Debs, Eugene V. (Eugene Victor), 1855-1926; United States. Supreme Court
"Every Socialist on the face of the earth is animated by the same
principles. Everywhere they have the same noble idea, everywhere they
are calling one another 'comrade,' the noblest word that springs from
the heart and soul of unity. The word 'comrade' is getting us into
closer touch all along the battle line. They are waging the war of the
working class against the ruling class of the world. They conquer
difficulties; they grow stronger through them all.
"The heart of the international Socialist never beats a retreat. They
are pressing forward here, there, everywhere, in all the zones that
girdle this globe. These workers, these class-conscious workers, these
children of honest toil are wiping out the boundary lines everywhere.
They are proclaiming the glad tidings of the coming emancipation.
Everywhere they are having their hearts attuned to the sacred cause;
everywhere they are moving toward democracy, moving toward the sunrise,
their faces aglow with the light of coming day. These are the men who
must guide us in the greatest crisis the world has ever known. They are
making history. They are bound upon the emancipation of the human race.
"Few men have the courage to say a decent word in favor of the I. W. W.
I have. (Here several in the crowd yelled, 'So have I.')
"After long investigation by five men who are not Socialists: John
Graham Brooks, Harvard University; Mr. Bruere, Government investigator
(other names not noted), a pamphlet has been issued called 'The Truth
About the I. W. W.'
"These men investigated the I. W. W. They have examined its doings,
beginning at Bisbee, Arizona, where the officers deported five hundred.
It is only necessary to label a man, 'I. W. W.' to lynch him. Just think
of the state of mind for which the capitalist press is responsible.
"When Wall Street yells war, you may rest assured every pulpit in the
land will yell war. The press and the pulpit have in every age and every
nation been on the side of the exploiting class and the ruling class.
That's why the I. W. W. is infamous.
"The I. W. W. in its career has never committed as much violence against
the ruling class as the ruling class has committed against the people.
The trial at Chicago is now on and they have not proven violence in a
single solitary case, and yet, one hundred and twelve have been on trial
for months and months without a shade of evidence. And this is all in
its favor. And for this and many other reasons, the I. W. W. is fighting
the fight of the bottom dog. For the very reason that Gompers is
glorified by Wall Street, Bill Haywood is despised by Wall Street. What
you need is greater organization.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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