Chapter III (2)

The outcome of the political agitation of the Socialists that fall was the nomination of the following ticket: For County Treasurer, Frank A. Stauber; County Clerk, A. R. Parsons; Probate Clerk, Philip Van Patten; Clerk of the Criminal Court, Tim O’Meara; Superintendent of Schools, John McAuliff; County Commissioners, W. A. Barr, Samuel Goldwater, T. J. Morgan, Max Nisler and L. Thorsmark. For Judge, John A. Jameson, then on the bench, was indorsed, and Julius Rosenthal—not a Socialist—was nominated for Judge of the Probate Court. The election held on the 8th of November showed some gains for the party. Omitting the “Industrials” which were swallowed up by the other parties in the way of “election trades,” the Socialists secured a vote of 6,592 in the contest for the County Treasurership, while McCrea, Republican, polled a vote of 22,423; Lynch, Democrat, 18,388, and Hammond, Greenbacker, 769.

In 1878 a session of the Congress was again held, and then it was decided to change the name of the “Workingmen’s Party of the United States” to the “Socialistic Labor Party,” and it was also resolved to “use the ballot-box as a means for the elevation of working people” and for “electing men from their own ranks to the halls of legislation and to the municipal government.”

The different wards of Chicago were subsequently organized into ward clubs, each with a captain and secretary as permanent officers for a year. It was made the duty of the captain of a ward to find halls for public meetings and to report to the central committee. He was to open the meetings in his ward and see that a chairman was chosen from among those attending. The duty of the secretary was to issue cards of membership to new members, to collect monthly dues of ten cents from each member, and to receipt for the same on the back of the cards; he was also to keep minutes of the meetings and have them published in the party papers. The captain was authorized to appoint a precinct captain for every precinct in his ward, whose duty it was to control the distribution of tickets at elections. The precinct captain was also directed to appoint lieutenants in his precinct, one for each block if possible, to assist him in the work of agitation and the distribution of tickets.

Under the plans formulated by the Socialistic Congress a central committee was again organized in the city of Chicago. It was composed of a chairman, a secretary and a treasurer, who were elected by a joint meeting of the different sections every six months. In 1878 there were four sections in Chicago—one German, one English, one French and one Scandinavian. The German section had the largest number of members, between three and four hundred, and was steadily gaining. The English section numbered only about one hundred and fifty. The Scandinavian branch had about an equal number. The French only mustered fifty members. During a campaign the ward captains were made members of the central committee. They were charged with the duty of reporting the progress of the ward clubs, notifying the committee where halls had been rented and indicating what speakers were needed. It was the duty of the central committee to advertise all club meetings, pay for the halls rented when the clubs could not pay, and settle all bills and expenses incident to an election. The committee was the only body authorized to order the printing of tickets, and for all their acts they were held responsible to the “Socialistic Labor Party.” The money needed to defray expenses was raised mostly through subscriptions and collections in the various clubs. The meetings of the committee were conducted openly. Representatives of the press were permitted to be present if at any prior meeting they had not purposely distorted the proceedings. During the years 1878 and 1879 the meetings of the committee were generally held in a hall on the second floor of No. 7 South Clark Street.

With an organization thus perfected under the plan of the Socialistic Congress, the Socialists felt themselves in condition to cope with the other parties. They saw in the vote of 1877 a chance for seating some of their members in the City Council, and set out to talk politics at all their gatherings for the spring of 1878. On the 15th of March of that year they held a convention at No. 45 North Clark Street, and put up a ticket for Aldermen in all the wards except the Eleventh and Eighteenth, and for the various town offices in the three divisions of Chicago. Inasmuch as the “old timber” was worked over for these various offices, it is needless to repeat names. Their platform reiterated the demands made in the first declaration of principles, and, in addition, asked for the establishment of public baths in each division of the city; extension of the school system; annulment of the gas and street-car companies’ charters, the same to be operated by the city after payment to the owners of principal and interest on moneys actually invested, out of the profits; prompt payment of taxes, and employment for all residents of the city that needed it.

During the campaign incident to the election, Paul Grottkau, then a recent arrival from Berlin, proved a conspicuous figure and made a number of stirring appeals. He expounded the principles of Socialism and invariably wound up by characterizing the members of the Democratic and Republican parties as “liars and horse-thieves.” Through his active participation in the Socialistic movement in Chicago Grottkau became editor of the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_, but, fortunately for himself, was displaced in 1880 by August Spies.

The election of April, 1878, resulted in placing one member in the City Council—Stauber, from the Fourteenth Ward.

This was the first political victory the Socialists had achieved in the city, and, having noticed a small but steady increase in their voting force, they proceeded to organize and agitate more diligently than ever before in a political way. Meanwhile they saw the growing strength of the State militia, and as an offset to the organization of the various military companies in Chicago they determined to raise and equip companies from their own ranks. They had begun in a quiet way to start the nucleus of military companies some time after the First Regiment had been organized, but it was not until 1878 that it became generally known that they had men armed and drilled in military tactics, to be marshaled against society upon a favorable opportunity. In the early part of 1878 the very flower and strength of their military was the Lehr und Wehr Verein, composed of picked men and veterans who had been baptized with fire on European battlefields. Its strength was variously estimated at from four to six thousand, but it never exceeded four hundred members. The “Jaeger Verein,” the “Bohemian Sharpshooters” and the “Labor Guard of the Fifth Ward,” each with no more than fifty members, were auxiliary organizations and composed mainly of raw recruits. Their instruction in the manual of arms was mainly given by Major Presser, a trained and skilled European tactician.

Meantime the party had been greatly strengthened by the aid of newspapers printed in its interest. In 1874, _Die Volks-Zeitung_ had been started by a stock company called the Social-Democratic Printing Association. This paper was published at No. 94 South Market Street, with Mr. Brucker as editor. Shortly thereafter, the _Vorbote_, a weekly paper, was started under the auspices of the Workingmen’s Party at the same number. C. Conzett, formerly a resident of Berne, Switzerland, became its editor. He subsequently bought out the _Volks-Zeitung_ and thereafter published a tri-weekly paper under the name of the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_, which became a private enterprise in the interest of workingmen. His assistant editor was Gustav Leiser. They made the paper an advocate of revolutionary methods and urged the organization of trades-unions. They encouraged strikes and held that only through such means could workingmen secure their rights. They published without charge all grievances of laboring men on the score of non-payment of wages and abuses of manufacturing concerns, but each article had the full name of the writer. At first the editors did not favor a resort to the ballot-box to remedy grievances. It was not until after the great railroad strike of July, 1877, that they advocated an organized fight in elections independently of the old parties. The workingmen, they urged, must elect men of their own in order to secure favorable legislation.

In 1878 an English weekly called the _Socialist_ was started under the auspices of the main section of the Socialistic Labor Party of Chicago. This main section was composed of the German, English, Scandinavian and French sections, and they employed Frank Hirth as editor at a salary of $15 per week and A. R. Parsons as assistant at a salary of $12 per week. This paper was made the organ in the English language of the Socialistic Labor Party, and, while it made some headway at the start, it succumbed within a year, owing to jealousies and differences of opinion between the German and English sections.

About the time the _Socialist_ was established another paper was put in the field by the Scandinavian section. It was called _Den Nye Tid_, and was edited by Mr. Peterson.

In 1878 the proprietor of the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_ signified a willingness to sell his paper to the Socialistic Labor Party, and, in order to consummate the transfer, the main section held a meeting in May of that year at Steinmueller’s Hall, No. 45 North Clark Street. Plans were then and there matured for its purchase. It was decided to borrow the money and issue notes at 6 per cent. interest, payable as soon as the treasury had secured enough from collections and other sources to take them up. Collectors were appointed for each division of the city, and they were directed to collect money from workingmen and storekeepers. On the evening of June 29, 1878, a meeting was held at No. 7 South Clark Street, and the reports showed that enough money had been raised to purchase the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_. Subsequently a general meeting was held and a society was organized called the “Socialistische Druckgesellschaft.” A board of trustees was chosen, and they applied to the Secretary of State for a charter. That official declined to issue the charter because the name of the society was in German. Another meeting was held at No. 54 West Lake Street, and the name was changed to the “Socialistic Publishing Company,” after which the charter was readily secured. The paper was then transferred by Herr Conzett to the new company, and subsequently the managers added a Sunday edition called _Die Fackel_. Paul Grottkau, formerly editor of the Berlin _Freie Presse_, was appointed editor under the new management at a salary of $15 per week, and F. J. Pfeiffer, of Chicago, was made assistant editor. The society which now had charge of the paper was composed of _bona fide_ members of the German section. Their meetings were conducted in the same manner as those of the Socialistic Labor Party. The price of the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_ was reduced, and all money realized from its sale over and above expenses was applied for purposes of agitation. While the paper was reported in a prospering condition, it was decided to take steps to pay off its indebtednes as represented by the outstanding notes, and to this end a grand festival was to be held, the proceeds of which should be devoted to the press fund. Some trouble was experienced in getting a hall large enough for the purpose. The Exposition Building was finally decided upon, and it was secured without much delay, with results as noted further along in this chapter.

Soon after the _Socialist_ had expired, the members of the Workingmen’s Party felt the need of an English organ, and, having meanwhile come to a better understanding, they decided that they would make another effort to put one before the people. The result of several conferences was a monster picnic at Wright’s Grove on the 16th of June, 1878. The procession formed to make the occasion imposing numbered about three thousand, and side by side with the American flag was borne the red banner of Anarchy. This emblem, although it finally crowded out the “stars and stripes,” had hitherto been reserved in public demonstrations for a minor place. Some of the mottoes displayed on this occasion ran as follows: “No Rich, no Poor—All Alike.” “No Monopolies—All for One and One for All.” “Land belongs to Society,” and “No Masters, no Slaves.”

The result of the picnic was that the _Alarm_ was established, and A. R. Parsons became its editor on a weekly allowance of $5, subsequently raised to $8.

In the fall campaign of 1878 we find the Socialists again in the field with a full ticket for Congressmen, the Legislature and local offices. Former party platforms were reaffirmed, and mass-meetings to fire the hearts of workingmen were frequently held. At these gatherings capitalists were denounced as usual, and the police came in for some attention. The campaign song was also introduced, and the chorus of one, rendered by an untamed troubadour named W. B. Creech, and referring to the police, ran after this style, to the air of “Peeler and Goat”:

Then raise your voices, workingmen,
Against such cowardly hirelings, O!
Go to the polls and slaughter them
With ballots, instead of bullets, O!

One Dr. McIntosh could always be depended on for grinding out any quantity of doggerel of this kind for any occasion. The Socialists claimed that they would poll on the day of election—Nov. 5th—from 9,000 to 13,000 votes. Their calculations, like their utterances, were wild and wide off the mark, however, as their candidate for Sheriff, Ryan, only secured 5,980 votes, while Hoffman, Republican, had 16,592; Kern, Democrat, 16,586, and Dixon, Greenbacker, 4,491. They secured, however, a member of the State Senate, Sylvester Artley, and three members of the lower house of the Legislature—Leo Meilbeck, Charles Ehrhardt and Christian Meier.

This gave them great confidence, and they pushed with greater vigor than ever their political work. Meetings were kept up throughout the winter, and, among other things, they discussed measures which they demanded from the Legislature in the interest of labor. These demands included reducing the hours of labor; the establishment of a bureau of labor statistics; abolishment of convict labor; sanitary inspection of food, dwellings, factories, work-shops and mines; abolition of child labor; liability of employers for all accidents to employés through the employers’ neglect, and priority of demands for wages over all other claims. They found time also to give their attention to their brethren in Europe, and at a meeting held Sunday, January 19, 1879, they adopted resolutions denouncing Bismarck for persecutions of workingmen in Germany. The pretext for these persecutions, they claimed, grew out of the attempts on the life of Emperor William by Hoedel and Dr. Nobiling. The would-be assassins, they confessed, had once been Socialists, but at the time of the attack had had nothing in common with the order. Hoedel, they said, had been expelled, and had subsequently joined the “Christian Socialistic Party,” which they asserted had the favor of the Government, and at the head of which was a Government official. They claimed that Hoedel had been instigated to the deed by the German court, and they even doubted that he had been beheaded in expiation of his crime. Hoedel, they said, had been simply an instrument in the hands of Bismarck, who wanted a pretext to persecute the Socialists and secure the passage of a bill in the Reichstag for their suppression. Under the provisions of that bill, they asserted, men, women and children were thrown into dungeons without trial, and they insisted that the Congress of the United States should voice their protest against such persecutions.

At nearly every large meeting held during the winter in question, Creech was to the front with new songs, among one the chorus of which ran thus:

Raise aloft the crimson banner, emblem of the free;
Mighty tyrants now are trembling, here and o’er the sea.

On the evening of March 22, 1879, they held the celebration in the Exposition Building already referred to. This was ostensibly in commemoration of the establishment of the Paris Commune in 1848 and again in 1871. The real purpose, however, was to obtain funds to defray the expenses incident to the coming spring campaign and to aid in making a daily out of their tri-weekly organ, the _Arbeiter-Zeitung_. There were from 20,000 to 25,000 people in the building, and the amount reported realized reached $4,500. There was speech-making by Dr. Ernst Schmidt, A. R. Parsons, Paul Grottkau, and lesser lights, and the various military companies of the organization strutted about in their uniforms, with belts, cartridge-boxes, bayonet scabbards and breech-loading Remingtons.

With part of the proceeds of this celebration, the Socialists fitted up campaign headquarters in a top-story room on the northeast corner of Madison and La Salle Streets, in the very heart of the business center. Their ticket covered all the offices from Mayor lo Aldermen. The only new names that figured on this ticket were those of N. H. Jorgensen, J. J. Alpeter, Robert Buck, Henry Johnson, Max Selle, George Brown, R. Lorenz, James Lynn and R. Van Deventer. The election occurred on the 1st of April, 1879, and their candidate for Mayor, Dr. Schmidt, secured 11,829 votes, while Carter H. Harrison, Democrat, scored 25,685, and A. M. Wright, Republican, 20,496. They elected three Aldermen, however—Alpeter from the Sixth Ward, Lorenz from the Fourteenth, and Meier, then in the Legislature, from the Sixteenth, which made, with Stauber, four representatives in the City Council.

With the inauguration of Carter Harrison’s administration, a good deal of attention was given to the Socialists by him as well as by his Democratic co-laborers. Some of their men were given employment in the departments of the city. Although they still continued their agitation, these appointments and other favors had the effect of undermining their political strength.

In the next Mayoralty election they made a show of keeping up their organization and nominated George Schilling for Mayor and Frank Stauber for City Treasurer. But in the election held April 5th, 1881, the former only polled 240 votes, and Stauber 1,999, thus demonstrating an almost complete collapse of the party.

This virtually took them out of politics. Thenceforward the Socialists seem to have decided to abandon the ballot-box, and to rely on force only for the attainment of their objects. Accordingly their harangues were directed to the dissemination of the doctrines of revolution. They endeavored still, it is true, to maintain a representation in the City Council, but in 1884 the Socialistic element was entirely eliminated from that body.

At the session of the Congress of the International Workingmen’s Association held at Pittsburg from the 14th to the 16th of October, 1883, there was a large delegation of Chicago Anarchists. A question arose as to the use of the ballot for remedying the wrongs of the laboring people. The delegates from Baltimore insisted that recourse should be had to the ballot-box, but those from Pittsburg were of another mind, and favored something stronger. This suggestion gave the Anarchist contingent from Chicago an opportunity to come to the front, and, while some of these did not hold to extreme measures, they all agreed that the ballot-box only served to keep capitalistic representatives in office. The radical Chicago element went still further, holding that the theory of Karl Marx, the use of force, was the correct one, and that that force should be dynamite. But here a split occurred in their own delegation, the milder ones holding to the theory of Lassalle, that they should first give the ballot a thorough trial and use force only in the event of failure. The sentiment of the convention predominated in favor of force, and the conservative Anarchists ceased to be members.

The controversy thus begun was carried back to Chicago, and the radicals set themselves strenuously to work to bring their disaffected associates to the advocacy of dynamite. The members of the Lehr und Wehr Verein were particularly opposed to the use of the bomb. They had equipped themselves and drilled in the use of guns so as to be able to meet the police and militia after failure at the polls, and they contended that men carrying bombs would be apt, through lack of experience, to hurt themselves as much as their opponents. Men thoroughly drilled in the handling of a gun, they argued, could accomplish something, and to that end every one should be instructed in military tactics. The radicals of the various “groups” did not believe in guns, however, and held that, inasmuch as they had experimented with dynamite with some success, they should adopt it as a means of warfare. They finally brought all to their ideas, and from that time to the present they have given the subject of dynamite and explosives a great deal of study.

As indicating the sense of the Pittsburg Congress their plan of organization and resolutions are here given:

The name of the organization shall be “International Workingmen’s Association.”

1. The organization shall consist of federal groups which recognize the principles laid down in the manifesto and consider themselves bound by them.

2. Five persons shall have the right to form a group.

3. Each group shall have complete independence (autonomy) and shall further have the right to conduct the propaganda in accordance with its own judgment, but the same must not collide with the fundamental principles of the organization.

4. Each group may call itself by the name of its location. When there is more than one group, they shall be numbered.

5. In places where there is more than one group it is recommended that a general committee be formed to secure united action. Such committees shall, however, have no executive power.

6. A Bureau of Information shall be created at Chicago and shall consist of a secretary of each of the groups of different languages. It is the duty of such bureau to keep an exact list of all the groups belonging to the organization and to keep up correspondence with and between the domestic and foreign groups.

7. Groups intending to join the organization must, after they have recognized its principles, send their application and list of members to the groups located nearest to them, whose duty it is then to forward such application to the Bureau of Information. The groups shall send a report of the situation to the Bureau of Information at least every three months.

8. A Congress can be called at any time by a majority of the groups.

9. All the necessary expenses of the Bureau of Information shall be met by voluntary contributions of the groups.

_Plan for the Propaganda._—The organization of North America shall be divided into nine districts of agitation, as follows: 1. Canada. 2. District of Columbia. 3. The Eastern States (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland). 4. The Middle States (Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois). 5. The Western States (Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Dakota, Kansas, Indian Territory and New Mexico). 6. The Rocky Mountain States (Colorado, Montana, Idaho Territory, Utah and Nevada). 7. The Pacific Coast States. 8. The Southern States (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.) 9. Mexico.

It is recommended to the several districts to organize general district committees for the purpose of more effective and united action. It is the duty of these general committees to provide that whenever practicable agitators shall be sent forth. If there is a lack of proper agitators in a district the general committee shall inform the Bureau of Information. This shall be done also when there is a surplus of workers, so that the bureau shall be able to bring about an equal distribution of the working elements.

The expenses of the traveling agitators shall be paid by local groups, or, when these are without means, by the general organization.

_Resolutions._—The following resolutions were offered by A. R. Parsons:

“In consideration that the protection capitalists are men who, by excluding the cheap products of labor of competing countries, intend to make enormous profits, while the free-trade capitalists intend to make just as large profits by the sale of the cheap products of labor of other countries; and

“In consideration that the only difference between the two is this: That the one wants to import the products of cheap foreign labor, while the others consider it of greater advantage to import the cheap labor itself of other countries; and

“In consideration that it is a great injustice to tax by a protective tariff a whole people for the benefit of a few privileged capitalists or of branches of industry: Be it, therefore,

“_Resolved_, That we, the International Workingmen’s Association, consider the protective tariff and free trade questions capitalistic questions, which have not the least interest for wage-workers—questions which are intended to confuse and mislead the workingman. The fight on both sides is only one for the possession of the robbed products of labor. The question whether there should be a protective tariff or free trade are political questions, which for some time past have divided governments and nations into opposing factions, but which, as already said, do not contribute toward the solution of social questions. The adage, _Polvere negli occhi_ (throwing dust in the eyes), expresses the intentions of both parties.

“In consideration that we see in trades-unions advocating progressive principles the abolishment of the wage system—the corner-stone of a better and more just system of society than the present; and

“In consideration, further, that these trades-unions consist of an army of robbed and disinherited fellow-sufferers and brothers, called to overthrow the economic establishments of the present time for the purpose of general and free coöperation: Be it, therefore,

“_Resolved_, That we, the I. W. M. A., proffer the hand of fellowship to them, and give them our sympathy and help in their fight against the ever-growing despotism of private capital; and

“_Resolved_, That while we give such progressive trades-unions our fullest sympathy and assure them of every assistance in our power, we are, on the other hand, determined to fight and, if possible, to annihilate every organization given to reactionary principles, as these are the enemies of the emancipation of the workingmen, as well as of humanity and of progress.

“In consideration that the courts of arbitration for settlement of differences between the workingmen and their employers, without the fundamental condition of free and independent action on both sides, are simply contrary to reason; and

“In consideration that a free settlement between the rich and the poor is impossible since the wage-worker has but the choice to obey or to starve; and

“In consideration that arbitration is possible and just only in case both parties are so situated that they can accept or refuse an offer entirely of their own free will: Be it, therefore,

“_Resolved_, That arbitration between capital and labor is to be condemned. Wage-workers ought never to resort to it.”

After expressions of sympathy for the striking coal-miners in Dubois, Pa., who were advised to arm themselves for defense against the bandits of order, the resolutions proceed:

“In consideration that our brothers and fellow combatants in the Old World are engaged in a terrible struggle against our common foe, the crowned and uncrowned despots of the world, the church and priestcraft, and thousands of them are languishing in prison and in Siberia and are suffering in exile: Be it, therefore,

“_Resolved_, That we tender these heroic martyrs our sympathies, encouragement and aid.

“In consideration that there is no material difference existing between the aims of the I. W. M. A. and the Socialistic Labor Party: Be it, therefore,

“_Resolved_, That we invite the members of the S. L. P. to unite with us on the basis of the principles laid down in our manifesto for the purpose of a common and effective propaganda.”

Issued by order of the Pittsburg Congress of the International Workingmen’s Association. For further information apply to the undersigned “Bureau of Information.”

Secretary of the English language, AUG. SPIES.
Secretary of the German language, PAUL GROTTKAU.
Secretary of the French language, WM. MEDOW.
Secretary of the Bohemian language, J. MIKOLANDA.

No. 107 Fifth Avenue, Chicago.

In accordance with pre-arranged plans, therefore, when the street-car riots occurred on the West Division Railroad in the summer of 1885, the Anarchists and Socialists of Chicago took a prominent part and did everything in their power to create a bloody conflict between the police and the strikers. In 1886, when the laboring classes of Chicago had decided to strike on the 1st of May for eight hours as a day’s work, they came forward and resolved to strike a blow which would terrorize the community and inaugurate the rule of the Commune. How they went to work in that direction and how they succeeded is fully shown in succeeding chapters.