The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1920-07-30


laundering command. 1t called to the
deepest springs of human emotien,,
breathing now low and tenderness, ana
again storming the ramparts OF crime
and ayerice with q deluge of scorn
and hate. For hate is but the antith-
eses of love. Debs loved his people
with a divine passion, and hence ne
assailed their oppressors with hatred
born of love. :.
She listened with deep religious
devotion. to his every word. He con
vineed her that socialism was def
nitly the hope of the ages, and the
final goal Of all our striving. The
ace old class war was but the path OF
man g redemption from bondage. The
squares of squalor and miles OF mi
sery with which tie fair face OF el'
vilization was defaced was but the
debris on the tide Of battle. The
battle could not end but in victory
for the ever increasing masses OF eX-
propriated toilers. His scientific ex-
plantations were lost to her in the
sweeping splendOr of his emotional
anneal-drunk with the power OF ms
;mo gerry, she would have done any
thing, suffered anything, even to a
martyre death, if he had but given the
command. Such is often the power
of the orator when the physical CIT
cumstances that give rise to his ap.
neal directly affect the interest OF
great bodies of people. Lacking TINS
element the voice of the speaker, no
matter how clearly used, is little more
thar sounding brass and tinknng
svmble. "If they kill these men, they
will do it over my bleeding corpse
Debs thundered his tall figure vibrant
with emotion. 1t was a defiance to
the very strongholds of the estab'
lished order. There was no one IN the
audience but who knew that this was
for his convictions and in that hall
no idle threat. Debs would have dled
for his convictions and in that hail
were hundreds of men and women
who at that moment would have
considered it glory to follow him
True these words were wild. In calm
judgement they would not have been
spoken. They were not applauded when
they were spoken. The import was to
serious. Yet who can say, that these
words did not at least have as much
affect on the final issue of the trial
than Darrow's flaming oratlon
to the Jury. But all this is beside the
issue. Debs was willing to give his
life as a sacrifice to his cause, and IN
this he at least inspired one, to poul
out upon the altar of industrial Ii
berty the last full measure Of devo
ton.
Debs spoke at great length, bu
Olive was not conscious Of time. Sh'
wished that he would 60 on forever
In fact, she was hardly aware that NJ
had begun to speak, when he closed
That night she and her cousin wen
to hotel. She jubilant and her cousin
disgusted. She wanted to discuss tn
sneakers soul wispering message witt
some one, and naturally her compan
ION was the victim. But when sh'
asked her cousin, what she thought Of
the speech Olive was painfully sur
prised when she informed her tina
: She had paid no attertion to the fel
low. After which she read Olive
lecture on her unladylike conduct
which she averred was the. result o.
being raised in a small town. Ana
moose is about half the size of Boul
der. She gave her to understand tina
she was not interested in politics o
in labor problems. She considered
these subjects unladylike and vulgar
Women ought not to take part Il
mans affairs. 1t was natural for maj
to govern. You see, the Bible doe
not tell of any lady Gods!
II soon become evident to Olive
mind that it was useless to reaso
with the unreasonable. Discontinuin
the conversation, she went to bed, wher
in Imagination she talked the whol
matter over with Jack. She was sur
that he would have understood a
that Debs had said, and that he woul
have sympathized with the great oil
ieet to be attained. She remembers
that he had told her, that only thr
sacrifice could the race be redeeme
from bondage.
; The next morning she and he
cousin quarelled with the result tht
this guardian angel flew back
Boulder, while Olive sought out IL
socialist headquarters, where to HI
delight she met Peter Collinwood an
the genial Debs. Collingwood intr
, duced her to the speaker who speT
, about twenty minutes of his bus
time in conversation with her, aft
which she was introduced to the Sc
t retary of local Denver who enrollt
her in the Socialist Party, and gay
her the little red card she treasure
, to her dying day.