To speak for labor; to plead the cause
of the men and women and children who toil;
to serve the working class,
has always been to me a high privilege;
a duty of love.
-Eugene Victor Debs
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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday June 30, 1908
Souvenir Available to Honor Socialist Party’s Presidential Candidate
From the Appeal to Reason of June 27, 1908:
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Hellraisers Journal, Saturday June 29, 1918
Chicago, Illinois – Big Jim Thompson for the Defense
James P. Thompson, known to his Fellow Workers as Big Jim Thompson, was the first witness called by the defense in the Chicago I. W. W. Trial. He was on the stand for two days and spoke of his many years as an I. W. W. organizer.
FW Thompson wept as he recalled the Wheatland hop-pickers strike of 1913 and the massacre of the improvised workers there, shot down by sheriff’s deputies for the crime of attempting to organize.
Through his tears, Thompson predicted:
Some day, when Labor’s age-long fight for life and freedom is ended, then will there be a monument raised over the graves of the Wheatland martyrs-and it will show the little water-carrier boy and his tin pail lying there on the ground mingling his blood with the water that he carried, and over him, in a posture of defense, the brave Porto-Rican with the gun he had torn from the cowardly hands of the murderers who had fired upon a crowd of women and children.
The unemployed were clubbed by the police
under republican Mayor Busse in Chicago
and under democratic Mayor McClellan in New York.
-Ben Hanford, 1908
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Hellraisers Journal, Sunday June 28, 1908
Chicago, Illinois – Republican Party to Unemployed: “Go and eat grass!”
From the Socialist Montana News of June 25, 1908:
Ben Hanford and Republicans
—–“GO AND EAT GRASS” IS ADVICE.
—–
Socialist Candidate for Vice President
Scores Hypocrisy and Vulgarity
of Wall Street’s Recent Convention.
—–
“Go and Eat Grass!”
“If the people have no bread, why don’t they eat cake?”
So says the national convention of the republican party to the more than five million unemployed men in the United States. What sweet consolation to them and the twenty millions of people dependent on them.
We are a prosperous people, declared the leaders of the convention.
We have wealth to the value of $110,000,000,000, more than one quarter of all the wealth on earth.
We make more than one-third of the world’s modern manufactured products.
The republican convention was opened each day with prayer, and by a different clergyman—but there is no evidence that it was closed with a benediction.
The delegates considered themselves “the people”, and therefore they could truly say “the people” were prosperous. It was a convention of lawyers, office holders and millionaires. Why shouldn’t Senator Burrows be prosperous? For thirty-nine years he has drawn pay from a city, county, state or national treasury. Why shouldn’t Senator Lodge be prosperous? He graduated from Harvard Law School thirty-three years ago, and has been fed at the public crib for twenty-five of the years since past. These worthies fear lest socialism would “have the nation own the people.”
Reconcentrados; piteous God!
The misery of want and death!
The heavens smile, the flowers nod,
The birds sing forth their limpid breath-And why?
-A. W. Thomas
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Hellraisers Journal, Monday June 27, 1898
Girard, Kansas – Poems for the People
From the Appeal to Reason of June 25, 1898:
A poem for the Cuban Reconcentrados by A. W. Thomas-
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Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday June 26, 1918
Chicago, Illinois – Landis Rules Against I. W. W.; Defense Opens
From The Daily Pantagraph (Bloomington, Ill.) of June 25, 1918:
HARD BLOW IS DEALT I. W. W.
—–
Judge Landis Declines to Admit Report
of Industrial Relations Committee.
—–(By Associated Press)
Chicago, June 24.-Federal Judge Landis dealt a hard blow to the defense in the I. W. W. trial today, counsel admitted, when he barred from evidence the eleven volume report of the federal industrial relations commission of which Frank P. Walsh was chairman.
On the commission’s report the I. W. W. based its entire course of dealing with the industrial situation, according to George F. Vanderveer, chief of counsel for the defense.
The attorney, in making his opening statement of the case of the defendants, who are charged with seditious conspiracy, denied that the I. W. W. organization had attempted to destroy the existing industrial system.
It was to lay the foundation of his case that the lawyer sought to submit in evidence the “I. W. W. Bible,” as published in 1915 [1916]. He declared the Walsh report was the “guiding light” of the I. W. W. members in all that they did.
Judge Landis refused to allow the defense to go into a general inquiry of industrial conditions.
I have no country to fight for;
my country is the earth;
I am a citizen of the world.
-Eugene Victor Debs
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Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday June 25, 1918
Terre Haute, Indiana – Debs Defends Canton Speech
From The Indianapolis News of June 24, 1918:
DEBS MAKES DEFENSE OF
HIS CANTON SPEECH
—–FLAYS PROFITEERS IN ADDRESS AT TERRE HAUTE.
——PRAISES WILSON PROGRAM
—–Special to The Indianapolis News
TERRE HAUTE. Ind. June 24.-Challenging any one anywhere to show him a Socialist who is a pro-German in the sense of being in sympathy with the German government in the prosecution of this war. Eugene V. Debs, former Socialist candidate for President spoke Sunday afternoon [June 20th] in the ball park here from a flag bedecked platform at a picnic of the Socialists of the Fifth district.
Debs branded as a “lie” the printed reports that he made seditious remarks in a talk last week at Canton, O. He praised the Bolsheviki of Russia, and praised President Wilson for his attitude toward the Bolsheviki.
He declared the Russian revolution to be the most stupendous event in history and predicted the success of the Bolsheviki.
Impatient for Results.
The trouble is the world wants the bolsheviki to give a perfect democracy within twenty-four hours time. Our Wall street would rather see the czar back on the throne than the working people.
All of the profiteers are against President Wilson. Every profiteer despises Wilson.
Debs made a defense of his Canton (O.) talk which is said to have led to a federal investigation.
Every socialist family can have
no end of fun with these cards.
-Charles H. Kerr
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hellraisers Journal, Wednesday June 24, 1908
From the Appeal to Reason: Socialist Playing Cards
Let me see you wake up and fight.
-Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hellraisers Journal, Sunday June 23, 1918
Mother Jones News for May 1918, Part I: Gives Long Interview in St. Louis
From the St Louis Post-Dispatch of May 13, 1918:
Valiant Champion of the Workers Pink of Cheek
at 88 and Wears a Fussy Little Bonnet.
—–
Objects to Women Doing Heavy War Time Work;
Opposes Suffrage, Knitters Rile Her.
—–BY MARGUERITE MARTYN.
I WOULD like to have had a union card to show. I was glad I was conversant with the after-the-war platform of the British Labor Party as voluminously printed in the Post-Dispatch, and that I could profess full faith in the justice of trade unionism, when I went to call on Mother Jones. As it was, I came out of the interview with the valiant little 88-year-old labor champion comparatively unscathed, though I sat meekly silent while her scorching tongue excoriated many institutions I have at least looked upon with toleration.
Women in war industries supplanting men, she had little patience with.
[She said:]
I see them climbing over engines with their oil cans. I see them pumping levers on street cars; I see them pushing heavy trucks of munitions, and I think, what of the future generation? Woman’s nervous organism is not equal to such work. One of the principles of trade unionism is that women shall work under conditions that will safeguard to the utmost their bodily welfare.
Woman suffrage she dismissed with equal scorn.
Women vote in Colorado and what have they done to improve industrial conditions? After the riots at Trinidad and 20 women and children were laid out in the morgue, committees of ladies came and looked over the scene, and they said, “Too bad, too bad!”
They knew the murder of these innocents, whose men were fighting only for the right to work and earn their bread, had been authorized by the [Democratic] Governor they had helped to put in power. They did not criticise the Governor and some of the women were in the militia that committed the crimes.
Let me see you wake up and fight.
-Mother Jones
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Hellraisers Journal, Saturday June 22, 1918
Mother Jones News for May 1918, Part I: Found in St. Louis
Mother Jones was first found missing from the May Day celebration in Springfield, Illinois. It appears she was called to an unspecified strike in Quincy, Illinois.
We next found her in Washington, D. C. where the May 1st edition of The Washington Times stated:
“Mother” Jones, noted labor leader, arrived here today to appear before the National War Labor Board and plead with former President William H. Taft, in the interest of commercial telegraphers demanding the right to organize.
On May 10th and 11th, we find Mother in the pages of the St. Louis, Missouri, newspapers where her efforts on behalf of the men and women on strike against the Wagner Electric Manufacturing Company are well covered.
We will pick up the story of Mother Jones in St. Louis in Part II of our Mother Jones News Round-Up for May 1918.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday June 21, 1898
St. Louis, Missouri – Brewers Send Congratulations
The new Social Democratic Party of America was founded in Chicago by Eugene Debs and other “political actionist” who broke with the “utopians” of the Social Democracy of America at the end of that convention earlier this month. The German Brewers of St. Louis sent the following hearty “well done!” to the new socialist party.
From the St. Louis Brauer-Zeitung of June 18, 1898:
Well Done!
The Social Democratic Party of America
Organized at Last Week’s Convention
by G.A. HoehnChicago, June 13, 1898.
Three cheers for the Social Democratic Party of America! The organization of this new bona fide labor party will undoubtedly be cheering news to thousands of socialists and wage workers of this country. The first national convention of the Social Democracy of America was opened at Uhlich’s Hall, June 7, 1898. Comrade Eugene V. Debs called the delegates to order, stating the object of the gathering in a few remarks, expressing also the hope that the business of the convention would not be interfered with by parliamentary tricks and shyster tactics. According to report of the Credentials Committee, there were 75 delegates present; several delegates arrived later on.
Immediately following the report of the Credentials Committee, Secretary Keliher announced that on Saturday, June 4, and Sunday, June 5, not less than 11 new branches of the Social Democracy of America were organized in Chicago, all of which had applied for charters Monday, June 6; i.e., just one day before the opening of the convention. In his opinion at least 9 out of the 11 were not entitled to representation in the convention, for which reason he refused to grant them the charters applied for. However, he would put this matter into the hands of the convention for final settlement.
Burns and Hogan declared that the 11 branches were entitled to representation, at the same time attacking Secretary Keliher for his refusal to grant charters. Comrade Hourwich of New York moved that the delegates of the new Chicago branches be not admitted, Phillips of New York, Berger of Milwaukee, Carey of Massachusetts, Hoehn of St. Louis, Margaret Haile of Boston, Mailly of Tennessee, Gordon of New Hampshire, Winchevsky of New York, and Meier of St.Louis bitterly opposed the admission of the new Chicago delegates, claiming that at leas 9 out of 11 new branches were organized at the very last moment for no other purpose than to pack the convention, the 11 delegates representing less than 60 members in all. Mailly ridiculed the idea that these “brave Chicagoans” did not discover the grandeur of the Social Democracy until 24 hours before the opening of the national convention.
