The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-09-16
.DEBS ADDRESSES
 LARGE AUDIENCE
Socialist Candidate for President
 Makes Eloquent Speech.
GOOD DEAL OF ENTHUSIASM
Mir. Debs' Terse Sentences and Ills Lively Wit Caught the Crowd. Appeals to WorkInamen.
 AIudes to Hohson.


 uvhich the lives of others depend" That was the keynote of the speech de- livered by Eugene V. Debs, the Presi- dential nominee of the socialist party to an enthusiastic audience of nearly loVo men and women last night at Knights or Columbus hall. The crowd filled the place to It's utmost capacity.
 ''When your grandfather owned the tool with which he worked he oWneo the product made by those tools said MT, Debs by way of Illustration. TO day the tools with which you work be- long to others and consequently the pro- duet of your labor belongs to others. As Benjamin Franklin truly said man is tool using animal To operate these tools or machines. belonging to others, you do not share in the profits derived therefrom and you have sold yourself Into economic bondage.
 You are paid a wage to operate these machines" continued MT. Debs.' and the amount of this wage Is dependent upon the memorable law of supply and demand. All this machine needs is little oil to keep 1t going and the wage Is to the
  chine"
 Eloquent Address.
 Taking up this line of argument MT. Debs made one of the most eloquent ad- dresses that many of his hearers had ever heard. His logic was striking and his enunclation almost perfect In fact he held his audience so completely under the spell of his voice that many who did not agree with him in his socialistic ideas hurried to the stage when he had finished and grasped his hand to congratulate hiIn on his honesty of purpose and his enter- taing talk.
 After speaking for an hour on his ieea, previously mapped out, that the working man was entitled to share in the enjoy ment of the products which he had cre- ated MT. Debs drifted into discussion of the two great political parties He severe | ly arraigned both the democratic and re- 1 publican platforms snd laid particular stress upon what he termed the rapid changes of public policy on the port of MT. Roosevelt.
 Adverting to his opening remarks MT. Debs said: Tn this great country there
 
 tramp. They are the two extremes of our economic probe When the first millionaire appeared in this country about forty years ago there appeared with him more than 100 tramps and thls proportion has kept up in the develop ment of every millionaire. This is due to the working man being a tool using machine instead of sharing In the pro- duet of his labor.
 In Former Years.
 Tn former years" said the speaker, the more your grandfather produced the more he enjoyed life and better was the condition of himself and family. Today the more you produce the worse off you are. In other words when you produce more than can be consumed in this country the mills shut down and l your wages are cut off. Consequently the capitalist class begins to seek an- 1 other market. -. ..is condition Is true In all countries. All countries are seeking foreign markets and this Is largely re- sponsible for the maintenance of large standing armies and navies. This market has to be protected. This foreign mar | working man has. The socialist party l stands for the home market and If you want the foreign market then vote the republican or democratic ticket"
 MT. Debs quoted from official reports to show that the working man consumes only 16 per cent of what he produces, The remaining S4 per cent he argued. 1 could not be consumed by the capitalist l class which Is only one-fourth of the pop ulation. This brought about the amassing of fortunes.
 Labor Planks.
 Not long ago." said MT. Debs, ''when the republican and democratic parties met fin convention to frame political plat forms they found it necessary to insert 1 labor plank. The republican labor plank contains just sixty-two words and a little later the democratic party adopted ? labor plank containing Just fifty-six words
 "Gentlemen,' laughingly said the speak CT, that is no plank at all It wouldn't make splinter in the socialist platform. There Is not enough lumber in both to make toothplck."
 What about Hobson in that democratic convention" said q voice from the audi ence, as MT. Debs had started discussing and condemning government by lnjunc- ton.
 "I see by the paper this morning" an- sWered the speaker, that he Is going to devote much of his speeches to the labor question, so l guess we had better give him a chance.
 | cf4 T tinued MT. Debs. this young man glori- fled Grover Cleveland for using his power to crush those law-abiding labor people at Chicago. If that Is what he thinks, he has much to learn about the labor ques- tion."
 The Working Man.
 In conclusion MT. Debs dwelt at length on the ignorance of the working man as to his condition, and said that above all things intelligence was needed.
 ''The working man does not know hts power" he said. "The very minute this great giant, Labor wakes up from his latent sleep and discovers his power. capi- talism is doomed. It will be swept from the earth This giant now lies dormant be- cause of his ignorance. When he awakes and learns his true condition he can rule the world. Then will the tramps and mil- lionaires disappear and the tool-using man will enjoy the product of his labor"
 When MT. Debs had concluded he had