we never did talk through all the implications. I did say flat out that, in my view, running for office might not be the best way to use our limited resources.
Our friends are much divided on the issue. Those who follow Ferdinand Lassalle (at Lizzie’s urging, I’ve started to read him—it’s arduous) insist that success at the ballot-box is all-important. But others are just as adamant that politics is a waste of time. Everybody argues about it. At a recent Knights meeting—I still go as often as my schedule allows—I heard one speaker eloquently insist that middle-class Americans will side with us once they learn the truth about working conditions, and that together we will become the political majority.
Among our closest friends, Spies is the most skeptical. He’s notagainst taking part in politics, but thinks it’s useful solely as a means for propaganda, a way to educate the public about the harshness of working conditions. The electoral process by itself, Spies insists, will never bring about fundamental change. That, he says, can only come through economic struggle, with the general strike our best weapon and the Paris Commune our best model. The more I come to know Spies, the more outspoken and radical he seems. I guess his “study” phase is over. I’m not far behind him, but am moving at a slower (southern?) pace.
June 14
So much for my good intentions about keeping a daily record. More than a month has gone by since I last wrote. The election used up every minute. Canvassers came to help from all over the city; the
Tribune
called them “carpetbaggers” and “imported foreigners.” Lucy did the work of a dozen, knocking on doors, passing out leaflets. She’s got twice my energy, and I have plenty. During the campaign we mostly stressed local issues, like the need to have open bidding on city projects, and shorter work hours. It was an exhilarating few weeks, to tell the truth. So much fervor. Also, I learned a lot about our ward, and met many new people.
Oh, I forgot the results! I didn’t win. But then nobody thought I would, not even Lucy. I did get some four hundred votes, about 15 percent of the total, which everyone says is amazingly fine for a new party and a last-minute campaign. Spies, in his ironical way, said, “And don’t ever expect a better showing.” Sometimes I think he’s too cynical. Maybe with more time for organizing and education, we could actually win enough political offices to make a real difference.
June 15
While the election was consuming all my time, the larger world refused to stand still. A railroad crisis is brewing. Railroad stocks started to sink a few months ago. The owners tried to recoup their losses on the backs of their employees. The Boston & Maine cut wages 10 percent—then turned around and paid its usual 6 percent dividend
and
raised the salaries of its president and superintendent. That woke up even the stodgy Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, which has been spending more of its treasury on the temperance cause than on helping the unemployed.The Brotherhood went out on strike and asked for a raise of ten cents a day for the engineers. The B&M only has sixty-seven engineers, so the total cost per day to the owners would have been $6.70. Yet they rejected the increase. So the Brotherhood stopped the trains. But management was too smart for them. Within hours the B&M had replaced the engineers with nonunion standbys, and now, just four months later, the trains are running on schedule. The Brotherhood, meantime, is still out on strike, but its treasury is running low. Some of the railroad bigwigs have decided that now is the time to break the union altogether. Charles Francis Adams II—yes, of “the” Adams family—claims that the Brotherhood “has become a mere common nuisance … a standing public menace,” and must be destroyed. A
menace
—because they asked for
ten cents
more pay per day.
Meanwhile here in Chicago, hotel owner John B.
Our friends are much divided on the issue. Those who follow Ferdinand Lassalle (at Lizzie’s urging, I’ve started to read him—it’s arduous) insist that success at the ballot-box is all-important. But others are just as adamant that politics is a waste of time. Everybody argues about it. At a recent Knights meeting—I still go as often as my schedule allows—I heard one speaker eloquently insist that middle-class Americans will side with us once they learn the truth about working conditions, and that together we will become the political majority.
Among our closest friends, Spies is the most skeptical. He’s notagainst taking part in politics, but thinks it’s useful solely as a means for propaganda, a way to educate the public about the harshness of working conditions. The electoral process by itself, Spies insists, will never bring about fundamental change. That, he says, can only come through economic struggle, with the general strike our best weapon and the Paris Commune our best model. The more I come to know Spies, the more outspoken and radical he seems. I guess his “study” phase is over. I’m not far behind him, but am moving at a slower (southern?) pace.
June 14
So much for my good intentions about keeping a daily record. More than a month has gone by since I last wrote. The election used up every minute. Canvassers came to help from all over the city; the
Tribune
called them “carpetbaggers” and “imported foreigners.” Lucy did the work of a dozen, knocking on doors, passing out leaflets. She’s got twice my energy, and I have plenty. During the campaign we mostly stressed local issues, like the need to have open bidding on city projects, and shorter work hours. It was an exhilarating few weeks, to tell the truth. So much fervor. Also, I learned a lot about our ward, and met many new people.
Oh, I forgot the results! I didn’t win. But then nobody thought I would, not even Lucy. I did get some four hundred votes, about 15 percent of the total, which everyone says is amazingly fine for a new party and a last-minute campaign. Spies, in his ironical way, said, “And don’t ever expect a better showing.” Sometimes I think he’s too cynical. Maybe with more time for organizing and education, we could actually win enough political offices to make a real difference.
June 15
While the election was consuming all my time, the larger world refused to stand still. A railroad crisis is brewing. Railroad stocks started to sink a few months ago. The owners tried to recoup their losses on the backs of their employees. The Boston & Maine cut wages 10 percent—then turned around and paid its usual 6 percent dividend
and
raised the salaries of its president and superintendent. That woke up even the stodgy Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, which has been spending more of its treasury on the temperance cause than on helping the unemployed.The Brotherhood went out on strike and asked for a raise of ten cents a day for the engineers. The B&M only has sixty-seven engineers, so the total cost per day to the owners would have been $6.70. Yet they rejected the increase. So the Brotherhood stopped the trains. But management was too smart for them. Within hours the B&M had replaced the engineers with nonunion standbys, and now, just four months later, the trains are running on schedule. The Brotherhood, meantime, is still out on strike, but its treasury is running low. Some of the railroad bigwigs have decided that now is the time to break the union altogether. Charles Francis Adams II—yes, of “the” Adams family—claims that the Brotherhood “has become a mere common nuisance … a standing public menace,” and must be destroyed. A
menace
—because they asked for
ten cents
more pay per day.
Meanwhile here in Chicago, hotel owner John B.
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