Silence in the face of injustice is complicity with the oppressor

Fellow-Socialists and Fellow-Workers, the existing order of things appears to be breaking down. And it seems that the old order has had its day and all the signs point to an impending change. The struggle in which we are engaged today is a struggle of economic classes. The supremacy is now held by the capitalist class, who control the powers of government. Any disputes between capitalists for supremacy in their own class and the issues arising from it, the working class should have nothing to do with it and if they are foolish enough to allow themselves to be drawn into these disagreements of their masters, as they have so often done in the past, they will suffer the consequences of their folly. Parties but express in political terms the economic interests of those who compose them. This is the rule.

The Socialist Party represents the working class. There is no fundamental difference between the Republican and Democratic, the Tory or Labour, parties. Their principles are identical. They are all capitalist parties and stand for the capitalist system, and such differences as there are between them involve no principle. Each reek with corruption in their servility to the capitalist class, and are torn asunder with strife in their mad scramble for the spoils of office. The vital issue before the world is not touched, nor even mentioned in their manifestoes – capitalist wage-slavery, the legalised robbery of the workers of what is produced by their labour. It is the fundamental crime against modern humanity, but there is no room for the mention of this vital fact, in the platforms of the ruling class parties. They continue to babble on about inconsequential matters to obscure the real issue and wheedle the workers into voting them into power once more. Their speeches are filled with empty platitudes and meaningless phrases, but they are discreetly silent about the millions of unemployed, about the starvation wages of factory slaves, about the women and children who are crushed, debased and slowly tortured to death by the moloch of capitalism, about the people- trafficking of migrants, about the bitter poverty of the masses and their hopeless future, and about every other vital question which is worthy of an instant's consideration by any intelligent human being. How many more years of power do they require to demonstrate that they are the parties of the capitalist class and that they never intend to legislate in the interest of the working class, or provide relief for the suffering people?

The Socialist Party is the only party which honestly represents the working class. We are not asking you to give your votes blindly to this party but only that you read its case for socialism, study its statements and declarations, and satisfy yourselves as to what its principles are, what it stands for, and what it expects to accomplish. The Socialist Party being the political expression of the rising working class stands for the absolute overthrow of the existing capitalist system and for the reorganisation of society into an industrial and social democracy. This will mean an end to the private ownership of the means of life; it will mean an end to wage-slavery; it will mean an end to the army of the unemployed; it will mean an end to the poverty of the masses, the prostitution of womanhood, and the murder of childhood. It will mean the beginning of a new era of civlisation; the dawn of a happier day for the Children of Man. It will mean that this earth is for those who inhabit it and wealth for those who produce it. It will mean society organised upon a co-operative basis, collectively owning the sources of wealth and the means of production, and producing wealth to satisfy human wants and not to gorge a privileged few. It will mean that there shall be work for the workers and that all shall be workers, and it will also mean that there shall be leisure for the workers and that all shall enjoy it. It will mean that women shall be the comrades and equals of men, sharing with them on equal terms the opportunities as well as the responsibilities, the benefits as well as the burdens of civilised life.

The Socialist Party is the party of human emancipation. It stands for a world-wide democracy, for the freedom of every man, woman, and child, and for the civilization of all mankind. The Socialist party buys no votes with promises of reforms. It scorns to traffic in ignorance. It realizses that education, knowledge and the powers these confer are the only means of achieving a decided and permanent victory for the people. It is essentially educational and an appeal to intelligence. The workers are opening their eyes at last. They are beginning to see the light. They are taking heart of hope because they are becoming conscious of their power. No longer can the workers be pitted against each other in capitalist parties by designing politicians to their mutual undoing. They have made the discovery that they have brains as well as hands, that they can think as well as work, and that they do not need politicians to advise them how to vote, nor masters to rob them of the fruits of their labour. Slowly but surely there is being established the economic and political unity and solidarity of the workers of the world. The Socialist Party is the political expression of that unity and solidarity. appeal to the workers assembled here today in the name of the Socialist party. We appeal to you to unite and make common cause in this great struggle. To the extent that you have made progress, to the extent that you have developed power, and to the extent that you have achieved victory, to that extent you are indebted to your own class-conscious efforts and your own industrial and political organization. To the extent that you lack power, to the extent that you are defeated and kept in bondage, to that extent you lack in economic and political solidarity. Rightly organised and soundly disciplined on both the economic and political fields, the working class can prevail against the world. The economic organisation and the political party of the working class must both be revolutionary and they must work together hand in hand. Let us rise to our full stature, summon our united powers, and strike a blow for freedom that will be felt around the world!