JEUNES GARDES CARRY ON TRADITION OF FIRST INTERNATIONAL
In Brussels on September 6,.some 50,000 workers, including several thousand socialists from other European countries, turned out for a parade in celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the First International, Unfortunately, this impressive demonstration was marred by a different kind.of demonstration conceived by the reformist leadership of the Belgian Socialist party. They ordered police to remove from the ranks of the marchers 300 members of the Jeunes Gardes Socialistes [Young Socialist Guards of Belgium],
Among the "distinguished guests" on the official reviewing platform were such international celebrities as Harold Wilson, Guy Mollet, Willy Brandt, Giuseppe Saragat, etc. The top brass of the Belgian Social Democracy were embarrassed at having them see the placards and banners carried by the Jeunes Gardes Socialistes, Moreover, some of the slogans could have a "seditious" effect on the workers in the parade, who included many nationalities,
Among the "dangerous" slogans carried by the young. Belgian socialists in accordance with their concept of the tradition of the First International were: "Let's Quit NATO." "“Imperialists: Hands off Congo, Vietnam, Cyprus!" "Workers Control," "The Factories to the Workers, "Tshombe Murderer." "Long Live Socialist Cuba!" "Solidarity with the Struggle of the American Negroes." . The Social Democratic brass at first tried to expel the Jeunes Gardes by ordering the parade!s own "conmissars" into action, - “But the youth stood their ground, —
- The red-faced fossils on the reviewing stand then decided to give the youth,a legson in the deeper mysteries of the Social Demo~ cracy, They called in the cops,
The police, however, were confused... They were quite familiar with the blue shirts and red ties of the Jeunes Gardes in innumerable former demonstrations, As for their slogans, they were not much different from those carried by the same youth in the May Day parade in the streets of Brussels, Finally, they had not been briefed on why they should intervene in what looked like an internal dispute among the paraders,
The general secretary of the Socialist party thereupon de-~nounced the Jeunes Gardes as "Communist infiltrators." The police found this understandable, if not completely compelling, and joined in the fight to throw out the youth,
The young militants lost most of their banners and saw the seditious appeal "Workers of All Countries, Unite!" trampled underfoot by the bourgeois cops, a fitting climax to a demonstration in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the First International!
But they managed to close ranks repeatedly despite the assaults of police and commissars and went by the reviewing stand in a compact group, chanting the slogans inscribed on the banners that had been torn from their hands,
The national leaderships of the Jeunes Gardes and the Socialist Students Organization at once issued a sharp protest. This re-ceived wide publicity, being read over the radio,
Several trade unions and local sections of the Socialist party also lodged energetic protests,
The leadership of the Social Democratic machine now faces a bit of a problem, On the eve of municipal elections should they initiate disciplinary measures against the Jeunes Gardes? Or should they seek to smooth over this dirty business?
The daily paper of the Liege trade unions has come out strongly in favor of the Jeunes Gardes, This reflects the feelings of the crowds who watched the parade on September 6, Their applause was very warm for the youth who sought to:continue the revolutionary spirit that inspired the First International,
LIKE