lawful and
rightful means?" But if this public profession of lawfulness meant
nothing to 70,000 of them, why think it means more to the rest?

We have the further striking evidence, shown above, that the leaders who
had compromised their attitude toward Bolshevism felt compelled, in
order to hold any of the rank and file, to argue that "the National
Executive Committee and the party in general" had "supported the Russian
Comrades at the head of the Soviet power." Yet in spite of this defense
the old National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party was rebuked
and kicked out of office during the Emergency Convention, even by
delegates who were friendly to the compromised leaders. The "Call,"
September 5, 1919, gives some of the details:

"The rebuke of the National Executive Committee was in the form of
an amendment to the original motion to adopt its report. The
amendment carried by 63 to 39....

"Perhaps Frederick Haller expressed the general sentiment of the
convention when he said:

"'We must endorse this supplemental report of the National
Executive Committee, but we must go back to our constituents and
tell them that we gave the National Executive Committee hell.'"

These "constituents," the rank and file, determine the character of the
party, and not the thimble-rigging games of their political leaders, who
support themselves and have "made a good thing" out of Socialism by
carrying water on one shoulder for gullible voters, and on the other for
their credulous disciples. This is not the first time that self-serving,
hypocritical teachers, in compassing sea and land to make proselytes,
have made them twofold more the children of hell than themselves.

The National Emergency Convention of 1919 affords still other evidence
of the mind of the rank and file of the Socialist Party in the report of
the committee which investigated the referendum vote of 1919 which the
old National Executive Committee had suppressed. The "Call," September
1, 1919, says:

"The report states that on the face of the returns, referendum B
and D were carried by large majorities, and a National Executive
Committee, consisting of Louis Fraina of New York, Charles E.
Ruthenberg of Cleveland, Seymour Stedman of Chicago, Patrick S.
Nagle of Oklahoma and L. E. Katterfeld of Cleveland was elected.
The returns also showed on their face that John Reed and Louis
Frain