Prominent Socialist and labor leaders eulogized Morris Hillquit, Socialist leader who died last October, at a memorial meeting in Town Hall yesterday afternoon. About 1,000 persons were present.
Among the speakers were: Abraham Cahan, editor of the Jewish Daily Forward; Julius Hochman, vice-president of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union; Sol Polakoff of the United Hebrew Trades; Harry W. Laidler, president of the League for Industrial Democracy; former Municipal Court Justice Jacob Panken; and Lena Morrow Lewis, California Socialist leader. Algernon Lee, president of the Rand School, presided.
A bronze bust of Hillquit by Sergei Konikov, the gift of “300 anonymous admirers” to the Rand School, was unveiled.
WAS “BRAIN OF PARTY”
Mr. Cahan described Hillquit as a man “who brought order out of chaos, the brain of the Socialist party for many years.”
“The contribution of Morris Hillquit to the trade union movement and especially to immigrant workers is not fully appreciated,” said Mr. Hochman, who characterized him as “the leader of the leaders of our unions.”
Mr. Polakoff voiced the pledge of the United Hebrew Trades to “carry on his ideals until Socialism has freed the world forever.”
“The generations that will follow,” said Mr. Panken, “will constantly draw upon the heritage he has left. The physical lips that were his are sealed in eternity; his thoughts, his ideas thunder down the ages.
“His life was heroic. A poor immigrant boy, chained by economic forces to the shop, he rose to be a leader in our country.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
