 The Social-Democratic Party was buoyed to some extent by an onslaught against the Socialist Labor Party, an ideological battle lead nationally by the "Appeal to Reason," a large circulation weekly based in the rural town of Girard, Kansas.The "Appeal's" 1898 onslaught was followed by a split of the SLP over the question of trade union tactics in the following year.Dissatisfied former member of the SLP in Milwaukee bolted for the Social-Democratic Party, swelling its ranks and reducing the physical and rhetorical volume of its left wing opponents.