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the publication of the PEOPLE out
of the hands of the association and
publish the paper itself. Today it
may seem curious that any opposition should arise to this. But it did,
and a fierce opposition too. It was
argued that so large and unwieldy
a group as the whole Party could
never publish a paper, that it would
be the death of the paper, etc. The
membership at large, however,
though far from the homogeneous
body it is today—thanks mostly to
the homogeneous press—had faith
and the PEOPLE became really the
property and the publication of the
Party. So far from dying, it instantly took new strength, as witness
the Daily People which the Party
sustained for fourteen years.
For fourteen more years De Leon
spoke through our organ, now truly
a (Party organ, the Daily People, the
Weekly People, and for a time also
ibhe Monthly People. During these
years the policy, the tactics of the
Party and with it the necessary and
inevitable tactics of the Socialist
revolution in America, and in a
broader sense in the world, was
beaten into shape and disseminated.
The members of the Socialist Labor
Party, the readers of the PEOPLE
in general, absorbed S.L.P.ism; the
ideas and conception became clarified; the propaganda firm and uniform; the tactics of the movement
sound and direct. The S. L. P. developed a language of its own, clear
and unmistakable. An S. L. P. man
came to be recognized by friend as
well as foe the instant he opened his
mouth. The slightest wabbliness
within the ranks was instantly recognized. Our foes sneered—"hero
worship," "every S. L. P. man is
simply echoing De Leon," "no S.L.
P. man dares have an idea of his
own." We could afford to smile. We
knew that S. L. P. members were
all persons of ideas, persons of
thought, and it was a joy to see that
•these thoughts never scattered, never flew off at a tangent. "Truth is
one, it unites; error is manifold, it
scatters."
We perceived error scattering our
foes. The S. P. had as many different notions of Socialism as it once
had editors (and there were hundreds) and speakers, not to say
members. The I. W. W. split on
the rock of immature and anarchistic
ideas. The Communist party is like
a tapeworm, it has been pulled into
innumerable parts, Communist party, Proletarian party, Workers' party, united Communists, reunited
Communists, majority and minority
and middle of the road groups, each
chattering in a different dialect, like
so many loose-jointed tribes of Sioux
Indians. The S. L. P. man, wherever he is found, not only knows
what he is talking about, he knows
how to say it—thanks to our press
and the education it has been able
to disseminate.
As the life energy of the press has
flowed out over the Party, so the
very life blood of Party members
has flowed into the press. The
PEOPLE, since 1891, has truly
been the Party's child, nourished by
the membership at heavy costs that
were never looked upon as a sacrifice, jealously guarded from the
slightest connection that could establish even the minutest hostile influence—to the extent of finally cutting off even that universally recognized support of the press, the advertiser. The S. L. P. members
know that if the workers shall con-
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