John M. Work
Encyclopedia
John McClelland Work was an American socialist writer, lecturer, activist, and political functionary. Work is best remembered as a founding member of the Socialist Party of America and as the author of one of its best-selling propaganda tracts of the first decade of the 20th Century. He was also the Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of America from 1911 to 1913 and a frequent candidate for public office on its ticket.
, the son of John H. Work, a farmer.
In September 1886, Work left the family farm in Dutch Creek Township and went off to school. He stayed close to home, attending the non-denominational religious preparatory school Washington Academy, in nearby Washington, Iowa
, returning home on weekends to help with the farm work. Work graduated the Academy in June 1889, part of a graduating class of 8.
Following graduation from Washington Academy, Work began studying law in the office of an elderly lawyer in Washington who was a friend of the Work family, with John running errands. After a year he returned to the farm to help with the summer work before enrolling in Monmouth College
in Monmouth, Illinois
, a United Presbyterian
school which often sent its graduates on to theological seminaries
. Work entered with Senior class status and graduated in June 1891 with a Bachelor of Arts
degree.
While in college, Work was a supporter of the Prohibition Party
.
Upon graduation, Work took a job at a weekly newspaper published in Monmouth, gathering local news and soliciting advertising. He was a failure as an ad salesman, however, and was fired after just six weeks.
Work decided to attend the United Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania
in the fall of 1892. Upon arrival, Work found the found the seminary "cheerless and uninviting" and spontaneously decided to hop a train for Washington, D.C.
to attend Columbian Law School, now part of George Washington University
.
Work graduated in June 1892 with a degree of Bachelor of Laws.
After passing the Iowa State Bar exam, Work began to practice law in Des Moines, Iowa
. He also joined the Young Men's Republican Club in Des Moines and was a delegate to a national convention of Republican clubs in Louisville, Kentucky
in 1893. He remained a Republican until 1896 and practiced law until 1900.
Work married a former classmate at Monmouth College, Lucy Josephine Hoisington, on June 24, 1896, in Monmouth, Illinois. The pair had a daughter, Josephine, in April 1897.
In the fall of 1896, Work began studying various social remedies at the Des Moines Public Library, preparing for a public lecture against socialism
. During the course of his studies, Work read The Co-operative Commonwealth by Laurence Gronlund
. He later recalled:
Work became absorbed with advancing the socialist idea. His law practice suffered as a result.
Work's first published article on socialism, entitled "Credential of Socialism," was published in the Des Moines Iowa Unionist in January 1900. That fall he also addressed his first "street meeting" as a soapbox
er on behalf of the Social Democratic Party, speaking for half an hour. Work would subsequently tour the nation speaking to public audiences on socialist themes.
In December 1900, Work went to Minnesota
to await a forthcoming national convention of the Social Democratic Party, called for January 15, 1901 in Chicago, but fell ill and had to return to Iowa, missing the gathering.
In July 1901, Work was the delegate of the Des Moines branch of the Social Democratic Party to the Unity Convention which established the Socialist Party of America
(SPA). Although taken aback by the "lack of brotherliness" displayed by many of the delegates, Work remained active in the new organization. In October 1901, he was elected by referendum vote of the membership as the Socialist Party of Iowa's delegate to the governing National Committee of the SPA.
Beginning at this time, Work also periodically contributed material to the Iowa Socialist, the newspaper of the Iowa party, the Chicago Socialist, and The Coming Nation (later gaining fame as The Appeal to Reason.)
In 1902, Work was the candidate of the Socialist Party for Mayor of Des Moines. He ran the next year for Governor of Iowa for the first time).
When the SPA briefly moved its headquarters to Omaha, Nebraska
in 1903, Work by virtue of his status as National Committee member of an adjacent state became a member of the so-called "National Quorum," which acted as a de facto executive committee in between annual meetings of the National Committee. Work was joined in this position by Barney Berlyn of Illinois, Stephen M. Reynolds of Indiana, Charles Dobbs of Kentucky, and Victor L. Berger
of Wisconsin. The party moved its headquarters again, this time to Chicago, in 1904.
Work was a delegate to the 1904 National Convention of the Socialist Party, held in Chicago. This convention established an elected 7 member National Executive Committee to handle matters of party governance in between annual sessions of the National Committee, a group which was at the same time expanded to enhance representation by large states. Work and the others of the National Quorum were reappointed until the new constitution could be ratified by the membership of the SPA.
In January 1905, Work wrote an introductory work on socialism called What's So and What Isn't. The short book was frequently reprinted and became his best known writing, one of the Socialist Party's propaganda standards of the Debs
era. The first 10,000 copies of the work appeared as the March 1905 number of Wayland's Monthly. The book would ultimately be published in over a dozen editions, with a total print run of well over 165,000 copies.
Work introduced five amendments to the SPA's national constitution in 1905, one of which made the National Executive Committee directly elected by the party membership instead of by the National Committee; another which made the party's Executive Secretary electable by the membership instead of by the National Committee, and a third which caused all amendments to the national constitution to be presented to the membership seriatim, so that individual parts of the proposal could be accepted or declined on their own merits. These proposals were overwhelmingly carried by the party membership in December 1905 and became a regular part of party life.
In January 1906, Work was reelected to the SPA's NEC on the first ballot, receiving 32 of the 45 votes cast. This was the last NEC elected by the National Committee, since the passage of Work's constitutional amendment had come too close to the January deadline to take immediate effect. Work was also reelected to the National Committee by the Socialist Party of Iowa in February of that same year.
In 1906, Work revised and shortened What's So and What Isn't so that The Appeal to Reason could issue it as a new 10 cent pamphlet. The book was again revised with the addition of five new chapters for 1,000 copies of a clothbound edition by Charles H. Kerr & Co. that same summer. Although stated as the Third Edition, this actually constituted the Fourth Edition of the work. A slightly corrected hardcover Fifth Edition followed from Kerr the next year.
In January 1907, Work was again returned to the Socialist Party's 7 member NEC, this time by vote of the party membership in referendum. Joining Work on this first membership-elected committee were Morris Hillquit
and Ben Hanford
of New York, Ernest Untermann of Florida, A.M. Simons and Joseph Medill Patterson of Illinois, and Victor L. Berger of Wisconsin.
Together with Hillquit and Simons, Work was part of a committee of three given the task of preparing the Socialist Party's 1908 platform. Work prepared and circulated a so-called "minority report" written in simple to understand language, while the erudite Hillquit prepared a version more to his liking. In his memoirs, Work later recalled exchanging mean-spirited words with Hillquit over the two drafts, with Hillquit calling Work's version "kindergartenish," while Work retorted that Hillquit's version was "sophomoric." Neither version was ultimately accepted.
Work was an employee of the National Office of the Socialist Party in August and September 1908, during which time he prepared the proceedings of the 1908 National Convention for publication. At the same time he appeared on the ballot as a candidate for U.S. Senate.
Work was defeated in his attempt for re-election to the NEC in the party referendum election of January 1910. In the aftermath, Work was asked by National Executive Secretary J. Mahlon Barnes
to take a job in the National Office, handling literature and supplies and working to develop organizations in unorganized states. Work accepted the offer.
Work also attended the 1910 National Congress of the Socialist Party as a delegate, delivering the report on organization on behalf of the NEC. He was also the candidate of the Socialist Party for Governor of Iowa in the fall of that year.
In August 1911, Mahlon Barnes was forced to resign as Executive Secretary, revealed by a NEC investigation to have placed the mother of his illegitimate child on the party payroll. John Work was selected by the NEC to take his place on an interim basis, beginning September 1. A referendum was held to formally fill the position that fall, an election in which Work was elected over J.O. Bentall, 22,081 to 6,449.
As Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party, Work found himself in the spotlight, the recipient of criticism and the object of political machinations. The rurally-raised Christian Socialist Work often found himself at loggerheads with de facto party leader Morris Hillquit, an eloquent urban Marxist. Hillquit plainly sought Work's removal as Executive Secretary. As chairman of the Constitution Committee at the 1912 National Convention of the Socialist Party Hillquit oversaw an amendment returning the selection of the SPA's Executive Secretary to the National Committee.
For his part Work was unhappy that Hillquit had reintegrated his personal friend and close political associate Mahlon Barnes into the National Office as the 1912 Socialist campaign manager, a newly-created post serving at the pleasure of the NEC rather than the Executive Secretary. When Barnes incurred a $12,000 deficit in the running of the campaign, Work bitterly remonstrated that Barnes had used the regular funds of the party without authorization instead of specially earmarked campaign funds.
Not surprisingly, the return of Executive Secretary selection to the inner circle of the National Committee spelled the end of Work's tenure in the position. Work was cast aside by the National Committee at its 1913 meeting in favor of Walter Lanfersiek, with Lanfersiek garnering 37 votes to 9 for Work, with left wingers Frank Bohn
and J.E. Snyder trailing with 8 and 5 votes, respectively. This marked the first time in its history that a sitting Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party had failed in his bid for re-election.
After a six week lecture tour of Illinois on behalf of the state Socialist Party organization in that state, Work left the party's employment to take a job as a teacher of law at LaSalle Extension University in Illinois, a post which he continued for the next four academic years. The school had obtained over 3,000 socialist correspondence students, largely through its advertising in The Appeal to Reason, and actively sought a qualified socialist teacher for their instruction. Work was hired as a correspondence teacher of law.
Work ran two political campaigns in 1914, making a try for Chicago city alderman in the spring and appearing on the ballot as a Socialist for U.S. Congress in the 10th District of Illinois in the fall.
With election of the NEC returned to direct election by the party membership in 1916, Work chose to run again for the body. In a vote closing in May 1916 he joined Victor Berger, Morris Hillquit, Anna A. Maley, and John Spargo
on the 5 person NEC. He remained in that position until the Socialist Party split of 1919.
In June 1916, Work was nominated by the state convention of the Socialist Party of Illinois as its candidate for Governor
.
In the spring of 1917, Work was an alternate delegate to the 1917 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party in St. Louis. While he had been opposed to the calling of the special convention, he was supportive of the aggressive anti-war declaration drafted by Hillquit, C.E. Ruthenberg, and Algernon Lee
which was passed by the convention and later ratified in referendum vote of the party membership. That fall, Work stood as the Socialist Party's candidate for Superior Judge in Chicago, having retained his citizenship in Illinois despite taking a job as an editorial writer in Milwaukee.
Work was not a delegate to the 1919 Emergency National Convention
of the Socialist Party, at which the party split into three rival organizations.
Work was the Socialist Party's candidate in the 1925 special election to fill the seat of Wisconsin U.S. Senator Robert M. LaFollette, Sr., who had died in office.
Thereafter, Work largely contained his Socialist Party activity to journalism, making an exception to run for delegate to the 1936 National Convention. A known opponent of the 1934 Declaration of Principles
, Work was defeated in his bid for full delegate status and was elected instead as an alternate. He chose not to attend but neither did he follow the so-called "Old Guard"
out of the party into a new rival organization called the Social Democratic Federation. "I believed that the Socialist Party would get over this spell of 'the measles,' and I stayed in it — and my belief turned out to be correct," he later recalled in his memoirs.
Work did not lay an active role in Socialist Party affairs again until the middle 1940s, when the 75-year old Work was elected a delegate to the 1946 National Convention of the Socialist Party in Chicago.
The Leader, as an anti-war publication, drew the ire of the Wilson
administration and its Postmaster General
, Albert S. Burleson
and in October 1917 had its Second Class mailing privileges
revoked. In August 1918 the publication was deprived of the right to receive First Class mail, with all letters from subscribers and readers sent to the publication summarily returned to sender with the envelope stamped "Mail to This Address Undeliverable Under Espionage Act." Despite the attack, loyal Milwaukee readers and advertisers rallied around the paper with monetary donations and the publication survived the attack. Through it all, Work wrote extensively on anti-militarist themes including, according to his own testimony, four of the five editorials for which Victor Berger was indicted by a grand jury in Chicago in December 1918.
After the termination of the Milwaukee Leader in 1942, Work wrote a series of texts on legal themes which were published through LaSalle Extension University.
.
John Work's papers are housed by the Milwaukee Public Library
. The collection is contained 7 manuscript boxes and is available to scholars, who should contact the library in advance in order to work the papers. There is no on-line finding aid.
The manuscripts of four unpublished autobiographical works by John M. Work are housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society
in Madison
and are available on microfilm by sale or through interlibrary loan.
Early years
John M. Work was born January 3, 1869, in rural Washington County in Southeastern IowaIowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, the son of John H. Work, a farmer.
In September 1886, Work left the family farm in Dutch Creek Township and went off to school. He stayed close to home, attending the non-denominational religious preparatory school Washington Academy, in nearby Washington, Iowa
Washington, Iowa
Washington is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Iowa, United States. It is part of the Iowa City, Iowa Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,047 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, returning home on weekends to help with the farm work. Work graduated the Academy in June 1889, part of a graduating class of 8.
Following graduation from Washington Academy, Work began studying law in the office of an elderly lawyer in Washington who was a friend of the Work family, with John running errands. After a year he returned to the farm to help with the summer work before enrolling in Monmouth College
Monmouth College
Monmouth College is a four-year coeducational private liberal arts college located in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.-History:Monmouth College was founded on April 18, 1853 by the Second Presbytery of Illinois, a frontier arm of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church...
in Monmouth, Illinois
Monmouth, Illinois
Monmouth is a city in and the county seat of Warren County in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the home of Monmouth College and contains Monmouth Park, Harmon Park, North Park, Warfield Park, West Park, South Park, Garwood Park, Buster White Park and the Citizens Lake & Campground. It is the host...
, a United Presbyterian
United Presbyterian Church of North America
The United Presbyterian Church of North America was an American Presbyterian denomination that existed for exactly one hundred years. It was formed on May 26, 1858 by the union of the Northern branch of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church with the Associate Presbyterian Church at a...
school which often sent its graduates on to theological seminaries
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
. Work entered with Senior class status and graduated in June 1891 with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
degree.
While in college, Work was a supporter of the Prohibition Party
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States best known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is the oldest existing third party in the US. The party was an integral part of the temperance movement...
.
Upon graduation, Work took a job at a weekly newspaper published in Monmouth, gathering local news and soliciting advertising. He was a failure as an ad salesman, however, and was fired after just six weeks.
Work decided to attend the United Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Allegheny, Pennsylvania
Allegheny City was a Pennsylvania municipality located on the north side of the junction of the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, across from downtown Pittsburgh. It was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907...
in the fall of 1892. Upon arrival, Work found the found the seminary "cheerless and uninviting" and spontaneously decided to hop a train for Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to attend Columbian Law School, now part of George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
.
Work graduated in June 1892 with a degree of Bachelor of Laws.
After passing the Iowa State Bar exam, Work began to practice law in Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...
. He also joined the Young Men's Republican Club in Des Moines and was a delegate to a national convention of Republican clubs in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
in 1893. He remained a Republican until 1896 and practiced law until 1900.
Work married a former classmate at Monmouth College, Lucy Josephine Hoisington, on June 24, 1896, in Monmouth, Illinois. The pair had a daughter, Josephine, in April 1897.
In the fall of 1896, Work began studying various social remedies at the Des Moines Public Library, preparing for a public lecture against socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. During the course of his studies, Work read The Co-operative Commonwealth by Laurence Gronlund
Laurence Gronlund
Laurence Gronlund was an American lawyer and socialist.-Biography:Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, he graduated from the University of Copenhagen's Faculty of Law in 1865, and moved to the United States in 1867...
. He later recalled:
"As I read, my ambition to prepare a lecture against socialism dissolved into nothingness. The book opened my eyes. I owe a great debt to it. * * *
"I proceeded to read books and otherwise investigate the single tax, the initiativeInitiativeIn political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...
and referendumReferendumA referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
, bi-metallism, proportional representationProportional representationProportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
, free tradeFree tradeUnder a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
, postal savings banks, public ownership of public service corporations, extension of the civil serviceCivil serviceThe term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
…, election of judges and United States SenatorsUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
by the people…, the limitation of the powers of the judiciary, the limitation of the powers of the executives. I also investigated the concentration of wealthWealth concentrationWealth Concentration, also known as wealth condensation, is a process by which, in certain conditions, newly created wealth tends to become concentrated in the possession of already-wealthy individuals or entities, a form of preferential attachment...
and the encroachments of monopolyMonopolyA monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
. * * * By the autumn of 1897 I was a confirmed socialist, although I really was a socialist from the time when I read Laurence Gronlund's The Co-operative Commonwealth in the fall of 1896."
Work became absorbed with advancing the socialist idea. His law practice suffered as a result.
Political career
Work was the organizer of the first branch of the formed Social Democratic Party of America of Iowa and attended the Iowa state convention of the newly-formed organization in 1899. The gathering was attended by about 50 delegates from 11 of the state's 99 counties. Work was elected secretary of the state organization and given the task of preparing a state platform.Work's first published article on socialism, entitled "Credential of Socialism," was published in the Des Moines Iowa Unionist in January 1900. That fall he also addressed his first "street meeting" as a soapbox
Soapbox
A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment of soap or other dry goods from a manufacturer to a...
er on behalf of the Social Democratic Party, speaking for half an hour. Work would subsequently tour the nation speaking to public audiences on socialist themes.
In December 1900, Work went to Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
to await a forthcoming national convention of the Social Democratic Party, called for January 15, 1901 in Chicago, but fell ill and had to return to Iowa, missing the gathering.
In July 1901, Work was the delegate of the Des Moines branch of the Social Democratic Party to the Unity Convention which established the Socialist Party of America
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...
(SPA). Although taken aback by the "lack of brotherliness" displayed by many of the delegates, Work remained active in the new organization. In October 1901, he was elected by referendum vote of the membership as the Socialist Party of Iowa's delegate to the governing National Committee of the SPA.
Beginning at this time, Work also periodically contributed material to the Iowa Socialist, the newspaper of the Iowa party, the Chicago Socialist, and The Coming Nation (later gaining fame as The Appeal to Reason.)
In 1902, Work was the candidate of the Socialist Party for Mayor of Des Moines. He ran the next year for Governor of Iowa for the first time).
When the SPA briefly moved its headquarters to Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
in 1903, Work by virtue of his status as National Committee member of an adjacent state became a member of the so-called "National Quorum," which acted as a de facto executive committee in between annual meetings of the National Committee. Work was joined in this position by Barney Berlyn of Illinois, Stephen M. Reynolds of Indiana, Charles Dobbs of Kentucky, and Victor L. Berger
Victor L. Berger
Victor Luitpold Berger was a founding member of the Socialist Party of America and an important and influential Socialist journalist who helped establish the so-called Sewer Socialist movement. The first Socialist elected to the U.S...
of Wisconsin. The party moved its headquarters again, this time to Chicago, in 1904.
Work was a delegate to the 1904 National Convention of the Socialist Party, held in Chicago. This convention established an elected 7 member National Executive Committee to handle matters of party governance in between annual sessions of the National Committee, a group which was at the same time expanded to enhance representation by large states. Work and the others of the National Quorum were reappointed until the new constitution could be ratified by the membership of the SPA.
In January 1905, Work wrote an introductory work on socialism called What's So and What Isn't. The short book was frequently reprinted and became his best known writing, one of the Socialist Party's propaganda standards of the Debs
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
era. The first 10,000 copies of the work appeared as the March 1905 number of Wayland's Monthly. The book would ultimately be published in over a dozen editions, with a total print run of well over 165,000 copies.
Work introduced five amendments to the SPA's national constitution in 1905, one of which made the National Executive Committee directly elected by the party membership instead of by the National Committee; another which made the party's Executive Secretary electable by the membership instead of by the National Committee, and a third which caused all amendments to the national constitution to be presented to the membership seriatim, so that individual parts of the proposal could be accepted or declined on their own merits. These proposals were overwhelmingly carried by the party membership in December 1905 and became a regular part of party life.
In January 1906, Work was reelected to the SPA's NEC on the first ballot, receiving 32 of the 45 votes cast. This was the last NEC elected by the National Committee, since the passage of Work's constitutional amendment had come too close to the January deadline to take immediate effect. Work was also reelected to the National Committee by the Socialist Party of Iowa in February of that same year.
In 1906, Work revised and shortened What's So and What Isn't so that The Appeal to Reason could issue it as a new 10 cent pamphlet. The book was again revised with the addition of five new chapters for 1,000 copies of a clothbound edition by Charles H. Kerr & Co. that same summer. Although stated as the Third Edition, this actually constituted the Fourth Edition of the work. A slightly corrected hardcover Fifth Edition followed from Kerr the next year.
In January 1907, Work was again returned to the Socialist Party's 7 member NEC, this time by vote of the party membership in referendum. Joining Work on this first membership-elected committee were Morris Hillquit
Morris Hillquit
Morris Hillquit was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side during the early 20th century.-Early years:...
and Ben Hanford
Benjamin Hanford
Benjamin Hanford was an American politician during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He made two unsuccessful runs for the post of Vice President of the United States, as Eugene Debs' running mate as a candidate of the Social Democratic Party, in 1904 and 1908.-Early life:Benjamin Hanford...
of New York, Ernest Untermann of Florida, A.M. Simons and Joseph Medill Patterson of Illinois, and Victor L. Berger of Wisconsin.
Together with Hillquit and Simons, Work was part of a committee of three given the task of preparing the Socialist Party's 1908 platform. Work prepared and circulated a so-called "minority report" written in simple to understand language, while the erudite Hillquit prepared a version more to his liking. In his memoirs, Work later recalled exchanging mean-spirited words with Hillquit over the two drafts, with Hillquit calling Work's version "kindergartenish," while Work retorted that Hillquit's version was "sophomoric." Neither version was ultimately accepted.
Work was an employee of the National Office of the Socialist Party in August and September 1908, during which time he prepared the proceedings of the 1908 National Convention for publication. At the same time he appeared on the ballot as a candidate for U.S. Senate.
Work was defeated in his attempt for re-election to the NEC in the party referendum election of January 1910. In the aftermath, Work was asked by National Executive Secretary J. Mahlon Barnes
J. Mahlon Barnes
John Mahlon Barnes was an American trade union functionary and socialist political activist. Barnes is best remembered as the Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party of America from 1905 to 1911, during which time he originated the idea of the party's 1908 "Red Special" campaign train on behalf...
to take a job in the National Office, handling literature and supplies and working to develop organizations in unorganized states. Work accepted the offer.
Work also attended the 1910 National Congress of the Socialist Party as a delegate, delivering the report on organization on behalf of the NEC. He was also the candidate of the Socialist Party for Governor of Iowa in the fall of that year.
In August 1911, Mahlon Barnes was forced to resign as Executive Secretary, revealed by a NEC investigation to have placed the mother of his illegitimate child on the party payroll. John Work was selected by the NEC to take his place on an interim basis, beginning September 1. A referendum was held to formally fill the position that fall, an election in which Work was elected over J.O. Bentall, 22,081 to 6,449.
As Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party, Work found himself in the spotlight, the recipient of criticism and the object of political machinations. The rurally-raised Christian Socialist Work often found himself at loggerheads with de facto party leader Morris Hillquit, an eloquent urban Marxist. Hillquit plainly sought Work's removal as Executive Secretary. As chairman of the Constitution Committee at the 1912 National Convention of the Socialist Party Hillquit oversaw an amendment returning the selection of the SPA's Executive Secretary to the National Committee.
For his part Work was unhappy that Hillquit had reintegrated his personal friend and close political associate Mahlon Barnes into the National Office as the 1912 Socialist campaign manager, a newly-created post serving at the pleasure of the NEC rather than the Executive Secretary. When Barnes incurred a $12,000 deficit in the running of the campaign, Work bitterly remonstrated that Barnes had used the regular funds of the party without authorization instead of specially earmarked campaign funds.
Not surprisingly, the return of Executive Secretary selection to the inner circle of the National Committee spelled the end of Work's tenure in the position. Work was cast aside by the National Committee at its 1913 meeting in favor of Walter Lanfersiek, with Lanfersiek garnering 37 votes to 9 for Work, with left wingers Frank Bohn
Frank Bohn (socialist)
Frank Bohn was an advocate of industrial unionism who was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World. From 1906 to 1908 he was the National Secretary of the Socialist Labor Party of America, before leaving to join forces with the rival Socialist Party of America...
and J.E. Snyder trailing with 8 and 5 votes, respectively. This marked the first time in its history that a sitting Executive Secretary of the Socialist Party had failed in his bid for re-election.
After a six week lecture tour of Illinois on behalf of the state Socialist Party organization in that state, Work left the party's employment to take a job as a teacher of law at LaSalle Extension University in Illinois, a post which he continued for the next four academic years. The school had obtained over 3,000 socialist correspondence students, largely through its advertising in The Appeal to Reason, and actively sought a qualified socialist teacher for their instruction. Work was hired as a correspondence teacher of law.
Work ran two political campaigns in 1914, making a try for Chicago city alderman in the spring and appearing on the ballot as a Socialist for U.S. Congress in the 10th District of Illinois in the fall.
With election of the NEC returned to direct election by the party membership in 1916, Work chose to run again for the body. In a vote closing in May 1916 he joined Victor Berger, Morris Hillquit, Anna A. Maley, and John Spargo
John Spargo
John Spargo was a British-born American socialist political activist, orator, and writer who later became a renowned expert in the history and crafts of Vermont...
on the 5 person NEC. He remained in that position until the Socialist Party split of 1919.
In June 1916, Work was nominated by the state convention of the Socialist Party of Illinois as its candidate for Governor
Governor of Illinois
The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....
.
In the spring of 1917, Work was an alternate delegate to the 1917 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party in St. Louis. While he had been opposed to the calling of the special convention, he was supportive of the aggressive anti-war declaration drafted by Hillquit, C.E. Ruthenberg, and Algernon Lee
Algernon Lee
Algernon H. Lee was an American socialist politician and educator, best known as the Director of Education at the Rand School of Social Science for 35 years.-Early years:...
which was passed by the convention and later ratified in referendum vote of the party membership. That fall, Work stood as the Socialist Party's candidate for Superior Judge in Chicago, having retained his citizenship in Illinois despite taking a job as an editorial writer in Milwaukee.
Work was not a delegate to the 1919 Emergency National Convention
1919 Emergency National Convention
The 1919 Emergency National Convention of the Socialist Party of America was held in Chicago from August 30 to September 5, 1919. It was a seminal gathering in the history of American radicalism, marked by the bolting of the party's organized left wing to establish the Communist Labor Party of...
of the Socialist Party, at which the party split into three rival organizations.
Work was the Socialist Party's candidate in the 1925 special election to fill the seat of Wisconsin U.S. Senator Robert M. LaFollette, Sr., who had died in office.
Thereafter, Work largely contained his Socialist Party activity to journalism, making an exception to run for delegate to the 1936 National Convention. A known opponent of the 1934 Declaration of Principles
1934 Declaration of Principles
The 1934 Declaration of Principles was a political platform of the Socialist Party of America passed at the May 1934 National Convention held in Detroit, Michigan...
, Work was defeated in his bid for full delegate status and was elected instead as an alternate. He chose not to attend but neither did he follow the so-called "Old Guard"
Old Guard faction
The Old Guard faction was an organized grouping of Marxists in the Socialist Party of America who sought to retain the organization's traditional orientation towards electoral politics by fighting generally younger party members who factionally organized to promote greater efforts at direct action...
out of the party into a new rival organization called the Social Democratic Federation. "I believed that the Socialist Party would get over this spell of 'the measles,' and I stayed in it — and my belief turned out to be correct," he later recalled in his memoirs.
Work did not lay an active role in Socialist Party affairs again until the middle 1940s, when the 75-year old Work was elected a delegate to the 1946 National Convention of the Socialist Party in Chicago.
Journalistic career
In May 1917, Victor L. Berger offered John Work, his colleague on the NEC, a position as an editorial writer at The Milwaukee Leader, of which Berger was editor-in-chief. The previous editorial writer, James R. "Jim" Howe, had recently died and Berger was in need of an immediate replacement. Work accepted and on May 17, 1917, took over as the editor of the editorial page, writing the unsigned daily editorials on the left side of the page.The Leader, as an anti-war publication, drew the ire of the Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
administration and its Postmaster General
United States Postmaster General
The United States Postmaster General is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Postal Service. The office, in one form or another, is older than both the United States Constitution and the United States Declaration of Independence...
, Albert S. Burleson
Albert S. Burleson
Albert Sidney Burleson was a United States Postmaster General and Congressman. Born in San Marcos, Texas, he came from a wealthy Southern family. His father, Edward Burleson, Jr., was a Confederate officer. His grandfather, Edward Burleson, was a soldier and statesman in the Republic of Texas and...
and in October 1917 had its Second Class mailing privileges
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
revoked. In August 1918 the publication was deprived of the right to receive First Class mail, with all letters from subscribers and readers sent to the publication summarily returned to sender with the envelope stamped "Mail to This Address Undeliverable Under Espionage Act." Despite the attack, loyal Milwaukee readers and advertisers rallied around the paper with monetary donations and the publication survived the attack. Through it all, Work wrote extensively on anti-militarist themes including, according to his own testimony, four of the five editorials for which Victor Berger was indicted by a grand jury in Chicago in December 1918.
After the termination of the Milwaukee Leader in 1942, Work wrote a series of texts on legal themes which were published through LaSalle Extension University.
Death and legacy
John Work died just two days after his 92nd birthday, on January 5, 1961 in Whitefish Bay, WisconsinWhitefish Bay, Wisconsin
Whitefish Bay is a village in Milwaukee County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 13,508 as of the 2005 census.-Geography:Whitefish Bay is located at ....
.
John Work's papers are housed by the Milwaukee Public Library
Milwaukee Public Library
Milwaukee Public Library is the public library system in Milwaukee, Wisconsin consisting of a central library and 12 branches, all part of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System...
. The collection is contained 7 manuscript boxes and is available to scholars, who should contact the library in advance in order to work the papers. There is no on-line finding aid.
The manuscripts of four unpublished autobiographical works by John M. Work are housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society
Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society is simultaneously a private membership and a state-funded organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of North America, with an emphasis on the state of Wisconsin and the trans-Allegheny West...
in Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
and are available on microfilm by sale or through interlibrary loan.
Books and pamphlets
- What's So and What Isn't. Girard, Kansas: The Appeal to Reason, 1905. — Also translated into Lithuanian.
- Private Property. Chicago: National Office, Socialist Party, n.d. [c. 1911].
- Report of National Secretary to the Socialist Party National Convention, 1912. Chicago: H.G. Adair, 1912.
- Where You Get Off. 1913.
- The Key to the Mystery: Why the Producers of All Wealth Have Northing. Girard, KS: The Appeal to Reason, 1914.
- Why Things Happen to Happen. 1919.
- A Big Undertaking. Chicago: Socialist Party, n.d. [c. 1925].
- Certain Misconceptions: A Few Current Objections to Socialism Answered. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius Publications, 1931. —Also translated into Spanish.
- Executors and Administrators: With Outline of Study, Lesson Talks, and Daily Recitations. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, 1936.
- Conflict of Laws: With Outline of Study, Lesson Talks, and Daily Recitations. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, 1944.
- Let's Be Practical. New York: Socialist Party, 1945.
- Landlord and Tenant: With Outline of Study, Lesson Talks, and Daily Recitations. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, 1949.
- Municipal Corporations: With Outline of Study, Lesson Talks, and Daily Recitations. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, 1950.
- Letters to a Lady. New York: Exposition Press, 1951.
- X-Rays on Human Affairs. New York: Vantage Press, 1955.
- Face the Future. New York: Vantage Press, 1958.
- Philip and Aurelia: A Novel. New York: Comet Press Books, 1957.
- Lectures on Real Property: With Outline of Study, Lesson Talks, and Daily Recitations. With George Raymond Jekins and William S. Rea. Chicago: LaSalle Extension University, 1961.
Articles
- "The First World War," The Wisconsin Magazine of History, vol. 41, no. 1 (Autumn 1957), pp. 32–44.
External links
- Finding Aid for the John M. Work Papers, 1958. Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved March 16, 2010.