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Hellraisers Journal – Friday May 1, 1914
“May Day and the Revolution” by Eugene V. Debs
From The Goltry News (Oklahoma) of May 1, 1914:
May Day and the Revolution
(By Eugene V. Debs.)
We are again about to celebrate the annual holiday of the International Socialist Movement. The thrill of May Day is even now in our veins and our hearts beat faster as we contemplate the glad tiding of this day to the workers of the world.
May Day is above all days in the year the day of the working class; the day of rejoicing and fraternal greeting; the day of high hope and lofty aspiration; the day of national and international celebration.
Not yet have we of the United Stales risen to the heights of this grand occasion and given to May Day its revolutionary significance as have our comrades in European and other nations; not yet have we grasped the full and splendid meaning of this day to our class and to humanity, but this year I trust our celebration may be worthy of the day and that this jubilee of the working class may resound from coast to coast with the glad tidings of the coming revolution.
May Day was not granted as a boon to the workers by their patronizing masters to tranquilize their discontent, but was chosen and set apart by themselves as the day upon which to arouse themselves from their lethargy, lift up their weary bodies from the earth, clasp hands with their fellow workers, and solemnly vow to break their fetters and emancipate themselves from slavery.
May Day is henceforth emancipation day for the working class. On this day the revolution breathes the breath of life into the nostrils of the workers and the awaking pulsing workers recruit with eager, passionate spirit the swelling ranks of the revolutionary movement.
Each and every industrial center and each agricultural district should this year join the May Day celebration and make its observance so general and fill it with such ardor and enthusiasm as to compel attention to the program of the day and the significance of the event. The very thought that labor’s holiday has been internationally proclaimed and will be celebrated by the workers of every nation on the face of the earth; the very contemplation of the fine spirit of the day and the eager greeting of comrades to comrade and nation to nation, voiced in every tongue known to man and borne to us on every tide and every breeze, is of itself enough to thrill us in every fiber and set every drop in our veins tingling with the fervor of international solidarity.
On this day of the downtrodden masses the inspiring message that Socialism brings to them must be heard around the world. The electrifying shibboleth of Marx must be echoed and re-echoed everywhere:
“Workers of the world unite: you have nothing to lose but your chains. You have a world to gain.”
Unity and solidarity must be the watchword of the day. Industrial and political organization of the workers, all the workers, regardless of race, sex or creed, must be urged with all the force and persuasiveness at our command. Without organization the struggle is vain and the cause lost. The commonwealth of the workers that is to be must be organized primarily in the industries where they are employed and the time to do that is now, and May Day is the day to emphasize its supreme necessity.
The political power of the workers must also be developed through the Socialist Party, the only party organized and controlled by themselves; the only party which represents their interests, expresses their aspirations, and fights their battles in the war for emancipation.
May Day, pregnant with new and bounding life and rapture of resurrection, is the glorious harbinger of the social revolution, the gleaming promise of industrial freedom and social justice to all the WORKERS of the WORLD.
[Photograph of Debs and emphasis added.]
Continue reading “Hellraisers Journal: “May Day and the Revolution” by Eugene Victor Debs”
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—————–![From The Progressive Woman of July 1911:The above picture includes most of the delegates to the Unity Convention of 1901 the convention where the Socialist party came into existence. It was held at Indianapolis, Indiana, beginning July 29. The picture was taken on the east front of the state capitol. A number of the faces will be familiar to many readers.There were about one hundred and twenty-five delegates present, among whom were the following women: Corinne S. Brown, Martha A. Biegler, Margaret Haile, Elizabeth H. Thomas, Sula Lowrie, Mrs. Max S. Hayes, Martha H. McHugh and Carrie Rand Herron.The Unity Convention was called for the purpose of attempting to unite the various Socialist parties of the country. The largest of these were the Social Democratic Party and the Springfield wing of the Socialist Labor Party. The other wing of the Socialist Labor Party did not take part in the convention. State parties in Iowa, Kentucky and Texas, not affiliated with any national organization, were represented.The various factions that united in calling the convention had patched up their differences sufficiently to support the same ticket the year before. Animosities were very bitter, however. Had it not been for the withdrawal of various local and state organizations from the national organizations, thus decreasing their membership, it is hardly probable that the two national organizations could have been persuaded to consent to try to form an organic union.The main actions of the convention were the adoption of a national constitution, a national platform, a resolution on Socialism and trade unionism, a resolution on injunctions, and a resolution on the negro question.The platform came in for a hot discussion, especially the immediate measures. As adopted, it contained, among others, a provision for "equal civil and political rights for women."The resolutions were also warmly discussed. In fact, everything was warmly discussed. Socialists are always very earnest in their debates, and the bitter feelings which the delegates brought along made them especially earnest at that convention.But the great debate came on the constitution. Hot does not begin to express it. It was scalding, vitriolic. All the rancor in the hearts of the delegates was poured out in blistering words. At times it seemed to the most optimistic that unity was hopeless, and that we must disperse and go back to our several locals with the doleful confession that we had failed in our mission. But, out of it all came agreement-agreement on the famous Section Four of Article Twelve. Get out your national constitution and read it. It is historic. It is the state autonomy provision. Around it raged the battle as to whether we could organically unite. Its adoption made unity possible.Then came better feelings and a great relief. We went home with joy in our hearts, because we bore the glad tidings of a solidified Socialist Party-united-facing the enemy.---------------[Emphasis added.]](https://weneverforget.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Delegates-to-Unity-Founding-Convention-of-SPA-July-Aug-1901-Prg-Wmn-p3-July-1911.png)
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