The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-08-08
w. WI Ill uu6V ~
Eugene V. Debs, Socialist Can
didate for President,
Will Open His Campaign the
Last of August.
FROM A SPECIAL CAR
He Will Speak to the People of
the Country.
Sketch of Man Who Began Life
as Painter.
(By Davidson.)


Terre Haute, Ind, Aug. S.-Eugene
Victor Debs, the Socialist nominee for
the presidency, will begin his active
campaign August go tour of the
west being his first venture. Through
out this territory he Will speak from
the rear platform of a special car,
which has many thousand miles of
journey laid out. Mr.. Debs is closing
up his business affairs in Terre Haute,
his native city. and his present home,
preparatory to the arduous work of
vote getting. Asked IL he were rest
Ing preparatory to the trip, he said:
"1 never rest"
And he doesn't Debs is the person.
ification of activity. bundle of energy
that is never still. On the street, in
his office, on the street car. which he
uses in preference to a carriage, in his
library, or on his lawn. he is always
at work, for work with him means the
advancement of his ideas concerning
his chosen party and he never lets
pass an opportunity to impress upon
an ear willing to listen to the glories
of his creed.
Mr.. Debs declares he is getting on
in life although he has but passed his
half-century milestone. He was born
In Terre Haute November 5. 1855,
son of Jean Daniel and Marie Bettrich
Debs. June 9, 1855, he was married
to Miss Katherine Meter of Pittsburg,
daughter of August and Katherine
Meter. No children have been born
to them. His life has centered about
Terre Haute, although 1t has ramff1ed
until it's influence has been felt In al
most every nook and corner or the
United States. In Terre Haute he is
Familiarity known as "Gene" Debs by
his friends and neighbors, and every
body here is his friend. and have only
the kindest word for the great leader.
started as a Painter.
With a paint brush Gene Debs got
his start, and such a humble start II
wasi AS an apprentice In the shops
of the Terre Haute Indianapolis
railway, now known as the Vandalia
railway. His rise came through the
humble avocation of railroad fire
man. through the medium of the
Brotherhood of Railway Firemen,
then an insignificant organization. Debs
fired a yard engine. but later left that
work to take up commercial lines, hav-
ing applied his great mind to COM
mercial education course. He was
''vaccinated" for a bookkeeper, but II
didn't take He didn't like the work
with a local wholesale house because
his sympathies had been so deeply con-
nected with the railway organizations
He was made assistant secretary of the
grand lodge of the Firemens Brother
hood and when the secretary left the
position he was given charge OF the
position and assumed editorial man
agement of the official magazine. 1t
was then that his ability as a writer
and his ability as a platform speaker
began to show itself and the general
public began to sit up and take no
tice.
But when Debs organized the Amer
lean Railway union, which comprised
railway workers of all branches, he
was in the public eye with pyrotechnic
trimmings. The great A. r. U. strike,
with it's uproar and trouble, notably
In the Pullman instance at Chicago in
1894, brought forth federal interference
and with the backing of President
Cleveland the interests of the railway
men were squelched and Debs. one of
the founders of the organization, and
who had personally directed the cam
paign of the railway men in their fight
for better wages and less hours of
work, was in the limelight as the arch
conspirator. to use the phrase most Of
ten applied to him at that time. He
was the most enjoined man in the
country. and partly because of this
fact the term government by injunc-
ton" became real campaign issue.
His name, to the high and mighty, sig
nified anarchy, riot and bloodshed and
the man Debs was the duplication of all
that evil. To the labor classes. the
men who toll, he was the two-edged
sword of light and his leadership was
unquestioned.
Faced the Gallows.
Debs faced the gallows in "a. He,
according to the federalists, was the
high priest of anarchy. and according
to their desires, should have ended his
career at the ropes end.
They reckoned without their OPP
ponent's host, however. and so far as
known, the case of the state of ILL
nois and the United States against Eu-
O q iC linz q
nal hearing. The Debs defense by
able attorneys. was able to outline a
case which showed clearly that the
striking men were not instigators of
the bloody riots; that railway hands
were susceptible of being charged
with conspiracy in the matter; the de-
mand for official reports of the pro-