The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1910-12-27
BERGER'S VICTORY
GROWTH OF
Not Necessarily Election Of Third
Party President Ii 1912.
but Triumph at Polls
Means New POIit-
iCal Factor.
BY JAr1Es 4. HpeERToN.

I'm the late election the SOCIALIST
party polled approximately 100000
votes, thus continuing as the third
party in the nation and King like
rank in mos of the states. Ii New York,
Wisconsin, California, Ohio, Eennsyls
vania, Oklahoma, Indiana and KH2|sas,
for example, its gains were marlel
carried the city of Milwaukee and The
county in which it is situated, electing
thirteen members of the state assem-
bly, and one senator. More important
than all, it made Victor L. Berger ia
representative in congress
Now, Berger is not only Socialist,
but political general of no mean
parts. One would not expect the two
things to go together, and in nine hum
dred and ninety-nine cases they would
not. But the one-thousandth case is
Berger's and is an exception.
Some of the simon pure Socialists
accuse Berger of being an opportunist.
They say that, having elected the may
or and council of the city of Milwau-
kee last spring, Berger, who engi-
neered the job, should have seen to 1t
that the whole Socialist program was
put into immediate effect. Instead of
that his mayor and council have gone
along doing about what any reform adj
ministration would have done and
have neither waved the red fl nor
put all the means of production and
distribution into the common pot.
No Excitement as Yet.
About the only thing startling Mayor
Seidel has put over was to say some
things about Colonel T. Roosevelt, and
they were mild and lady1ike compared
to the epithets hurled at the colonel by
eminent tinanciers and other perfectly
respectable people in New York
III answer to his critics Berger could
say that had he followed the course
of demanding the whole Socialist pro-
gram al once there would not now be
enough Socialists in Milwaukee to
elect the whole county ticket thirteen
members of the assembly. one senator
and one member of congress. He has
said this in effect and has added that
il he had lived in New York instead
of Milwaukee the metropolis would
now be in the hands of his party
Berger has never run for president
and never will, for the reason that he
was born in Austria. But then, there
have been Il few good men who never
ran for president also other good men
who ran, but did not arrive There
were Clay, Webster, Blaine and Bryan,
to say nothing Of Debs. Mr.. Debs has
been running for president on the So
cialist ticket long enough-well, long
enough to get him used to it. lie did
not expect to be elected; said so him
self. He also said. as | recall it, that
If he had expected to be elected he
would not have run, which shows that
the sour grapes fable may apply to
candidates as wen as to foxes.
Berger Long In Game. ri
When Debs ran for president there
was Berger behind him. Couldn't lose
Berger He was necessary man. For
one thing, he had that indispensable
quality known as brains. Men with
real gray matter, of the sort that stays
on the job when needed, are not so
numerous as to glut the market.
Berger has been with Debs ever
since the days of the Peoples party.
In the Populist national convention of
1896 Debs was candidate for the
presidential nomination, and Berger
was the man in charge of his boom.
1t would not so, however, and Bryan
was named. During that campaign
Debs supported Bryan, and presume
bly, Berger did likewise. After it was
over the two men, together with some
of Debs' Railway union following,
launched the Social Democratic Party
of America There had been a Social
list Labor party prior to that time, and.
for the matter of that, there is one
vet But it never reached 10000 votes
in the entire country and in 1908 had
fallen TO less than $4,000.
After few years the name of the
Social Democratic party was changed
to plain Socialist At the start it was
rather uphill work for the new organ
ization. In 1860 Dehs, as a candidate
for president received only ST,S14
votes, but in 1904 he jumped it up to
402, 2S3. During the next four years
the vote remained almost stationary,
since in 1908 Debs received APO, 1893.
Socialist Increase Large.
The following table win give some
indication of the increase since 1908.
The figures for 1910 are only approx
mate:
1910 1905.
California .................... 10000 2S,144
Connecticut ................... 1900 5,1ss
Indiana ....................... 10000 1s,476
Kentucky ..................s.. $500 40S1
Michigan ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 10000 $50
Aflnnesota ................... 5000 10000
Nevada Observation-Disclosures. 1000 1900
Aew York ..,,,,,,,,.,.,...... $1,000 80, 994
ohio 10000 80. 75s
Oklahoma ..................... 10000 I,OSs
Pennsylvania .................. 10000 80. 91s