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THE CONFERENCE OF THE SOCIALISTS OF THE ALLIES"

The Conference of the Socialists of the Allied Countries took place in London on the 15th of February. The Socialists of Belgium and Great Britain were fully represented, also the Labor Party of Great Britain and the Confederation of Labor Unions of France. Vandervelde and Lafontaine represented the Socialist Party and labor unions of Belgium. From Russia only the Social-Revolutionary party took part in the voting. The larger Socialist organization, the Social Democrats, refused to participate in the voting because the Socialists of Germany and Austria were not invited. Among the French representatives were all the best-known leaders except Guesde, who was detained in France because of his health and duties as minister. Among the English delegates were former opponents of the war such as MacDonald and Anderson and Bruce Glasier. Keir Hardie even presided over the conference.

Vaillant of France declared:

France was forced into the struggle and will not draw back until Prussian militarism has received its death blow. We have the following message for the German people: that we are fighting for your emancipation as well as for our own national freedom.

Vandervelde made an appeal to the Socialists of the whole world to use their power for the overthrow of German militarism, which had laid waste little Belgium. He said that he felt no animosity whatever against the German or Austrian people, but as long as they were not masters over the militarism of their rulers, there was no way to annihilate this militarism except by war.

The Conference passed the following resolutions: First, it declared that the war was a result of the policy of colonial conquests and aggressive imperialism of all the

nations engaged, and that all the nations shared the responsibility for this policy. The invasion of Belgium and France by the German armies threatened the independence of all nations and shattered all confidence in international treaties. Under these conditions a victory of German imperialism would mean the defeat and annihilation of democracy and freedom in Europe. The Socialists of the Allied Countries are not fighting for the political or economic subjection of Germany. They are not fighting against the people of Germany or Austria, but only against the governments of these countries, which oppress their peoples, while they demand that Belgium should be freed and indemnified. They desire that the Polish question should be settled in accord with the wishes of the people of Poland, either by economy or by complete independence within another nation. They desire that in all Europe from AlsaceLorraine to the Balkans, all nations which have been forcefully annexed should be given back the right of disposing of their own freedom.

While the Socialists are firmly decided to struggle until victory is won in order to accomplish this emancipation, they are not less firmly decided to take a stand against every effort to turn this war of defense into a war of conquest, which would only prepare new conflicts, create new grievances, and deliver the peoples to a doubled burden of armaments and wars.

The victory of the Allied Powers must be a victory of the people's rights, of the unity, independence, and autonomy of the nations in a peaceful federation of the United States of Europe and the world.

This was the chief resolution. Another declared against secret diplomacy, the private manufacture of arms, and demanded a compulsory international arbitration court. A third resolution protested against the ar

rest of Socialist members of the Duma and the persecution of Finns, Jews, Poles in Russia, and of the German Poles in Germany. These resolutions were all passed unanimously.

The two factions of the Russian Social Democracy believed it best to be present at the Conference, in spite of the fact that they disapproved of any meeting to which the Socialists of all countries were not invited. In a declaration made after the Conference, however, they explained their position as follows:

The efforts of the government Socialists of the Allied Countries in attempting a conference to give material and political support to the policy of the Allies, to maintain the illusion of a duty on the part of the Socialists to take part in "national defense," and the other illusion that this is a war of emancipation which, in the words of Grey, Viviani, and Sasonoff, must be fought to the end, is attempting once more a criminal misuse of the ideas and authority of international Socialism, by serving as a cloak to the interests of Russian, English, and French Imperialism, which are really hostile to it.

The fundamental task of the true Socialist elements of the Allied Countries towards the London Conference consists in exposing the tendencies of this war and of making it clear to the Social Democracy of "hostile countries" that the government Socialists do not represent the opinion of the Socialists of the Allied Countries.

It will be seen from the above that these Russian parties denounce the participants in the London Conference as having totally betrayed international Socialism. They claim that the other Socialists who disagree with them, do not represent the workingmen Socialists of Russia, and they mention the names of Plechanoff, Alexinsky, Massloff, and others. Axelrod should also be added to the list, together with Trotsky and Manikoff. Altogether, the list includes about as

many of the leaders as the party group which signed the above manifesto. The leaders of both sides are, of course, in exile.

Shortly after the London Conference another countertendency appeared where least expected. The British Socialist Party also declared for immediate peace:

Five peace resolutions and two amendments were adopted at the Annual Conference of 1915, most of them with large majorities, and one amendment-of pronounced jingo tendencies was handsomely defeated.

The peace resolution, which was adopted by 78 branches against 57, reads:

"This Conference of the British Socialist Party condemns the cry raised by the capitalist parties in every belligerent country for a fight to a finish.

"It declares that the working classes can have no interest in prolonging this awful war until one or other of the groups at war is completely exhausted and their opponents are thus able to fully realize their imperialistic aspirations. The longer the war lasts the greater will be the destruction of human lives, and the greater the economic ruin. The prolongation of the war will not solve any of the outstanding historical political and economic problems, whilst territorial annexations will only lead to complications and increase the possibilities of further war.

"This Conference therefore fully indorses the efforts of Socialists in neutral countries to terminate the war, and declares unhesitatingly that it is the supreme duty of the Socialist Parties throughout the world to work for an immediate peace on such terms as will prevent the repetition of a similar war.

"In the opinion of this Conference only the establishment of a democratic federation of the States of Europe will put an end to the present ruinous forms of militarism and imperialism.

"This Conference further calls upon the Executive Committee of the party to give effect to the policy set forth above."

A resolution which declared for the preliminary destruction of the "Central European autocracies," after which the

workers should begin to work for peace, was defeated, 46 branches voting for and 81 against it.

In its annual congress, held at Norwich on April 5th, the Independent Labor Party also accepted a report from the National Administrative Council of the Party setting forth that the Party declared that it was the duty of the labor movement to secure peace at the earliest possible moment. The resolutions follow:

Resolved, That the conflict between the nations of Europe with which this country is involved is a result of the pursuit by Foreign Offices of diplomatic policies with the idea of maintaining the balance of power; that our national policy of understanding with France and Russia only was bound to increase the power of Russia both in Europe and in Asia, and to endanger our good relations with Germany; that Foreign Secretary Grey is proved by the facts he gave in the House of Commons Committee to have given definite assurance of support to France in the event of any war in which she was seriously involved before the House of Commons had any chance to consider the matter; that the labor movement reiterates the fact that it had opposed the policies which produced this war, and that its duty now is to secure peace at the earliest possible moment on such conditions as provide the best opportunities for the reëstablishment of amicable relations between the workers of Europe.

But we have just seen that J. R. MacDonald and at least three out of the four members of the National Administrative Council of this Party were delegates a few weeks before at the Conference of the Socialists of the Allied Countries at London, at which it was voted unanimously that the war must be continued until victory was won. Had Hardie, Glasier, Anderson, and MacDonald changed their opinion? Or could their position at the April Conference in favor of immediate peace be reconciled with their previous stand? This