International Socialist Review (1900) Vol 17

An International Policy
By WILLIAM E. BOHN
1. Against Capitalism and imperialism.
2. Against all forms of militarism.
3. In favor of strike against international war.
4. In favor of effective union of working-classes of all nations.
5. In favor of any attainable form of internationalism at any time.
6. . In favor of any measures which will tend to increase popular understanding
of other nations and respect for them.
I
T is to be hoped that American Socialists
will unanimously support the motion of
Local New York in favor of a National
Socialist Congress. Since the war our
party has been under a cloud. The actions
of large groups of European Socialists were
a body blow .to us and a mighty weapon in
the hands of our enemies. Instead of setting
ourselves clear before, the country we
fumbled and hummed and hawed. We lost
the advantage of our long antimilitarist campaign
at this time when anti-militarism attracted
many of the finest sections of the
population. We had long been shouting that
capitalism means war. And when war came
and we had the master argument against
capitalism we permitted that argument to be
used against our cause. We have suffered
for our lack of clearness and courage We
have deserv€d to suffer.
But we have had thirty months for
thought. We; have been getting together.
We have regained our grip on the situation.
We see that thousands who have thus far
kept aloof from us are accepting our thought
about war, even if they are not inclined to
come into our party and join with us in our
policies. Quick, clean action now might
again put us in an advantageous position. A
party congress would give us the opportunity
to take such action.
congress.
Let us have the
But a congress will be useless unless it
can speak in no uncertain tone. Let us give
it something to say. Let that something be
so pimple, so clear, that it will carry to the
most out-of-the-way place and the most benighted
intellect. There must be no more
long, wordy, technical, contradictory paragraphs
strung together and called our platform.
Let us first think what we think and
then put it into a few simple words which
any person over fifteen
understand.
years of age can
The six proposals set down above are proposed
as a basis for argument. Write to
the Review and tell what you think of them.
Every party member has a right to be heard.
563
I, for one, believe that they offer a rational
basis for a party program. In the first place,
we must make it clear to everyone, that the
present great war is a result of the natural
operation of the capitalist system. It came
as a normal extension of policies pursued
during a long time of peace by all the great
European powers. America is at present
pursuing the same policies and so may expect
in due time to have her war.
This line of argument is valuable now because
it gives us a chance to interest everyone
in our general thought about society as
it is organized today. People are asking
questions. They are not getting answers.
If we will put our answers into plain speech
we shall be listened to as we never were
before.
Moreover, a clear statement on this point
puts the burden of proof where it belongs.
When the German Socialists went in for
war a good many people acted as tho they
started it. They did not 'start it. As far
as human beings may be considered responsible
for what has happened the great
industrial, social and political leaders of
Europe are the responsible parties. The
blame must be placed at their doors. And
in this country, we must make it clear, our
Security Leaguers, our International Corporationists,
our half-blind politicians are
making themselves responsible for the same
sort of thing. We must make their responsi-
bility clear.
And militarism is merely a feature of
capitalism in its modern form of imperialism.
All recent wars have been imperialistic
in their origin. Some Socialists are
filled with the idea that we must train ourselves
to fight in defense of liberty. Were
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