James Hudson Maurer (April 15, 1864 – March 16, 1944) was a prominent American socialist politician and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

ist who twice ran for the office of

vice president of the United States The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the Executive branch of the United States government, executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks f ...

on the ticket of the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a 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 of America ...

. He served three non-consecutive terms in the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

between 1911 and 1919, and as President of the

Pennsylvania Federation of Labor Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

from 1912 to 1928.

Biography

Early years

James H. Maurer was born in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

, on April 15, 1864, and was one of three brothers."Maurer Outstanding Leader of Progressive Labor: Socialist Vice Presidential Nominnee Bitter Opponent of State Constabulary 'Cossacks' — A Worker Since Childhood," ''The New Leader and American Appeal,'' vol. 1, no. 21 (April 21, 1928), pg. 3. His father, James D. Maurer, was a shoemaker who later served as a Police officer in Reading. Maurer first went to work at the age of 6 as a newsboy, becoming an assistant to a

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, hot-water production, sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

at the age of 10, later becoming a full-fledged plumber. The Maurers were of

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate (region), Palatina ...

ethnic extraction and the family had ancestors in America dating back nearly two centuries.

Socialist and labor politics

Maurer joined the

Knights of Labor The Knights of Labor (K of L), officially the Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was the largest American labor movement of the 19th century, claiming for a time nearly one million members. It operated in the United States as well in ...

labor union on his 16th birthday in April 1880. He was also active in the

Single Tax A single tax is a system of taxation based mainly or exclusively on one tax, typically chosen for its special properties, often being a tax on land value. Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert and Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban were ear ...

movement associated with

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist, Social philosophy, social philosopher and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of ...

. In the early 1890s, he joined the People's Party, a

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

political organization which attempted in particular to advance the cause of the country's farmers. He was introduced to socialist ideas near the end of the decade, taking nearly a year to read

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

's ''Capital'' before joining the

Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 192 ...

(SLP) in 1899. Maurer helped to organize Section Hamburg, Pennsylvania SLP, in February of that year. From 1901, Maurer was a member of the Plumbers and Steamfitters Union. Throughout his later life, he was strongly supportive of the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

and he came to strongly disapprove of the SLP's efforts to establish a competing socialist trade union to the AF of L, the

Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance The Socialist Trade and Labor Alliance – commonly abbreviated STLA or ST&LA – was a revolutionary socialist trade union, labor union in the United States closely linked to the Socialist Labor Party (SLP), which existed from 1895 until becomin ...

, and left the SLP to join the Socialist Party of America (SPA) in 1901 over this issue. He ran for governor of Pennsylvania on the Socialist Party ticket in 1906, receiving nearly 26,000 votes. In November 1910, Maurer was elected as a Socialist to the

, serving during 1912. During his term in the legislature, Maurer fought for the passage of a plan for Old Age Pensions and attempted to prevent the establishment of a State Constabulary, which was seen as a mechanism for the armed and organized breaking of strikes. Also in 1912, Maurer was elected as president of the

, a post which he held until 1930. Defeated in his bid for re-election to the Pennsylvania House in 1913, he came back from the loss to win election to two more terms, in 1915 and 1917. During his second and third terms of office, he was instrumental in working for the passage of child labor and workmen's compensation legislation in the state.

Anti-militarist activities

In January 1916, Maurer was part of a three-person delegation to President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

to advocate part of the Socialist Party's peace program, proposing that "the President of the United States convoke a congress of neutral nations, which shall offer mediation to the belligerents and remain in permanent session until the termination of the war". A resolution to this effect had been offered in the House of Representatives by the SPA's only congressman,

Meyer London Meyer London (December 29, 1871 – June 6, 1926) was a Lithuanian-born American politician from New York City. He represented the Lower East Side of Manhattan and was one of only two members of the Socialist Party of America elected to the Unit ...

of New York, and Wilson received London, Maurer and the party leader,

Morris Hillquit Morris Hillquit (August 1, 1869 – October 8, 1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Together with Eugene V. Debs and Congressman Victor L. Berger, Hillqu ...

, at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, along with various other delegations. Maurer was the only member of the Pennsylvania legislature to vote against a resolution supporting American severance of diplomatic relations with Germany in the run up to American entry into the war. When he attempted to explain his voting rationale on the floor, Maurer was rudely shouted down by his colleagues and ruled out of order by the chair. Hillquit later recalled that Wilson was at first "inclined to give us a short and perfunctory hearing" but as the Socialists made their case to him, the session "developed into a serious and confidential conversation". Wilson told the group that he had already considered a similar plan but chose not to put it into effect because he was not sure of its reception by other neutral nations. "The fact is," Wilson claimed, "that the United States is the only important country that may be said to be neutral and disinterested. Practically all other neutral countries are in one way or another tied up with some belligerent power and dependent on it." On July 30, 1917, a public Maurer speaking event in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

was the scene of a near riot when his speech on the topic "Is Conscription Constitutional?" was broken up by khaki-clad soldiers. At an "open air mass meeting" held under the auspices of the

People's Council of America The People's Council of America for Democracy and the Terms of Peace, commonly known as the "People's Council," was an American pacifist political organization established in New York City in May 1917. Organized in opposition to the decision of the ...

, Maurer had spoken for about 15 minutes when a group of soldiers began heckling him. Maurer briefly tried to shame the hecklers into silence, but instead the soldiers rushed the speaker's platform and forcibly brought his oration to a close. According to a contemporary news report, only the quick action of a local socialist activist,

Kate Sadler Kate may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American author of ...

, prevented the tense situation from degenerating into a riot, when she leaped to her feet, scolded the young soldiers, and abruptly launched into a short fundraising speech that defused the situation and allowed for an orderly termination of the meeting. Maurer's outspoken opposition to the war hampered his support among his legislative constituents and he found his re-election efforts further challenged by a ban on public meetings enacted in an effort to slow the spread of deadly

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

. As a result, Maurer was defeated in his November 1918 bid to win another term in the legislature at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Post-war political career

In his capacity as head of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor, Maurer was very active in the

steel strike of 1919 The Great Steel Strike of 1919 was an attempt by the American Federation of Labor to organize the leading company, United States Steel, in the Iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry. The AFL formed a coalition of ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, helping to organize workers to win the right of

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...

with their employers. Maurer was elected multiple times to the governing National Executive Committee of the SPA. He was also president of the Workers' Education Bureau of America and Brookwood Labor College from 1921. He was on the governing National Committee of the

Conference for Progressive Political Action A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

(CPPA) from 1922. He was strongly supportive of

Robert LaFollette Robert Marion La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), nicknamed "Fighting Bob," was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906. ...

's 1924 presidential campaign. In September 1927, Maurer, as its chairman, headed an American workers' delegation and visited the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. He exchanged opinions with its leader,

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

. Maurer was elected to the Reading City Council in November 1927, part of a sweep by the Socialist Party which won the administration of the city. He was re-elected in 1929, but was defeated in 1931 in a landslide Fusion victory. In

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

, Maurer was selected by the party convention to join

Norman Thomas Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian religious minister, minister, political activist, and perennial candidate for president. He achieved fame as a socialism, socialist and pacifism, pacifis ...

on the Socialist Party's presidential ticket. He ran a second time for governor of Pennsylvania in 1930. In

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, he was selected once again as Thomas' running mate in the SPA's presidential campaign. In 1934, Maurer made his final electoral run as a candidate for

US Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from Pennsylvania. In 1938, the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James ...

-affiliated Rand School Press published Maurer's autobiography, ''It Can Be Done''. Maurer retained his faith in

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

into the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

of President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

, writing in 1938:

Death

Maurer died on March 16, 1944, in Reading, Pennsylvania. The

eulogy A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person, especially one who recently died or retired, or as a term o ...

at his funeral was delivered by

Birch Wilson L. Birch Wilson Jr. (1883–1974) was an American political activist, newspaper editor, and civic employee. Wilson is best remembered as a member of the governing National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of America during the 1920s and ...

, a long-time party comrade from Reading. Maurer's family were Lutherans.

Works

* ''Unemployment and the Mechanical Man'' Our strike-breaking governments n.d. * * (with Charles Maurer) * ''The American Cossack'', Pennsylvania Federation of Labor, 1915.
''Things We Care About.''
(with others) ew York : People's Council of America for Democracy and Peace, 1917. * * ''A Heart to Heart Talk with Trade Unionists'' Chicago: Socialist Party National Office, 1920. * ''Report on the Workers' Educational Classes in Pennsylvania during 1920-1921'' Reading, PA: Peoples Printing Company, 1921. * ''The Open Shop?'' Harrisburg, Pa., Pennsylvania Federation of Labor 1921. * ''Report of the Pennsylvania commission on old age pensions. February, 1921'' Harrisburg, Penna., J.L.L. Kuhn, Printer to the commonwealth, 1921.
''Report of the Pennsylvania Commission on Old Age Pensions, January, 1927. ''
Harrisburg, PA: 1927. * ''Unemployment and the mechanical man'' Chicago: Socialist Party of America, 1930. * ''Socialism vs. capitalism'' Brooklyn: Socialist Party, Kings County, 1932. *