 The alliance of reformers and radicals had no great delusions of their prospects of success, but instead sought to make their united effort at the polls a cause for building the organized strength of the working class.This alliance lasted until the summer of 1894, when the Populists severed themselves from the socialist movement by banning admission of Victor Berger and two dozen socialists as delegates to their state convention.Relations between the socialists and the Populists continued to sour over the next several years, with Berger declaring at the time of the November 1896 elections that socialists should support the Populists at the polls only until a national political party was established for the working class.