Oligarchy."

And truly the war would have done all these things had it not been for
the socialists. A secret meeting of the Western leaders was held in our
four tiny rooms in Pell Street. Here was first considered the stand the
socialists were to take. It was not the first time we had put our foot
down upon war,* but it was the first time we had done so in the United
States. After our secret meeting we got in touch with the national
organization, and soon our code cables were passing back and forth
across the Atlantic between us and the International Bureau.

* It was at the very beginning of the twentieth century
A.D., that the international organization of the socialists
finally formulated their long-maturing policy on war.
Epitomized their doctrine was: "Why should the workingmen of
one country fight with the workingmen of another country for
the benefit of their capitalist masters?"

On May 21, 1905 A.D., when war threatened between Austria
and Italy, the socialists of Italy, Austria, and Hungary
held a conference at Trieste, and threatened a general
strike of the workingmen of both countries in case war was
declared. This was repeated the following year, when the
"Morocco Affair" threatened to involve France, Germany, and
England.

The German socialists were ready to act with us. There were over five
million of them, many of them in the standing army, and, in addition,
they were on friendly terms with the labor unions. In both countries the
socialists came out in bold declaration against the war and threatened