The Grit-advocate., 1902-05-30
DEFENDS SOCIALISM
SPEECH OF EUGENE v. DEBS
Not Reformer, but RevoIutionist-
Predicts That in Five Years Every
Man Will Insist That He Was the
Original Socialist - Leaders of
Thought Ostracised by Men of
Their Own Day.

! Ihought OStracISed by Men OF
Their Own Day.
Denver. May 27.-Coliseum hall. the
| largest auditorium in the city. was
! filed to ovcrtiowing last night to hear
Eugene V. Drbs, eXpound socialism.
| The gathering was under the auspices
of the executive board of the Western
J Federation of Miners and the Western
! Labor Union, and the badges of the
| delegates to the convention of those or
| ganiZations tiuttcrcd in every part of
| the hall, while the leaders occupied
seats upon the rostrum.
Attorney John ii. Murphy presided.
Daniel Mcdonald. president of the
I Western Labor Union. was the first
speaker, and was followed by Licuten-
attn Governor Coates. and Rev. T. +.
Hagcrty. All made brief speeches urg
ing the delegates to thoughtful consid-
GRAFTON Of their work. They cham
pioned the political program along So
cialistic lines. to which they will en-
deavor to commit the conventions.
! When Mr.. Debs was presented as the
orator of the evening. the audience rose
! to receive him and rendered an enthu-
siastic greeting.
THE trouble with the working man
has been,' said he. that they have de-
pended upon some one else. You must
learn self-reliance and the value of
unity. Do not forget Homestead and
the other places where Republican and
Democratic governors have ordered
your fellows shot down because they
were guilty of the objectionable crime
of demanding a living wage The com-
petit:vc system which permits the cap
| italiStic class 60 exploit the working
| class must go. ! do not propose to
amend the system. | mean to end it.
| Npplause)
Il am not a rcforner. The term is
subject to suspicion. 1t savors of dis
honesty. | like the word revolution.
1t stirs the blood. The time has come
for action. The conventions meeting
here realize it and l believe they will
adopt Il policy which will inspire the
| labor world.
"Cut loose from the representatives
of the capitaliStic class and when you
have Il grievance in the industrial
| field put 1000. 900 votes back of it in
| the political field This socialist move
ment is worldwide. Wherever the
| black flag of capitaliStic exploitation
| futters it is confronted by the blood.
red flag of socialism. 1t is not the
| isiicd with a wage if it were 81 600 per
day. You are entitled to all you pro-
duce and no man should be permitted
to deprive you of Il part. You produce
everything and have nothing. The cap
italiStic exploiter produces nothing and
has everything.
I'm five years this movement will
| have become so strong that it will he
| difficult to find a man in Denver who
will not insist that he was the original
socialist. However only those who
stand by the movement now. when it
| is not considered respectable. will be
then honored.'
He recountcd the history of the great
| leaders of thought. all of whom he in
sisted had been ostraciZed by the men
of their own day and idealiZed by pos
tcrity. As he told of the murder of
| Elijah Lovejoy and the hanging of
| John Brown many in the audience
We're visibly affected. "And now the
| Legislature Of New York tells us that
the most sacred soil in the common
| wealth is that which covers the dust of
the man who was executed at llarperS
| Ferry" eXclai imed the orator. As the
latter paused, A. T. Morgan rose in
the body of the hall and exclaimed rev.
erently amen" \ whirlwind of ap
plause swept the auditorium.
Socialism means that the producer
shall have what he produces" contin-
ucd Dcbs. at means that you miners
shall have the ore which you blast
from the heart of nature. If it is not
100 per cent yours, whose is it,
Mark Hannas," exclaimed some one