Frank Bohn, then S.L.P. National Organizer, reports on his tour through Illinois including Chicago, Moline, Rock Island, Davenport (Iowa), and Peoria in the winter of 1904-5.

‘My Illinois Tour’ by Frank Bohn from The Weekly People (S.l.P.). Vol. 14 No. 43. January 21, 1905.

St. Louis, Jan, 18. He who wishes to study American capitalism at its highest stage of development industrially, and in its rawest state socially, will find in Chicago by far the finest opportunity. Imagine a city as large in area as New York with street-car service like that of an overgrown village in a border State ten years ago; where black mud lies four to five inches deep on the pavement of important business streets and in well-built suburbs; where the cold, damp winds are always laden with smoke so thick that the workers die of consumption before: rheumatism has a chance. The prevailing standard of social life in Chicago requires of the capitalist class neither false morality nor bogus conscience. So Mr. Capitalist does not give much in “charity” as does his New York or Boston cousin. Cripples, small children and aged workers, lie by hundreds in the frozen filth of the streets, pleading for a cent or a morsel of food.

In the sense in which the term is used in Europe or in the Eastern States, the city cannot be said to have a municipal government. Public parks and libraries, those cheap means of making the working class think somebody cares for them during their one hour of leisure per day, are almost non-existent. The only outward sign of the fact of an organized municipal life one observes in Chicago, is the large number of policemen, bestial in appearance, who clog traffic in the streets. It is commonly known, in fact, the matter hardly causes comment, that they are the very worst thugs and robbers which the slums can provide. But this, of course, is of little interest to the workers, who, as elsewhere, have nothing to be stolen. Between the Chicago capitalist and the block there appears no impediment in the shape of a single redeeming feature. As vulgar and vile as he is ignorant and greedy, it never occurs to him to take the precautions elsewhere thought of to keep the workers in bondage. Perhaps to this, more than to peculiar conditions among the working class, is due the reputation of Chicago as “the most revolutionary city in the United States.” If mere striking back in rage is a sign of the revolutionary spirit, this reputation is borne out by the facts.

Chicago is seething with discontent. But its working class has not yet developed a revolutionary nucleus which is both clear and powerful. The S.L.P. Section, though vigorous, is small. There also have been signs of spontaneous combustion on the part of the working class element in the large “Socialist” party local. But the crust of middle-class leadership, which, to secure votes, has hitherto been in a state of abject bondage to a coterie of the worst labor fakirs in the country, is too thick to be broken. The 1904 convention of the leaders, however, was a little too much for some, and about eighty working-class members crawled out from under the crust and organized the “Independent Socialist Club.” Finding myself one day in front of their reading room and headquarters, I entered and made the acquaintance of such as were present. It was certainly a pleasure to note their clearness of thought in both Socialist economics and tactics. About twenty copies of the Weekly People are sold each week and a great deal of our literature is disposed of.

One is led to question just why a group like this, teaching political action on the part of the working class, remains outside the S.L.P. For the S.L.P. stands for those very principles the lack of which caused their secession from the fraternity of the half-baked. What Section Chicago, S.L.P., lacks in numbers it makes up in activity. During the last part of the campaign it held eight open-air meetings per week. If Section New York would hold as many in proportion to its number of members, Socialism would be preached to Gotham workers a hundred and fifty times every seven days. days. Chicago’s method is worth careful consideration. At the opening of the campaign they had but one speaker. This speaker drilled an assistant who served as chairman and spoke as long as the spirit gave him utterance. As soon as he was sure of himself for half an hour he was given an assistant and sent out to hold a meeting without speaker No. 1, who proceeded to drill another man. Thus three teams were developed. The large vote of the S.L.P. in Chicago was due to hard work. Next summer the same method will be pursued, and by September 1, Chicago will hold as many meetings as Greater New York. Our Chicago comrades think that one regular speaker is enough for any outdoor meeting.

From Chicago I proceeded to Moline and Rock Island, on the Mississippi. These “prosperous” towns are directly across the river from Davenport, Iowa. The three together have about 100,000 people. In Moline, farming machinery plants and in Rock Island the great United States Arsenal are the chief buyers in the slave mart. In the former place the effective work of Comrade Ahlberg had given us that foothold which is the delight of the organizer. Working together we secured eighteen subscribers for The People and one for the “Arbeiter-Zeitung” during my stay. Six workers were induced to apply for membership-at-large. Electing at once a secretary and literary agent, our Moline comrades will prepare for the organization of a full-fledged Section next summer.

At Davenport an interesting and strikingly suggestive situation presented itself. I knew nothing of the state of Socialist sentiment in the place beyond the fact that a half-dozen Weeklies regularly carried their message to Davenport workers. What was my surprise and pleasure to discover that the half-dozen were all young men, late members of the “Socialist” party, anxious to organize a Section of the S.L.P. None of our organizers or speakers had visited their town since 1899. Not one of the prospective members had ever come in contact with our organization, Unaided they had become revolutionary Socialists and were ready to enlist. We arranged for a meeting on the evening of December 26. As Comrade Ahlberg and I rode across the great river to the meeting place, a cold, drenching rain was falling and we vainly congratulated ourselves for performing our duty upon such an occasion, when no one else would be out. When we arrived at the meeting place the new comrades were found to have been more prompt than we. Soon there came another. Comrade Kremer, aged eighty-four years, who had walked a mile in the rain to be with us. He entertained us with stories of his personal relations with Marx and Engels in Germany, sixty years ago, and of the many perplexing crises which the movement has experienced since then. His application card went in with the others.

Another visitor at our meeting was Mr. Gibson, leader of the “Socialist” party in Rock Island. For all I know he is spreading the gospel of Socialism to the best of his knowledge and ability. Personally he is an exceptionally pleasant man to meet. At the moment of his arrival we were just at the point of asking and answering the questions on the application card. When we came to old No. 9, the following conversation took place:

Mr. Gibson-“You permit your members to join the pure and simple unions. Does not that make them as much responsible for their conduct as though they were officers?”

Organizer-“You are a citizen of the capitalist State, Mr. Gibson. If you were not you could take no part in the political life of society. The situation is similar in the case of some working men and the bogus unions. They must belong to them to make a living. Does the fact of your citizenship render you as responsible for the oppression of the working class through capitalist government, as though you were an officer of that government? Is your question answered?”

Chorus of young S.L.P. comrades- “It ought to be.”

Mr. Gibson- “But WE can answer all your questions satisfactorily. I see no reason at all for a difference or for a separate organization.”

Organizer:-“Then why, if no fault can be found with S.L.P. principles, was there ever a second party started. A single party is always sufficient to uphold a single set of principles. Perhaps you can give us a satisfactory reason for the existence of your party. We have never heard one.”

Mr. Gibson (a few minutes later)-“I guess I’ll go home. It is already late.” I’ve remained long enough. I am sure I wish you success. You know where our meetings are held. We shall be glad to see you there.”

Comrade Behrens-“Yes, yes, we shall come occasionally. I’ll not even turn in my card, as I wish to keep it as a relic. Good night.”

None know so well as those prominent in the “Socialist” party that they have an elephant on their hands–a big elephant, swollen and polluted from a loathsome disease Opportunism. Now it has fallen across their path and refuses to die or move out of their way. At Moline, I ran the guard line of the great Derre-Mansure Plow shops. This is a “closed” shop in two senses. Speaking to a small group I took three subscriptions for The People and advertised a meeting to be held on the floor of the shop Friday noon. On Friday I was again successful in getting in and spoke to fifty men on the subject, “Socialism and Unionism.” Never have I received closer attention. They were a unit in agreeing with our policy. Several more subscribed for the paper and I sold nine books. One machinist said, “I have believed in that kind of unionism for ten years.”

The field is dead ripe for the development of a class-conscious industrial union such as the S.T. & L.A. There is now no longer any acceptable excuse for the hibernation of S.L.P. workers during the winter months. In all large cities there are some shops to which you can gain admittance and plant S.T. & L.A. seed.

After visiting Kewanee my labors in Illinois were completed by a short talk on the occasion of Section Peoria’s New Year’s celebration. It was a fine event. A mixed chorus rendered revolutionary songs. The right arm of Section Peoria is the large Ladies’ Socialist Auxiliary. The more material part of the entertainment, furnished by the Auxiliary, was of the kind which lays hold upon the memory of a wandering organizer. Even if the young people were more interested in the coming dance than in the teachings of Socialism, which I was supposed to make clear to them, their presence alone showed the fine future which Section Peoria has if its exceptional opportunity for agitation be not neglected.

FRANK BOHN.

New York Labor News Company was the publishing house of the Socialist Labor Party and their paper The People. The People was the official paper of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP), established in New York City in 1891 as a weekly. The New York SLP, and The People, were dominated Daniel De Leon and his supporters, the dominant ideological leader of the SLP from the 1890s until the time of his death. The People became a daily in 1900. It’s first editor was the French socialist Lucien Sanial who was quickly replaced by De Leon who held the position until his death in 1914. Morris Hillquit and Henry Slobodin, future leaders of the Socialist Party of America were writers before their split from the SLP in 1899. For a while there were two SLPs and two Peoples, requiring a legal case to determine ownership. Eventual the anti-De Leonist produced what would become the New York Call and became the Social Democratic, later Socialist, Party. The De Leonist The People continued publishing until 2008.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/the-people-slp/050121-weeklypeople-v14n43.pdf