We’re not here to reform
the capitalist class,
but to wipe it out.
-Eugene Victor Debs
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Hellraisers Journal – Saturday October 24, 1908
Boston, Massachusetts – Socialist Greet Debs with Wild Enthusiasm
From the Montana News of October 15, 1908:
BOSTON SOCIALISTS WELCOME LEADER
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Thousands Great Debs With the
Greatest Enthusiasm.
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—–
Red flags, red language and red enthusiasm swept everything before them at Faneuil hall on the night of October 5 when the socialists of Boston waited patiently until nearly 10 o’clock to welcome their standard bearer, Eugene V. Debs of Illinois [Terre Haute, Indiana], locomotive fireman, grocer, legislator, labor agitator, strike director, convert to socialism and, like Bryan, three times a candidate for president.
The Cradle of Liberty got the wildest rocking both inside and out it has had in many years. As early as 6 o’clock the reds began to gather and by 7:30 o’clock the doors had to be closed, as everything was filled to the limit. Crowds surged to and fro all around the building, waving the red tri-cornered flags and shouting “Hurrah for Debs and Hanford.”
Enthusiasm to Spare.
Talk about enthusiasm. Why, the reds have both the big parties rolled into one and then beaten by fourteen miles. One of the speakers said the republicans or the democrats would have hard work to get out such a crowd. He might just as well have said it would have been impossible. First a wave of applause would surge out of the hall, and it would be met by an answering billow from the mob outside.
Inside the hall the crowd seated was only a small part of the real audience present. They hung off the balcony, up over the portraits of Sam Adams and John Hancock. They filled the space in front of the platform so that the reporters had to fight for their places. They forced their way up on the platform and pressed their way forward to the very chairs occupied by the speakers.
Crowd Is Orderly.
And so many women haven’t been seen at political rallies at Faneuil hall in a decade. They were scattered all over the house, on the floor, in the balcony, standing, and even in the front row on the stage. There are no ladies in the Socialist party. They are all women and all “comrades.” And they are just as enthusiastic and just as quick to catch a good point in a speech as are their male brothers. It was a perfectly orderly crowd inside and out.
Franklin H. Wentworth of Salem, who presided, had a hard time keeping things moving, owing to the late arrival of “Comrade” Debs, and several times he had to fill in himself with a brief speech, but Comrade Wentworth is quite a spellbinder. Then there was Gubernatorial Candidate James F. Carey of Haverhill and Lieutenant Gubernatorial Candidate John Hall of Springfield, and there was Charles Lapworth, a young English socialist, wearing the most screamingly red tie in the whole house, which was going some, and who talked with a real English accent on what socialism had done in his country.
Wild Demonstration.
It was just 9:40 o’clock when a commotion at the rear of the stage made known the fact that Leader Debs had arrived after his uncomfortable and tedious trip through the freight yards of Boston. He pushed or rather was pushed through the group on the stage and in an instant his bald head, over-topping a light raincoat, could be seen making its way toward the desk. By this time the entire audience was on its feet and there was a wild demonstration.
The socialists don’t exactly cheer. They let out something which sounds more like a prolonged howl. But whatever you choose to call it, they had a plentiful stock with them. They applauded and they yelled. They waved the red flags. They waved their arms. They surged toward the stage. Two adventurous young women crowded by the reporters and insisted upon shaking hands with Candidate Debs. A red-tied young fellow who looked well the socialist called for “Three cheers for Gene Debs,” and they were given, and there was nothing stingy about them either.
Smile Always There.
By this time Debs had succeeded in breaking away from his admirers long enough to remove his overcoat and unlimber his smile. For that smile is an important part of his oratorical equipment. He is lean of build, with a keen, sharp-featured face and an ample mouth, but with thin lips, and always that smile. As he began, his voice was very husky, but much of this wore off as he proceeded.
“Men and women,” he began, for, as he explained, there are no ladies and gentlemen in the ranks of socialism,. He immediately sailed into the capitalists and told his admirers that now was the time to abolish slavery and civilize the human race.
“There’s nothing the matter with Taft’s nerve,” he continued, leaning forward with his hands resting on his knees in a favorite attitude, “when he admits that he doesn’t know what to do with the unemployed.” Then he scored the “capitalist press” as owned by the “system.”
Little Choice Between the Two.
There is little to choose between the two big parties in the mind of Candidate Debs, who is now running for the presidency the same number of times as has Col. Bryan, but who has been quoted as saying that if he thought there were any chance for his election he wouldn’t run, while the peerless has not been heard on this point. “They are two wings of the same bird of prey.” is the way the socialist leader talks about them.
“This is about the time the capitalist comes around to tell you that you are the horny-handed sons of toil,” he went on. “But they don’t mean it, and I wish you didn’t,” and this was uproariously applauded.
They allow you to ride in their automobiles on election day so you can walk on the other 364 days. You really wouldn’t know whether the republicans or democrats were in power unless you read of it in the newspapers.
Then he told his hearers why they were republicans or democrats. “If you are a democrat it is probably because your grandfather was,” he said. “Everything has changed since your grandfather’s time excepting his grandson.”
When enough people have enough of present conditions they can easily put an end to capitalism. You don’t vote for socialism because you say we haven’t a chance to win. If you wait until we do win we shan’t want you at all and that won’t be far off either.
Would Relieve Rockefeller.
There was a great burst of applause when he shouted:
We’re not here to reform the capitalist class, but to wipe it out.
The Socialist party, he said, was the only party which, if it got into power, would relieve Rockefeller of his burden, and this seemed to amuse his hearers.
[He went on, and was cheered to the echo:]
You may be called a crank, an extremist, an anarchist or a criminal. I’ve been called all of them.
While he scored Roosevelt as the friend of the trusts he bore down very hard on the democrats, who, he said, had fattened themselves on the pauper labor and child labor of the south.
He paid his respects to Gompers as the bosom companion of “Mose” Wetmore, vice president of the tobacco trust, and attacked Bryan for refusing to do anything for Moyer, Haywood and Pettibone and for now allying himself with Tammany, “The rottenest political organization in existence, which lives on the profits of the fallen women of New York.”
His closing thought was the emancipation from industrial and commercial strife which would come with socialism, the end of all war and all poverty, when man will live to work instead of working to live.
There was another rush for the platform as he finished and several women insisted upon kissing him as he made his way down the stairs and out of the hall.
Deafening Outburst Outside.
A quick formation of the immense crowd awaiting Candidate Debs at the South station was made and headed by John Fitzpatrick, grand marshal and master of outdoor ceremonies, the parade, shouting, cheering and yelling “Hurrah for Debs and the Socialist party,” crowded through Atlantic avenue to Kneeland street, thence through Eliot street to Tremont street, up Tremont to Cornhill, into which it turned, and ended at Faneuil hall square. Three bands marched with the procession, but the cheering was so vociferous at times that but little of the music could be heard above the uproar.
Upon reaching Faneuil hall a crowd fully as large as the parade was in waiting for a glimpse of the socialist candidate. Hundreds of enthusiastic socialists made vigorous attempts to rush past the police cordon and gain entrance to the hall, but the blue-coats were on the alert and few, if any, succeeded in getting past the door-ways.
Waiters Are Patient.
Extreme patience on the part of the thousands in the overflow crowd was one of the features of the demonstration, and but few acts of violence were reported. For a time speakers attempted to engaged the attention of the anxious waiters by eloquent socialistic exhortations, but frequently some adherent would burst forth with a shout, “There he comes,” and the crowd would commenced to cheer. Women were numerous, many of them carrying red banners, which they waved when the opportunity for applause was afforded.
Several times the police were forced to quell what might have terminated in fistic combats by separating the principals in heated arguments. Plain-clothes men were much inn evidence and their efficiency averted many probable altercations.
Near-Fights Squelched.
As time sped on unrest became more apparent, but one of the proclivities of the socialists-waiting for results-cropped out and the familiar song, “We Won’t Go Home ‘Till Morning,” burst forth simultaneously from hundreds of throats.
As usual, politics and religion refused to mix when two party workers got into a hot tilt. In answer to a question involving one of the churches the veracity of the speaker was questioned and for a few moments there was palpable evidence of a tiny revolution. This, like other near-fights, was squelched by the prompt intervention of some minion of the law.
Carried to Stand.
When at 11:15 Mr. Debs emerged from Faneuil hall the outburst was deafening. The candidate was lifted over the heads of the crowd and carried to the speaker’s stand in the center of Faneuil hall square. Cheer after cheer went up, banners were waved and hats were thrown into the air. Mr. Debs repeatedly tried to allay the noise which was so loud that only those within a few feet of the stand could hear him. He bespoke great things for the party he represents this fall and said:
The echo of our progress in the United States will be heard around the world.
His brevity in the outdoor speech took the crowd unawares, and before the audience had scarcely realized he was there a jump from the platform landed him in a carriage and he was driven to the North station, where he remained for the night in his “Red Special.” Mr. Debs’ departure was unaccompanied by any special demonstration, other than a few hearty “Goodbyes” and “God bless yous.”
Welcome Is Enthusiastic.
For nearly three hours the special train was buffeted back and forth on the railroad sidings and when the candidate arrived at the North station he walked from the train to a hack, apparently unnoticed. His appearance a few moments later in Faneuil hall more than paid up for the mishap, for amid the wildest excitement, thousands of socialists and citizens of other parties extended a welcome such as few men have ever received in the city.
Not only in Boston was the socialist leader enthusiastically welcomed, but thousands greeted him in Springfield, Westfield, Worcester and Natick, where he made short speeches. At Natick a Journal reporter boarded the special, and following dinner aboard had a talk with the socialist candidate for president.
Particularly interesting is the story of the whirlwind trip of the Red Special, and as far as records go for such a trip, the Socialist party has them all.
Speaks to Thousands.
Starting from Chicago on August 31, they took in the cities south to the Mexican border, and thence along to the Pacific coast. Up the coast they went to Seattle, Mr. Debs speaking to thousands of people at the towns and cities.
From Seattle the trip across the continent to the Atlantic coast began, and daily Mr. Debs has preached his socialistic doctrine from the rear platform of the train. The train consists of three cars, a combination sleeping and dinner car, a day coach and baggage car. At one end of the combination car the candidate has a private room where he prepares his speeches and dispatches such business as he sees fit.
In order to raise part of the expenses, at least, of the trip, the day coach is utilized for passengers at regular fare and during the course of the trip from the Pacific coast thousands have patronize the car if for no other reason than to say they have ridden on a presidential candidate’s private train. Others, that is, followers of the socialist movement, have made arrangements from a bus-lines standpoint to use the train and all along the line passengers have been taken on and put off. During the trip over $8,000 has been taken in.-Boston Journal.
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[Photograph and emphasis added.]
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SOURCE
Montana News
“Owned and Published by the
Socialist Party of Montana”
(Helena, Montana)
-Oct 15, 1908
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84024811/1908-10-15/ed-1/seq-2/
IMAGE
EVD Red Special Crew, Cover ISR Oct 1908
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=Z6o9AAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&pg=GBS.PA1029
See also:
Tag: Red Special of 1908
https://weneverforget.org/tag/red-special-of-1908/
Re: Franklin H. Wentworth, see:
“Wendell Phillips; an address by Franklin H. Wentworth, delivered in Faneuil hall, Boston, Tuesday evening, December 4th, 1906, under the auspices of the Socialist party clubs of Massachusetts.”
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100431487
James F. Carey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_F._Carey
John Hall, SP of MA,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_gubernatorial_election,_1908
Tag: Charles Lapworth
https://weneverforget.org/tag/charles-lapworth/
Tag: Haywood-Moyer-Pettibone Case
https://weneverforget.org/tag/haywood-moyer-pettibone-case/
Re: John Fitzpatrick
-I doubt that this is the famous John Fitzpatrick of the Chicago Federation of Labor. No results from search: “John Fitzpatrick” socialist Massachusetts. More research needed.
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