Workmen's advocate., 1889-11-02

York, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee,
 etc., where it's economic organization
 was strong. In other words, independ- ent political action is the natural form in which Labor is inevitably impelled by circumstances to manifest the extent and solidity of it's economic organiza. tion; not only it's surface, but it's depth; not only it's numbers, but it's intelli- gence; not only the intensity of it's feel ing, but the detiniteness of its purpose.
 If the economic organization be weak, it's political manifestations must be correspondingly insignificant; if the first be lacking in the element of dura- ton, the second cannot be lasting; if the first be deficient in unity of views, the second will be pregnant with the seeds of discord. It may, therefore, be laid down as rule: 1. That no political labor movement of any value or signi- ticance, even as mere protest, can take place in q state of economic disorgani- zation; 2. that it were far better to have no such movement at all than to bring labor into contempt by a con temptible manifestation; 3. that, as already stated, a political movement must naturally take place as soon as the economic organizations of Labor shall have reached sufficient degree of strength and unity; and 4. that in order to set it upon socialistic lines, or at least upon higher plane in the direction of Socialism than heretofore, it is neces- sary that Socialists, by actively contrib u;ing to the economic organization, should endear themselves to the less ad- vanced wage workers, and become the recognized advocates of all measures and movements for their improvement.
 All this is elementary. Let those who doubt it compare the events of the past few years, in which they have been more or less active participants; and If the history of their own making has any meaning for them, surely they must come to the same conclusion. It begins in the fall of 1886 with a strong politi- cal movement co-extensive with the economic organization of labor at that time, the condition and nature of which it reflected exactly-that is, broad but not deep, numerous but not homoge- nous intense in feeling, but indefinite in purpose. Compact at first under the pressure of enthusiasm, it disaggregated in New York on the first attempt of a faction to shape it's future course by forcing upon the mass dogmatic inter. pretation of its economic object; while in other centres of labor agitation
 where the George theory had never been factor or even a topic, it dwin
 dled away without any apparent cause
 Some may say that the split in New York was felt elsewhere; but while ad
 hitting it's demoralizing influence, wt are soon led by further investigation tC recognize that the split itself was the effect of cause which, though lesi perceptble to the superficial observer operated everywhere with tremendous force. We refer to that rapid dsaggre gation of the economic organizations O
 labor, which began to assume alarming proportions in the winter of 1887, anC from which we are now slowly recov ering, Divided within themselves, some times even arrayed against each other and repeatedly weakened by defeat il their conflicts with capital these organ izations relinquished all control of tht political movement, which, from tha time, either was split into factions ol drifted away aimlessly, thus retlectinl again, like mirror, the condition ot