In the "Social Democratic Herald" of Milwaukee, July 31, 1909, Berger wrote: "It is easy to predict that the safety and hope of this country will finally lie in one direction only, that of a violent and bloody revolution. Therefore, I say, each of the 500,000 Socialist voters and of the 2,000,000 workingmen who instinctively incline our way, should, besides doing much reading and still more thinking, also have a good rifle and the necessary rounds of ammunition in his home, and be prepared to back up his ballot with his bullets if necessary. This may look like a startling statement. Yet I can see nothing else for the American masses today." In the same paper, August 14, 1909, he wrote: "We should be grateful if the social revolution, if the freeing of 75,000,000 whites, would not cost more blood than the freeing of 4,000,000 negroes in 1861."
Thus the Socialist Party of America, under the tutelage and control of far-seeing and deep-witted leaders like Hillquit and Berger, is by far the most dangerous band of conspirators in the United States. No "revolutionary impulse" is too extreme for Hillquit, no movement is "too radical;" but its "program and tactics" must be deep-laid, deceptive, seizing every present political advantage so that the central power can be grasped by astute leadership in one lurch when the hour of "shooting" arrives.
The dramatic violence of Lenine and Trotzky passed through all the radical bodies in America like an electric shock, and the enthusiasts wished to start a ruction right away. But Morris Hillquit was not carried off his feet. If the boys were so senseless as to try to seize the reins of party government, Hillquit would dismiss them with a friendly wave, as in his article, quoted above, in which he also says: "There is, as far as I can see, but one remedy. It would be futile to preach reconciliation and union where antagonism runs so high. Let the Comrades on both sides do the next best thing. Let them separate, honestly, freely, and without rancor. Let each side organize and work in its own way, and make such contribution to the Socialist movement in America as it can." If the