Channels, Spring 2017

Channels • 2017 • Volume 1 • Number 2 Page 51 side. To break this conservative, oppressive combination, a more radical method and approach was necessary. For Debs, defeating the dominant social forces of his day required a full commitment to Socialism, including political campaigns, social programs, and ideological promotion. Therefore, following William Jennings Bryan’s defeat in the campaign of 1896, Debs declared his departure from the People’s Party and joined the Socialist Party, declaring in a letter to his former organization the American Railway Union that the “money power” was thwarting the common people. 4 Nevertheless, with the next Presidential campaign some distance away, Debs needed a program of action to rally support for the Socialist Party and better the plight of American workers. This was a deep and powerful motivation for Debs. When he visited the site of one strike and interacted with the workers, he reflected, “I wish every foe of labor agitation could see the poverty I have seen in the last week.” 5 To relieve the conditions he saw firsthand in company towns and slums grown up next to mines and oil rigs, Debs proposed a cooperative, commonwealth colony in the American West for unemployed workers and set about trying to achieve broad support for this measure. The plan for a cooperative colony advanced by Debs was conceived of as a politically practical and socially beneficial measure. With the sparse populations in the Western states, a directed colonization effort of high numbers of unemployed eastern workers could lead to a significant majority in several states. These states would elect Socialist candidates, providing a national platform for Debs' new ideology. Further, it would relieve the suffering and distress that Debs confronted on a daily basis. Not too long before this, the Mormons had begun their colonization attempt, and by the late 1890’s they had achieved general success. Therefore, Debs put his plan into action, issuing a circular to ARU members to achieve financing for the project. 6 Nevertheless, while Debs could call on his old associates, he had to deal with the legacy of his past actions, including a $40,000 ARU debt from the Great Pullman strike. 7 Further, many of the workers who had participated in the Great Pullman strike had been blacklisted by their employers, which essentially meant that they were unable to find jobs in the railroad industry and therefore contribute income to Debs. Thus, the decisive actions that granted him the notoriety to be an influential figure and lead a movement toward cooperative colonization also undermined his practical resources, handicapping his ability to achieve real change. Other problems with the cooperative colony plan sprang up, which would continue to impede Debs’ efforts throughout his politically active career as a Socialist. The first major problem was the opposition of other key Socialist leaders, including Henry Demarest Lloyd, 4 Brommel, Bernard J. 1971. "DEBS'S COOPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH PLAN FOR WORKERS." Labor History 12, no. 4: 560. Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 15, 2016). 5 Ibid, p. 564. 6 Ibid, p. 561. 7 Ibid, p. 561.