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Hellraisers Journal – Monday March 26, 1900
Indianapolis, Indiana – Eugene Debs Accepts Nomination for President
From the Social Democratic Herald of March 24, 1900:
DEBS’ SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE
[Social Democratic Party Convention
Indianapolis, March 9th]
—–
Mr. Chairman and Comrades:— A few moments ago your committee advised me of the great honor conferred upon me by this convention in making me one of the standard-bearers of the party in the great campaign upon which we are now entering. Never in all of my life was I so profoundly impressed with the conviction that there is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will. Yesterday [March 8th, Third Day of Convention] I left this hall under the solemn belief that I could not, under any possible circumstances, accept the nomination tendered me with such enthusiastic unanimity. But with your united voices ringing in my ears, and your impassioned appeals burning and glowing in my breast, and your eyes searching the very depths of my soul, I was soon brought to realize that in your voice in behalf of socialism there was the supreme command of Duty—that I could not disregard it and decline the nomination without proving myself wholly unworthy of the confidence which inspired it.
I felt that I could not decline the nomination, tendered me under such circumstances, without being guilty of treason to the cause we all love so well; and so I come to you this afternoon, obedient to the call voice by your committee, to say that I accept your nomination, and with it all of the responsibilities that the great trust imposes; and with my heart trembling upon my lips, I thank the comrades, one and all, for the great honor your have conferred upon me. I also thank you for having nominated as my associate and colleague so true a socialist, so manly a man as Comrade Job Harriman, and let me assure you that we will stand together, side by side, in the true spirit of socialism, and joining hands, will bear aloft the conquering banner of the Social Democratic Party of America.
The ordeal through which we passed yesterday was indeed painful and trying to us, but perhaps it was necessary to completely consecrate us to our great task. Standing in your presence this afternoon the standard-bearer of a united socialist party, so long a cherished hope and now practically a realized fact, all the skies of the future are bright, and I do not hesitate to believe that in the great campaign upon which we are now entering that we are to achieve results that will mark the real beginning of socialism in America, as also the real end of capitalism.
The line is to be sharply drawn. The issue is to be clearly understood. We are to move forward side by side, a united party, a solid indivisible phalanx. We are to move forward with steady step, our eyes on the goal. No backward step is taken. We are not to be deflected from our course the breadth of a hair; and in the first battle, whatever the outcome, a great victory will have to be achieved to be followed by others until at last socialism is triumphant in the United States, capitalism falls never to rise again, and the working class, bruised, degraded, and plundered through all the centuries of the past, for the first time in the history of all the ages will stand forth redeemed and disenthralled, the coronated sovereigns of the world.
I congratulate my comrades, one and all, upon the very happy outcome of this historic convention. I would be less than just to myself if I failed to make some proper acknowledgement of the invaluable services rendered us by the committee representing the Socialist Labor Party [including Morris Hillquit, Job Harriman, and Max Hayes]. During the trying hours of yesterday I was more than impressed with their noble bearing, with their manly conduct. They appeared before us in the spirit of socialism. Fortunately for you and me, and for the party, they were met with the same spirit; and now, instead of being in hostile camps, with divided forces, we stand before the world in a united body that is to move forward until it wrests this government from the grasp of capitalism and restores it to the people at large.
Comrades, we invoke your united aid and cooperation. We should be remiss in no single obligation that has been imposed upon us. We shall to the extent of our ability serve you and those you represent in this great cause. There is no mistake as to the ultimate outcome. Speaking for myself, I am not only hopeful, I am confident. The new crusade is now thoroughly organized, and when the message goes forth it will send joy and hope and enthusiasm to the heart of every socialist in the land.
Allow me to say, in closing, that I am deeply sensible of the great honor that you have conferred upon me—that when I attempt to express the gratitude with which my heart is overflowing, all language is meaningless. I am proud to be a socialist. I believe with all my heart in the conquering and emancipating power of socialism. With me it is something more than a conviction. It throbs in my heart; it surges in my soul; it is my very life. Without it, every star that blazes in the horizon would go out forever. Without it this earth were simply a jungle and we wild beasts devouring each other. With it, this earth becomes transformed into a veritable paradise, and we are almost gods. Again and again, I thank you. All hail to the united Socialists of America!
[Photograph, emphasis and paragraph breaks added.]
From the Appeal to Reason of March 24, 1900:
The Social Democratic Convention Have
Emphasized Startling Truths.[-by Eugene V. Debs]
—–
The Social Democratic Party is not a reform party, but a revolutionary party. It does not propose to modify the competitive system, but to abolish it. An examination of its platform shows that it stands unequivocally for the collective ownership and control of all the means of wealth production and distribution—in a word, socialism.
The modern tendency is towards centralization and cooperation. This has given us the trust, and there has been a great hue and cry about the latest phase of economic development. The Republican and Democratic parties, yielding to the popular outcry, will declare in favor of destroying or restraining the trusts, but just how puerile and dishonest such declarations are every member of the Social Democratic Party knows too well to be deceived into voting for either of said parties. As a matter of fact, trust is the inevitable outgrowth of the competitive system, and to declare against the private ownership of the trust is to declare against the system itself. That neither the large capitalists, who own the trusts, nor the small capitalists, who are opposed to them because they do not own them, favor the overthrow of the capitalist system of production and distribution is a foregone conclusion.
The Republican Party represents the former class and the Democratic Party the latter class. Both stand for essentially the same system of exploitation, and the socialist wage worker realizes that it makes precious little difference to him and his class whether they are exploited by a few great capitalists or an innumerable brood of small ones. They propose to put an end to exploitation entirely by abolishing the system and transferring the means of production from private hands to the collectivity and having them operated in the interest of all alike.
To carry out this program the first step necessary is political organization, and this step has been taken by the Social Democratic Party. It is now organized in 25 different states and is spreading rapidly over the entire country. Its progress has been greatest in the states of Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and Washington. These three states are marked for early conquest. California has also proved hospitable soil, and it is confidently expected that the Golden Gate state will develop a phenomenal increase of strength in the near future.
The Social Democratic Party is necessarily an international party. It is as wide as the domain of capitalism. It is everywhere and always the same. It takes no backward step. The reins of government is its goal. It refuses to be flattered, bribed, stampeded, or otherwise deflected from the straight course mapped out for it by Marx and Engels, its founders, and pursued with unflagging fidelity by their millions of followers. Before its conquering march every throne in Europe is beginning to tremble. The last one of them will fall to earth while the century is still in swaddling clothes.
The socialist hosts of Germany give confident assurance that the day of deliverance for the people will soon dawn. In France, Belgium, England, Austria, Italy, Russia, and other countries the same principles animating the proletarian class are finding expression in great parties, all linked together in the indissoluble bonds of international socialism. The battle cry of Marx is heard around the world: “Workingmen of all countries, unite; you have a world to gain! You have nothing to lose but your chains!”
Among the last countries to organize, for reasons so generally understood that they need not be discussed here, is the United States, but the conditions which develop socialism have come upon us so rapidly during the past few years that it now seems certain that the American movement will soon become the most formidable of them all, and that here, where political democracy was first achieved, industrial democracy will gain its first triumph.
The Social Democratic Party has no interest in any of the so-called issues over which capitalist politicians fight sham battles. They care nothing about the currency question, the tariff, or imperialism. They stand first, last, and always for the collective ownership of all the means of production and distribution, and they will press forward unceasingly until they secure them, thereby liberating the race and solving the problem of the centuries.
EUGENE V. DEBS.
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[Emphasis and paragraph breaks added.]
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SOURCES
Quote EVD, Proud Socialists SDP Conv, SF Class Struggle p4, Mar 17, 1900
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/class-struggle-advance/000317-classstruggle-w293.pdf
Social Democratic Herald
(Chicago, Illinois)
-Mar 24, 1900
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/social-democratic-herald-us/000324-socdemherald-v02n40w090.pdf
Appeal to Reason
(Girard, Kansas)
-Mar 24, 1900
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/appeal-to-reason/000324-appealtoreason-w225.pdf
https://www.newspapers.com/image/66954316/
IMAGES
SDP Campaign, EVD n Job Harriman, SF Call p2, Mar 9, 1900
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1900-03-09/ed-1/seq-2/
EVD f Prz SDP, AtR p1, Mar 24, 1900
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/appeal-to-reason/000324-appealtoreason-w225.pdf
See also:
Tag: SDP Convention of 1900
https://weneverforget.org/tag/sdp-convention-of-1900/
More from Appeal to Reason of March 24, 1900
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/appeal-to-reason/000324-appealtoreason-w225.pdf
-page 1: “Socialist Ticket for 1900”
-page 3: “Social Democrats in Convention”
From Marxist Org with notes by Tim Davenport:
-Debs Accepts Nomination, Indianapolis, March 9, 1900
https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/works/1900/000309-debs-speechofacceptance.pdf
-“The Social Democratic Party is not a reform party…”
—–from New York Journal of March 7, 1900
https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/works/1900/000306-debs-lettertonyjournal.pdf
—–from Appeal to Reason of March 24, 1900
http://www.marxisthistory.org/history/usa/parties/spusa/1900/0324-debs-startlingtruths.pdf
-“Social Democrats in Convention
[Indianapolis, March 6-9, 1900]
—–from Appeal to Reason of March 24, 1900
http://www.marxisthistory.org/history/usa/parties/spusa/1900/0309-appeal-sdpinconvention.pdf
-re Events of 1900
—–from History of Socialist Party of America (1897-1946)
(scroll down to 1900)
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/eam/spa/socialistparty.html
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The Commonwealth of Toil · Joe Glazer
Lyrics by Ralph Chaplin