Channels, Spring 2017

P age 60 Schwartz • Inspiration or Distraction? did not accompany this increasing base of support right away. 46 This indicated that the mass of American workers was intrinsically disposed against Socialism, and that the environment of a Presidential election was not the best one to foster or measure Socialist strength. The number of those committed to Socialism, indicated by the Party membership, was increasing rapidly, but it remained a tiny fraction of the electorate. While Debs would draw huge crowds on his campaigns, the vast majority of his audience did not find Socialism to be the superior ideology on which they would stake their vote for the nation’s future. Nevertheless, the midterm elections of 1910 showed that time and patience could translate the increases in Party membership into electoral success. Socialist Party candidates for state and local office accumulated roughly 700,000 votes together, and Victor Berger was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. 47 These victories brought about positive feedback. Party membership doubled between 1909 and 1911 and continued to increase until it reached 118,000 by the time of the 1912 Presidential election. 48 While most Americans were unwilling to trust this new Party with the White House, more and more were willing to trust them with the state house or town hall. If this steady growth were nurtured in an atmosphere of ideological stability and if a second wave of skilled Socialist leaders arose, then the possibility of a future Socialist President seemed not far off. Unfortunately, Debs misread the lessons apparent in the voting and membership patterns that occurred during this period. Instead of taking the time to appreciate and cultivate the organizational growth offered on the lower levels of governance, Debs became more concerned about the ideological purity of the Party. In an article written in January 1911, Debs publicly argued that the increase in votes was achieved “by methods inconsistent with the principles of a revolutionary party and in the long run will do more harm than good.” 49 He was of course referring to Berger and reform socialists like him who did not advocate revolution and watered down the Socialist message of sweeping change leading to utopia in order to achieve broader political relevance. Some of this criticism was justified. After all, in some past municipal elections, Berger’s Milwaukee machine had not run any Socialist candidate at all but supported the Republican instead. Nevertheless, when Debs claimed that “the economic organization of the working class…in their respective industries” was more important than gaining votes, he was very mistaken. 50 Despite the AFL’s continued dominance of the labor movement as a craft-focused organization, Socialist Party membership, an effective indicator of informed, passionate commitment to true, core Socialism, had increased significantly. Party membership increased as the Socialist Party became a legitimate political entity with respected, effective administrations 46 Morgan, H. Wayne. 1962. Eugene V. Debs; socialist for President . n.p.: Syracuse, University Press, 1962., 90. 47 Salvatore, Nick. 1982. Eugene V. Debs : citizen and socialist . n.p.: Urbana : University of Illinois Press, ©1982., 223. 48 Ibid, 223. 49 Eugene V. Debs, “Danger Ahead” in Eugene V. Debs Speaks , ed. Jean Tussey (New York: Pathfinder Press, 1970), 178. 50 Ibid, 180.