Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1916-06-27
A WORD FOR MR.. DEBS.

| .SouhAAi l11uiAo A>ohpoASAA. AIu6SAAS
| V. Debs, who is probably the lead-
| ing exponent of socialism in Amer
| lea, gave an address in Council Bluffs
Friday evening to a moderate sized
audience. He should have spoken in
the auditorium and he should have
been heard by at least three thous-
and in place of three hundred peo-
pie. Mr.. Debs presents socialism at
its best. He is not ranter. He.
does not abuse those who disagree
with his view. He does not preach
treason, arson, incendiarism and an
archism. He gives his hearers
| glimpse of the real spirit and pur-
pose of the socialism which is prom
Used on christian precepts-the faith
erhood of God and the brotherhood
Of man.
| The major premise of Mr.. Debs'
position is the scriptural assertion
that "the laborer is worthy of his
hire" He insists that laboring men
are not getting fair share of the
products of their toll. The conclu
sion is inevitable from this view that
employers of labor, the capitalists,
are getting too large share of the
wealth which labor produces. His
appeal is for a square deal for the
laboring men who, in his judgment,
are not now receiving their due. His
appeal is addressed to mems reason
ing faculties and he urges the solu-
tion of the problems of capital and
labor through education. He adj
vises working men to study, to or
ganize, to work together, act togeth-
er and vote together for the promo
ton of their common welfare.
The socialistic program which
contemplate the specialization of all
industries, is Utopian and in the
Judgment of most people impossible
of realization this side of the millen-
mum. But this in no wise should
be accepted as condemnation in
toto of socialism. The laborer is
worthy of his hire. The laborer
|should educate himself and his fam
lily. He is entitled to square deal.
He is entitled to wage which will
enable him to do these things. The
capitalist does need to be restricted.
tSwollen fortunes are an evidence of
|inefficiency, imperfection and injus-
tice in our present social program,
and they constitute real menace
Ito the state. The socialist is enti-
tied to an unprejudiced hearing on
the rostrum, in the church and in
the press, for he is striving as best
he knows how to promote the COM
mon welfare.
Mr.. Debs makes some forceful
points in his address. In reply to
Those who charge the socialists with
being unchristian he points to the
fact that the socialists in Europe are
the only organized opponents of the
war. While christian rulers, So
called, are sending millions Of men
to slaughter in the trenches, the So
cialists are pleading and striving for
a lasting peace based on justice and
the acceptance of the premise that
French, English and German men
I'll wit int
ests and common aims. German So
cialsts have openly declared them
selves opposed to the forcible an
nexation of territory or the levying
of tribute on conquered countries
and cities. Mr.. Debs says his COM
rades believe in shedding light,
whereas the kings, kaisers and cars
of Europe believe in the shedding
of blood as means of promoting
civilization.
The aim of the socialists is to dig
Nifty labor, cut out snobbery and re-
|quire that all men and all women
stand for just what they are. Their
mistake, as those who do not accept
their program in whole see it, is in
their over-emphasis of the promise
that most of the ills which afflict us
can be remedied by law. They also
fail to see- good in the existing or
der. They do not, apparently, APP
preciate the fact that our education
al doors are wide open. They fail
to discern that the ranks of the cap
italist class are daily being recruit
ed from the ranks of the frugal and
industrious laborers.
Debs is entitled to a hearing be-
cause he is lover of his fellowmen
and because his mission is to lift up
the fallen and support those who fall
ter. He is manly and fair in his
presentation of his case. He is elo-
quent because of enthusiasm in a