body was considered and disposed of in accordance
with the principles and program of the international movement and on the
basis of its relation to and effect upon the working class.
The platform adopted by the convention is a clear and cogent
enunciation of the party's principles and a frank and forceful statement
of the party's mission. This platform embodies labor's indictment of the
capitalist system and demands the abolition of that system. It proclaims
the identity of interests of all workers and appeals to them in clarion
tones to unite for their emancipation. It points out the class struggle
and emphasizes the need of the economic and political unity of the
workers to wage that struggle to a successful issue. It declares
relentless war upon the entire capitalist regime in the name of the
rising working class and demands in uncompromising terms the overthrow
of wage-slavery and the inauguration of industrial democracy.
In this platform of the Socialist party the historic development of
society is clearly stated and the fact made manifest that the time has
come for the workers of the world to shake off their oppressors and
exploiters, put an end to their age-long servitude, and make themselves
the masters of the world.
To this end the Socialist party has been organized; to this end it is
bending all its energies and taxing all its resources; to this end it
makes its appeal to the workers and their sympathizers throughout the
nation.
_The Capitalist System Condemned._
In the name of the workers the Socialist party condemns the capitalist
system. In the name of freedom it condemns wage-slavery. In the name of
modern industry it condemns poverty, idleness and famine. In the name of
peace it condemns war. In the name of civilization it condemns the
murder of little children. In the name of enlightenment it condemns
ignorance and superstition. In the name of the future it arraigns the
past at the bar of the present, and in the name of humanity it demands
social justice for every man, woman and child.
The Socialist party knows neither color, creed, sex, nor race. It knows
no aliens among the oppressed and down-trodden. It is first and last the
party of the workers, regardless of their nationality, proclaiming their
interests, voicing their aspirations, and fighting their battles.
It matters not where the slaves of the earth lift their bowed bodies
from the dust and seek to shake off their fetters, or li
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