Socialist Party. De Leon chuckled with glee at the wonderful ghost-stories which were being told, wherein he was the ghost and in which things were implied, to have been guilty of committing which De Leon must needs have been among the living from the time his ancestor. Ponce "De Leon, sought to discover in Flor- ida the Fountain of Youth. It was then that Reilly volunteered to tell what Algernon Lee, another shining light in the firmament of the Socialist Party, was in the habit of telling confidentially to all who would believe him — that De Leon, while a resident in Germany, was a Bismarck spy! We all thought this as good a ghost- story as we had heard. De Leon himself had his chuckle out of it, but he requested Reilly to write a letter to the Daily Peo- ple in the form of an inquiry regarding Algernon Lee's allega- tion. Reilly, after having made the statement, could not re- fuse to comply with De Leon's request or himself stand brand- ed as a base slanderer. He did write such a letter, which was published in the Daily People with De Leon's answer appended. It was quite -icertain that at the second convention of the I. W. W. some attempt would be made to cause dissension, the way having been prepared by the work of the Lees and WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 119 kindred spirits. It was for this reason that De Leon sought to secure the promise of Eugene V. Debs at the time of their meetings in New York and New Castle to attend the second convention, and thus disarm the fellows who were circulating the false statements that the I. W. W. was the tail to the So- cialist Labor Party kite. Desertion of the I. W. W. by Debs Debs promised to come, but did he, the very one who de- clared with emphasis that a man who turns his back upon in- dustrial unionism 'betrays the working class, keep the promise made to De Leon, or did he turn his back on industrial union- ism at a most critical moment? The failure of Debs to keep his word and attend the sec- ond convention of the Industrial Workers of the World was doubly an act of betrayal of the cause of industrial unionism. Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone, three officials of the Western Federation of Miners — then, nominally at least, the Mining Department of the I. W. W. — had been kidnapped in the state of Colorado and taken to Idaho, there to stand trial on a charge of having murdered ex-Governor Steunenberg. The fact that the Idaho authorities took the three officials of the miners' union by force instead of proceeding according to law by instituting extradition proceedings against the ac- cused men was a sample of the lawlessness practiced by the ruling class of that state. The "starring" of the leading wit- ness for the state was on a par with the mob law methods of kidnapping men whom it was thought difficult to get into cus- tody by due process of law. Harry Orchard, a self-confessed murderer, was this star witness. A wave of indignation among the workers of the land rose high in protest against the outrage. Workingmen and women, organized and unorg^anized. Socialists and non^Socialists, radi- cals and conservatives, demanded a fair trial for Moyer, Hay- wood and Pettibone. The Daily People was the first paper to come out boldly and unhesitatingly in favor of the tbree accused men and against the foul conspiracy of the mine owners and their po- litical hirelings. De Leon's editorials were not hysterical out- 120 WITH DE LEON SINCE "89. cries against the atrocious acts of the Citizens' Alliance, like many articles in Socialist Party papers, but the question was handled consistently and fearlessly. De Leon's articles and editorials were the real call to arr«s to the working class, should the capitalists of the Western states carry out their brutal intent to murder men whom they thought dangerous to their interests. S. L. P. Endorsement of Haywood The first and only instance in its history of the Socialist Labor Party's lowering its standard and practically endorsing a candidate of another party, occurred at that time. The candidate was Wm. D. Haywood for governor of Colorado, and the party was the Socialist Party. "Theirs the shame and ours the glory," for it does not matter that, since the day that the Socialist Lahor Party put up no candidate in opposition to Haywood, he has retrograded and proved a disappointment, and turned upon the true industrial union movement. In 1906 the Socialist Labor Party, against the protest of some of its members, 'bowed to the revolutionary requirements of the time, and the S. L. P. men in Colorado voted for the in- dustrial unionist, Haywood, who at that time typified the rev- olutionary element in the Socialist Party. For that matter, he perhaps typifies it today, only that in 1906 this ""revolutionary element" in the Socialist Party was believed to be real, where- as in the decade that has passed since it has proved itself to be very much like the rest of the Socialist Party — revolution- ary only in phrase-mongering. At such a time, however, when by pressure of emboldened capitalism threatening the whole labor movement, a realign- ment of revolutionary forces was actually expected, for a man like Debs to fail to appear at a convention of the Industrial Workers of the World when it was known that reaction would show its head and would have to be combatted was indeed to betray the working class. Before relating some of the impor- tant happenings at the second convention of the Industrial Workers of the World some of the activities and occurrences 'in the Socialist Labor Party should be mentioned. Henry Kuhn resigned as national secretary of the party, a WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 121 position he had filled for fifteen years. It is safe tc say that few -men ever worked harder, with more devotion, promptness, system, and efficiency, in any organization. In determination, zeal, and moral and physical courage, Henry Kuhn, national secretary of the Socialist Labor Party, was never found want- ing. On many occasions, in the darkest hour« of the party's existence, Kuhn was at his post, cool-headed and with ^ steady hand on the steering wheel, keeping the S. L. P. to its course. During the time that De Leon was worn out by the strenuous days of 1899 and }901-1902, Kuhn was at the helm and bore the brunt of the battle. Frank Bohn was elected in Kuhn's place. A German pro- verb tells of "making a goat the gardener." That is exactly what was done when Bohn was chosen to fill such an impor- tant position, as subsequent developments showed. Second Convention of the I. W. W. The second convention of the Industrial Workers of the World was a turbulent one; it turned out to be a "battle royal" between the reactionists and the revolutionists. The Western Federation of Miners delegation consisted of four men, two of whom were the leaders among those who sought to turn the organization into a "pure and simple" affair, while the other two Albert Ryan and Vincent St. John, stood for revolutionary principles. De Leon led the fight against reaction and outgeneraled the bulldozing Mahoney and McCabe who employed all the tricks of coimmon |>oUtical crooks. After they saw that the large majority of the delegates were against any- crab-step tak- ing, this gentry tried methods of obstruction, calculating that many of the delegates who represented numerically smaller lo- cals of the L W. W., and whose financial resources were con- sequently very limited, could not remain very long in attend- ance at the convention, and that they would have to return home and leave the Mahoney kind in full control. For this purpose the tactics of obstruction were employed, and the convention prolonged for many days. Soon the ma- jority of delegates, who had come equipped with "rations" for only a few days, were without means to pay for meals and 122 WITH DE LEON SINCE '8<>. lodgfings, while the few reactionaries were well equipped with rolls •£ greenbacks, of which they occasionally bragged. The convention overcame this difficulty by voting $1.50 a, day while the conventian lasted to the delegates without means af sub*, sisteace. Sherman Deluded by S. P. Men Chas. O. Sherman, the president of the I. W. W., was found out to be die worst kind of man to be placed at the head of any labor organization, much less of one such as the I. W. W. was originally designed to be. The financial reports showed him to have exploited the organization shamefully. This preci- ous president cost the young organization in one year nigh seven thousand dollars in salary, mileage, and incidentals. Sherman, who had called himself a 'revolutionist at the first convention (though he never was one), later changed his con- victions (though he never really had any). He had been with a stock company for some years, playing the part of a villain, and his histrionic abilities had stood him in good stead at the first convention of the I. W. W. — it was all acted. Besides, so far as he was concerned the revolution was accomplished, and he enjoyed the fruits thereof; as for other humans — well, they could wait a few centuries or so. The Socialist Partyites who were bent upon causing a split in the I. W. W. told Sherman that "millions of workers" would join the organization if De Leon and the De Leonites were removed. Sherman nursed the fond hope of seeing these mil- lions of members come in and send in the per capita tax by freight to the headquarters on W. Madison street Fate willed it otherwise, however. Instead of removing the De Leonites, the office of president was abolished by the convention. This vras sufficient cause for Sherman and those who used him to repeat the kangaroo act of the disturbers in the Socialist Labor Party in 1899. The whole scheme to side- track the I. W. W. was frustrated for the time being by the revolutionary majority at the second convention. Beaten upon the floor of the convention the reactionists resorted to physical force methods. They did not themselves do any slugging, but WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 123 kltoi priTate detectives, Termin with which the city of Cht- ezf ts infested, to do the slugging for them. Attempt to Split Unsuccestfui Skerman, Mahoaey and McCabe took possession in that iiia«ner of the headquarters and proclaimed themselves to be the I. W. W. They also took the cash on hand, as well as all supplies. A Socialist Party man, Hanneman of New York, was made "secretary" of the usurpers. Sherman of course re- mained "president." A few locals stayed with him; his "or- ganization," to be sure, had not a single De Leonite in it to keep out the millions that were to join. The millions did not join, and the few locals soon stopped paying their per capita tax. The miles upon miles of freight trains'^running into the various railroad yards of Chicago still kept oil running undiminished in number, but nary a one was directed to 148 W. Madison street, filled with dollars, half dol- lars, quarters, dimes, nickels, or even coppers, and "President" Sherman waited in vain. On the other hand, the I. W. W., cleansed of the Sherman gang, again made headway. Though the new administration was left without as much as a postage stamp in funds or sup- plies, money was soon gathered, a new headquarters fitted out in Bush Tem^ple, and the work of organization continued. Trautmann retained his post aa secretary-treasurer; St. John was elected general organizer; and Edwards became the editor of the Industrial Union Bulletin, the weekly then started by the I. W. W. To all industrial unionists who were rightly informed upon what took place in Chicago at the second I. W. W. convention it was clear that the cause of the fight was the attempt on the part of reactionists to disrupt the I. W. W. There were never- theless many who were misinformed by the false reports of Socialist Party privately-owned papers which were secretly part of the disrupting elements. That De Leon was blamed for what tfaey called "the split" goes without saying. These very papers, that had hardly mentioned the I. W. W. before. 124 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. gave much space to the "Sherman faction" now, with the ill- concealed wish to kill both "factions." The Sherman clique soon petered out. But a serious blow was dealt the I. W. W. from which it never wholly recovered. That De Leon was to be blamed for the "split" at the sec- ond I. W. W. convention, was a foregone conclusion, and no doubt a part of the scheme of those who engineered that "split." It was comparatively easy to blame De Leon among the super- ficial readers of the Socialist Pairty papers, who were only too willing to believe anything wicked about De Leon. De Leon Blamed by His Enemies Surely, it chine factory in Elizabethport, N. J. It would pay better and one would not need to get his hands dirty with oil and grease; not to speak of the opportunities to show one's intellec- tual accomplishments, as, for instance, to demonstrate how a person can be a revolutionary Socialist and yet iremain a good and pious son of Mother Church. Justus Ebert, who had been De Leon's assistant editor of the Daily People for a few years, wanted to become the editor- in-chief just because De Leon's intellectual superiority became galling to him. At such a critical period when more than ever the party membership needed to draw closer, these three fellows worked up a feeling of distrust among the party membership, and again some good workers for the S. L. P. principles were led astray. It was the last conspiracy De Leon bad to combat in the party. WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 127 De Leon Burdened by Controversy In 1907 De Leon went on a lecture tour from coast to coast, enduring many hardships, which, in addition to the con- vulsions that the Socialist Labor Party was subjected to by the intrigues of the three would-ibe editors of the Daily People — Bohn, Connolly and Ebert — weighed heavily upon him. The following part of a letter written by De Leon to the N. E. C. Sub-'Committee shows how he felt at that time: "Los Angeles, Cal., "March 29, 19i7. "Wm. Teichlauf, Sec'y "Dear Comrade: "Your communication reached me at Ogden, Utah, on the 19th inst., where I arrived tired in body and preoccupied in mind. I was tired in body from a four days' trying railroad travel from Denver, broken up by frequent freight wrecks which delayed my journey; from two consecutive nights' sleep- ing on the train, and able to board the train, one night not be- fore 1.30 a . m., the second as late as 2.30 a. m.; from being ashore — in Cripple Creek, Florence, and Grand Junction — either addressing mieetings, or, up to the late (early) hours of boarding the trains, in 'constant conference with friends and party members, whom it was necessary to confer with; finally, from the culminating trial of physical endurance experienced in Salt Lake, where my train reached ten (hours later than schedule time, and half an hour after the hour announced for the meeting, where, due to this delay, I had to be driven straight to the meeting, and, due to the dining car having been removed at noon, I had to speak upon a ten hours' fast; finally, where I had to address three meetings within twenty-four hours. I arrived in Ogden preoccupied in mind because, from information received at the ticket office in Salt Lake, there was a washout on the Salt Lake, San Pedro and Los Angeles road, thereby rendering doubtful my being able to take, from Rhyo- Ike, the train for Los Angeles at Los Vegas— a contingency, which, had it proved actual, meant the smash-up of the Los Angeles arrangements, besides heavily increased railroad ex- penses to reach Los Angeles by the wide detour of back to 128 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. Hazeii, Nev., and down again over Sacramento so as to save whatever could be saved of the Los Angeles meetings. In this state ot body and mind I received your letter asking for aa early answer. "Of course, you could not foresee tiiis aggravating con- spiraicy.of circumstances. Nevertheless, it does seem to me that your Committee should have realized that — even under the least adverse circumstances — a party member who, though not a broken down octogenarian, is no longer a spring chicken, sent out on so long a journey and so arduous a party mission as I am sent out upon, should be kept as free as possible from an- noyance, all the more seeing that not a question you ask but has been amply answered in advance both by my letter to the Neiw Jersey party man wiho demanded from me an explanation of the conduct imputed to»me by Connolly (Daily People, Feb. 8th), and by my reply to Connolly's attempted answer (Daily People, March llth), 13 days and 3 days, respectively, before the date of your letter. "In view of this I concluded to give the right of way to the work upon which I was sent, and postpone answering your letter to the earliest convenience to the party's interests. "As I said, you had in your possession an ample answer when you wrote tQ me; nevertheless, never forgetting that dis- courtesy breeds bad blood, I shall avoid seeming discourteous, and now yield to your wishes." Dp Leon then answered the N. E. C. Sub-Committee in New York which allowed itself to be misled by Bohn and Con- nolly. The following is a synopsis of the ConnoUy-Bohn mat- ter. De Leon refused publication to certain articles in the Daily People which emanated from Connolly. Instead of availing himself of the opportunity to seek constitutional redress and appeal against the action of the editor, Connolly, as member of the National Executive Committee, tried a sleight of hand per- formance, by moving at the January, 1907, National Executive Committee session that the N. E. C. Sub-Coimmittee should have the right to decide whether certain kinds of matter should or sii^ould not.be printed in the ccrfumns of the official organ. ^k naotioa defeated, he claimed afterward that the defeated WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 129 motion made by him was to clothe the National Executive Committee with such power. The National Executive Com- mittee, being the highest executive body in the Socialist Labor Party, always had such power and it would have been prepos- terous to take such a vote. Trickery of Frank Bohn Any old trick is good enough so long as it serves its pur- pose, so Connolly, ably seconded by Bohn, set forth the claim that the National Executive Committee mem'bers of the So- cialist Labor Party had voted down a motion giving them power over those of the editor, that they were manikins of the "pope," De Leon. It was not until almost a year afterward that Paul Aug^ustine, who, having succeeded Bohn as National Sec- retary, had been in office for several months and had put in order all party documents which under Bohn's administration were lying loose in a harum-skarum condition about the office, discovered th« trick that had been played. Augustine found the original motion as written by the recording secretary of the Sub-Committee, and found that it had been falsely tran- scribed by Bohn so as to read, by leaving out the word "Sub," "to empower the N. E. C, etc." The motion as originally written was photographed and electrotyped and reproduced in the columns of the Daily Peo- ple. Bohn was charged with having thus falsified the N. E. C. minutes; he was challenged to refute the charge; he could not. Before facts in this case were fully known by the party mem- bership, Connolly, as a delegate to the New Jersey state con- vention of the Socialist Labor Party, made, together with Pat- rick Quinlan, the false allegation as stated above. The part of De Leon's letter quoted related to this Connolly matter. Before dropping the three former members of the Social- ist Labor Party, Bohn, Connolly and Ebert, let it be told what became of them, which better than anything else will show "who's who and why." Bohn's chief argument against De Leon was that the Daily People was not edited in an up-to-date, twentieth century man- ner, that the absolutely correct principles of the Socialist La- bor Party must be carried to the membership of the Socialist 13» WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. Party not in long editorials, but in short terse paragraphs such as only Bohn could write. Bohn demonstrated his inimitable style of converting S. P. members to the absolutely correct S. L. P. position by joining the organization he claimed he knew the art to convert, and in the end advocated the using of lead pipe as a means of working class emancipation. Connolly actually did become an editor, but as he could not be the editor of the Daily People he did as the sinner who was refused admission in heaven and was not wanted in hell, who got himself a bundle of straw and started a place for him- self. Connolly became the editor-in-chief of The Harp, a sheet published by the Irish Socialist Federation, an organization composed of James Connolly principally, if not altogether. Justus Ebert, however, the last of the aspirants to the editorship of the Daily People, the man who blamed De Leon for having gone too far with the Anarchists at the first I. W. W. convention, went over to the Anarchist I. W. W. himself, body, soul, and breeches. Third Convention of I. W. W. iJpon his return from the lecture tour De Leon sailed to Europe to attend the International Socialist Congress held at Stuttgart, Germany. F. W. Heslewood represented the I. W. W. at this congress. De Leon made strenuous efforts to en- lighten the European comrades upon American conditions and ihe new industrial union movement. All delegates to the Con- gress were supplied with I. W. W. literature. Heslewood car- ried with him some striking proof of the pro-capitalist charac- ter of the American Federation of Labor, such as copies of a journal published by the Civic Federation in which there was a double-page picture of this Federation in session, showing Gompers, John Mitchell, and other officials of the A. F. of L. sitting alongside of the leading American capitalists like the founder of the Civic Federation, Marcus Hanna, and church dignitaries like Archbishop Ireland, discussing how to estab- lish permanent peace between Brother Labor and Brother Cap- ital. As soon as De Leon returned to New York from Europe, without having much time to spend with his family, he went WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 131 to Chicago to attend the third convention of the I. W. W. At the third conventian of the I. W. W., irhich opened it« sessions oa. Sept 17, 1907, in Chicago, almost complete har- mony ptevaikd. The organization had so far recuperated from the blow it had received the year before that several organiz- ers were being employed and many new locals bad heen form- ed. A big strike had 'been conducted by the I. W. W. in Bridgeport, Conn., and some smaller strikes among the silk workers in Faterson, N. J. The Paterson locals alone had sent during that year (Sept. 1906 to Sept. 1907) $3,500 in per capita tax to general headquarters. Out of the 130 votes apportioned among all delegates at the third convention according to the number of members they represented, three Paterson delegates were accorded 28 votes. Among these there was the Anarchist, Ludovico Cam- inita, editor of the Italian Anarchist paper. La Questione So- ciale, the sheet which was later suppressed 'by Roosevelt for publishing alleged incendiary articles which were written by Caminita. The other two delegates were Chas. Trainor and myself. Caminita did not try to conceal his Anarchist notions behind innocently sounding names. There were, however, three or four fellows at that covention who had the same ideas, as Caminita, but who indignantly resented being called Anarchists. They were Foote of Kansas City, Axelson of Minneapolis, and Glover of Cleveland. These men, together with Caminita, sounded the only note of discord at the third cojivention. They were the shadow cast before by the pure and simple physical force craze that came into full swing a year after. The motion made by these forerunners of tbe "Bum- mery" was to strike out of the preamble to the iconstitutioa of the I. W. W. the words "on the political field." De Leon's Speech For Political Action In answer to the arguments put forth at the convention by Caminita and Axelson, De Leon took the floor. His speech, taken from the stenographic ireport of that convention, fol- lows here in full: ^'I was delighted that the discussion was not closed. I know 132 . WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. that unless we settle this thing now and for all time, planting ourselves squarely with both feet and without any quibbling of terms upon what experience tells us is the field of civiliza- tion, then indeed this body would have gone to pieces, and that is quite the reverse of the manner in which it was sug- gested by one of the delegates. "I am delighted that the leading objectors were given twice the time, that is to say, they were allowed to speak twi'ce, so there would be no question about gag law Or that they were not given an aimple opportunity to be heard. "There are two principles underlying their position. One a principle that I thoroughly sympathize with, and another a principle that is utterly mistaken. Before taking up those principles, however, and so as to lead to them, I wish to take up the incidental errors that cropped out from, their argu- ments. Your name is Axelson (addressing Delegate Axelson). "DEL. AXELSON: Yes, sir; Axelson. "DEL. DE LEON: Axelson, to my great delight, praised Marx, considered him the leading man whose every thought should guide us. Now, Marx did not write the bible, out of which you can take what you like and leave out what you do not like. Marx was a man, as you justly say, who wrote co- herently and consistently, and you will not find in Marx one passage kicking a previous one; therefore he who quotes Marx quotes all that Marx said, and among the things that Marx said was that only the economic organization can set afoot the political movement of labor. "Now, I did not throw over the church in which I was born to stop kneeling before one Pope and then kneel down before another. I am not down on my knees before Marx, but I am on my knees before that talent whose utterances have proved to be correct. Marx is right, not because he is Marx, but Marx is right because experience proves that all he said was correct, and it is passing strange that anyone who quotes Marx should not be an advocate of political action, when Marx was a confirmed foe of that Anarchistic propaganda that has caused so much blood to flow, and he declared himself upon that position which it has been the privilege of American men to be the first to take the position that recognizes the neces- WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 133 sity of political action, and knows that without political ac- tion economic action is not worth shucks; not worth that much. (Snapping fingers.) "Now, I pick out these errors in the hope that I may make some progress in the minds of those who are wedded to them. There is a contradiction, they say, in the preamble, where it talks about the political field and then decides to take and hold without affiliation with any political party, and also or- ders the General Executive Board in the constitution never to engage an organizer from any political party. You call that a contradictipn. Well, if that is a contradiction then whatever is the natural result of existing conditions is a con- tradiction. "The I. W. W. preamble is built upon present conditions and the men who organized the body realized that it would be premature, and it would be throwing the appfe of discord into our ranks, to attach ourselves to any political party. In consequence it was a recognition of existing conditions to or- der the G. £. B. not to engage any organizer of a political party as an organizer for the I. W. W., because by doing so you introduce in advance of time a question that should not now be introduced, and the position of the I. W. W. is that when the day shall come it shall itself project its own politi- cal party. (Applause.) "There, consequently, is no contradiction in . that part of the preamble, but I have endeavored to explain how correct, according to Marx's own principle, it is that you must take and hold without affiliation with any political party. "The error has gone abroad that a political party can take and hold. It is an error because you cannot legislate a rev- olution. A political party cannot do it. The nature of its or- ganization prevents it, and that clause was put in there deliber- ately as a blow in the face to those fellows who imagine that a political movement is capable of a revolutionary act So far and no further. "The brother said what he thought about political action. Now, I care not if the day after the election there is not a vote outside of mine cast, for whatever political party I may cast my vote; I am a revolutionist, and I know the agitation 134 WITH DE LEON SINCE '»9. that I hare made has done good. The delegate said here the capitalists are such diplomats that they are trying to take away the ballot from us so as to make us anxious to get it. Do they try to take your wages away from you to incite your appetite for wages? That is too far fetched. Why should you forget? Fellow Worker Trautmann yesterday read to you from the agreement of the Mine Workers' Union where they were pledged not to take part in legislative action. "Erery man who lives with this eyes open knows that the capitalist class fears the political agitation of the working people. They fear it because if we place ourselves upon that plane of civilization, of a theoretical peaceful solution, we can demand anything we want, whereas if you do not put yoursel- ves on that plane then they can do whatever they choose. The vote is not the essential part. If you strike out that political clause and leave there the clause to take and hold, you place yourselves entirely upon the plane that has come to be known as Anarchist, and then g^ood-bye to the I. W. W. "When I said Anarchist I should perhaps make a correc- tion. I do not believe that he is an Anarchist. I do not be- lieve that the I. W. W. thinks he is an Anarchist (laughter), because the word Anarchist properly means a man who denies literally that there is a head, and we have here a chairman, a head. "Caminita says that if we are strong enough we need not bother with politics. Of course not, that is begging the ques- tion. A child in its mother's womb remains in a bag for a long while, and when the child has grown strong enough it breaks that bag and comes wholly before the earth, before the light, and until the day when he is strong enough to break that bag, that bag fulfills a necessary function — it is a shield under which that child can develop. "It is begging the question to say that we want political action. I come back to this, I refer to the general strike. We want our political reflex on the day that we are strong enough, but we are not quite strong enough for political action now, we need a political shield. "Then the delegate said, 'What do we care if we are call- ed Anarchists?' Wonderful argument I During these twenty WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 135 years I hare keen called all sorts of things. I have bew charged by some with being a Jew and denying it, and by others I hare been charged with not being a Jew and claim- ing to be one. Samuel Gompers charged me with having re- ceived 150,000 from Tom Piatt to set up a daily paper. The gentleman in Denver who originated the term 'coffee and doughnut propaganda/ charged me with having sat at the feet of Sam Gompers at the Briggs House. These are slan- ders. But what would you think of a man thus being slan- dered who says, 'Well, I will hobnob with Tom Piatt and Samuel Gompers?' No, I am not going to give them a han- dle to justify the slander just because it is a slander; I must be careful not to give them a handle to justify it. I have de- nied those charges, and if I were to ihold to that philosophy I will be charged anyhow; why, I could associate with Tom Piatt and with Gompers, and I think they would be very much delighted to see me sitting there. That sort of argument won't do. If a charge is false ag^ainst us we must see to it that that charge lias no hook upon which it can be hung, and failing that, we fail in our duty. "Now, as to the errors tiiat crop out of Caminita's brain. He certainly is perpetrating a joke, or else he is woefully mis- informed. "He said if you keep the political clause in here, then it is a Socialist organization, but if you will strike out the po- litical clause then you will be greeted as an economic or- ganization. Why, that is a brand new discovery. Socialism is the gospel of the labor movement. Socialism says that la- bor produces all wealth, but under the capitalist system of production it is not a human being, it is merchandise, and there is no hope of anybody recruiting his wages, and cap- italism will lead to worse and worse conditions. That is So- cialism, and Socialism says that the emancipation of the work- ing class must be brought about by the collective ownership of the means of production. That is Socialism. "To say that we do not want to be a Socialist organiza- tion is an absurdity. It must be our pride to be a Socialist organization, and to imagine differently is a denial of the best literature upon the subject. 136 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. "He said in France the working class -were winning. That is not my information. I know they get it in the neck day after day. It was only the other day when battalions were called out on the streets of Paris. "He said in Italy they are so strong that any day they like they could start a general strike. Why, my dear sir, I am afraid you slander them without knowing it. If they were strong enough for a general strike, they would be cowards if they did not strike. And by a general strike I understand not simply getting out, but doing something, and the fact that they are not ready is shown by the fact that they are not do- ing it, and it will not do in cases of this solemnity to fritter time away on 'sucb words as that, as they are misleading. "He said if we leave the word political there, we open the doors for the politician. Yes, if we say that alone; but if we strike out the word political and leave physical force alone then we open wide the doors for the agent provocateur, and it is not a thing that is imaginary. It was shown in the Reichstag «f Germany by the documents there that it was a Prussian minister who furnished the Anarchists of Europe with money to get bombs to be exploded in Berlin. It was shown that where an Anarchist had thrown a bontb in France he had two letters, one from Rothschild, the banker, and an- other letter from the Archbishop of Paris. "Two years ago at the I. W. W. convention there was a delegate from Barcelona who was an Anarchist, he told me. I met him in San Francisco in April of this year and I said to him, 'Are you still an Anarchist?' Well, he shook his head. A Spaniard came to the office and brought me some papers from Barcelona and in those papers were documents showing that men who are imprisoned in Barcelona as Anarchists were not the men who had furnished or manufactured the bombs, but they were manufactured by the college of Jesuits in Bar- celona. "Yes, strike out the words, 'take and hold.' Strike out the words tbat indicate the necessity of economic org^aniza- tion, and you have invited the scheming politician; you have invited the man who will logically be elected on suoh a ticket. Do that, and you certainly open the doors to the politician. WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 137 but strike out the words 'political action' in the sense I use them and leave the words 'take and hold,' and then, as it "Was correctly put, instead of the capitalists wishing to hang Hay- wood, they would have banged him by this time, and who knows how many of us would have been on the road to the gallows as well. "Then the delegate asked, 'How do you expect to unite those men who are in the Republican and the Democratic parties into a political party? I would ask him. How do you expect those workmen who are Democrats and Republicans today to unite in an economic organization to overthrow the Democratic and Republican capitalists? The political action is the wedge to get in among those men, it is the wedge that emancipates them from the thrall of political errors, and when all political errors are removed from their mihds, then we have a negative united political action, we af least would stand negatively united upon the political field, and when it comes to that, the man who cannot vote right will do everything else wrong. To imagine that you can leave those men there in that position, that we can leave them there, and try at the same time to organize this body, why, it is the old story of Madam Partington trying to sweep the Atlantic ocean away from her back yard. You cannot do it. "You may unite a Republican and a Democratic working- man in a pure and simple economic organization that stands upon the principle of the brotherhood of capital and labor and says, 'I ought to have more,' but never can you unite Demo- crats and Republicans into an organization that says, 'Ours is the earth and the fullness thereof, and we want the -whole of it' Before you can do that you must emancipate their minds of the political errors, and the political movement necessarily does that work. (Applause.) "He asks what is the difference between the S. P., the S. L. P., and the I. W. W. I will only stop a moment upon that, because the question indicates such a fundamental misconcep- tion of matters. The I. W. W. is built along the lines of in- dustries. A railroad knows no state or county line. That is its constituency. The 1. W. W. organizes the miners wher- ever the vein runs, and there is the constituency, whether if is 1J8 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. in Colorado or in Pennsylvania, or any other state. The I. W. W. organizes the 'Cotton workers, wherever cotton, is raised, regardlessi of geographical or political demarkation, that is the constituency. In other wo,rds, the I. W. W. is or- ganizing the future constituency of the government of the working class. (Applause.) The I. W. W. is establishing that constituency or those constituencies which will elect their delegates, and some day instead of being a convention hurry- ing through its work in one week it will be able, at its leisure, to sit as a 'parliament or congress of the United States. The I. W. W., accordingly, is an association of organized new opinion, the opinion of the proletariat. "The S. P., or the S. L. P., or any other political party cannot do that, because they are organized upon geographical demarkations, and the bricklayer or shoemaker may go with me to. vote at the same ballot-box. A political organization cannot perform a revolutionary act, but a political organiza- tion can carry on a revolutionary propaganda. I can get on the stump and say, 'Vote for the principle that will overthrow the ca-pitalist system. Vote for the principle that will put the railroads and all the capitalist institutions of the land into the hands of the workers. Vote for the principle that the man who does not want to work shall be compelled to starve,' and when I do that I am free, I am safe. But let me say on the stump or elsewhere, 'Let us go and take and hold,' and I will have to go then into rat holes and carry on my propaganda; and keep this in mind, the labor movement is one that takes in the masses, and the masses cannot be addressed in rat holes. The masses have to be addressed in the open, and the sun of twentieth century civilization frowns down upon the man who would propose physical force only and reject abso- lutely the theory of an attempt at a peaceful solution. "As has been well said, the first man who ran away from thisi convention was an Anarchist, Moore. We who are not Anarchists know it, and by the way, I forgot to mention this; it is said that this preamble must be more accurate, more ex- act, that it is ambiguous. It is, is it? You ask Sherman . whether he thought it was ambiguous. You ask McCabe -whether he thought it was ambiguous. You ask all the pure DE LEON'S HOME AT PLEASANTVILLE, N. Y. HE FIRST MOVED TO THIS HOME IN 1913 AND LIVED THERE UNTIL HIS DEATH WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 139 and simple economic crooks and their doubles, the pure and simple ' political crooks, whether the platform was ambiguous. It was so clear that no sooner was it enunciated than all those crooks put their heads together to give us a licking, and we licked them. (Applause.) "Caminita 'said that our platform is revolutionary on pa- per. I want to tell you a joke that Marx cracked on a gentle- man who spoke as Caminita did. Marx said that physical force is the midwife of revolution. Anybody who imag^ines that the ruling class will stand up and peacefully let them do it, is mistaken, but you must exhaust all peaceful means. And Marx said, 'Physical force is the midwife of revolution.' Then an Anarchist arose and said, 'You say physical force is the midwife of revolution. Why, let us take physical force alone.' 'Why,' Marx said to him, 'if that were so, if I want a child all I have to do is to go and get a midwife.' (Laughter and applause.) "Now, then, we were asked what is civilization? Civiliza- tion means that men shall deal with one another as each ex- pects to be dealt with. Civilization means that we shall utilize all the conquests of the human race that have enabled us to do what we are doing here today, talking, although we may disagree, peacefully, without jumping at one another's throat. "The delegate from Indianapolis made use of a remark- able expression, 'Shall we bother with the capitalist ballot?' That is the vein with which I utterly disagree, and I wish now to take up this thing. Caminita said virtually the same thing. "There is no suth thing as the capitalist ballot-box, any more than there is such a thing as the capitalist ballot, or such a thing as capitalist free speech. These are all conquests that the human race has wrung from the clutches of the rul- ing class, and for the same reason that I walk proudly and freely on the highway, and for the same reason that we ad- vocate and exercise free speech, for that same reason we stand by the ballot-box, not that it is the ballot of the capitalist, but it is the ballot of the civilized man^the battlefield where we may go and vote and expect to come out without having our bones broken, and the other fellow's bones broken likewise. 140 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. "The vein with which I agree is this: I am sure these delegates feel to a great extent the way they do, unknown to themselves, because of the corruption that we know has sprung up in all the parties of labor, and Delegate Young's reference to the Anaconda experience I think covered the point suffici- ently; that political movement sprung up; there was no eco- nomic organization back of it. It was a rudderless ship, but to say that because political action leads, as we know it does when it is pure and simple political action and not corrupted, therefore, to go to the other extreme is to forget the experi- ences that we should not forget, "The labor movement began first with the Anarchistic method of physical force, and swung back to the other ex- treme, the pure and simple, and it has been oscillating back and forth until the time when the I. W. W. came, and not un- til the I. W. W. came could that position be established where we have the political action in its right place and the eco- nomic action, the necessary basis which gives its xeflex to the political, necessary to start the political and necessary to make the political triumph a success. "Now, perhaps it is not simply ion us here in America. I apprehend that the circumstance of my birth, having fallen on this side of the waters, is what made me think we had to do it in America. Marx said it was a revolution in the United States that rung the knell of capitalism, and I came to the conclusion that it was so, and during the last three years in the conventions and congresses I have attended, I have come to the conclusion that it is our duty, and that it would be a crime on our part if we neglected the experiences of the past. Europe needs the education that the I. W. W. is imparting to it. Those young men who are growing up in Europe now are the superiors of anything Europe has ever seen, and they look upon the I. W. W. as the angel of light, and they look for America to give in this generation the signal which was given in seventeen hundred and something against feudalism in Europe. "Don't let us strike out that clause 'political action.' Let us, on the contrary, understand what it means and carry that information among the working people. Do not let us yield WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 141 fo the soi»histries of the pure and simple politicians who talk about neutrality toward the labor unions. Let us atand Upon the square-jointed principle which Heslewood, your delegate, and myself advanced before that congress, and although our time was limited, we got, outside of our own two and a half votes, eighteen votes, the majority of the votes of the French delegation and three votes from the Italian deleg^ation. That resolution says that the industrial organization is the embryo, the seed of civilization. "Without political organizations we can do nothing; we can never triumph because we array ourselves for a civil war- fare, and without economic organizations, the day of political triumph would be, today, that of political defeat. Political Socialism in Europe has shown that backward trend; don't let us give a hand to that, by ourselves going back, but let us take a long step forward today, so long that this same ques- tion cannot be brought in here again.'' The motion made at the third convention of- the I. W. W. to strike out the words "on the political field" from the pre- amble was defeated by 113 against 15 votes, not a very en- couraging result for the advocates of "physical force only." The preamble remained as it was framed at the first I. W. W. convention, declaring for both political and industrial action and unity of the working class. Haywood's Deficiency in the Crisis In July, 1907, only a couple of months before the third convention of the I. W. W. opened its sessions, Haywood's trial ended with an acquittal; later Pettibone too was acquitted, and Moyer was set free without trial. Had Haywood remained true to the organization which he was instrumental in launching only two years before and at the first convention of which he had been the presiding of- ficer, he would have attended the third I. W. W. convention even though the Western Federation of Miners was no longer a part of the I. W. W. Instead Haywood was busy in boost- ing the Socialist Party, the very organization that did its ut- most to destroy the I. W. W., its declarations of "neutrality" toward trade unions notwithstanding. 142 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. That the Socialist Party exploited Haywood's popularity goes without saying. Haywood was actually popular then; he became notorious afterward. De Leon had regrarded Hay- wood, as he himself expressed it, as a tower of strength in the labor movement. When the prison doors in Boise, Idaho, opened for Haywood and large numbers of workers turned out wherever Haywood was to appear as speaker; when the true working class instinct asserted itself; when the revolu- tionary spark only needed to be fanned to become a flame, Haywood's speeches were as weak as mush. Haywood only distantly referred to industrial unionism; did not even men- tion the Industrial Workers of the World; the supposed "tower of strength" turned out to be the very opposite — sim- ply a ''moving picture hero" as he was later characterized by a, girl strike leader in the New Jersey silk strike. Petty Intriguing in the I. W. W. Yet, Haywood, or no Haywood, when the third I. W. W. convention had concluded its labors, the delegates were more than hopeful that judging by the progress made during the preceding year, in point of membership, influence, and pres- tige the young organization would forge ahead and that the ailings of infancy were over. This was not the case, however; indeed, "the worst was yet to come." For no sooner had the delegates returned from the third convention than a most malignant "colic" had the I. W. W. in its grip. The germs of this "colic," barely discernible at the third convention, had multiplied rapidly. Wm. E. Trautmann, the general secretary-treasurer; Ed- wards, the editor of the Industrial Union Bulletin; St. John, 4lie general organizer, and most of the members of the Gen- eral Executive Board all showed signs of having turned a somersault, or that they were about to turn one. Trautmann tegan to find fault with the Daily People, by claiming that E. Markley had been using its columns against the I. W. W. A fellow who was Trautmann's right hand man in the office, who answered all correspondence and was the secretary de facto (by appointment of Trautmann) wrote nasty letters about De Leon. This fellow was Otto Justh, a suspended member WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. «3 of the Socialist Labor Party. Edwards published letters in the Bulletin written by Fat Quinlan and James Connolly, wherein the S. T. & L. A. was attacked and De Leon slurred. How careful De Leon was not to arrive at conclusions hastily; how much concerned he was about all that took place in the organisation; how he viewed things after the third con- vention of the I. W. W., and last but not least, under what difficulties De Leon had to perform his work, can be seen from the following letters: Two Letters From De Leon "28 City Hall Place, "New York, Nov. '4, IW. "Rudolph, Katz, "Lancaster, Pa. "Dear Katz: "I return the two letters yon sent me, "As to Trautmann's letter: "His conduct is reprehensible. He does not specify the date of The People containing the alleged objectionable ar- ticle. When I saw in the last Bulletin (Nov. 2) that he says 'Markley is using the Daily People against the I. W. W.,' I hunted up The People from convention days down to date, that is since September. There is no such article to be found. There are three articles from Markley. Not in the remotest way can they be construed to be against the I. W. W., or any of its officers. Just the opposite. "In this letter of his to you, however, I imagine I see a light. Can it be that because of Markley's past bad conduct, therefore Trautmann is of the opinion that any article Mark- ley may write in The People, even if that article be upon 'The Immortality of the Soul,' the mere fatt of his article being accepted is the 'using of The People against the I. W. W.'? Such a notion is so ridiculous that I wish to dismiss it. And I dismiss it all the more readily because I now have reasons to believe that Trautmann's explosive nature is being exploit- ed, and his credulity played upon by a fellow whom I now make free to «all a scamp. That fellow is Otto Justh. "la order to save me trouble in explaining this matter, I 144 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. enclose to you a copy of a letter I received from Justh last Saturday. I immediately sent the original to Trautmann by 'strictly personal' letter, so as to avoid having Justh purloin it. I said, however, to Trautmann that the letter was not personal but official. I asked Trautmann for his opinion on so fishy a letter from his employe, and that justh was trying to inject New York S. L. P. dissensions into I. W. W. corre- ispondence. I also told Trautmann that some of his letters come signed by him (rubber stamip) with O. J. as counter- sign. This Justh was an S. L. P. man until recently. I under- stand he was expelled in Chicago for non-payment of dues, or something to that effect. It is dear he is in (underhandedly) with the Connolly crew. How comes he to drag in Connolly? I called Trautmann's attention to the fact that Connolly's name was not mentioned by me or any other delegate on the floor of the convenion. Now, then, I suspect that Justh has simply lied to Trautmann about Markley; and he, Justh, be- ing now out of the party, is trying dirty work against it. I also suspect that it is through his 'influence' that Connolly's article was published. For all these reasons it will be well for you to insist upon the date of The People justifying Traut- mann's false charges. This matter should not be allowed to rest. Return me the copy of Justh's letter. "As to your letter to Edwards: "It is first rate as far as it goes. You might add the point that, when you complained to Trautmann about Quinlan's let- ter Trautmann said, 'How do we know who Qulnlan is?' It so happens that both Quinlan's' letter and Connolly's article introduced the writers. Quinlan ridiculed 'the editor of The People'; Connolly slurs the S. T. & L. A. If Quinlan had any real point in economics to make, the point could have been made without throwing ridicule, upon me; if Connolly had any real good bit of instruction to convey to the I. W. W. on economics, the thing could have been done without slur- ring the S. T. & L. A. No one will say that the I. W. W. will he promoted by slurring me or the S. T. & L. A. Both Quin- lan and Connolly amply introduced themselves through their slurs. "If anyone has any right to complain, it is The People WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 145 and the S. T. & L. A. element. But we must not play into the hands of mischief-makers. Edwards and Trautmann are do- ing wrong' through inadvertance. I suspect Justh. "Fraternally, "D. De Leon." De Leon's second letter to me on this matter reads: "28 City Hall Place, "New York, Nov. 6, 1907. "Rudolph Katz, "Lancaster, Pa. "Dear Comrade: "I would, under Ordinary circumstances, feel cheap to diS' cover that I failed to send in a letter the enclosures that I promise. It is, ordinarily, a mark of reprehensible negligence. In my instance, it does not make me feel 'cheap, it angers me at the difficulties I have to contend with in this office. I am interrupted constantly. This office is the 'continuation of the street.' The Otto Justh letter goes in now; I also enclose a copy of my letter to Trautmann on that letter of O. J. I did not preserve the copy of the second letter to Trautmann on the subject of his report. Return me the copies. "I also return within the letter to you signed with Traut- mann's stamp, but obviously written by O. J. Your answer, copy of which you sent me, is to the -point. O. J. is hedging. Trautmann's report Teads, 'Markley is using The Daily Peo- ple against the I. W. W.' That is a concrete charge, to be proved or disproved by the articles in question. If the charge is true I am guilty. I should not be caught napping by peo- ple who wish to use The People against the I. W. W. O. J.'s is still vaguer. He speaks of articles which don't conform with facts. This is an attempt to impeach the veracity of the allegations in articles that do not concern the I. W. W. In- sist upon an answer, and upon retraction when the time comes that O. J. can dodge no more. "Since writing to you, two requests have come to me to answer in The Bulletin the misleading article of Connolly's and set things to right. I don't fancy the idea of taking the initiative in the matter, Edwards having exhibited his woeful 146 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. ignorance on economics by publishing such stuff, and also his lack of alertness by allowing such an assault on the S. T. & Lv A. [he surely would not have done so had he been more wide-awake] a spontaneous answer by me might wound his susceptibilities. The best way that occurs to me to proceed is this: Should Edwards answer your letter, and its tone jus- tifies the move, you may reply to him suggesting, in view of the importance of economic clearness and historic accuracy, that he write to me for an answer to Connolly's article, con- firming or combatting and disproving his contention. Ten to one Edwards will have good reason to do this. Ten to one letters will come in on the Connolly article. An unseemly clapperclaw in The Bulletin may be avoided by a stiff article, written academically, yet without mincing matters, and stat- ing the proposition clearly. "Fraternally, "D. De Leo«." FROM 1908 TO DANIEL DE LEON'S DEATH IN J9U Fourth Convention of I. W.W. Packed by "Bum- mery" £lement and De Leon Unseated at Delegate — Unity Movement — Milwaukee Craze — De Leon's Greatness All the efforts of De Leon to preserve harmony in the I. W. W. were unavailing. St. John, Trauttnann, Edwards, and the majority of the five memhers of the General Execu- tive Board turned over night, so to speak, against the funda- mental principles of industrialism as laid down in the I. W. W. preamble. They no longer recognized political action as nec- essary. It was a repetition of the stupid Sherman attempt to get rid of the Socialist Labor Party element and thus find it easier to break into the Socialist Party and its much larger membership, and fish in troubled waters. Once started on the road of inconsistency the "Bummery" stage was soon reached. At a special session of the General Executive Board held in January, 1908, in New York city, De Leon appeared and endeavored to enlighten those who gave signs of being in need of enlightenment. Such examples of wisdom as Trautmann, Williams, and Cole would take no ad- vice' from De Leon; they insinuated that De Leon, not being a member of the General Executive Board, had no right to Step within the sacred precincts of that highest executive as- 148 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. semMy. De Leon was given the floor, but afterward h«» statements, in the published proceedings, were deliberately misquoted by Trautmann. I was accused of the monstrous crime of having consulted De Leon before expressing an opinion as General Executive Board member on certain questions. I did not only consult De Leon but frankly so stated in my official communications to general headquarters. How ridiculous would it not sound today if we should read somewhere in the archives of the early history of the Socialist movement that some official of a German or English trade union had been accused of having consulted Marx on questions then confronting the movement I It sounds equally ridiculous even today, and will sound more so as the years roll by and as deeds of yesterday and today become history, to have been accused of consulting De Leon on questions regarding the labor movement. Woe to the ene- mies of the working class, had the labor union officials all consulted De Leon and acted upon his advice! Nomination of Preston Another Presidential election came in 1908. The Socialist Labor Party held its national convention in New York city. For the first time in the history of political parties there was nominated for President of the United States a man who was accused of murder.. The Socialist Labor Party in convention assembled did nominate as its standard 'bearer a man whom the capitalists of Nevada sought to brand as a murderer. Morrie R. Preston, an. official of the Industrial Workers of the World, in exercising the right to picket, was attacked ty the proprietor of a restaurant the employes of which were out on strike. The proprietor leveled a pistol at Pres- ton; Preston in self-defense drew his gun and laid low the man who wanted to take his life. Class justice, capitalist class justice, declared that Preston was guilty of murder. It was not for any sentimental reason that Preston was picked out by the Socialist Labor Party as its Presidential can- didate; it was to bring before the American working class the question of the right to picket in a strike, and correctly WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 149 did the Socialist Labor Party reason. No picket, no unioa; no union, no Socialist Republic; wherever the right to picket is denied the workers there can be no organization, and with- out an organization on the economic field the capitalists can not be expropriated. Preston was exercising his right to picket; the middle class restaurant keeper was the aggressor. Preston had to defend himself or be killed. No jury in Ne- vada would find a man guilty wh-o had drawn a gun in self- defense — except in a case where a worker stands for his class against capitalist class interests. The nomination of Preston was a bold stroke against class justice, it was a fearless act in behalf of industrial union- ism. Debs was the nominee of the Socialist Party for the Presidency; he still claimed to be an industrial unionist. It was the acid test of Debs's sincerity. Could he as an indus- trial unionist run against another industrial unionist whose liberty was to be taken for his loyalty to the cause of indus- trial unionism? Instead of Debs saving PTcston, Preston saved Debs. Preston, confined in prison (having been sentenced to twenty- five years at hard labor) did not measure up to the occasion. Influenced by his attorneys he did not accept the nomination. Thus the opportunity was lost to make the question of a labor union's right to picket a national issue without demanding such a law as a palliative. August Gillhaus was named as proxy for Preston for President and Donald Muni^o of Vir- ginia for Vice-President. Turning again to the I. W. W., the whole organization was in a state of unrest. The membership, upon discovering that the officials were acting in a manner that foreshadowed an ugly conflict within the organization, withdrew in large numbers. The financial and industrial panic which was then on had also a very bad effect upon the newly founded local unions of the I. W. W., and many of these lost members. The Industrial Union Bulletin was then really no longer the journal of industrial unionism but became the mouthpitee of the men in Chicago who sought to overturn the fundamen- tal principles of the I. W. W. As the time set for the holding of the fourth annual convention drew nearer, the contents ISO WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. and tone of the articles in the Industrial Union Bulletin be- came more and more hostile toward political action in general and toward the Socialist Labor Party in particular, and the inclinations toward Anarchistic methods more pronounced. "Overall Brigade" at 1908 Conveation Finally, it was announced that the "Overall Brigade" was coming in force from the Far West to attend the convention. This "Overall Brigade" was really not what the name would seem to imply, namely, men in their working clothes, but con- sisted of that element that traveled on freight trains from one Western town to the other, holding street meetings that were opened with the song, "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum," and closed with passing the hat, in regular Salvation Army fashion. The "Overall Brigaders," though they traveled in box cars where conductors do not collect fares, were nevertheless upholders of "organized labor" ethics — they would only steal rides on railroad lines that employed union men and would rather walk the ties than "patronize" a scab road. It is safe to say, however, that the directors of such scab railroad lines did not consider a bojrcott by the "Overall Brigaders" a serious blow. While the "Overall Brigade" was on its way to Chicago, Executive Board Member Cole, in a letter published in the Industrial Union Bulletin, dared De Leon to come to the fourth convention of the I. W. W. De Leon did come, the open threat of Cole and the implied threat of the "brigaders" notwithstanding. When De Leon did present his credentials from several New York locals, the very same fellows who had dared him to come closed the doors to him when he arrived. De Leon's seat in the convention was contested and his cre- dentials were rejected on flimsy pretexts. De Leon was g^ven the floor to state his case, and he did state it in his characteristic fashion. The "Overall Brigade" were seated all in a row on one side of the hall, a tough look- flg lot. Vincent St. Jobn was in the chsur, with sinister mien, wielding the gavel and everything else that could be wielded to keep De Leon out of the convention. Alongside of St. John sat Trautmann, not the same fellow at all that be had appear- WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 151 ed to be at the previous conventions; in fact, he too looked as though he had traveled all the way ttom. Seattle by freight !traiii. De Leon's Rebuke to Slummists St John had his physical force well organized to back up bis arguments. De Leon had faced many varieties of antago- nists in the labor movement, and he faced this variety with the same composure and courage born of knowledge and in- tegrity. Such remarks as, "I would lika to get a punch at 'the pope,'" were overheard in the hall among the "Overall Brigaders,*' but not loud enough to reach De Leon's ears. Had not St. John, ably assisted by Heslewood, the day before the convention opened tried his p^ugilistic skill on Deleg^ate Francis? De Leon told ehem whither they were drifting — to slum- tnism, to Anarchy, to the movement's destruction. When, in the course of his remarks, De Leon mentioned the fact that he had been dared to come. Cole, the very one who had his name signed to the letter in the Industrial Union Bulletin containing the "dare," jumped to his feet and demanded proof that such a letter had been published. De Leon opened his satchel, placed it between himself and delegate Chas. Trainor (formerly of the Locomotive Workers of Paterson, N. J.), and taking out the copy of the Industrial Union Bulletin con- taining the letter in question, handed the same over to Cole, with the remark: "Here is your letter in cold type. Have you forgotten that you wrote such a letter or was your name placed there without your knowledge and consent? Here I am handing you the copy. I trust you will return it I hope you have not sunk to the level of petty theft." The brigaders were shifting nervously; St. John turned red to his ears; Trautmann got very busy writing. Cole read bis own letter, admitted De Leon had quoted correctly, hand- ed back the copy and sat down. De Leon proceeded. The "Overall Brigade" sat in judgment upon Daniel De Leon. St. John was the prosecuting attorney. This man, whom De Leon had befriended and whose life was practically saved by the generosity of Socialist Labor Party women of 152 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. New York who had collected funds to have St. John brought from a hospital in Nevada where he was lying with a kuUet wound in his right wrist and where, as rumors had it, he did not receive proper treatment, and made it possible for him to go to Chicago, — ^this same St. John whom De Leon had once confided in, turned on De Leon with all the viciousness of a Western desperado. St. John, one of those characters described by a magazine writer, who can act as a bouncer in a bar-room, salt a mane, or deliver a sermon or a lecture, charged De Leon with not understanding the proper form of industrial unionism, and with being a member of the Office Workers' Local when he should have 1>een a member of the Printing Workers' Local, of which only a branch (linotype operators) was organized in New York. De Leon was not seated as a delegate upon this flimsy technical pretext. A sufficient number of other delegates were not seated under other preposterous pretexts as to give the "Overall Brigaders" full control of the convention. It was all the work of a miniature steam-roller such as is' frequently used at the conventions of capitalist political parties. Being in possession of all the books of the organization it was an easy matter to disqualify delegates that were not wanted by setting up the claim that the locals which they represented were in bad Standing, and seat all those who were wanted. How many of the delegates who were seated represented mixed locals ex- isting merely on paper, only those in possession of the books could know, namely, the general officers, , Trautmann and St. John. They guarded that secret well. Chas. Trainor and I visited De Leon in his hotel before his return to New York. De Leon was in as good a humor as I ever saw him, the action of the packed convention not- withstanding. His faith in the working class and its awaken- ing was unshaken. What he predicted then, subsequent events have proved, that the manufactured majority and the element it represented would seek to drag down the name of the I. W. W. into the gutter of slummism and make it synonymous 'with Anarchy. WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 133 Political Action Repudiated When, by unseating duly elected delegates^ St John be- came supreme commander of the "Brigaders," the preamble was changed and political action repudiated. At this conven- tion no stenographic report was taken, and this circumstance ^ve the St. John clique the opportunity to set up all sorts of. ridiculous claims as to what had taken place at the conven-: tion. In the Industrial Union Bulletin of Oct. 10, 1908, there appeared what purported to be the speeches of De Leon arnd St. John relative to tihe argument on De Leon's credentials. It was Trautmann's "shorthand" report, styled "The Intellec- tual against the Worker; Extracts from Arguments Made by Daniel De Leon," and "The Worker against the Intellectual; Extracts from St. John's Arguments against Daniel De Leon." A reader of these "extracts," ihowever, who would not have known who De Leon and St. John were, would most likely have concluded that St. John was the "intellectual," for the representation in the "extracts" of what De Leon had W eay was the basest kind of misrepresentation that only a Trautmann could have the audacity to put on paper. j After these happenings in Chicago the district councils of New York and Paterson, together with a number of local unions, called a conference of I. W. W. organizations which was held in Paterson, N. J., on Nov. 1, 1908. The delegates, to that conference declared that the doings of the majority, of the former general officers had placed them outside of the. I. W. W. The conference decided to estabKsh new headquar- ters in New York city, and elected a general secretary and a general executive board to serve until a regular convention could be held. The acts of tiie conference were endorsed by all locals there represented. The pirates in Chicago were repudiated' by *he I. W. W. organizations generally, as shown by the fact that of the entire membership that voted on the referendum issued by the 'Trautmann-St. John Administration," the high- est vote cast on any subject was 970, and only three issues of ' the Industrial Union Bulletin appeared after that packed "convention" had done its deadly work, 154 WITH DE LEON SINCE '«9. Too Much Talk of Unity The Socialist Labor Party vote io the Presidential elec- tion of 19118 was an)rthing but encouraging; it had dropped to 14,237. This was due partly to the enactment of laws in some of the states making it extremely difficult for small po- litical parties to file nominating petitions, so that in smne of these states where the Socialist Labor Party had previously had a ticket in the field no Presidential electors were nom- inated in 190S. The main cause, however, for failure to notninate Presi- dential electors in various states and foir lack of vigorous agri- tation generally must be ascribed to too much unity talk. The resolution on unity adopted at the Amsterdam and Stuttgart International Congresses and voted for by the Socialist Party delegates from America; the unity conferences held in vari- ous states between Socialist Labor Party and Socialist Party representatives, created a feeling of uncertainty among So- cialist Labor Party adherents. As in all of their dealings the Socialist Labor Party mem- bership and officials were honest and upright, so they were on the question of unity. When the International Congress had adopted the resolutions urging the unification of Socialist forces in countries where the movement was split and where more than one party , claimed to be Socialist, the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Labor Party immedi- ately notified the National Committee of the Socialist Party that the S. L. P. was ready to abide by the decision of the In- ternational Congress. The National Committee of the Social- ist Party, always playing, like Bret Harte's Heathen Chinee, with 24 packs in its wide sleeves, pretended to favor unity. The S. P. had its delegates voting in favor of unity resolu- tions in Europe, but thwarted every effort to unite the Social- ist forces at home. The request of the Socialist Labor Party that a committee of each party meet to discuss a basis for unity was hypocritically rejected, without, however, the quet- tioa being put to referendum vote of the membership. The three years intervening between the International Congress held in 1907 at Stuttgart and the one held in 1910 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. !« at Copenhagen were taken up with unity talk, among growps of individuals from both parties. A good many Socialist Par- tir Members, a few locals and even a whole state organization sought to bring the matter before the whole membership of the Socialist Party, but without success. The Socialist Party officialdom would not have it. They had trouble enough as it was, mending political fences, preparing catch-penny schemes, and adding additional quantities of sugar and water to their already much diluted "Socialism." Men with S. L. P. training would only be in their way. It is, after all, contrary to the laws of nature and a very unthankful job to try to unite fire and water. Nevertheless the Socialist Labor Party with all its integ- rity was seeking to carry into effect the unity proposition of the International Congress. The least the party expected was that the double-dealing of the Socialist Party would be cen- sured severely by the Copenhagen Congress. Up to the time of the Copenhagen Congress much of the Socialist Labor Par- ty's activity and zeal was lost. The unity proposals became lightning rods down which the S. L. P. bolts were conducted, which otherwise might have done a good deal of daimage to the S. P. structure. This no doubt was the most important factor that reduced the voting strength of the Socialist Labor Party in 1908. None other than the Socialist Labor Party could have withstood so severe a reverse. It withstood the setback in pMnt of its reduced voting strength, quickly recuperating; in 1910 the vote again reached nearly 30,000. This, too, at the time wlien the city of Milwaukee wras carried by the Socialist Party by electing Emil Seidel mayor in the spring elections and sending Victor L. Berger to Congress in the fall elections of the same year. Failure to Oust De Leon From I. S. B. The Socialist Party went Milwaukee-crazy at that time. Its soap-box orators, like howling dervishes, were shouting, "Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Milwaukee; in Milwaukee; at Milwau- kee; to Milwaukee; as Milwaukee; like Milwaukee; Milwau- kee, Milwaukee"; "Oh! You Milwaukee." The "Milwaukee 156 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. Idea" of opportunism and nonsense was to spread through- out the United States, and then, woe to all capitalists — Mor- gan, Schwab, Carnegie, Hill, Rockefeller trembled at the very- thought of the triumphant Socialist Party buying them out! De Leon attended the Copenhagen International Con- gress. Messrs. Berger and Hillquit were there, too. There was an attempt made by Hillquit to have De Leon removed from the International Bureau. First . Hillquit maneuvered •the Congress into deciding that the number of votes the So- cialist Labor Party should be allotted be reduced to one, which was comparatively easily accomplished, as the S. L. P. vote had been only 14,000 in the preceeding election. Then Hillquit moved that only such parties should have a repre- sentative in the Bureau that had at least three votes in the Congress. This petty scheme the Congress rejected, for while the European Socialists were not abreast of De Leon in his revolutionary attitude, they were not men who would indulge in common trickery. De Leon retained his seat in the Inter- national Socialist Bureau. The "Milwaukee Idea" craze reached its climax when in the Congressional elections of 1910 Victor L. Berger, the foremost advocate of that "Idea" was elected to Congress. All that was necessary to elect Socialist Party candidates to all local, state and national offices, was to emulate Bergcr's methods. The S. P. men certainly tried hard, and it was not their fault that they failed to accomplish what Berger suc- ceeded in accomplishing. The Socialist Party candidates for public office outdid Berger and his "Milwaukee Idea" a hun- dred fold. The larger the salary attached to the office for which they were the running candidates, the more pronounced were they in the advocacy of opportunism. De Leon had entertained hopes that Berger might some day realize, realize before it was too late, that the road of op- portunism leads to reaction instead of progress. De Leon credited ' Berger with being more of a Socialist and a man of more ability and at least willingness to learn, than many of the S. P. celebrities, until he met Berger at the Copenhagen Congress. While at Copenhagen Berger on one occasion (during sessions of the Bureau, as De Leon himself told tne) WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 157 came around where De Leon was sitting, eager to engage De Leon in conversation. With the familiarity of the ward heeler, Berger said: "Comrade De Leon, why don't you come over and join our party?" When De Leon met Berger personally he abandoned his hopes and sized him up to be a typical poli- tician whose mental vision was limited to the border lines of the county or district where he might be running for office. Karl Liebknecht in the United States In 1910 the Socialist Party engaged the eminent German Socialist, Dr. Karl Liebknecht, for a lecture tour throughout the United States — a very clever move on the part of that party, a move that was to give the Socialist Labor Party its death blow, for such must have been the real motive of in- viting Karl Liebknecht There is hardly another prominent lecturer in the Social Democratic Party of Germany who has less in common with the Socialist Party opportunist stand than Liebknecht. Yet Liebknecht, the leader of the revolutionary wing of the Ger- man Socialist moveiment, was brought over to lecture for the Socialist Party here and thus appeal to the revolutionary, ele- ment developing in its own midst, just as Legien, the leader of the German trade unions was brought over later to show to Samuel Gompers how truly conservative Socialists are, and thus win the good will of Gompers and his followers. Liebknecht did not realize that his good name was being used for a bad purpose. De Leon vainly sought to meet Lieb- knecht upon his arrival in New York, but did finally meet him at Newark, N. J., not without having first to overcome some obstacles laid in the way of a meeting between them by the Socialist Partjrites, who were evidently much alarmed lest De Leon should spoil their vote-catching scheme. 'Liebknecht placed too much importance upon mere num- bers. He lectured for the Socialist Party. Socialist Labor Party men, however, attended the Liebknecht meetings every- iriiere and used the opportunity offered for the distribution •f Socialist Labor Party literature, never forgetting to hand % few copies to Liebknecht himself. Tbat Liebknecht did place too much importance upon 158 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. numerical strength I have positive proof of. I was at tke time on an agitation tour and happened to be in St. Paul, Minn., when Liebknecht arrived there to deliver his lecture. I in- tended to ask Liebknecht a couple of questions relative to his revolutionary position and Socialist Party "revisionism," and made my intentions known to Socialist Party members in St. Paul and Minneapolis with whom I had had many tilts during my stay there and previous to the arrival of Liebknecht. I never asked these questions, however, for no sooner had Lieb- knecht concluded his lecture than a singing society closed the meeting with the usual "Tendenz-Lieder." Liebknecht impressed me as a true revolutionist, more by his manner of speech than by w^hat he said. There were no attempts to reach heights of eloquence, no affectation or stage-strutting. Not having the chance to ask a question publicly, I tried to have my question answered after the meeting was over. In company with several other S. L. P. members I introduced myself to Liebknecht, but the S. P.ites formed a cordon around Liebknecht and I did not get further than the introduction. Comrade Wm. McCue, a tall and broad-shouldered man, el- bowed his way to Liebknecht in spite of the ring of "kan- garoos," and laying his hand on Liebknecht's shoulder, said: "Dr. Liebknecht, what do you think of the Socialist Labor Party?" Liebknecht, sizing up the tall questioner, replied with a smile: "Oh, you are all right, but you should join the bigger party. Now the S. P. is the bigger party. I spoke with Com- rade De Leon three hours in Newark. Oh, you are all right, but you should join the bigger party.'' In coming to St. Paul Liebknecht had passed through Milwaukee. Evidently the numbers had affected him some- what. Five years after, we find Liebknecht battling, be it said to his honor, almost single-handed against the "bigger -party" in Germany, while the policy that sacrificed revolu- tionary principles to mere numbers finds the working class shedding its blood in the bloodiest of all wars, with the saac- tion and approval of the "bigger parties." The warning De Leon had uttered at the congresses of ■DANIEL DE LEON 1912 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 159 the International and that was not heeded was later written on the hills and plains of Europe in the blood and tears of the working class. The "bigger party" in Germany sanctioned the "defense of the Fatherland" by voting billions, for the continuation of the slaughter, and — 'Oh irony of fate! — "the bigger party" also sought to read the revolutionist, Karl Liebknecht, out of its organization. In a series of brilliant editorials entitled "Berger's Hit and Misses," De Leon paid his respects to "the first Socialist Congressman," Victor L. Berger. These articles, which were published subsequently in pamphlet form, again gave evidence of De Leon's straightforwardness toward friend or foe. It was not a question with De Leon whether Berger was a mem- ber of the Socialist Party; he would have criticized a mem- ber of the Socialist Labor Party who would not have squared with correct Socialist principles — if anything, even more se- verely than he criticized the acts of Berger that were contrary to the proper conduct of the first Socialist in Congress, and he would not have bestowed as much praise on an S. L. P. member for any act that did measure up to the standard of a revolutionist as he did upon Berger. One important incident in the class struggle illuminated vividly, although for a short period, the absolutely correct po- sition of De Leon and what came to be known as "De Leon- ism." That incident in the class struggle was the strike of silk workers in 1911-1912 that started in Paterson, N. J., and which spread through many cities in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. A Big Strike on "Dc Leonistic" Lines The strike was conducted by the Industrial Workers of the World, with headquarters at Detroit, Mich., the organiza- tion that had repudiated the Anarchist I. W. W., with head- quarters at Chicago. This true industrial union became known as the Detroit I. W. W.; it some years later (1915) changed its name to the Workers' International Industrial Union. The silk workers in Paterson, becoming tired of A. F. of L. pro-capitalist tendencies, joined the Detroit I. W. W. en masse. The silk workers in Hudson County, Flainfield, Sum- 160 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. wit, Phillipsburg, N. J., in New York, in Easton and Allen- town, Pa., foliowed. Thousands of other textile workers joined the Detroit I. W. W. in Passaic, N. J. This strike movement was conducted differently from the manner in which any other organization "runs" strikes. The opportunity of speaking to thousands of wage workers en- gaged in a struggle for better conditions was utilized to im- part to them class consciousness, to enlighten them upon the goal of the Socialist movement It was not the old story dished out by the old as well as the new type of "strike lead- er": "Boys, stick together and you will win," or, "Beat up tfee scab," etc. The workers were told what they could ex- pect while capitalism lasts; they were told in plain words that the workers produce all wealth and are entitled to all they produce, but that nothing can be gained unless it is gained through solidarity, through united intelligent action on both the political and the industrial fields. Fifty speakers of the Detroit I. W. W. were on the strike scene; Herman Richter, the general secretary was among . them. Arthur E. Reimer, Caleb Harrison, Frank Young, Au- gust Gillhaus, Robert McLure, Olive M. Johnson, Margaret Hilliard, Edmund Seidel, M. Angelevski, Boris Reinstein, and many others used their best endeavors and worked overtime to enlighten, encourage, and organize. A number of young peo- ple, the sons and daughters of New York comrades, came to Paterson to help in doing clerical work; thousands of m,em- bership books had to be issued for which men, women, and boys and girls who had joined the organization clamored, and which could not be made out as fast as applicants for mem- bership . demanded them, for in those days nothing was so cherished as a membership card of the Detroit I. W. W. S. p. and Bummery Treason But the hand of treason once more destroyed the newlr built organization, which at its very birth was thus not only un(^er the fire of the common enemy, the capitalist class, but was attacked from all sides. The fear of the Socialist Party- ites on the one hand that a strike conducted by men most o£ whom were clear-cut S. L. P. members would not increase the WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 161 S. P. vote, and of the Anarchist I. W. Wates on the otiier band, who feared to lose their much-sought-for notoriety, the A. F. of L., and all the rest of dark reaction all militated against the Detroit I. W. W. In the midst of the strike William D. Haywood was brought to Paterson and Passaic; the direct action S. P.ites as well as their anti-direct action comrades sided in with Hay- wood, and the apple of discord was thrown among the strikers. Suffice it to say that the textile workers' strike of 1911-1912 clearly demonstrated that the working class will eventually organize as the workers did then and, ripened by experience, will not be an easy prey to treason and deceit. De Leon had no illusions about the outcome, when I spoke to him at the inception of the strike. He pointed out the numerous enemies the organization had to combat. I ar- gued that the workers in Paterson had had enough experience and could not be fooled so easily. While the strike lasted De Leon g^ve it the support it deserved and the Daily People was the only English paper outside of the official organ of the Detroit I. W. W., the Industrial Union News, that reported all the strike happenings from the strikers' viewpoint. The New York Call, of course, supported the other side. On May 31, 1912, the notorious Recorder Carroll, of Pat- erson, pronounced a sentence of six months in jail upon me for alleged loitering in front of the Reinhardt silk mill where I was doing picket duty that morning. I was confined in the Passaic County jail until Aug. 12, and had thus to spend the summer under most unpleasant conditions. The worst feature of jail life is the regulation that com- pels the inmates to retire each to his cell at a very early hour. At half past five p. m. the bell rang the signal for the prison- ers to be put under double lock in the long row of cells. The only thing that comes near to jail life in my experience is a steerage trip on an old-fashioned steamer across the Atlantic. One is sure to get sea sick in both of these places. The most abominable feature is the filth and vermin with which the walls, ceilings and floors of the very small, dark cells are filled. It often occurred to me how well such a place could be 162 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. compared witb the capitalist system, inasmuch as neither can be kept clean or reformed because of the very manner of its construction, even when attempts at cleanliness are actually and honestly made. There are bound to be more ills of all sorts, more things to be reformed, under capitalism, than there are reformers; so the vermin in one cell exceeds in numbers the citizens of a populous city or the membership of a reform party. The comparison would also hold good in that it would be as usdess to try to reform the capitalists as it would be to try to reform the bed-bugs. The stone floors of the halls where the prisoners spend the short day are kept scrupulously clean, however. A ▼isitor may easily be deceived, but not if he would stay over night, especially in summer. Both Frank Young (who was sentenced to three months) and I had a good many visitors, with whom we were permit- ted to talk through the bars of a door leading into the main hall. I had the "special privilege" to talk half an hour each day to some representative of the Detroit I.W.W. But each day persons were admitted into the jail hall itself, where they could freely converse with the prisoners. These were persons who had some pull with the sheriff. De Leon's Visit to the Prison One set of people seemed to have more of this privilege than any other; they were clergymen of all denominatioas. A minister of the Gospel had evidently the right above anyone else to come when he liked and go when he pleased. These gentlemen preached and held religious services very frequent- ly. Nothing was allowed to interfere with these services or prayer meetings. One day I was called to the barred door to speak to vis- itors. The visitors were Comrade De Leon and Paul Augus- tine, the then national secretary of the Socialist Labor Party. The very sight of De Leon made me and Yojng forget our tribulations. I asked the guard at the door to let my visitors inside the hall, but he could not break the rule. De Leon turned to the sheriff, who happened to be near, wilfi the re- quest to be permitted to come inside. The sheriff's Httle e.ve» WITH DJE LEON SINCE '89. 163 bHnked at De Leon's features, and the door was opemed. It was my most pleasant half hour in jail. Later I thought that the sheriff was so overawed by De Leon's venerable appearance and his keen searching glance, that he simply for- got to show his authority which he delighted in showing otherwise, as Victor Hugo's great character, Jean Valjean, was impressed by the countei^ance of the good bishop. In fact, I bad a suspicion that the sheriff of Passaic County did indeed take De Leon for a bishop, and that that was w:hy the door opened for De Leon so quickly. A few weeks before De Leon was taken seriously ill I called at the Daily People office. "Comrade De Leon, how is your health?" I inquired. "Never felt better in my life," De Leon answered. He then looked the picture of healtb, robust and strong. The next time I saw him was at the Mt. Sinai Hospital a few days before his death. Daniel De Leon passed away on May 11, 1914. Greatness of Daniel De Leon The greatness of this man will be recognized by the whole world. The members of the Socialist Labor Party have held De Leon in high esteem, but not even the most loyal of his comrades could fully appreciate De Leon's genius. His was a master mind. His band has drawn the strategic ylans that will give the working class the power to destroy the forts of capitalism and rear the structure of the Socialist Republic. De Leon's actions were not prompted by impulse, instinct, whim or policy. The logical deductions of his scientific studies were at all times the determining factors guiding all of his acts. There are perhaps men who possess as much learning as did De Leon, but to be the possessor of knowledge and to give that knowledge acquired by long years of study, to the disinherited class of working men and women is quite a dif- ferent matter. This De Leon did. Not only did he give all his knowledge to the working class, but his whole being as well. He was not only a philosopher but a man of action, taking part in the bitter strife and struggles of the Labor movement. 164 WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. While others used the Labor Movement as a means to gain applause, or an easy life, or both, and trimmed their sails accordingly, De Leon spurned applause and vrealtb at the expense of the progress of the movement. He remained poor ia the things that money can buy, but was as rich as Croesus in being the possessor of an intellect that all the gold in ex- istence can not procure. Was Oe Leon's life a happy one amid the continuous battle against error, prejudice, superstition, reaction, and cor- ruption? Was his life a happy one, with his having to forego many good things and surroundings and companionship con- genial to a man of De Leon's culture? It was. The knowledge of having served in such a great measure the lofty cause of Socialism compensated bim for the lack of other pleasures. His family life was as pure as De Leon's high standard of ethics. The stern, oft-times grim fighter was like a child among his children. I never sought to intrude upon De Leon in his home, but being invited I visited him with my family (about the size of which De Leon knew no end of jokes) in the summer of 1912. The picture then presented will ever remain in my mind — Comrade De Leon, his wife, and children seated about him on that summer evening. Millions of human lives have been destroyed by the rav- ages of war in Europe. Rivers of human blood have been shed, untold misery and suffering created. "Is it possible that to have followed the teachings of one individual could have pre- vented that most horrible butchery the world has ever known?" the well-meaning doubter would ask. Yes, it was the indomitable spirit of a Columbus that would not turn back the vessels which set out to reach land by the western route — one man. Yes, the chart drawn by De Leon's hand will eventually be accepted and followed by the working class. Then all the murderous implements of war will become useless; the enlightened members of the working class, organized in an integral body at the point of produc- tion as well as politically, will raise the banner of Internatioat- al Socialism not only over the parliaments and capitals of the Political States, but also over the supply stations of the cap? WITH DE LEON SINCE '89. 165 italist system, the factories, mills, mines, and end capitalist class rule forever. ' When finally all the struggles of the proletariat, all the defeats and victories will have been recorded in history, the greatness and wortli will be recognized of that One Man — Daniel De Leon. DANIEL DE LEON 1904 IN THE EDITORIAL ROOMS OF THE "DAILY PEOPLE" 2-6 NEW READE STREET, NEW YORK, NOW THE SITE OF THE MUNICIPAL BUILDING: ENGAGED AT THE VERY TIME WRITING HIS REPORT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIALIST CONGRESS HELD THAT YEAR AT AMSTERDAM TO HIS PEN BY CHA8. H. ROSS The bands which held thy comrade's love have burst, And stark thou art in rust-consuming clutch — Bereft, alasl of his caressing touch! Oft have those fingers, pulseless now, immersed Thee in Pierian springs to quench thy thirst. The while thou served faim faithfully and much; Fulfilling all thy tasks in manner such That every line thou traced a cloud dispersed. Se fighting for that age-crushed suffering mass, Thy point pierced myriad bubbles of untruth— The forfeiture, majority's acclaim; — Poured rich reflections on the sensive glass, Which turned awry Reaction's stabbing tooth; — And well-earned trophies crown thy master's nanie< DANIEL DE LEON THE PILOT TO HIS WIDOW By F. B. Guarnier. He tarried for a while at the island of the lotns-eaters, a race of visionaries, and scantily partook of their food, but, stronger than Ulysses's, his mind was not dulled by it, and in the social waters he saw a ship being rigged, and to it he went. He inquired whence it came and for where it was to aet sail. Fore and aft he examined, and he inspected the hull and the beams and the sides and the masts and the, sails, and he put ballast in it and ihelped in trimming its sails, and he saw that it was fitly caulked for the arduous voyage. And he equipped it with a compass lately devised by one Marx, an old sailor, whose theories on social navigation had been spurned in his age and then were beginning to be circulated. And the crew proclaimed their Pilot this man who had so endeared himself to them because he was so wise and yet so unassuming, so human. In the distance, but clearly, he saw a beautiful sky, he saw green and flowery fields, he saw a regenerated race of men, he saw freedom, he saw happiness. And he set sail, hands firmly on the wheel, keen-eyed, alert- ininded. He encountered gales, and the huge billows of that un- known sea did not injure the staunch ship. Once they di- rected its course toward the island of the Cyclopes, but the Pilot discovered that they were one-eyed, and from their un- frce actions he saw that their minds "were crippled. And he did not anchor there. His eye was fixed on the compass, his mind was fixed on the goal, his hands were fixed at the wMeel. And even the winds of Aeolus were powerless to alter the 17» DANIEL DE LEON THE PILOT. movement of the staunch ship, for the Pilot had well drilled his sailors in the manning of the sails. And when the Aegean Isle was near and some of the sailors on the sihip perceived the beauty of Circe's palace, they swam ashore and, satiated of her charms and food, they be- came as swine. And their mind gradually adapted itself to the body. In vain did Sirens sing. The Pilot stood at the wheel, keen-eyed'i alert-minded, and he grinned because some of the crew fell victims to their ravishing music and to their blan* dishments. He saw rocks and he steered the ship clear of them, and he made note of them on his -chart. And the icebergs he en- countered did not cause him apprehension or fear, and the flower of his crew, encouraged by him, did not relinquish their work. « And Scylla thrust forth her beads. Self-seeking, Ignor- ance, Slander, Mutiny, Treason, Confusion, and he slew them, and the whirlpool of anarchic Chary1)dis did not swallow the ship, though many of the crew sought safety and in fear fell overboard or jumped to oblivion. The Pilot diligently watched the compass and steered his wheel. And his crew received inspiration from him, and cries were heard from a few that had left the ship that its course was insane; from a few that the Pilot was a poor navigatar, that the promised land lay in the opposite direction and that he should steer backward. The sea became calmer, the horizon clearer. Some of the people who inhabited islands nearer to the great land thought him a master pilot, for he had dared go so far and they shout- ed encouragement to him. And in some of the islands crept reptiles that hissed defeat. But the Pilot stood at the wheel by night and by day, imparting great knowledge to the crew, solaced by the presence of his life-companion and of his chil- dren, making charts for the safety of future navigators. And he partook of little food that he might not lose sight of the compass. But the work which he had incessantly, so faith-! fully done, began to weigh upon him, and the long vigils ex^ DANIEL DE LEON THE PILOT. 171 hausted him. . And the sight of the approaching island caused his heart to beat faster, weakened his pulse, and the Pilot suc- cumbed at the wheel. But the sea you charted we shall sail, O Pilot! DE LEON— IMMORTAL BY SAM J. FRENCH. "Since last we met, alas," my comrade said, "De Lcom died" Forthwith I challenged: '"Tis not so! De Leon cannot^ did not, will not die." Only mortal things go through the change called death and leave no trace of that which in their forms had previously existed. The stupid bourgeois dies, bemoaning his sad lot as does a bellowing kine foundered in the trackless bog, — and, like unto the kine. sinks into the mire of oblivion, to be forgotten with the passing day. The churl dies, — ^and death ends all for him — is thrown into the ground, less valued than the rooting swine whose carcass would at least make food for living men. The lordling dies, and with much pomp and ceremonial mummery is laid away— and all posterity recks not that he lived. The warrior dies, and, truly in his case, "The path of glory leads but to the grave." The politician dies, and all his cunning tricks and vulgar play at what - he deems great statesmanship, availeth not to make his name immortal; e'en though the fool has had it carved in stone on public edifice or shaft, he is as dead as is the stone itself. The king dies, and if the thing he stands for still survives, some lackey, to another figurehead bows low, and, rising, cries aloud: "Long live the King!" The great financial master dies, and though with pharisaic glee and much pretence, and gifts galore from his ill-gotten gains, he has besought the world to place his name upon the list of those wbo loved mankind, his passing off amounts to m DE LEON^IMMORTAL. simply this: Another worn-out wheel has dropped from tnt the gears that drive the blood-stained car, the great machine we not inaptly name the "Juggernaut of capitalist sway," and been replaced with one more up to date, mayhap with power more intense than his. The professorial toady dies, — the tinsel notoriety he gained, the extra crumbs his masters had bestowed, make up the total sum of his reward; to the truly intellectual, he has gone "back to the vile dust from whence be sprung, — unwept, unhonored and unsung." The priest dies, reluctantly — ^knowing there is no golden terraced city in the skies with diamond studded gates flung open to receive him; leaving behind a man-made hell of brain- emasculating, superstition-fed ignorance and fear, — to have his memory and calling held in contemptuous execration by enlightened generations yet to come. Even the gods die, — as human lore expands — and one by one the very names they bore become mere threads with which to weave new nursery tales for children, or themes to illus- trate the crude beliefs the race accepted while yet its mental status was infantile. Aye, in countless thousands mortal things and things be- got of mortal wants and fears, are chemically changed, or dis- appear, and all goes with them that they were or stood for before the transformation. * • * When all the preaching charlatans of old, and all the sor- did traders of the marts, and all the sturdy fighters of the wars are long forgotten, what names will our posterity revere? Those that were borne by great and noble minds Who gave to us — and, not to us alone, but to all the world: to those who are and those who are to be — new knowledge and grand principles to guide the race upon its upward trend along the ■glorious spiral to the heights toward which they saw we all must needs aspire if we would reach the fitting goal of man. Immortal Marx and Engels; many more in divers lines of effort and of thought; the great discoverers of scientific facts; profound expounders of learning and of truth; colossal minds who sent forth to the world vibrations charged with DE LEON— IMMORTAL. 175 wisdom undefiled, which traveling swiftly down the lanes of time prompt new ideas in the minds of men, the which ia turn igive rise to newer thoughts — progression that forever will gO on while progress is the watchword of the race. From our own little corner of the earth, undying Morgan, Franklin, Lincoln, Paine, great Phillips, worthy Stephens, and withal, like Sirius shining in the star-flecked sky undinr tned by many other sparkling suns, our own De Leon. * • * When most of the contemporary names, those wbo Kave sought for prominence or fame, have passed into oblivion's deepest shade, De Leon's will by all the world be spoken as reverently as that of Marx today. When Castro's clever rule and feats of anns are known no more, men will remember that the great De Leon was of the Venezuelan sun-kissed coast. Though all forget did Spanish men-at-anns or Dutch first rule in fair Curacao's isle, that 'twas the birthplace of this noble mind will be well known to all the world's elect De Leon, who taught to labor's struggling hosts the secret of true tactics for the strife; who charted all the pitfalls in the road, warned what to drop, showed what to cultivate, and, -with unerring genius, found the course we must pursue if we could win the day; Who, when the clouds seemed blackest in the sky of all our hopes and aspirations dear, with keen analysis of passing things soon pointed where the sun would next break through and shine with more effulgence than before; Whose teachings in the maelstrom of today, are more and more being turned to by the wise, — ^impelled thereto by logic of events — ^and, we who know them, fully understand that, shall the destinies of our own class, — and with them of the entire human race — 'be gnided right, they must prevail. That 'twill be so, there is no room to doubt, and yet men say: "Alas, De Leon died!" Ah, no, my friends, I must again repeat: De Leon cannot did not, will not did DANIEL DE LEON —AN ORATION BY CHAiS. H. CORREGAN. [Delivered at the second annual commemoration of De Leon's birthday, held at Laurel Garden, New York City, on Dec. 14, 1916.] Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades and Friends: In this celebration of the natal day of Daniel De Leon, I believe we are taking a page from the calendar of the future and dedicating it to the memory of one who will be consid- ered the foremost exponent of the principles of Socialism in America and of his time. Those who will follow us and will lack the opportunity of seeing and hearing and knowing De Leon which we enjoyed, will look to us for an estimate of his life, his character, and his services, and it is our duty to his memory and to their en- lightenment to utilize these anniversaries in order to convey to them the contemporary estimate of the man, that they may truly weigh and determine his place in the history of the strug- gle waged that they might enjoy freedom and plenty. One who has been honored by an invitation to speak at the institution of such a day, and for such a man, is prone, too often, to intrude his own personality into the picture, or for the sake of rounding a period or turning a phrase to blur the impression which should be given and thus mar the like- ness. I trust that I will not have sinned in that respect. Again, it is many times the practice to enlarge the figure to heroic size, to magnify the services and exaggerate the claims upon the future. It is not my purpose to place our' dead comrade upon a pedestal high above the crowd. Time will give the true perspective of his merits, when we are gone. It is to his greater honor that being thoroughly human and amid the cares and struggles and opportunities and environ- m DANIEL DE LEON— AN ORATION. mcnt, which were common to all his kind he rose far enongh above the level of his time, that future ages will be interested in his work and hold his name and services in remembrance. De Leon was no demi-god from whom it is natural to ex- pect marvelous things. Even Alexander the Great could not survive the fatal cup of Hercules. The very disadvantages under which a great man carries on his work, his foibles and weaknesses, serve to accentuate his superiority and confirm his genius. It is a plain, a true, and an unvarnished story of his life that throws his greatness into bolder relief. We can not rear a monument to his memory that will outlast the blasts of time except on the foundation he has built and with the material he has supplied. De Leon was no writer of Bibles, and he founded no sect. He lacked the dreaminess of the idealist and the pa- tient meekness of the proselyter. He drew none to him by his magnetic personality, he bound none to his side by the loveliness of his character, the honesty and purity of his mo- tives, or the beauty of his language, though he possessed all these endearing and ennobling traits. It was these very qualities that drove men from him. For De Leon was an apostle of Fact. Facts were his ideals, facts alone were honest, facts alone were things of beauty, and facts alone were the things to be worshipped and adored and followed. Idealists disdain facts: their heads are in the clouds, they worship and revere the unseen, the unknown, and the unknowable, and De Leon was for facts, facts, and more facts) for things that were terrestrial, and could be wrestled with, and manhandled, and grasped, and compre- hended by every reasoning being. In bringing a cause to the stature of human development and raising it to the dig- nity of a world-wide movement, this quality of his was indis- pensable and he proceeded on his entrance into the Socialist Labor Party to divest it of its idealism and build on the solid rock of fact. De Leon, above all things, was a teacher. His wide reading, his great learning, and his logical reasoning fitted him well for the task of mentor, guide, philosopher, and friend to a class whose position in capitalist society deprives DANIEL DE LEON— AN ORATION. 179 them of nearly all educational advantages. He had remark- able power of lucid explanation, his aptness of illustration was a marvel of conciseness, and he was adroit in present- ing his case. His keen eye penetrated the obscurity in which capitalist henchmen sought to surround every assumption of right, and once he grasped what was necessary to win, he pursued his course with clear view, fixed purpose, and unfal- tering steps. Not content with tearing to pieces capitalist sophistries, he found the weak spots in the Socialist move- ment and directed his energies to strengthen or eliminate them. There was nothing in the early life or career of De Leon, his associations or training that identified him with the toils, the privations, the aspirations, or the thoughts of the class to whom he afterward devoted his great talents. He was reared and educated amid the surroundings of the well to do, who are instilled with the idea that conditions are every- thing that can be hoped for, or are content to leave well enough alone. But De Leon was a born fighter, and once he grasped the scope of Socialism he entered the lists as its champion with all the joy and ardor of a Spanish cavalier. It was a movement large enough and wide enough and broad enough and high enough to engage his whole soul, his whole thought, his every action, his very life, and he devoted to it his talents and powers, his pen and speech, while life was in his body, and dying left behind him those whose highest ambition is to emulate bis actions and put a period to his work. Upon his entrance into the Socialist Labor Party, after the single tax movement had spent its force, De Leon's ge- nius was quickly recognized and appreciated, and he soon took a leading and at length a commanding position in its conduct. He became editor of its official organ, and from that point of vantage began to mold it into a party which would be able to cope with triumphant capitalism. With him began the history of a real Socialist movement in America, the foremost country of capitalism. The task before him, however, was no common one, for he had to clean house before he could get fairly started. ISO! DANIEL DE LEON— AN ORATION. He found the movement with no fixed purpose, drifting with every wind and tide, without compass or direction. It was a party of fusion, confusion and compro«nise, lacking self-confidence and self-sufficiency, seeking to hide its weak- nesses behind the skirts of every movement, no matter how absurd, that professed to oppose the powers that he. It was a tail for the Greenback-Labor Party and the United Labor Party, and lost its identity as a Socialist movement in each, until the master hand of De Leon plucked it like a brand from the burning and established it as the only political party in America that was thoroughly self-sufficient and could stand alone, refusing compromise and condemning fusion — the undaunted Socialist Labor Party. He gave it a purpose and a goal. He found it a movement in the hands of those, however well meaning, who could not grasp the genius or spirit of American institutions, and who .while conforming in dress and manners to American ideas, still kept their thoughts and language in glazed peaked caps and wooden shoes, pat- terning all things political after European models, and en- deavoring to train the young giant of the West in the strict and narrow school of European tyranny. He found its advocates and teachers speaking and working in fustian, aping and phrasing the shibboleths of bourgeois ideals and concerning themselves with bourgeois reforms and measures; looking for success to the barricades or to a jacquerie, or waiting and watching for a Napoleon or a Christ. He found a movement bowing to everything calling it- self labor, without examining its claims or contesting its right, and indirectly party to the misleadership of the work- ers. He found in its ranks self-seekers, pareerists, those look- ing for advantage or gain at the expense of the movement, and he drove them ignominiously from the Temple of Labor. All this he found, and more, and he set himself to the task of remedying it and pursued it untiringly and unrelent- ingly to completion. Naturally, his greatest opposition came from within the party. Every freak, every faker, every fraud, BANIEL DE LEON— AN ORATION. 181 every fool, whose pet views or private interests were endan- gred, arrayed himself against him. Am'bition, envy, hatred, malice, and downright dishonesty and ignorance, recogniz- ing that he was the head and front of this movement, as- sailed him personally and sought to stay his hand. But he met them all staunchly and, conscious of the right, fearless- ly pursued his course and left to us a movement whose ene- mies are without and not within. He bequeathed to us a movement self-reliant, confident of itself, scorning compromise and fusion, in harmony with the spirit and progress of American institutions and Amer- ican capitalist development. He gave it a literature and a language all its own, in keeping with its great purpose and sufficient for its great needs. When he entered the party he found Socialism a qualifying adjective — and he left it a noon. He found it credulous; he left it critical. He found it un- informed, intractable, uncertain, uncouth, un-American, in- articulate, almost dumb, and he left it a movement fit to take its place as the great movement of the age and to meet its' opponents with vision clear, aim certain and tongue unloosed. And all this was in his time ascribed to him. Others may have aided in the work as unselfishly, and devotedly, and un- tiringly as he, but those who opposed the movement knew and recognized that he was the master mind that directed it all. For "Some have been beaten till they know What wood a cudgel's of hf th' blow; Some kicked until they can tell whether A shoe be Spanish or neat's leather." And well they knew the feel of that Spanish kip, and they unwittingly honored him and recognized his worth, by desig- nating it al) by one word — De Leonism. Let no man shrink from that name, or fear to align him- self under that banner. It stands for clearness, courage, con- stancy, certainty. And as in its growth and development ev- ery unclear and unclean elfement within went down before it and every foe without recognized and feh its strength, now 182 DANIEL DE LEON— AN ORATION. in full stature, brought to maturity by him, let us keep it a terror to its enemies and a buckler to its friends. As Marx in his exile in England, in his time the highest developed capitalist nation in the world, found the conditions necessary for a complete and critical analysis of capitalist production, and by his great work, "Capital," was able to point out to less industrially developed countries the methods of capitalist advancement, so De Leon's residence in the met- ropolis of the New World, where capitalism, unhampered by feudal restraints, was able to press forward to the complete conquest of social and political powers, enabled him to see the effects of capitalist advancement and triumph. As the highest industrially developed country holds up a mirror to those which are still Ibackward, so De Leon's work for the Socialist movement in America will make him not only a national but an international character. The healthy growth of movements in the British Isles, Australia and other English-speaking countries, along the lines laid down by him and upon the principles he enunciated, shows what in the end will be his position in the estimation of the workers of the world. As I said in 1903 in the preface to the "Two Pages from Roman History," which I wrote at De Leon's request and which met with his unqualified approval: "While the theoretical contributions of the thinkers of Europe are valuable to the American Movement, capitalist development in this country and the social and political phe- nomena inseparably connected therewith have peculiarly fit- ted the American Socialist militant for the practical consider- ation of questions arising from them. Just now, when Aesop's fable of the philosopher who fell into the well is be- ing illustrated by many of the mental giants in theoretical lore who are leading the working class movement in Europe into the pitfalls of petty bourgeois Socialism, or into the mire of official inactivity, American Socialists can repay their debt of gratitude to the European philosophers by pointing out the dangers that lie in the path along which Socialism must labor. Fact, in America, has taken the place of theory. The tragedy of capitalism is no longer produced on the stage, but is enacted in everyday life. Idealism has given way tc» DANIEL DE LEON-mAN ORATION. 183 realism; and the 'American invasion' will soon force similar conditions in Europe." De Leon's voice which at three International meetings was a voice crying in the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way I" will swell into louder and louder tones, and those who ignor- ed the lessons he taught and who heeded not his warnings, will come more and more to recognize his pre-eminent posi- tion in the movement for working class emancipation, and his teachings will influence and sway the aroused proletariat for years to come. The conceit that numbers gathered under a Socialist po- litical banner to overthrow feudal restraints or work out bourgeois reforms, is sufficient, has ended with millions of workers in the trenches, fighting each other and dying for capitalist victories. The pity of it is that this Daniel, who read and interpreted the handwriting on the wall for parlia- mentarianism, did not live to see the social catastrophe into which the jingoist, office-holding, cabinet-filling political Socialists bad led the proletariat, and to draw with trenchant and inspiring pen the lessons that flow from it. But though his chair may be vacant at the council board of the workers of the world his spirit and counsel will yet animate them, and from the ashes of the old International will arise a new International built on the solid rock of both political and . industrial organization — a political organization powerful enough to give the death 'blow to the capitalist State, backed by an industrial organization prepared and equipped to rear the Socialist Republic. De Leon, by neither act nor word, attempted to impress t-hose whose advantage, social position, or education was in- ferior to his Own that he was master. He inculcated the principle that himself and they should submit to reason and the party rule. To guide them he used the art of persuasion and good example, which alone can secure sincere and lasting obedience. He was no head-hunter seeking the destruction of others, for his own aggrandizement, but the enemies of the party and the enemies of the working class were his personal enemies and he pursued them unrelentingly. Though compelled by that ostracism, which comes to ev- 184 DANIEL DE LEON— AN ORATION. ery man who leaves his class to take up the cause of the op- pressed upon whom that class battens, to give up the associa- tions, relationships, and relaxations to which he was accus- tomed and fitted, and to seek companioniship with those with whom he lahored, it was instinctively felt by all that De Leon was a man apart from the working class. No one ever attempted a familiarity with him, any more than a freshman would be familiar with his professor. All felt the dignity of his personality and would have resented in others a familiarity they would not presume to show themselves. Even by older men he was called by the endearing title, "the Old Man," and while yet in his early career received the homage and consideration that only comes to others with many years and long service. De Leon struggled hard to enter with heart and spirit into the enjoyments and recreations of the workers, but he never thoroughly succeeded. His presence, however, never acted as a damper upon those who were enjoying themselves to the fullest bent. He loved to see the relaxation of those engaged in the movement and was as solicitous for their pleasure as he was for their loyalty. He did not like long faces. His own hope was large and he had great buoyancy of spirit. He was never long despondent under adversity and always took the brighter view. He liked to hear the laugh go down the battle front, for it showed that the army was not despondent. Those of us who remember the owl-like solem- nity with which the routine business of the party was con- ducted in the early days, and with what frowns even inno- cent attempts at humor were met, can give thanks to De Leon that he enlarged our views and improved our spirits by dig- ging Artemus Ward from the dusty shelves of memory and furnishing the best proof that our hope was unshaken, our spirit undaunted and strength unbroken. I remember well the first intimate conversation I had with him, when I came to New York in 1900. ' After I had paid my respects to the party officers and the staff of the Daily People, De Leon with a serious face requested a pri- vate talk. Taking me into his sanctum, he carefully closed the door aind seating me in a chair opposite him, he said: DANIEL DE LEON-^N ORATION. W5 "Corregan, you have been placed in a very ticklish position. As' candidate for governor of the state of New York yon have been given the acid test of loyalty, and I want to warn you of your danger. You see in me the only survivor of that test, all the others have deserted the party. Now that you know the worst, what do you think?" Taking in the humor of the thing, I assured him that I did not believe it would be long hefore I enjoyed the unique distinction on which he prided himself, for it was not beyond the range of possibility the way things were goipg, with old comrades deserting, to see De Leon himself become an anti-De Leonite. That re- ply placed me upon a friendly footing with him which in all my personal dealings with him I think I never lost. I believe the acid test with De Leon was that a man could still keep his spirit amid difficulties and smile in the face of the foe. It was because De Leon never fully understood the work- ing class and its limitations that he was so often unfortunate in the selection of his lieutenants. His workingman was an ideal workingman. He did not know how alluring are the prospects that capitalism still holds out to one who seems fated to be a 'beast of burden. Coming into the struggle whole- heatedly and devotedly by giving his life to it, he could not conceive that one of that class, whose only hope rested upon the success of the movement, could prove untrue. Being without g-jile himself he did not expect it in others; being honest himself he could not see dishonesty in them; being faithful himself he suspected no treachery. But when he found his confidence abused, when the truth dawned upon him that he was deceived, he pursued them ruthlessly. Again and again the instruments in his hand broke with the strain, or proved useless, but again and again he returned to the work, with renewed zeal, depressed but never broken in Spirit. "For Freedom's battle, once begun. Though taffled oft, is ever won." I have touched, and that perhaps briefly, upon the life and work of our dead comrade only as it had a powerful and lasting effect upon the Socialist movement in America. His personal gifts and graces, his intellectual and moral force, his 186 DANIEL DE LEON— AN ORATION. rare self-abnegation, his sterling honesty, his unflinching courage, his unbounded confidence, the purity of his motives, the dignity of his personality, the suavity of his manner and th^ charm of his conversation, endeared him to us and held ' us to him with bands of steel; and made his death a personal loss. These traits and qualities cannot be felt, but may be appreciated by those who come after us. De Leon's home life was ideal. Love ruled and blessed that family, and its increasing numbers brought not greater cares, but greater joy and comfort. To that home he could go when fatigue and anxiety and disappointment and difficul- ties beset him, and return refreshed, with doubts removed, spirit buoyant, confidence unshaken and purpose undaunted, to take up again the task which means a future of happiness for the toilers, and a name which to his dear ones will far outweigh in the balance of time the greatest fortune that was ever heaped up on the misery of mankind. Learned teacher, untiring advocate, revered friend, the class to whom he devoted the best years of his life will hold him in grateful memory. Hammered brass and sculptured stone shall fail to save from oWivion the names of those who sordidly and selfishly pursued their own gain or advantage, but when a triumphant working class shall write — as write they will — the story of these stirring, trying times, his name will be acclaimed foremost among their champions. Let us in dedicating this day to him dedicate ourselves to the cause he espoused so manfully and devotedly, and thereby add greater glory to him who taught us how to harness and direct a revolution and put a bit into the mouth of chance. INDEX INDEX (Roman nrutnerals denote the two l»ooks into whicb the text is dirided. References in Arabic figures are to pages.) Abelson, Lazarus, Socialist Labor Party organizer, IL 65. Abuse poured upon De Leon, I. 57, 117-130; IL 59-62, Agitation meetings, De Leon's advice on conducting, II. 12-13. Alexander, Jacob, delegate to Buffalo convention of Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, I. 18. "Alte Genossen," De Leon and the, II. 43-45. American Federation of Labor, attempt to introduce Socialist revolutionary principles into, I. 7; founded as antidote to Knights of Labor, 8; Denver convention of 1894, and re- sults, II. 17, 19-21; methods used by, against Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, 75-76; dark practices of, in con- nection with Davis cigar shop strike, 78-81; De Leon's characterization of, 96; apprehensions of, aroused by In- dustrial Union Manifesto, 108; schemes of, against I. W. W., 113. American Labor Union, another name for Western Federation of Miners, II. 101; question of integrity of officials of, 103. American Labor Union Journal, II. 101; quotation from ar- ticle in, 102-103. American Railway Union, strike of members of (1894), II. 51-52. Amsterdam Congress of 1904, II. 11, 103-106. Anarchists, discordant note sounded by, at the third conven- tion of I. W. W., II. 131; speech by De Leon in reply to, 131-141. Angelevski, M., at Paterson during silk workers' strike, II. 160. Appeal to Reason, The, II. 53, 63. Arbeiter-Zeitung, "Socialist" paper of Belleville, 111., II. 14. Augustine, Paul, National Secretary of Socialist Labor Party, II. 162. Axelson, Minneapolis Anarchist at third convention of I. W. W., IL 131, 132. Bandlow, Robert, Cleveland supporter of Kangaroos, II. 72. Barondess, evil influence of, II. 54. Bellamy, Edward, "Looking Backward" by, 1. 3.; Nationalist movement organized by, I. 3, II. 2. ". INDEX. Berger, Victor L., I. 25; quoted on goal of Socialist Party, 69- 70; analysis of Socialism of, 70-72; quoted on Chicago con- vention of I. w: W. (1905), 103; a member of Debs's So- cial Democracy of America, II. 53; respect of, for De Leon and contempt for Volkszeitung, 53; true character of, as revealed at Copenhagen International Congress, 156-157. "Berger's Hits and Misses," De Leon's editorials on, II. 159. Berkman, Alexander, shooting of H. C. Frick by, II. 16. Black, ex-Governor, lawyer for Kangaroos, II. 71. Bohm, Ernest, turns against Socialist Trade and Labor Al- liance, il. 48; a leader in Central Labor Federation, 76; corrupt practices of, 77. Bohn, Frank, I. 49; signer of Manifesto for organization of I. W. W., 49; elected National Secretary of Socialist Labor Party, 62; career of, 63-65; an evident counterfeit, 93; De Leon's opinion of, 106; account of advent of, II. 106-107; succeeds Henry Kuhn as National Secretary, 121; self- seeking aims of, 126; schemes and trickery of, 129-130. "Boring from within," method of introducing Socialist revolu- tionary principles known as, I. 7; Rudolph Katz's account of, II. 16-19. "Brotherhood of Booze," the, II. 92-94. Brower, William L., District Master Workman Knights of La- bor, II. 29; National Secretary Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, 11. Bryan, William J., campaign of, in 1896, I. 15, II. 37-40. Buffalo convention of Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance (1898), I. 17-18. Bummery stage reached by I. W. W., II. 147-148. Burns, John, delegate to convention of A. F. of L. at Denver (1894), II. 19; expressed attitude of, toward political ac- tion, 20. Bushe, F., editor of Workmen's Advocate, II. 5. Cahan, Abraham, income of, from labor movement, II. 37; evil influence of, 54; dark practices of, 80. Caminita, Ludovico, delegate tO' third convention of I. W, W., 11. 131; speech by De Leon in answer to proposition of, 131-141. Carey, James F., Social Democratic alderman of Haverhill, Mass., II. 53-54. Carroll, Recorder, jail sentence imposed on Rudolph Katz by, II. 161. Central Labor Federation of New York, I. 10-11, II. 3; conflict between Socialist Labor Party and, I. 17-18; withdrawal of, from Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, I. 18, II. 76-77; craft union spirit in, II. 76. Central Labor Union, the, I. 10, II. 3; alarm of, over S. L. P. INDEX. "I vote in 1S98, II. 59; Central Labor Federation merged with, 77. Chase, Charles H., integrity of American Labor Union officials questioned by, IL 103. Christiansen, loyal S. L. P. member in Cleveland, 11. 73. Cigar strike in Davis shop, true version of, II. 78-81. Cleveland, Grover, 11. 37-38; action of, in Pullman strike, 51. Columbia College Law School, De Leon's connection with, I. 89, 91. Congress, De Leon's candidacy for, I. IS, II. 35-36. Connolly, James, visit of, to America, 11. 99-100; subsequent sorry role enacted by, 100-101; self-seeking aims of, 126; end of, 130;_ letters against De Leon written by, 143; De Leon's opinion of, 144. Copenhagen International Congress, enemies of De Leon at, II. 156. Corregan, Charles H., S. L. P. candidate for President (1904), II. 103; oration on De Leon by, 177-186. Cox, William W., S. L. P. candidate for Vice-President (1904), II. 103. Curran, Thomas, joint author of Rhode -Island lampoon, I. 35, II. 93; De Leon's comments on, I. 44-46'; final disposition of, 47. Daily People, launching of the, I. 26, II. 82; troubles resulting from, I. 29-30; De Leon's editorials in, 95-96, II. 83: devo- tion and sacrifices in behalf of, II. 85; defense of Moyer, Haywood, and Pettibone by, 119-120. Daily People Killers' League, II. 94. Damm, Peter, II. 94. Darling, Joseph, anecdote of Flower, De Leon, and, I. 98. Davis' cigar shop strike, II. 78-62. Debs, Eugene V., I. 53-54; popularity secured by, in Pullman strike, H. 50-52; and the Socialist Labor Party, 52-53; Social Democracy of America organized by, 53; vote polled by, as Presidential candidate of Social Democratic Party (1900), 82-83; Industrial Union Manifesto signed by, 107; hopes raised by speech of, in New York, for I. W. W., Ill; De Leon and, speakers at same meeting, 112-113; desertion of I. W. W. by, 119; nominee of Socialist Party for Presi- dent (1908), 149. De Leon, Daniel, reminiscences of, by Henry Kuhn, I. 1-84; description of, in 1886, 4-5; tour made by, to Pacific coast, in 1891, 4, II. 10; influence exercised by powerful person- ality of, I. 6; entrance of, into Knights of Labor, 8; T. V. Powderly and J. R. Sovereign beaten by, 8; Hugo Voigtand Lucien Sanial as assistants of, 9; work of, as editor of The People, 12-13; the labor faker dealt with by, 13-14; helps to IV INDEX. secure endorsetnent of Socialist Trade and Labor Altiancg by Socialist Labor Party, 14-15; candidate for member ofi Congress in lg96, IS, IL 35-36; leads in defeat of New York- er Volkszeitung's attack on Socialist Labor Party, I. 21; editorial in New Yorker Volkszeitung upon death of, 24-25; breaking off of friendly relations between Hugo Vogrt and, 33-34; letters by, concerning lampoons issued by Pierce and 'Curran, Reid, and Keiser, 36-46; delegate to convention where I. W. W. originated, SO; letter by, on I. W. W. con- rention, 52-57; epithets applied to, by his enemies, 57; let- ter to W. D. Haywood by, 58-61; disagrees with Henry Kuhn on unity resolution, 65-66; influence of, on Lenine, re- vealed in speech by latter, 79; Lenine an admirer of, 81; Henry Kuhn's last tribute to, 84; sketch of, by Olive M. Johnson, 85-136; account of birth, boyhood, and early life of, 88-90; connection of, with Columbia College Law Scbool, 89-91; sidelights on character of, 90-102; great working capacity of, 95-96; glimpses of, through his letters, 102-117; quoted concerning Mr. and Mrs. Johnson's Open Letter to the American Proletariat, 107-115; abuse showered upon, 117-130; philosophical attitude of, toward vituperations of enemies, 129-130; aversion for newspaper reporters, 131; and "natural-born Socialist editors," 131-133; troubles witli contributors, 133-134; assured immortality of, 134-136; Ru- dolph Katz's "With De Leon Since '89," II. 1-165; joins the Nationalist movement, 2; dissension not introduced into Labor movement by, 2-4; joins Socialist Labor Party in 1890, 7; personal appearance of, 8; activities of, in campaign of 1890, 8-10; candidate for governor of New York, 10; suc- ceeds Sanial as editor of The People, 10-11; "Flashlights of the Amsterdam Congress" by, 11, 105; popularity of, in 1892, 13; attitude toward label agitation farce, 25-27; at- tempt of, to cleanse Knights of Labor, 28-29; credit due, for founding of Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, 30-31; sword of logic effectively wielded by, at S. L. P. conven- tion of 1896, 34-35; meeting addressed by, in Troy (1896), 49-42; saving sense of humor possessed by, 44-45; and "Die Liedertafel," 50; bi^ vote for, in 16th Assembly District in 1897, 55-56; freak visitors to, 56-57; 16th Assembly District vote for, in 1898, and shameless slandering of, 59-62; "vul- gar language" story, 61-62; becomes storm center of opposi- tion tp S. L. P., 64-65; decreased vote for, for Assembly- man, in 1900, 84; jealousy of, a uniting element among as- sailants of S. L. P., 94; translations and other educational work of, 98-99; James Connolly and, 100-101; lead of, fol- lowed by American Labor Union Journal, 102-103; resolu- tion against compromise submitted by, at Amsterdam Con- gress, 104-105; attends first convention of I. W. W., 108; J INDEX. V lecture on "The Preamble of the I. W. W." at Minneapolis, 109; speech of, at New York meeting addressed also by Debs, 112-113j Algernon Lee's ghost story about, 118; editorials by, in favor of Moyer, Haywood, and Pettibone, 119-120; at second convention of I. W. W., 121-125; blamed for so-called split in I. W. W., 124; attends Stuttgart Con- gress, 130; at third convention of I. W. W., 131; speech by, for political action, 131-141; letters by, dealing with petty intriguing in I. W. W. after third convention, 143-146; un- availing efforts of, to preserve harmony in I. W. W., 147; unseating of, at fourth convention of I. W. W., 150-152; at- tends Copenhagen Congress, 156; unavailing attempts to oust from International Socialist Bureau, 156; opinion formed by, of Victor Berger, 156-157; unheeded warning of, concerning the "bigger parties," 158r-159; editorials by, on "Berger's Hits and Misses," 159; strike of Paterson and Passaic textile workers supported by, 161; visit paid by, to Rudolph Katz in prison, 162-163; death of, 163; recognition of real greatness of, 163-165. De Leon, Solon, I. 92-93, II. 58. Detroit I. W. W., the, II. 159-160; members of, at Paterson during silk workers' strike, II. 160. District 49, Knights of Labor, I. 10, IL 3. "Don't Vote" campaign of 1899, I. 118-126. Drum and fife corps anecdote, II. 58-59. Eterle, Pittsburgh "logical centrist," II. 93, 95. Ebert, Justus, member of State Committee of Socialist Labor Party, I. 33; evil motives which actuated, II. 126; results of schemes of, 130. Educational work of De Leon, I. 96, II. 98. Engels, Frederick, advice of, II. 46. Europe, conditions in, as contrasted with those in America, I. 67-69. Federated Labor Union, formation of, II. 77. Fiebiger, Peter, injuries inflicted on Socialist Labor Party by, I. 30-31; mentioned, II. 94. "Flashlights of the Amsterdam Congress," De Leon's, II. 11, 105. Flower, Roswell P., anecdote concerning, I. 98. Flynn, Elieabeth Gurley, anecdote of, I. 98; poltroonish atti- tude of, referred to by De Leon, 107. Fioote, Kansas City Anarchist at third convention of I, W. W., II. 131. Forker, Max, supporter of T. A. Hickey, I. 33; evil genius of Hugo Vogt, II. 92-93. French, Sam J„ tribute by, to "De Leon— Immortal," II. 173-175. Frick, H. C., shot by Berkman, 11. 16. _ VI INDEX. George, Henry, candidacy of, for Governorship of New York, I. 89; collapse of movement headed by, II. 1-2; candidate for mayor of Greater New York in 1897, 58! George, Henry, Jr., succeeds his father as New York mayoralty candidate, II. 58. German Socialist publications in United States, II. 13-15, Germans in Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, efforts to mis- lead, II. 43-45; "Die Liedertafel," 49-50. Gillhaus, August, candidate of S. L. P. for President (1908), II. 149; at Paterson during silk workers' . strike, 160. Glanz, William, Socialist Party tool, II. 114. Glaser, Robert, member of Socialist Labor Party, II. 49. Glover, Cleveland Anarchist at third convention of I. W. W., II. 131. Gompers, Samuel, I. 25, 49, 64; defeat of, by McBride, at Den- ver Convention of 1892, II. 17; attitude of; toward "politi- cal action," 19; remarks of, on Marx and De Leon, 20-21; slandering of De Leon by, 59; methods used by, against Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, 75-76. Gretsch, Benjamin T., National Secretary Socialist Labor Party, I. 4. GrUber, Abe, lawyer for Kangaroos, II. 71. Guarnier, F. B., tribute by, to "Daniel De Leon the Pilot," IL 169-171. Haase, German Socialist, II. IS. Hagerty, Thomas, a signer of Industrial Union Manifesto, II. 107. Hanford, Ben, II. 68. Hardie, Keir, meeting addressed by, in Troy, II. 40-41. Harriman, Job, San Francisco supporter of Kangaroos, II. 72. Harris, Ephraim, member of party opposed to S. L. P., II. 94. Harrison, Caleb, a speaker at Paterson, II. 160. Hayes, Max, I. 25-26; Cleveland supporter of Kangaroos, II. 72. HayTvood, William D., leadership of I. W. W. by, I. 51; lost opportunity of, revealed by De Leon's letter to (August, 1907), 59-61; a signer of Industrial Union Manifestxj, II. 107; deserts I. W. W. for Socialist Party, 141-142; brought to Paterson and Passaic during textile workers' strike, 161. Heslewood, Fred W., I. 93; at Stuttgart Congress, II. 130, Hickey, T. A., character of, I. 32; troubles caused Socialist La- bor Party by, 32-33; Rudolph Katz's account of, II. 91-92. HilUard, Kate S., I. 114. Hilliard, Margaret, a speaker at Paterson, II. 160. Hillquit, Morris, gains of, from labor movement, II. 37; real name Moses Hilkowitz, 44; present at fight at Labor Ly- ceum (July 8, 1899), 67; leader of Kangaroos but lacking in courage, 71 ; attempt of, to have De Leon removed from International Socialist Bureau, 156, INDEX. VII Hoelin, G. A., "a dyed-tn-the-wool labor sleate," I. IS; St. Louis Socialist Labor Party member, II. 18; booster for A. F. of L., 34. Homestead strike of 1892, II. 15-16. H'ossack, John, manager of Labor News Co., I, 132. Howard, O. M., propaganda in letter by, to A. M. Simons, I. 126-128. Industrial Union Bulletin, mouthpiece of Chicago members of I. W. W., II. 149-lSO. Industrial Union Manifesto, issuance of, in 190S, II. 107-108. Industrial Union News, organ of Detroit I, W. W., II. 161. Industrial Workers of the World, organization of, I. 49-SO; let- ters of De Leon quoted in regard to, 102-107; first conven- tion of, II. 108; bodies represented in, 108-109; early activi- ties of Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance in, 110-113; schemes of opponents of, 113-117; desertion of, by Debs, 119; second convention of, 121-12S; literature of, at Stutt- gart Congress, 130; third convention of, 130-142; neglected by Haywood for Socialist Party, 141-142; petty intriguing in, 142-143; steps of, toward "Bummery" stage, 147-148; "Overall Brigade" at fourth convention of, ISO-lSl; acts of Chicago crowd repudiated by I. W. W. organizations gen- erally, 153; Detroit organization of, as opposed to the An- archist I, W. W., 159-160. Ingerman, Dr., an "Intellectual," II. 49. International, the new, I. 82-83. International Socialist Bureau, attempts to oust De Leon from, II. lSS-156. Jablinovsky brothers, "top-notch slanderers," II. 60- Johnson, Olive M., memoir of De Leon by, I. 87-136; Open Letter of, addressed to American proletariat, 107-116; a speaker at Paterson during silk workers* strike, II. 160. Jonas,' Alexander, speech by, II. 47-48; editor of Volkszeitung, 65. Journals, Socialist, published in United States, II. 13-14. Justh, Otto, nasty letters about De Leon written by, II. 142- 143; De Leon's opinion of, 143-144. Kalbitz, F., loyal Socialist Labor Party member in Chicago, II. 72. Kangaroos, the, I. 20; abuse poured upon De Leon by, 117-130; derivation of name, II. 70; defeated in attempt to usurp name and functions of S. L. P., 70-71, Kangaroo exodus, the, I. 38. Kanglets, the, I. 30-32, 38; outbreak of, in 1901-1902, II. 89-90, "Kapital," Marx's, disapproved by Gompers, II. 20-21. vin INDEX. Katz, Rudolph, biography of De Leon by, asked for by Lenine, I. 81; "With De Leon Since '89" by, II. 1-165; sentenced to jail for picketing in Paterson strike, 161. Kautsky, reported dislike of De Leon by, II. 88. Kautsky Resolution, adoption of the, II. 86-88; denounced by Lucien Sanial, 88-89; action of Amsterdam International Congress upon, 104. Keep, Arthur, II. 65, 67. Keiser, Herman, Rhode Island assailant of S. L. P., I. 35, II. 93. Kennedy, Thomas F., candidate for sheriff of Rensselaer Coun- ty, II. 22-23. Keough, Michael, union labor man of Troy, II. 22-23. Kerr, L 112, 113. Kihn, A. C, member of State Committee of Socialist Labor Party, I. 33. Kinneally, John J., on committee to meet Lucien Sanial, II. 95. Klein, A., anecdote of, II. 85-86. Knights of Labor, high principles of founders of, I. 7-8; Amer- ican Federation of Labor founded to offset influence of, 8; De Leon's interest in, 89; De Leon's attempt to cleanse, II. 28-29; packed convention at Washington (1895), 29-30. Koeppel, Richard, loyal S. L. P. member in Milwaukee, II. 72. Kuhn, Henry, National Secretary Socialist Labor Party, I. 5; early acquaintance with De Leon, 5; influence of De Leon upon, 6; opposed to establishment of _ the Daily People, 26; disagreement with De Leon on Unity Resolution, 65-67; last tribute paid to De Leon by, 84; slandering of, by ene- mies of S. L. P., II. 59; a parody by, 66; on committee to meet Lucien Sanial, 95; tribute to, by Rudolph Katz, 120- 121. Kurzenknabe, a labor mislaader, II. 30. Label agitation farce, II. 25-27. Labor, paper called, published by S. L'. P. members in St. Louis. II. 17-18. Labor faker, the, I. 12-13; an American institution, 13. Lampoons directed against Socialist Labor Party, I, 35-47, H. 94-95. Lee, Algernon, nailinjg of a story by, about De Leon, II. 118. Lenine, clearness of utterance of, on Socialist movement in Russia, I. 78-79; De Leon's influence upon, shown in speech by, 79; an admirer of De Leon, 81. Liebknecht, Karl, lecture tour of, in United States (1910), II. 157; too much weight placed on numerical strength by, 157- Liebknecht. Wilhelm, 11. IS. Liedertafel, Die, H. 49-50. Little Kangarow exodus of 190M902, II. 89-90. INDEX. IX Loewenthal, slanderer of De Leon, II. 61, 62; in raid of oppo- sition forces on S. L. P. headquarters, 68. "Logical centrist" faction from Pittsburgh, I. 48, II. 93. Low, Seth, candidate for mayor of Greater New York in 1897. II. S7-S8. Luedecke, loyal S. L. P. member in Rochester, II. 73. McBride, Gompers defeated by, at Denver convention of 1894, II. 17. McCabe, delegate to second convention of I. W. W., II. 121-125. McCue, William, meeting of, with Karl Liebknecht, II. 158. McGuire, J. P., 11. 4. McLure, Robert, at Paterson during silk workers' strike, II. 160. Maguire, Matthew, elected to board of aldermen in Paterson, II. 18; re-elected alderman in Paterson and candidate for President in 1896, 35. Mahoney, delegate to second convention of I. W. W., II. 121- 125. Malloney, Joseph F., S. L. P. candidate for President (1900), II. 83. Ifarcy, Mary, associate editor of International Soc. Rev., I. 112. Markley, E., charge made against, by W. E. Trautmann, II. 142. Maroushek, Albert, A. F. of L. cigar maker, II. 79. Marx, Karl, Gompers' opinion of, II. 20-21 ; De Leion quoted on, 132; on physical force as the midwife of revolution, 139. Matchett, Charles H., candidate of Socialist Labor party for Vice-President (18912), II. 12; candidate for President in 1896, 35. Metal Workers, representation of, in I. W. W., II. 109. Michaeiovsky, notorious peddler, II. 111. Miller, Louis, exploiter of labor movement, II. 37, Millerand, M., an active French Socialist in 1900, II. 87. "Milwaukee Idea" craze, II. 155-156. Minneapolis, lecture by De Leon on "The Preamble of the I. W. W." at, I. 57, II. 109. Mohren Club, Der, II. 47; tactics followed by, 48-49. : Moore, D. B., I. 108. Morgan, Thomas J., contest between De Leon and, at Buffalo convention of Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance, I. 17-18. Mioyer-HaywoodiPettibone outrage, II. 119-120; outcome of, 141-142. Munro, Donald, candidate of S. L. P. for Vice-President (1908), II. 149. Murphy, P., member of State Committee of Socialist Labor Party, I. 33. Negendank, member of Socialist Labor Party, II. 27. New York convention of Socialist Labor Party (1900), I. 26-28. X INDEX. New Yorker Volkszeitung, part taken by, in formation of So- cialist Trade and Labor Alliance, I. 11; attack made by, O" Socialist Labor Party, 17; controversy between The Peo- ple and, 18-19; monthly edition in English of, 19-20; unsuc- cessful raid engineered by, on offices of Socialist Labor Party in New York, 21, II. 67-69; true attitude of, toward revolutionary Socialist movement, as revealed by utter- ance in 1909, I. 22-23; editorial in, upon death of De Leon, 24-25, 117-118; dirty work by, in early days, II. S-6; early hidden enmity of, toward S. L. P., 60; open issue taken with The People by, 63-66, Oibrist, J., opponent of De Leon, II. 65. Optimism, De Leon's definition of, I. 117. O'Toole, Barney, sponsor for James Connolly, II. 100. "Overall Brigade" at fourth convention of I. W. W., II. ISO-ISI. Paris, International Socialist Congress at, in 1900, II. 86-89. Parsons, Albert, II. 3-4. "Party Press, The." booklet on, I. 88. Paterson, silk workers' strike in, II. 1S9-161. Patterson, Benjamin, retained in case of S. L. P. vs. Kanga- roos, II. 70. Pellenz, Erasmus, booster for A. F. of L., II. 34. People, The, official organ of Socialist Labor Party, I. 12-13; controversy between New Yorker Volkszeitung and, 18-20; bogus sheet called, published by the Kangaroos, 124, II. 69-70; founding of, II. 10; Sanial first editor of, 10; De Leon becomes editor, 11; character of journal under De Leon's editorship, 11; compared with other Socialistic publications, 13-15; growth in circulation and influence of (1895), 32. People's Party, I. 15; appearance of, in 1892, II. 12; goes over to Democratic Party led by Bryan, 38-39. Petersen, Arnold, National Secretary of Socialist Labor Party, I. 1; 87. Pierce, Julian, character and career of, I. 34-35; lampoon is- sued by, 35, 36; copy of lampoon sent De Leon by, 36; De Leon's comments on, 36-38; indignation of, with T. A. Hickey, II. 91; joins disruptive elements against S. L. P., 94. Pittsburgh, "logical centrists" of, I. 48, II. 93. Pleasantville (N. Y.) home of De Leon, I. 97-98. Political action, opposition of American Federation of Labor to, II. 19; De Leon's speech for, at third convention of I. W. W., 131-141; repudiated by fourth convention of I. W. W., 153. Populists. See People's Party. INDEX. XI Powderly, Terente V., crooked work of, in connection with Knights of Labor, I. 8; defeated for General Master Work- man Knights of Labor, II. 29. Preston, Morrie R., nominated for President by S. L. P. (1906). IL 148-149. Prince, Samuel, Tammany opponent of De Leon, II. 73-74, 84. Progressive Cigar Makers' Union, the, II. 24-25. Pullman strike. Debs and the, II. 50-52. Questione Sodale, La, Italian Anarchist paper suppressed by Roosevelt. II. 131. Quinlan, Pat, letters hostile to De Leon written kjr, II. 143; De Leon^s letter concerning, 144. Raid on S. L. P. headquarters by opposition forces (July 10, 1899), I. 20-21, II. 67-69. Rappaport, Socialist of Indianapolis who joined People's Par- ty, II. 12. Reed, John, news from Russia brought by, I. 81. Reid, James P., Rhode Island assailant of S. L. P., I. 35, II. 93. Reilly, James, testimony of, against Algernon Lee, II. 118. Reimer, Arthur E., a speaker at Paterson, II. 160. Reinstein, B., delegate to nominating convention of Socialist Labor Party, I. 63-64; introduces Unity Resolution at ses- sion of N. E. C. in 1908, 65; in Russia after the Revolution, 80-81; at Paterson during silk workers' strike, II. 160. Remmel, Valentine, S. L. P. candidate for Vice-President (1900), IL 83. Reporters, De Leon's comments on, I. 131. Rhode Island, lampoon issuing from, I. 35-36, 39-42; seceders from S. L. P. in, II. 93-94. Richter, Herman, General Secretary of Detroit I. W- W., II. 160. Rosenberg, W., II. 5, 6; National Secretary of Socialist Labor Party, S3. Ross, Charles H., sonnet by, dedicated to De Leon's pen, II. 167. Russia, peculiar position oi Socialists of, I. 77; American So- cialist Labor Party members and American influence in, 80-81; leadership which may devolve upon, 82. Ruther, M., letter to De Leon by, I. 128. Ryan, Albert, Western Federation of Miners' delegate Jbo I. W. W.. I. 56, H. 121. St John, Vincenf, I. 61, 93; delegate to secdnd convention of I. W. W., II. 121; treacherous action of, in unseating De Leon at fourth convention of I. W. W., 150-152. Sanial, Lucien, elected delegate to convention of American xn INDEX. Federation of Labor, I. 7; object and results of election, 7; account of, 9; close of career of, 48-49; first editor of The People, II. 10; succeeded by De Leon as editor, 10- 11; comparison of De Leon and, 10-11; New York mayoral- ty candidate- in 1897, 57-58; story of drum and fife corps and, 58-59; as delegate to International Socialist Congress at Paris 1900, denounces Kautsky Resolution, 88-89; resig- nation of, from S. L. P., 94; jealousy felt by, of De I