. . . Much is said against the wealth and
aristocracy of the land, their influence, and the undue influence
of lawyers and other professional men . . . . The most of these
objects appear very well on paper and we believe they are already
sustained by the good sense of the people . . . . What is most
ridiculous about this party is, that in many places where the
greatest noise is made about it, the most indolent and most
worthless persons, men of no trade or useful occupation have
taken the lead. We cannot of course answer for the character for
industry of many places where this party is agitated: but we
believe the great body of our own community, embracing every
class and profession, may justly be called workingmen: nor do we
believe enough can be found who are not such, to make even a
decent party of drones."
In the early thirties many towns and cities in Massachusetts,
Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode Island elected
workingmen's candidates to local offices, usually with the help
of small tradespeople. In 1833 and 1834 the workingmen of
Massachusetts put a state ticket in the field which polled about
2000 votes, and in Boston a workingman's party was organized, but
it did not gather much momentum and soon disappeared.
These local and desultory attempts at forming a separate labor
party failed as partisan movements. The labor leader proved an
inefficient amateur when matched against the shrewd and
experienced party manipulator; nor was there a sufficient class
homogeneity to keep the labor vote together; and, even if it had
so been united, there were not enough labor votes to make a
majority.
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