Channels, Spring 2017

P age 58 Schwartz • Inspiration or Distraction? exacerbated the tension between the left and right wings of the Socialist Party. Victor Berger and the more conservative reformists in his camp had always advocated for cooperation with the AFL and a gradual method of gaining influence. On the other hand, the western miners who formed the party’s progressive wing had taken offense at the AFL’s refusal to support their more radically oriented strikes. Naturally, many of them flocked to join the IWW, as did their leader, Bill Haywood, but Berger refused his invitation to attend the convention and sought to persuade Debs to do the same. Threatening to undermine Debs and start internal Party conflict, Berger wrote that if Debs did not come out decidedly against the IWW, “there will be war” and “that will be the end of Eugene V. Debs.” 36 Such was the character of Victor Berger, whose vanity convinced him that he had control of the party and whose selfishness caused him to fight tenaciously to exclude those of different ideological persuasion. Nevertheless, despite this proposed betrayal by a key ally, Debs was still one of the IWW’s founding delegates. Arguing that the conservative, reformist nature of the AFL meant that staying in it as unionists would be akin to staying in the Republican or Democratic parties politically, Debs argued “that there is a middle ground that can be occupied without the slightest concession of principle.” 37 Debs won this battle for effective party unity, as there was no outright conflict in the newspapers or in party circles between Berger and the IWW like there had been between the Kangaroos and Social Democrats earlier. Nevertheless, as the 1908 election neared, these ideological conflicts formed dark clouds on the horizon for the currently growing Party. The 1908 convention unveiled a new factionalism that threatened to undo much of the productive growth accomplished by the Socialist Party and undermine Debs at the same time. The issue of the IWW resurfaced. Left-wing delegates demanding formal recognition of the labor organization by the Socialist Party and a condemnation of the AFL while right wing delegates opposed both measures. 38 A compromise called on all labor organizations to support the Socialist Party. But this did not solve the issue, and the balance of power between the two factions presented a final resolution. Debs could perhaps have decided the issue, but once again he deferred, deciding to forego attendance at the convention despite his status as a formal, voting delegate. Such lax fulfillment of duties merely for the sake of avoiding conflict was a critical mistake and would result in almost immediate harm to Debs, as both sides sought to seize the Socialist Party’s presidential nomination for themselves. Berger, saying “It is my fate to do unpopular things,” rose to nominate a longtime ally, Carl D. Thompson. 39 Presumably Berger thought that Thompson would be easier to control than Debs, but this betrayal of the Socialist standard-bearer who attracted huge crowds even in 1900 and who was converted to Socialism in part due to Berger’s 36 Salvatore, Nick. 1982. Eugene V. Debs : citizen and socialist . n.p.: Urbana : University of Illinois Press, ©1982., 206. 37 Eugene V. Debs, “Speech at the Founding Convention of the International Workers of the World” in Eugene V. Debs Speaks , ed. Jean Tussey (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1970), 115. 38 Morgan, H. Wayne. 1962. Eugene V. Debs; socialist for President. n.p.: Syracuse, University Press, 1962., 91. 39 Salvatore, Nick. 1982. Eugene V. Debs : citizen and socialist. n.p.: Urbana : University of Illinois Press, ©1982., 222.