The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1903-11-28

Meet Debs Face to Face and Re-
peat the Statement.
milwaukee,, Wis, Nov. 26.-The So
ciallst Democratic. Herald of this city
IN it's current issue under the caption
This Ought To Sober Him. strongly
censures Samuel Gompers, President
OF the American Federation Of Labor
In the November issue Of the Federr-
at1onist uses the following language in
summing up Eugene v. Debs:
While Eugene V. Debs was secre-
Firemen and editor Of the. official
IN AMI s as any an other msa
in the international labor movement,
he did not attempt to persuade the
the trade unions Of the country. while
Brotherhood Of the locomotive Fire
men to destroy the Organization Of
which for years he was a trusted Of
ficer.
in 49, the IL {Se ateges sen 6 Rs m fad
charge Of the strike Of tie bitumenous
coal miners. During the A. R. y. strike
he was quite willing that the A: F: OF
erall strike. and try to win the, A. R. U.
Statements at the Chicago conference
1S W {he affaaH Of P9
of Man.. but when he had the fullest
opportunity to add link to the cham
he failed to do so. OF course Mr.. Debs
rade %non fSF ans These Gf
izatlons have been and are successful.
and Mr.. Debs has never been known to
ADVOCATE any, idea or, any movement
M OF h1Y r1ff al
and miserable failure"
The following is the reply by the So
clallst Democratic Herald, which COLI
tains more abuse than argument:
1.-THE above tissue Of Qualifications OF
fact, prompted by pique and malice,
would be below notice were it an emln-
alton from person other than the ma
tional head of the central labor organ
1zation Of the United States. The en-
tire effusion breathes the vengeful pur-
pose of injuring the character of one
of the most unselfish men who ever
lived, one who is more genuinely loved
by the working people of this country
than any one other man alive. But 1t
is a train of falcifica tons that Samuel
Gompers would not dare to utter in the
presence Of Comrade Debs, as we will
De abe to SHOW.
We therefore hereby throw down the
guage of battle to- Mr.. Gompers, and
| challenge him to make the above
charges publicly in Mr.. Debs' presence,
and if Debs doesn't tear the Gompers
lies into; tatters, The Herald will make
Mr.. Gompers a humble apology.
And especially should we like to have
a. contrast of the records of the two
men in the mai tier az the "A. $R. u. strike
Of 1894 and the miner strike Of 1897.
the AN strike, St IS motor
iously true that zpmpers didn't go Is
ChicagoE until the fight was practically
over, and only went then because
threatened with Impeachment by his
own people at Chicago, who were de-
nonncing his cowardice and treason to
labor in unmeasured terms. And when
he did finally start for Chicago, he was
interviewed on leaving. New York, and
| what did he say? He said: II am go
ing to Chicago to attend a funeral!"
Anyone who is cognizant of the
status of the struggle of the American
| Railway Union in those stirring days
knows that it was a:strike that had al
ready demonstrated itself a, winning
one, when the startled and crazed cap
| italists made use of the government
under Grover Cleveland, to irritate the
situation with troops, and the courts
to govern the situation by injunctions,
| making it a crime against the govern
| ment for those in charge of the strike
! to- communicate orders to each other
| or to handle their forces on, the strike
! field. The strike was so successful
that on its third day over forty thou
! sand railroaders were out, and the rail-
way traffic of the country was almost
at a standstill. Neither passengers nor
freight could be carried on any Of the
| important railways west of Chicago
and the eastern lines were also Grip
pied. The Pacific slope was train
| bound. The General Managers associa-
| ton, an organization of the railway
managers to control the situation, was
| clearly outgeneralled. No such strike
| had ever been seen in this or any other
country on the face of the globe! And
when the courts finally controlled the
| situation by means Of falling Debs and
his lieutenants for disobeYing the. in
functions, the military was just prepar-
| ing to declare martial law, which
would have given them the opportunity
of taking the leaders out on the Chica-
go lake front and shooting them down
as enemies OF the government. A strike
that required such desperate measures
! to down, even: without the help of the
/ American Federation of Labor, which
was held back from aiding it's class in
Inc great battle, was certainly not a
| failure. And further as to Debs' fail
ures," he has always been considered
enough of q success as fighter for
the rights of the working class to have
arrayed against him the combined cor.
poration press, pulpits and courts, plus
the towards. traitors and reactionairies
in the union fold, under the fake lead
ership Of men. to So whom plutocfatie
praise and "plunks" are far more prec-
ious than the emancipation Of their
dupes from slavery.
Let us repeat our challenge, in con-
clusion. We dare Mr.. Gompers to make
his charges to Comrade Debs' face, on
Ia public PLATFORM