The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-04-27

Eugene v. QeDS, inc IADOI upOSllsl
and candidate for President on
the Socialist Labor ticket, ad-
dressed large open air meeting ut
the Fifth ward market house last night.
under the auspices OF the Ohio Valley
Trades & Labor Assembly. His subject
was Labor and Liberty" and he han
died 1t in an able and eloquent manner.
The crowd was demonstrative at times,
but there was none of the enthusiasm
that prevailed at the meeting Debs adj
dressed in this city three years ago,
probably because he spoke then under
more auspices circumstances for his
line Of work, and 1t was not near so
successful by comparison.
The meeting was presided over by
President A. L. Bauer, of the trades as
sembly, and seated on the platform,
which was tastefully decorated with the
national colors. were the vice presidents,
]. j. Byrne, L. w. Selvey, ]. T. Hecker
and NJ. E. Tracey, and other members
Of the assembly. .Debs was prevented
from reaching Wheeling on schedule
time, owing to a freight wreck over in
Ohio, and NJ. =. Tighe, of Pittsburgh,
assistant secretary OF the Amalgamated
Association, and ex-presidant Of the
trades assembly, filled in the time"
with a speech until the lecturers ar
rival.
1t was $40 o'clock when Debs, accom-
panied by Messrs. Bauer and Tracy. Of
the trades assembly. arrived on the
platform, and he was given an enthusi-
astic reception. He was introduced
without further ceremony by Chairman
Bauer.
Mr.. Debs began his address by COM
mendlng trades unions and he argued
against the prejudices entertained
against unions. Strikes were the last
resort OF the iaborers. he said, and he
defended this procedure, which was
necessary so often. History was full Of
strikes, he said. one OF which was The
successful one agalns. British tyranny
by the American colonlsts. In organic
ing into unions, workIngmen were fol-
ing the example of capital.
In unity there is strength, and II
workingmen have respect for Them
selves they are respected. continued the
speaker, and he urged his hearers to
cultivate their talents and seek eleva-
ting recreation rather than giving away
to animal delights. IL his reference 10
injunctlons, Debs was quite humorous
and he caught large portion of the
crowd when he said he was plasterad
all over with lnjuncttons." He advised
workingmen to think. since they
couldn't be enjolned from that. II urge
you to mix thought with your toll" he
said. "Aiy advice in three words Is read,
think, study. No man can do more for
you. You must rise by your own et-
fort" Debs drew an effective word
picture of the home of the workingman
who spent his evenings reading by his
own freslde. "All the world helps q
man who is capable of helping him
self" was another epigram of advice.
Capitalization and combination were
the great spirit OF the age, said he
later, and he claimed that the forces of
the country were now constituted 81
that great wealth was on one hand and
abject and widespread poverty on the
other, while the middle class, once the
bulwark Of the nation, is fast passing
away. Small Industrial concerns that
used to be independent concerns are
now a voiceless part of a trust or gian:
combination. Industrial conditions
we're in a lamentable way. according to
Mr.. Debs, and to show the oppression
OF capital he quoted from Edwin Mark
hams poem, 1.-THE Man With the Hoe, .
and he spoke at length on mans Inhu-
manlty to man. The great mass of toll
ers were happier before the era OF pres
ent Industrial conditions. The intro
ductlon of machinery and labor-savinG
devices was much to blame. Another
factor was the trust and combination
of capital. The struggle between class
and class as represented by strikes,
lock-outs and agitation was charged by
the speaker to capitalists. He discuss
ed the watering of stocks and the
manipulation Of the markets by the
giant monopoles, and he paid his re-
spects to President Gates, Of the Amer
lean Steel & Wire Company for shut
ting down the mills to crafty whim
for gain. Six men in this wire and
steel trust had the power to throw out
OF employment and starve 100000 men.
The trouble with the present Is that
laborers now work in great armies In
stead Of in small numbers as before,
and that tho producing capacity, BY
reason OF labor-savlng and improved
machinery, has Increased, but the con-
Stunning capacity of the laborer had not
decreased, he paid more now than for
merly for the neosssarfes Of life.
In sociallstic view, Mr.. Debs quoted
statistics to show how wealth was cen
,ralIzed in the hands OF the few. He
denied that prosperity was here. al
though he said the cry was heard all
over the land: but the true test Of pros
pcrity was offered by the worklngman'
who was not better off financially a
statement thnt elected weak-hearted
cheer from few In the crowd. To
show that things were not 30 bright,
Debs painted In dismal tInts the eond.-
ton OF the coal miners in certain DIS
stricts OF the western states Poverty