The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-10
DEBS ON SOCIAL DEMOCRACY.
LABOR LEADER ADVOCATES THE
NEW SYSTEM OF INDUSTRY.

the Competitive System-AboItsh
the Competitive system by Univer-
sal Cooperation to Be Accomplish
ed Through Government Control.
II Is Useless for the Workingman
to Fight Machinery and the Trusts.
The Latter Have Simply Pointed
the Way to the solution of the Sit
uatiOn.
The doing away with the competitive
system and the substitution of co-opera-
tive control of industries was the chief
theme Of a lengthy address by Eugene V.
Debs at Labor Hall last night. Practical
~, Mr.. Debs advocated social democracy
as the solution of the evils which at pres
ent afflict society. He is the first public
speaker of any note to advocate this doc
Urine in Savannah.
Considering Mr.. Debs' reputation as a
successful agitator, his address was rath-
er moderate and conservative in it's terms,
being largely of the logical and argu-
mentative type, with occasional diver
SONS, however, when he discussed the
wrongs of abor and the inquities of the
capftalstic control OF labor Incidental
ly, while on this line, ne paid his atten-
ton to the Plant System and denounced
its methods in preventing it's employees
from uniting with trades unions.
The hall was crowded, there being from
GOO 40 800 people present, chiefly leboring
men. a section of the hall was reserved
for colored workingmen. of whom there
were probably 100 or more present. Seats
no sta fAr h11
men, a dozen or more or whom were in
evidence. On the stage were seated the
representatives. of the labor unions of the
city, one from each. including six colored
unions. President Corey of the Savan-
nah Trades and Labor Assembly presid-
ed. 1t was stated, however, that the ad-
dress was delivered under the auspices of
all the labor unions of the city, some of
which are not members of the assembly.
Mr. Debs visited Savannah in 1896, when
he delivered an address here, and so was
not a stranger 40 all of those present.
He is a tall man, of striking appearance,
with a forehead resembling the pictures
of Bin Nye, whose sense of humor he also
shares in a considerable degree. When
he chose to do so he had no difficulty in
making pungent remarks which drew the
laughter and applause of the crowd. 1t
was thoroughly good-humored crowd.
apparently in very good humor with itself,
and did not look like an assemblage of
down trodden workngmen.
Mr.. Debs chatted pleasantly with the
reporters and the members of the commit
tee behind the scenes until $50 O'clock
when he went upon the stage and was
briefly introduced by President Corey. He
was received With hearty applause. He
begun his address by commencing the mis-
sion of organized labor, which he urged
as necessary that every worker might lend
a hand in the great struggle for economic
equality THE world tremb,es,' he said
ION the eve of a great organic change
which is being accomplished so silently
that many people seem oblivious of the
very existence of the movement"
Mr. Debs then sketched at considerable
| length the industrial revolution Of the
last half century, which had wltne sed the
almost total suppanting of individual la
Dor by machinery. The conditions of the
laboring man in the two eras were con-
trasted In the former era his tools were
few and simple and were the individual
property of the workingman. He labored
with them In small shops where the en-
ployer labored side by side with his work.
ingnen. His knowledge of his trade ana
his ownership of his tools assured him Of
satisfactory employment, and if conditions
were unsatisfactory he had no difficulty in
changing his location. The conditions to-
day are totally different. The working
men are employed by hundreds and by
thousands in great shops and factories
where the entire plant, including the tools,
some of which are of immense value, are
ali owned by the proprietor or the corpor-
alton. The workingman no longer owns
his own tools with which he could make
an independent living. His trade is no
longer of value to him because it may he
rendered worthless any day by the inven-
ton of machine which will enable one
man TO do the work of hundreds. The
machine has made it possible for wome n
and children to be brought in competition
with men, neither strength nor skill being
required 10 do that which once required
the services of many skilled laborers
lie was not making an argument against
the machine, Mr. Debs said. Organized
labor made the mistake in the beginning
of this era in lighting machinery which
was destined to become its friend. The
trouble, he said, is that the workingman
had become slave TO the machine in
stead of the machine proving a blessing
to the workingman. He commended that
under the old system of hand labor the
workingman was better off than under
the present system of machine labor That
ne was more Independent, enjoyed more
of the comforts of life, had less difficulty
in securing employment, and was better
able TO care for his wife and children than
under the present system of wonderful
machinery and fierce competition He at
tributed largely the evils which afflict
the workingman and society generally to
the fierce trade competition of the present
age. Ii this competition, he said,
which made it necessary for the manu-
facturer to make use of every new inVen-
ton which supplantS labor i'm order that
he might not be dstanced by competitors
1t is this same competition which compels
him to employ women and children to do
the work formerly done by men. Unless
he can undersell his competitor in the
markets of the world he must himself be
driven out of business. He is as much
the slave of the system as is the work.
ingman.
In discussion of competition Mr.. Debs
led up to the subject of trusts. which. he
said. were the natural outcome of the
competitive system. He surprised his au-
dience somewhat by declaring that he
was not opposed TO trusts. The corpora
qon1l N he tod