Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1922-02-16
BACKBONE OF
PARTY QUITS
GEO. w. LIPPERT LEAVES
SOCIALISTS TO JOIN
PROGRESSIVES

George w. Lippert, former district
attorney of Marathon county, and a
candidate for congress year ago last
fall on the Socialist ticket, resigned
Wednesday as member of the So
cialist party. A member of the state
executive committee of the Socialist
party, an able and clever speaker and
a man of rare political acumen, Mr..
Lippert is solely credited with having
built up the Socialist party in Cen
trail Wisconsin
The loss of Mr. Lippert gives COM
plete assurance that the Socialist
movement in Marathon county will
disintegrate as rapidly as it sprout-
ed five years ago. 1t was Mr.. Lippert's
leadership that enabled the Socialists
to gain control of Marathon county
in 1918 and to come close to winning
the municipal election in Wausau two
years ago. In all political campaigns
Mr.. Lippert has run ahead of his tick
ct. 1t is generally believed that the
LaFollette Blaine branch of the Re-
publican party will gain thousands OF
votes in the Eighth Congressional dis
trict as a result of Mr.. Lippert's ac-
ton.
81 shall now align myself with the
Progressive Republicans, led by Sen
ator Robert M LaFollette and Gov.
j. ]. Blaine" said Mr.. Lippert in an
/. Interview with The Pilot. The rumor
'ihat has been circulated during the
past several weeks is thus substan-
tiated.
The letter written by Mr.. Lippert
to Frank Novak, secretary of the So
cialist local of Wausau, follows:
February Is, 1922.
"Mr Frank Novak,
Secretary, Socialist LocaI,
"Wausau, Wisconsin.
Dear Mr.. Novak:
Il herewith resign as a member OF
the Socialist Party
My reasons for resigning are these.
] feel that it is impossible to do any
thing for the great mass of people
within the ranks of the Socialist par
ty so long as that party pursues the
policy it has been in the past two
years. | am, and always have been,
ambitious to do something for the
masses, but have come to the con-
clusion, after long and careful delib-
GRAFTON, that | can do that more ct
fectively outside of the Socialist party
than | Uan from within.
"The trouble with the Socialist par
ty is that il is always sprouting wings
left wings and right wings. That
means that there is always more or
less trouble within the party-a quar-
rel as to what policy to pursue. And
when there is disorder within ones
own organization, it is very hard to
bring about reforms on the outside,
for the reason that great amount of
energy, effort, and activity is lost by
the continual wrangling within. In
short, if that energy that is lost by
the wranglings within could be used
in bringing about reforms without,
much more good could be done.
"You know what trouble the party
has had with the socalled left wing
ers-the direct actionists. They for
get that America is not Russia and
that conditions are different here than
over there You know, that we hau
trouble with them right here in Wau-
sau two years ago. That kind OF
propaganda does not help the Social
ist party; it hurts it.
Furthermore, the Socialist Party
has, in the past, concentrated its ef-
forts mainly on the industrial workers
and it has overlooked the farmers,
the result of which is that another
serious blunder was made These are
my reasons for leaving the party, and
for these reasons, believe, | can do
more good outside.
Nov, / have no personal feelings
tagainst any of you, and | am always
READY to be of personal service to any
of you, even as | have been in the
past.
with kindest personal regards,
am.
Most respectfully yours,
GEO. W. LIPPERT"