POVERTY

New York: The Macmillan Company, 1905. Fifth Reprint. Hardcover. Very Good. 12mo, 7.2 in. x 4.8 in., pp. xi, [1], 382, [2] (advertising). Burgundy cloth boards with two embossed bars to top and bottom of boards, and gilt title and bars to spine. Light rubbing to extremities; shelfwear to bottom of spine. Dime-sized stain to rear board. Light age-toning to pages. Unmarked interior. Robert Hunter (1874 - 1942) was an American sociologist, progressive author, and golf course architect....Hunter's politics were largely affected by the grinding poverty he witnessed during the deep economic depression that hit America in the mid-1890s, juxtaposed to the wealth and privilege of his own family. His time in Chicago had brought him in close contact with a number of social reformers such as Jane Addams, Mary McDowell, Ellen Gates Starr, and others... In 1905 Hunter joined the Socialist Party of America along with his wife, his brother-in-law, James Stokes, and his sister-in-law, Rose Pastor Stokes, On September 12 of that year he was named to the executive committee of the newly established Intercollegiate Socialist Society in New York. The goal of the organization was to promote discussion of socialist ideals in colleges and universities; it had for its first president writer Jack London and vice president Upton Sinclair. Hunter ran for political office twice on the socialist ticket, first for a seat in the New York State Assembly, and next as a candidate for United States Senator for the State of Connecticut; both campaigns ended in defeat. After the outbreak of the First World War a rift in the socialist movement led to Hunter's resignation, along with those of a number of other high-profile members, including London and Sinclair. (from Wikipedia).