"
Under the title of the Socialist-Labor party, this ticket polled
21,532 votes in 1892, and in 1896, 36,373 votes.
In 1897 the inevitable split occurred in the Socialist ranks.
Eugene V. Debs, the radical labor leader, who, as president of
the American Railway Union, had directed the Pullman strike and
had become a martyr to the radical cause through his imprisonment
for violating the orders of a Federal Court, organized the
Social Democratic party. In 1900 Debs was nominated for
President, and Job Harriman, representing the older wing, for
Vice-President. The ticket polled 94,864 votes. The
Socialist-Labor party nominated a ticket of their own which
received only 33,432 votes. Eventually this party shrank to a
mere remnant, while the Social Democratic party became generally
known as the Socialist party. Debs became their candidate in
three successive elections. In 1904 and 1908 his vote hovered
around 400,000. In 1910 congressional and local elections spurred
the Socialists to hope for a million votes in 1912 but they fell
somewhat short of this mark. Debs received 901,873 votes, the
largest number which a Socialist candidate has ever yet received.
Benson, the presidential candidate in 1916, received 590,579
votes.*
* The Socialist vote is stated differently by McKee, "National
Conventions and Platforms." The above figures, to 1912, are taken
from Stanwood's "History of the Presidency," and for 1912 and
1916 from the "World Almanac.
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