The freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1886-18??, 1888-06-06
AN ORGANIZATION ONLY ON pAo.,,


Ex-Chairman Croasdale Says the u,...
Labor Party Is Dead.
William T. Croasdale. ex-cbs;r,,
the Anti-Poverty's executive comm;t,.w'
has letter in . recent number of Ms
New York Standard which will intera.s
the United Labor party and those Nv
were once affiliated with it. He starts nv
by saying that the United Labor ns ~
was never thoroughly organized outs;S.
Of that city and Brooklyn. and even e
these cities the enrolled members ns,.s
knew who voted for the party candidstss
The letter continues:
"The falling off in the vote in this ~.
from 68, 900 in 1886 to 81, 900 last vea,
as nothing to the falling off in the ms,s
bership of the party organization that h..
taken place since the discovery of Thea
sign to use it as an annex to the RensM
can party in the coming presidential ola.
ton. Districts that had before the al.
ton carried the names of from 200 to IN
members on their rolls, dwindled ave-.
until not more than dozen to tbiry
members remained entitled to particinas
in their proceedings. The III
is that the United Labor party, so called
is mere paper organization"
The effort to sustain third partv,.
ceives it's chief support, Mr.. Croasd.s
asserts, from those who want party "a.
the sake of having party rather than
for the purpose of advancing q great min.
ciple, and who would consent to a WV
considerable sacrifice of that principle !,
order to gain allies. He writes:
"In fact this tendency extends even n
the leaders of the movement, as is shown |
by DR.. McGlynn's advocacy of Congress.
man Smith as q presidential candidate, dA
spite the fact that Mr.. Smiths publicnA
terances show that he has no clear com
prehension Of the single tax doctrine. Thu
craze to have party for the sake Of b.
longing to it seems to run through tn
whole crowd, though here and there an
active manager may be found who bas
more substantial reasons for persisting in
this effort.
Mr. Croasdale asserts that he has N.
Signed from the United Labor party be-
cause it has ceased to be an organization
capable of any good, and what remains Of
it is about to be perverted into pettyoh
stacle to the success of the only practi.
cable effort now making to advance our
principles. He gives reasons why be
thinks those who believe in single tax
should vote for President Cleveland, and
says:
II intend to embrace every opportunity
open to me to aid in the reelection Of !
Grover Cleveland to the presidency not
because he is Democrat, but because be
is right He has forced the tariff Issue
into politics and put himself and his party
on the right side of that question, and
those who agree with him ought to stand
by him and help re-elect him, instead Of
passively consenting to the only alterna
tive-the election of protectionist."
Now, q word to workingmen. The Pro
hibition party will welcome you to lbs
councils, to it's labors, to it's honors. Why
Not because it makes any glib pledges
but because the Prohibition party promises
and exists only to solve the question
which lies at the base of all moral and
social reform. The saloon is the work
mans worst enemy. Join the Prohibition
party in its effort to pulverize the rum
power, After that other needed reforms
will speedily follow.