Some 120-year-old leftist trainspotting as future leading wobbly J.A. Stromquist, here a partisan of the S.L.P., surveys Arizona’s Socialist scene in 1905.

‘Socialism in Arizona’ by J.A. Stromquist from The Weekly People. Vol. 15 No. 1. April 1, 1905.

To the Daily and Weekly People. To judge by what happened to the writer recently, that “Socialist” trick of trying to take advantage of the reputation of the “dead” Socialist Labor Party–the trick of the jackass parading in the lion’s skin–as was done in Granite City., Ill., recently, is not confined to that locality, it being worked, with evident success, right here in “wild and woolly” Arizona. This is how I came to find out; Section Phoenix, Socialist Labor Party, was holding an outdoor agitation meeting recently and while another comrade spoke, the undersigned endeavored to dispose of some literature. While thus engaged one of the audience congratulated him on the success of the meeting, and finally offered fifty cents as a contribution to the Section’s funds. He also dwelt enthusiastically on the future of the movement and volunteered the information that at Roosevelt (about eighty miles from here) there was a Socialist Labor Party organization, and that the Socialist Labor Party had cast more votes up there than either of the old parties. As Section Phoenix was, as far as I knew, the only Socialist Labor Party organization in this territory, I began “to smell a rat” and asked him if he did not mean the “Socialist” party, would not have it so, however, and claimed that he had never heard of the “Socialist” party, but as he told me that his local was to have been addressed by “Professor” Mallory (editor of the “Arizona Socialist”) I was at last able to impress upon him that there was a difference, and the “professor” himself, who was standing by, did not volunteer any explanation.

I have not been able to find out if the “Socialists” actually ran their tick-t under the name of the Socialist Labor Party, but as this is not the first time I have heard apparently honest members of that organization claim that they were members of the Socialist Labor Party and denying knowledge of any “Socialist” party (one whom I saw had worn an S.L.P. button for over six months believing it the emblem of his party), I am therefore inclined to the belief that the trick of masquerading as the Socialist Labor Party is more common than would be supposed. Owing to the sparsity of population distributed unevenly over a large area of barren country (mostly in small mining camps scattered far apart), the absence of any large industrial center, the insufficient means of communication and other peculiar and adverse local conditions–the Socialist Labor Party has had a hard row to hoe in this territory in the past, but through the unflinching courage and sustained endeavor of a few stalwarts of the Socialist Labor Party–men who did not know when they were beaten–a party organization has been kept up, new recruits have been broken in and Socialist Labor Party literature spread broadcast through the mining camps and frontier towns and, despite all drawbacks, the present promising situation shows it has not been without effect. There is a lot of discontent among the working class here and we expect good results from the tour of Comrade Bohn, and probably a nucleus of organization in one or two places. Phoenix is not a wage slave’s town being the territorial capital and the center of the only considerable agricultural district in the territory. The “Socialists” have a local here composed almost exclusively of real estate owners, small business men, vendors, etc., and being mostly made “Socialists” by the Appeal to (T)-Reason, they are full of all kinds of isms, with the exception of Social-ism, of course. The “Arizona Socialist” (the new privately owned “official organ” of the Social Democratic party of Arizona) still maintains a lingering existence, but its present urgent appeals for subs in the column where an editorial ought to be–but isn’t–indicates great uncertainty for its future existence. The “professor” (he doesn’t say of what) who edits (?) it, affects a hostile attitude to the “Appeal,” but this is evidently more out of a desire to have his own (excuse) paper supplant the “Appeal” and thus rake in a few more shekels from the good-natured rank and file of the “S.D.P. of Arizona,” than for the purpose of combating any false doctrines. This fact, becomes increasingly evident on reading one of the more prominent “ads” in the last number of the “Arizona Socialist,” wherein the “professor” strongly urges upon the members and locals of his party in this territory to supply themselves with a library which he has for sale, and composed of Socialist classics, “the best money can buy,” “masterpieces,” “standard works on Socialism,” etc., from all of which one would naturally expect to find among the titles of said books the names of Marx, Engels, Kautsky, etc., but no,–only one of Marx’s works, one of the less comprehensive (the “Paris Commune”) is found in the whole bunch of ten, most of the rest being by such “lights” as Morris Hillquit, Walter Thomas Mills, A.M. Simons, etc., and including that “standard work on Socialism,” Merrie England, by R. Blatchford, as also “Love’s Coming of Age,” by Carpenter, etc., and lastly, an old edition of Bebel’s “Woman,” probably the one pirated from the Socialist Labor Party by the ex-Kangaroo, ex-Labor fakir, G.B. Benham of San Francisco, Cal.,–a fine lot of “standard works on Socialism,” isn’t it? In another place, the “professor” booms the “millionaire Socialist,” Wilshire, and his freakish magazine, and in yet another place there is a letter, or article, from a member of Local Tucson, Social Democratic party of Arizona, Swanson by name, who solemnly declares that Socialism must be brought about “by thinking Socialistic thoughts” and in explaining how we are to acquire the habit of “thinking Socialistic thoughts,” he declares we must do it “by overcoming the old Adam in ourselves; by rooting out the desire for individual possession of things”; and the whole fitly concludes by referring to the Lord’s Prayer as “a distinctly Socialist petition” and calling especial attention to the part of said prayer where it says, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” One would think on reading such matter as Socialism that the “revolutionary” “professor” would cry halt- even “Brother” Wayland would have ventured a footnote in a case like that–but no, the “professor” knows on which side his bread is buttered and believes in “catching ’em acomin’ and agoin”,” as Comrade De Leon puts it. From the “professor” nothing better can, of course, be expected, but things like this should serve to show the honest members of the “Socialist party or Arizona” (and I don’t doubt most of them are honest) what “professor” Mallory really is and what they can expect his paper to do for Socialism.

In the meantime we of the Socialist Labor Party are not idle, and if any members of the “Socialist” party who “smell a rat” and wish to discuss the question with us will call, we will be glad to meet them any time at No. 45. East Van Buren street (southwest corner of First and Van Buren streets), room marked “parlor,” to talk matters over and find out what is what. In the meantime we shall hammer away with the arm and hammer for all we are worth. Hurrah for the fighting S.L.P. Fraternally, J. A. Stromquist. Phoenix, Ariz., March 14.

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/050401-weeklypeople-v15n01.pdf