The Daily Worker

Hillquit and Sham "Lefts" Led by Thomas Expose One Another

MILWAUKEE, Wis., May 24.—A duel of words in which the question of anti-Semitism, Americanism, and theories on the best tactics of accomplishing the impossible task of making the socialist party look like a workers' party got all mixed up, took place yesterday at the socialist party's national convention here. The issue came about in a struggle for the position of national chairman of the party. Hillquit has been national chairman for some time now, but a group made up of followers of Norman Thomas, B. Charney Vladeck of the Jewish Daily Forward and Haywood Broun, the columnist of the Scripps Howard papers, put forward Daniel Hoan, mayor of Milwaukee as a candidate for the post.

When the final vote was taken, the Hillquit group won 105 to 80, which the socialist party claims means 7,526 party members against 6,984. The numbers represented by each delegate are undoubtedly exaggerated, as all sorts of purely nominal and one time members of the various branches are counted in representation.

Open Enemy of U.S.S.R.

Hillquit was opposed partly because he is so well exposed. He is certainly no fit person to try to convince American workers that he is for their interests. He is a capitalist attorney who frequently appears on the boss' side in cases against workers. He is attorney for Russian czarist capitalists in suits against the Soviet Union. He is an open and bitter enemy of the First Workers' Republic. He is "opposed to war" in words, but has sabotaged every attempt to mobilize the workers against war and particularly has ridiculed anti-war demonstrations, and he backs each of the fake peace moves of imperialism.

No Marxist.

The controversy gave Hillquit, however, his chance to cry all over

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Hillquit and Sham
"Lefts" Expose
One Another

(CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE)

again his traditional "stock in trade."
saying: "I stand for the common
garden variety of socialism," defend-
ing "Marxism" against attacks from
the right which does not want it to
be a working-class movement but a
movement of intellectuals and against
attacks from the left. by "militants
who are well meaning. immature, ef-
fervescentpeople,wbo...will settle
down in time, but who for the moment
are wild. untamed and dangerous."

Hillquit has never been a Marxist,
because the socialist party repudiates
Marxism and the class struggle.

Against Hillquit, the Thomas group
appeared under guise of a "left" or
"progressive" faction.

The Forward for Hoan.

But one of the staunchest support-
ers of Thomas' candidate. Hoan, was
B. Charney Vladeck, editor of the
Forward. New York workers know
well that the Forward is found
strike-breaking in every important
struggle for better wages or condi-
tions. They know the Forward pub-
lishes the most sickening anti-Soviet
forgeries and slanders. They know
the Forward as a close follower of
Stimson's pro-war "peace maneu-
vers."

Hoan himself, as mayor of Mil-
waukee for 17 years, has many a
time watched his police beat a tatoo
with their clubs on the skulls of
workers demonstrating for unemploy-
ment insurance. He runs a "social-
ist" city administration that cannot
be distinguished, except for greater
anti-worker activity, from any demo-
cratic or republican administration.
His police have broken many strikes

"Buying Out Capitalism."

Thomas, the most wordy and slip-
pery of the lot, was tiriven into a
corner by a resolution in this con-
vention for confiscation of capital.
He rose. and with emotion. refused
to accept the nomination for presi-
dent if such a resolution passed. Of
course the resolution was overwhelm-
ingly defeated.

No one should believe the socialist
party, right or sham left wing wants
the. workers to actually have the in-
dustries. No one should believe there
is any real difference between the
right and sham left on the questions
of most importance, on the war dan-
ger, on the Soviet Union, or on the
struggle of the masses of unemployed
or employed workers.