The Northwest worker. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917, 1916-03-23
INFORMATION FOR
PARTY MEMBERS
Everett, Wash, March Il, 1916.

S. V. Bonnevie,
Local Everett No. 1.
Dear Comrade:-
Your question whether the records
of the State Office corroborate the
statements made in the circular sent
out on behalf of Comrade Bostrom by
Tacoma No. /, is received.
1t is true that nearly 100000 had
been accumulated prior to 1913 when
the dues were higher than they are
now, but it is unfair to compare the
present condition Of the party's finan-
ces with the condition during those
boom years and to credit or blame the
Secretary.
The fact is that in spite of all Com
rade Bostrom's careful handling of
the party's resources during the last
eighteen months of his administration
the State Office spent $4,000 more
than it received, so that when / came
there was less than $500 out of that
100000 fund left. Barely enough to
cover the filing fees.
In regard to organization. The rec
ords show that in 1912 we had 28O To-
Gals. January l, 1914, the number had
dropped to 2G3 and when Comrade
Bostrom turned the office over to me
there were only 1856, of which over 20
have never reported.
In 1912 the Socialist Party of Wash
ington ranked third among all the
States in proportion of dues paying
membership to population. In 1913 it
ranked fifth, and in 1914 when Bos-
from left the office it had dropped to
seventh place. For 1915 it regained
fourth place, and only Oklahoma, Wy
oming and Nevada are ahead of us
now.
Our average membership for
1912 was .............................. 1926
For lib. ........ ..............4 AGO
~
and for 1914 only ..........................3 241
At the time the office was turned
over to me there were less than 5000.
The average for 1915 was 1922.
From this it would appear that over
half of the membership dwindled away
during the last two years of Comrade
Bostrom's administration.
1t would be wrong to blame Com
rade Bostrom for this loss in member
ship since the national organization
lost almost the same proportion at the
same time. On the other hand, it is
very misleading to credit him person
ally with the increase made in previ-
Gus years, and to make that an argu-
ment for his reelection. l am sur
prised that he should permit such So
phistry to go out on his own letter
head.
The fact is that the individual in
charge of the clerical work of the par
ty has but little to do with the in
crease or decline in membership, I'M
less Tor some reason or another his
personality becomes bone of conten-
ton IN the party so that energy that
should be used in building the organi
cation is frittered away in the inter
necine strife. The real work of in
creasing the membership is done by
the comrades out on the firing line
that meet the enemy face to face"
If any one individual deserves more
credit than others for our growth last
year 1T is Comrade Emil Herman who
has faced without flinching, much per-
sonal hardship to visit everv corner
of the State as our State organizer,
and whose understanding of the needs
OF the comrades and thorough knowl-
edge of organization building enabled
him to add to our list as locals that
are now alive and working, besides
over 100 members at large.
The organization is fortunate in
having as candidates for the Secre-
taryship two men as efficient as Emil
Herman and Frans Bostrom. No
question of efficiency can be raised
between them. They are both fully
competent to handle the office end of
the State Secretary's work, and the
choice between them must be made on
othr grounds.
L. E. KATTERFELD.