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Hellraisers Journal – Monday March 19, 1900
Indianapolis, Indiana – S. D. P. “Unity” Convention Nominates Debs
From San Francisco’s Class Struggle of March 17, 1900:
[Part II of II.]
FOURTH DAY [March 9th].
J.C. Chase, who served as chairman on the third day, was again elected to preside.
A motion to elect two delegates to the International Congress at Paris in 1900 was carried. Eugene Dietzgen was elected as one delegate, and on motion the election of the second delegate was referred to the joint committee of 18, the delegate to be elected by referendum.
MacCartney took the floor and stated that Debs had reconsidered his declination. Great applause. Debs was declared the nominee.
G.B. Benham was called upon for a speech, and congratulated the convention upon the nomination of Debs.
A man recognized from the Atlantic to the Pacific as one of the bravest advocates of the rights of the workers that the world has ever seen. His example has inspired the best efforts of the exponents of socialism, and his candidacy cements the union of socialist forces and assures us a grand result for the coming Presidential campaign.
Victor Berger nominated Job Harriman for Vice President. The nomination was received with applause as hearty as that which greeted the nomination of Debs. His nomination was declared unanimous, and all rose and gave three cheers for the candidates. Great enthusiasm. Handshaking was in order.
Margaret Haile, secretary of the committee on constitution, read the report of the committee. The report with but slight alteration was adopted as read.
The S. D. P. National Executive Committee was by motion continued, subject to the action of the joint committee of 18.
On motion designs of emblems were ordered submitted to the committee of 18, the best designs to be submitted to a referendum vote of the membership. The place of meeting, as well as time of meeting of the joint committee of 18 was left to the committee without recommendation.
The committee on resolutions introduced a resolution calling attention to the fact that the farmers’ condition varied in the different localities, and that the local organizations use their discretion in regard to proposed legislation and demands in accordance with socialist principles.
Hoehn of St. Louis made some remark regarding a red flag which hung in the hall. Comrade Hoehn said the flag historically represented the socialist movement in the U. S. for 25 years.
It was carried in the great railroad strike of 1877 in Chicago. It is still an emblem which we love. It now hangs in this hall over a convention of 67 delegates. Let us hope that at the next Presidential convention it will hand over a convention of 600 delegates, representing one million socialist voters in the United States.
Votes of thanks were recorded the local S. D. P. committee of arrangements, to the press of Indianapolis for courtesies, and to Comrades Strickland, Putnam of St. Louis, and Johnson of Chicago as secretaries.
Job Harriman was called upon for a speech. In brief he said:
I feel sure a real union of socialist forces has been consummated. The good work of the Rochester convention has been duplicated here. Let us go forward bent upon nothing but doing the best we can for the socialist movement. Upon the question of unity we are agreed. Let us now show by our efforts that we appreciate our duties and our responsibilities.
True difficulties which face us in the educational work among the working class, let us be firm and aggressive. Who shall say that following a wise and intelligent policy in gaining power, that our representatives will not have the wisdom to make and execute laws of a character beneficial to the working class? A new temple is to be built where the rights of the people shall be the guiding power in the management of public affairs. The differences of the past have to be buried forever. Let us not judge men by their motives, but by their acts. Our duty is to see to the carrying on of that great policy of amalgamation which made grand the socialist movement in foreign lands.
This speech was greeted with great demonstration of satisfaction by the delegates.
Comrade Edwards led in the singing of the “Socialist Battle Hymn.” This was followed by the singing of “The Marsellaise” by Comrade Strickland and the delegates joined in the chorus.
Hillquit was called upon for a speech, and went forward amid great applause. In brief he said:
I do not know whether you have fully taken into consideration the import of the results of this last session of the convention. We have destroyed the pages of history which recorded the errors of infancy in the socialist movement in the United States. We have written a new page in socialist history. We have passed through the diseases of childhood. We have arrived at manhood. We have now a united force, which has a future, bright in its portents for the socialist movement of the world. From today we pass into a new era of the work of the conquest of the public power. We will raise the level of the socialist movement in the United States to the position it deserves—to the level of a fighting, aggressive proletariat, with the force and intelligence to throw down the gauntlet to their enemies, the capitalist class, with the full assurance of a final victory for the forces of the militant proletariat of the United States.
Max Hayes, on being called upon to speak, in his usual happy vein referred to the honor conferred upon him in his nomination as Vice President by the Rochester convention:
But next to that honor I consider it the greatest honor that I ever had to step down and out in favor of Job Harriman, and to assent in the nomination of the splendid ticket that is to lead us on the way of progress to the goal we seek.
A committee of five was selected (by action of the convention) to inform Eugene V. Debs of his nomination. Comrades Berger, MacCartney, Stedman, Hillquit, and Benham were elected. Hillquit was selected as spokesman. In a brief and expressive speech Comrade
Hillquit conveyed the message of the committee. Comrade Debs replied that the duty was plain and he yielded to the wishes of the convention.AFTERNOON SESSION.
The committee to confer with the S. L. P. was as follows: Berger of Milwaukee; Chase of Haverhill; Butcher of New York; Haile of Massachusetts; Hoehn of St. Louis; Carey of Haverhill; Heath of Milwaukee; Farmer of Texas Stedman of Chicago.
After the assembling of the convention, Debs and Harriman, on their arrival, were welcomed with cheers and applause. This was prolonged for many minutes. Debs was called for to make a speech. In brief he said:
I have felt that a duty is imposed upon me. We must all yield to the dictates of the will of the delegates of the socialist parties. I feel not only the honor, but the responsibility of the trust that has been brought to me. I thank you also for bringing as my colleague upon our national ticket so grand a man and so true a socialist as Job Harriman of California. (Applause.) We are building a new home and a new place for the working class. We are now the messengers and the functionaries for the establishment of the new civilization. In the new order shall be seen the triumph of labor and truth, and the downfall of the capitalist class, and the upholders of the present degrading arrangements in the industrial system of today. We pass on to our duties, proud that we are socialists. I believe in the conquering and emancipating power of socialism. This belief makes me desire to live. Without the hope for better conditions the world becomes a jungle, and mankind wild beasts devouring one another. With socialism in operation we can look one another in the face and call ourselves men. Again I thank you for the honor, and ask that you join me in my ardent hope for the future of the United Socialist Party of America. (Great applause.)
Job Harriman was called upon and in brief said:
In California the bright sunshine and the general conditions bring forth the fruits and flowers that bring gladness and comfort to man. So it would be in a true and honest society. The proper conditions would bring forth such a race of men and women as the world has as yet never seen. I have been asked if the world is worth saving. I say we are not here only to save the present generation, but to make all the world of futurity as good and great as we can. We wish to open every opportunity to every man. The dynamic power is here to forward us to the end we seek. Let us see that the power is properly directed. The factories are prisons. If our conditions are such that long hours and poverty shut the libraries to the workers and the schools are closed to the worker’s children, there we do not have the benefits of civilization and consequently the worker must sink into intellectual squalor and physical degradation. It is to stop this process that we are endeavoring to change the conditions that surround the workers. We seek an end worthy of the grandest efforts of man. Let us never falter in our task. (Great applause.)
Jas. F. Carey was called upon and in brief said:
I open the campaign for Debs and Harriman today. When the news of this unification reaches the factory hands of Massachusetts, they will rejoice; yes, they will doubly rejoice when they read the names of Debs and Harriman as the national candidates. I see in the future the chains dropping from the workers. I can see the key inserted in the lock of the economic prison. I long to see the day when the members of my class will step forth with the full powers of society at their command, for the first time crowned with the full glory of manhood. (Applause.)
All matters not adjusted by the convention were left to the joint committee. With repeated cheers for socialism and unity, Debs and Harriman, the convention adjourned sine die.
The S. L. P. delegates present conferred with the S. D. P. committee after the convention had adjourned. Job Harriman, chairman; Margaret Haile, secretary; Sunday, March 25, at 9 a. m. was selected as the time for the meeting of the committee at New York City.
[Emphasis added. Photograph of Delegate Dietzgen and list of delegates added from Social Democratic Herald of March 17th.]
From Social Democratic Herald of March 17, 1900:
Note: The Herald covered the Convention in detail on pages 1 and 5.
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[Note: Report of Secretary Theodore Debs was published in full on page 1.]
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SOURCES & IMAGES
The Class Struggle
(San Francisco, California)
-Mar 17, 1900
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/class-struggle-advance/000317-classstruggle-w293.pdf
Social Democratic Herald
(Chicago, Illinois)
-Mar 17, 1900
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/social-democratic-herald-us/000317-socdemherald-v02n39w089.pdf
See also:
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday March 18, 1900
San Francisco’s Class Struggle of March 17th Claims “Unity Achieved” with Socialist Labor Party at Social Democratic Party Convention in Indianapolis
Tag: Social Democratic Party of America
https://weneverforget.org/tag/social-democratic-party-of-america/
International Socialist Congress, Paris 1900
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Socialist_Congress,_Paris_1900
Report of the Delegates of the Social Democratic Party of the United States of America to the International Socialist Congress -Paris, 1900
-signed by Job Harriman, Jacob Rombro, and Dr. S. Ingerman, Delegates
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/006723940
Great Railroad Strike of 1877
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Railroad_Strike_of_1877
EVD Internet Archive
https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/
For Year 1900
https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/#1900
From Class Struggle of March 17, 1900
“Unity Achieved at the Social Democratic Convention”
-by G.B. Benham
See notes here by Tim Davenport
https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/works/1900/000317-benham-unityachievedatsdpconv.pdf
From Social Democratic Herald of Apr 7, 1900
“The Union Conference: Minutes and Commentary”
-by Margaret Haile, March 25-27
Also with note by Tim Davenport
https://www.marxists.org/archive/debs/works/1900/000327-sdpslp-unionconference.pdf
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We Will Sing One Song – Six Feet In the Pine
Lyrics by Joe Hill