Valdez daily prospector., 1912-02-21
THE ADVANCE OF SOCIALISM.

IhOSe who were present Ill the Tanana during the summer of 1908 recall the whirlwind cam paign of the Nome candidate for delegate to cOngress--Chilberg, a Socialist. Almost unheralded and unknown in interior Alaska, and arriving barely a week before e lection day, little, old Chilbcrg," swept through the camp, took it by storm and won out handily ov- CT all other candidates at the polls. It was clear that, had he begun his campaign early enough to permit him to campaign in the southeast, he would have been elected delegate from Alaska.
 It was four years ago that Alas ka was in the mood to vote for d Socialist for delegate. During these four years socialism has made such rapid strides in all parts of the United States as to stir up volumes of comment and much alarm on the part of some citizens. At the present time there are no fewer than 450 SO- cialist 0fficc-holders distributed over thiriy-three states, and about i60 municipalities and election districts. Among these are one congressman, one state senator, l6 state representatives, and 28 mayors and village presidents. ,N1, in the middle west, with fully 50 per cent of the Socialist office holders. Wisconsin alone fur nishes 22 per cent.
 One of the greatest surprises in the analysis of the situation is in the discovery that socialism is stronger in small cOmmuni- ties than in large cities; thereby disposing of the generally ac- ceptcd belief that socialism thrives in the large towns on the discomfort of factory populations. Nearly 60 per cent of the office holding Socialists are in places having population under 5000, dlltl oul pl 70 "HIoh have Socialist officials, agricul- lure is the predominant industry in thirty-five. Nor iS socialism confined tO any one section of the country, but, on the contrary, it is most widespread.
 The causes of this Socialist ad- vance are many, and there is no single one that explains it all. In the Panama four years ago, it was a labor strike that became the starting point of successful SO- cialist campaign. A pr0tracted state of labor warfare created similar conditions in Los Ange- les, where, until the McNamara confessions, the Socialists were far in the lead in the municipal campaign. Such Socialist suc- cesses may be temporary, but they furnish the soil for the seeds of radical socialism. Besides trade-union support, socialism has proflted by the general unrest under economic and political con- ditions, by revolts against mu- nicipal corruption, by outbursts against the old political parties. It is an expression of discomfort.
 It is in the capacity of a party of protest that socialism is vio- lent, and has thereby alarmed many citizens by it's rapid growth. As a party of constructive pro- gram, socialism is moderate, and continues to modify it's creed and change it's nature in sympathy with the many diverse human ele- ments which it absOrbs and as- similates. If we look for the good in socialism, we find that it is for the most part liberal, hon. est and essentially democratic. We may confidently expect that in the working out of the move Tnent, these virtues will predomi- nate. .--Fairbanks Times.