evolutionary party, and in the long run will do more harm than good.

I yield to no one in my desire to see the party grow and the vote
increase, but in my zeal I do not lose sight of the fact that healthy
growth and a substantial vote depend upon efficient organization, the
self-education and self-discipline of the membership, and that where
these are lacking, an inflated vote secured by compromising methods, can
only be hurtful to the movement.

The danger I see ahead is that the Socialist party at this stage, and
under existing conditions, is apt to attract elements which it cannot
assimilate, and that it may be either weighted down, or torn asunder
with internal strife, or that it may become permeated and corrupted with
the spirit of bourgeois reform to an extent that will practically
destroy its virility and efficiency as a revolutionary organization.

To my mind the working class character and the revolutionary integrity
of the Socialist party are of first importance. All the votes of the
people would do us no good if our party ceased to be a revolutionary
party, or came to be only incidentally so, while yielding more and more
to the pressure to modify the principles and program of the party for
the sake of swelling the vote and hastening the day of its expected
triumph.

It is precisely this policy and the alluring promise it holds out to new
members with more zeal than knowledge of working class economics, that
constitutes the danger we should guard against in preparing for the
next campaign. The truth is that we have not a few members who regard
vote-getting as of supreme importance, no matter by what method the
votes may be secured, and this leads them to hold out inducements and
make representations which are not at all compatible with the stern and
uncompromising principles of a revolutionary party. They seek to make
the Socialist propaganda so attractive--eliminating whatever may give
offense to bourgeois sensibilities--that it serves as a bait for votes
rather than as a means of education, and votes thus secured do not
properly belong to us and do injustice to our party as well as to those
who cast them.

These votes do not express socialism and in the next ensuing election
are quite as apt to be turned against us, and it is better that they be
not cast for the Socialist party, registering a degree of progress the
party is not entitled to and indicating a political position the party
is unable to sust