Communism; Industrial Workers of the World; Socialism
"The clear voice of the awakened and dauntless few cannot be
silenced. The new unionism is being heard. In trumpet tones it
rings out its revolutionary shibboleth to all the workers of the
earth: 'Our interests are identical--let us combine industrially
and politically, assert our united power, achieve our freedom,
enjoy the fruit of our labor, rid society of parasitism, abolish
poverty and civilize the world!'....
"There can be no peace until the working class is triumphant in
this struggle and the wage system is forever wiped from the earth."
In the May Day issue of "The Call," May 1, 1919, there is a very long
article on Debs' Imprisonment by David Karsner, staff correspondent. He
tells us that on the afternoon of April 28 he sat talking with Debs in
his little room in the prison hospital at Moundsville, West Virginia,
and that the many-times presidential candidate of the Socialist Party
among other things said, when told of an intended visit by Karsner to
the Leavenworth Federal prison to see William D. Haywood and the other
93 I. W. W. prisoners:
"I want you to take my love to Bill Haywood and all the other boys
you see out there. We all stand shoulder to shoulder together."
The staff correspondent then goes on to say:
"The reference of Debs to Haywood and the I. W. W. brought vividly
to my mind the little scene enacted between 'Gene' and 'Big Bill'
in the corridor of Judge Landis' courtroom in Chicago last August
during the I. W. W. trial.
"'You and the boys are making a great and noble fight,' said Debs
to Haywood at that time, patting the cheek of Big Bill. 'You are a
born champion of the underdog.' Haywood clasped Debs' in his own
great palm and said affectionately, 'You are the champion of the
underdog, Gene, and you always will be.' There was something
thrilling and inspiring in witnessing this friendly and comradely
felicitation between two noble men, both of whom have never
retreated one jot from their ideas of emancipation of the working
class.
"I recalled as I saw him this afternoon that seven years ago, or at
the time of the Indianapolis Convention of the Socialist party,
Debs pleaded for unity of the movement. He refused to be stampeded
into any position that would compromise the noble work that
confronted himself and the Socialist Party. Debs has always been
for industrial unionism. His speeches and writings are filled with
the spirit of organization and solidarity on the industrial field
as well as on the political. But above everything else he has
warned his fellow Socialists and industrialists that the thing to
do is to keep united, to solidify their economic and political
strength to the end that when our day comes we shall be ready to
enjoy the fruits of our victory."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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