The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-11-27
DEBS is FREE.
THE A. r. q. LEADER RECEIVED
WITH A BIG CELEBRATION.

II o'clock, he was fast asleep, but the
nervous tension attendant upon so i'm
portant an era in his life would not long
permit him to remain so and at 3 o'clock
he was wide awake and ready to get up.
His brother Theodore persuaded him to
lie in bed two hours longer, but at
o'clock he insisted on arising and at Z
he had had his breakfast
Then he INDUCED in the luxury denied
him for 26 weeks of taking a walk in the
open air unmatched and unrestrained.
ut is good to be free again., he said to
the representative of the United Press.
ut is an indescribable feeling and no
one who has never been through a period
OF confinement can appreciate it, | am
gls = to have been through this expert
enoe, but l am also glad it is over 1t
is like surgical operation--it does you
good but it is something you rather have
behind you than before YOU
The one-time leader of the strikers was
very busy this morning Assisted by his
brother and his stenographer he was
packing up his baggage preparatory to
leaving the Jail. In one corner were two
big dry goods boxes full of books
Those said Mr.. .Debs, were all sent
to me by friends since I have been in
jail They deal mostly with labor sub
jects."
kilograms of congratulation came
drifting in all the morning There were
several from friends in Chicago, num-
Der from Terre Haute, Mr.. Debs' home;
one from the ST. Louis Trades Assembly
and one from the Omaha A. r. U.
One from the Trades Assembly at Bir-
mingham, Ala, read
birmingham sends greetings. Sou
thern hearts are with you till liberty
lives again"
Mr. DebS reiterated his assertion
made on a previous occasion, that he
would never again accept money from a
labor organization for services rendered.
He intends to earn his living by pub
fishing a weekly industrial paper, of
which he will be the editor also. First,
however, in response to many requests,
he will make speeches in most of the big
cities of the country. Il never intend
to accept another political Office he
said. II have one desire only, and that
is the unification of labor To that end
I shall devote my life. Under no circum-
stances will l ever again lead a strike"
At II o'clock neat little cutter was
driven up to the Jail door and Debs and
his brother clambered in. In one hand
Theodore held a card with the names of
20 persons on it. On these people the
A. R. U. president called during the
morning. All of them had paid him a
similar compliment while in Jail. The
afternoon was spent in preparation for
the journey to Chicago. At o'clock a
special train is expected to arrive from
Chicago, returning at $50 with a num-
Der Of friends of the labor leader. There
will be a triumphant parade through the
CT Of ChiP9 RI 20 n
Mr. Debs will communicate to the audi
ence assembled his ideas of ''Liberty".
This will end the epilogue of the great
railroad strike of 1894
Chicago. Nov. 23.-Eugene " Debs
SPOKE in the Central Music hall last night
to an audience that taxed the seating
and standing capacity of the hall Most
of the leading labor organizations of the
city were represented and the reception
accorded to the leader of the American
Railway union was very hearty.
Eight car loads of Debs friends went
down to Woodstock to greet him on his
release from Jail and several thousand
] men were at the station of the North
western road when the train bearing
| Debs and his friends arrived at 1870
o'clock.
The reception given Debs as he stepped
| from the train bordered on the frantic
Hundreds of men pushed and struggled
| to get g grasp of his hand, many of them
| Rugged him and some went to the extent
| of kissing him. Finally he was tossed up
| to the shoulders of four men, and fol-
| lowed by dense throng that never for
an instant ceased it's shouts and cheers,
he was escorted to the hail. about one
mile distant.
The warmth of the reception given him
at the depot was repeated when he en-
tered the hall with the exception that the
men were unable to get close to him
and contented themselves with cheering
and waving their hats.
| The speech delivered by Debs, which
was received with great applause by his
! audience, was in substance as follows:
He commenced by saying that in the
| light of recent judicial proceedings he
| stood stripped of his constitutional rights
| as a freeman and shOrn of the most sa-
| cred prerogative of American citizenship
and what was true Of him was true Of
every other citizen who had the temerity
| to protest against corporation rule, or
question the absolute sway of the money
| power. 1t was not the law nor the ad-
ministration of the law Of which he COM
| planned. 1t was the fragrant violation Of
| the constitution, the total abrogation of
| law and the usurpation of judicial and
| despotic power, by virtue of which he and
| his colleagues were committed to Jail,
against which he entered his protest, and
any analysis of the proceedings must sus-
tain the haggard truth of the indictment.
| He had been denied trial. He was
charged with conspiracy, and if guilty,
should go to the penitentiary. He wanted
to be tried by jury of his peers and all
| he asked was fair trial and no favors.
| (The conspiracy case is still undispOsed
| of in the United States district court)
| He then spoke at great length of per
| sonal liberty" and in defense of the Am
erican Railway union, saying it would
have triumphed but for the interference
of the federal authorities which he char
| acterzed as IAN exhibition of the de-
| bauching power of money"
Last nights demonstration, he said.
meant that the American lovers of liber-
| ty were setting in operation forces to res
| cue their constitutional liberty from the
| grasp of monopoly and it's mercenary
hirelings; that the people were aroused
in view of impending perils, and that agi-
| tation, organization and unification were
| to be the future battle crys Of men
who would not part with their birthright
and who, like Patrick Henry, had the
| courage to claim, Give me liberty or
| give me death"
Were he criminal, guilty of crimes
meriting prison cell, had he ever lifted
| his hand against the life of liberty of his
| feIlOw men had he ever sought to fitch