What Debs accomplished was not in theory,or analysis,but in expressing eloquently, passionately,what people were feeling.The writer Heywood Broun once quoted a fellow Socialist speaking of Debs:"That old man with the burning eyes actually believes that there can be such a thing as the brotherhood of man.And that's not the funniest part of it. As long as he's around I believe it myself." Eugene Debs had become a Socialist while in jail in the Pullman strike.Now he was the spokesman of a party that made him its presidential candidate five times.The party at one time had 100,000 members,and 1,200 office holders in 340 municipalities.Its main newspaper,Appeal to Reason,for which Debs wrote,had half a million subscribers,and there were many other Socialist newspapers around the country,so that,all together, perhaps a million people read the Socialist press. Socialism moved out of the small circles of city immigrants-Jewish and German socialists speaking their own languages-and became American.The strongest Socialist state organization was in Oklahoma,which in 1914 had twelve thousand dues-paying members (more than New York State),and elected over a hundred Socialists to local office,including six to the Oklahoma state legislature.There were fifty-five weekly Socialist newspapers in Oklahoma,Texas,Louisiana,Arkansas,and summer encampments that drew thousands of people. 人 James Green describes these Southwest radicals,in his book Grass-Roots Socialism, as "indebted homesteaders,migratory tenant farmers,coalminers and railroad workers, 'redbone'lumberjacks from the piney woods,preachers and school teachers from the sunbaked prairies...village artisans and atheists.che unknown people who created the strongest regional Socialist movement in Unitee States history."Green continues: The Socialist movement...was painstakingly organized by scores of former Populists, militant miners,and blacklisted railroad workers,who were assisted by a remarkable cadre of professional agitators and educators and inspired by occasional visits from national figures like Eugene V.Debs and Mother Jones....This core of organizers grew to include indigenous dissentersa much larger group of amateur agitators who canvassed the region selling newspapers,forming reading groups,organizing locals,and making soapbox speeches There was almost a religious fervor to the movement,as in the eloquence of Debs.In 1906,after the imprisonment in Idaho of Bill Haywood and two other officers of the Western Federation of Miners on an apparently faked murder charge,Debs wrote a naming article in the Appeal to Reason: Murder has been plotted and is about to be executed in the name and under the forms of law...… It is a foul plot;a damnable conspiracy;a hellish outrage.... If they attempt to murder Moyer,Haywood and their brothers,a million revolutionists,at least,will meet them with guns.... Capitalist courts never have done,and never will do,anything for the working class.. A special revolutionary convention of the proletariat...would be in order,and,if extreme measures are required,a general strike could be ordered and industry paralyzed as a preliminary to a general uprising. If the plutocrats begin the program,we will end it.What Debs accomplished was not in theory, or analysis, but in expressing eloquently, passionately, what people were feeling. The writer Heywood Broun once quoted a fellow Socialist speaking of Debs: "That old man with the burning eyes actually believes that there can be such a thing as the brotherhood of man. And that's not the funniest part of it. As long as he's around I believe it myself." Eugene Debs had become a Socialist while in jail in the Pullman strike. Now he was the spokesman of a party that made him its presidential candidate five times. The party at one time had 100,000 members, and 1,200 office holders in 340 municipalities. Its main newspaper, Appeal to Reason, for which Debs wrote, had half a million subscribers, and there were many other Socialist newspapers around the country, so that, all together, perhaps a million people read the Socialist press. Socialism moved out of the small circles of city immigrants-Jewish and German socialists speaking their own languages-and became American. The strongest Socialist state organization was in Oklahoma, which in 1914 had twelve thousand dues-paying members (more than New York State), and elected over a hundred Socialists to local office, including six to the Oklahoma state legislature. There were fifty-five weekly Socialist newspapers in Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, and summer encampments that drew thousands of people. James Green describes these Southwest radicals, in his book Grass-Roots Socialism, as "indebted homesteaders, migratory tenant farmers, coal miners and railroad workers, 'redbone' lumberjacks from the piney woods, preachers and school teachers from the sunbaked prairies ... village artisans and atheists ... the unknown people who created the strongest regional Socialist movement in United States history." Green continues: The Socialist movement . . . was painstakingly organized by scores of former Populists, militant miners, and blacklisted railroad workers, who were assisted by a remarkable cadre of professional agitators and educators and inspired by occasional visits from national figures like Eugene V. Debs and Mother Jones. . . . This core of organizers grew to include indigenous dissenters. ... a much larger group of amateur agitators who canvassed the region selling newspapers, forming reading groups, organizing locals, and making soapbox speeches. There was almost a religious fervor to the movement, as in the eloquence of Debs. In 1906, after the imprisonment in Idaho of Bill Haywood and two other officers of the Western Federation of Miners on an apparently faked murder charge, Debs wrote a naming article in the Appeal to Reason: Murder has been plotted and is about to be executed in the name and under the forms of law. . .. It is a foul plot; a damnable conspiracy; a hellish outrage. ... If they attempt to murder Moyer, Haywood and their brothers, a million revolutionists, at least, will meet them with guns. .. . Capitalist courts never have done, and never will do, anything for the working class. . . . A special revolutionary convention of the proletariat . .. would be in order, and, if extreme measures are required, a general strike could be ordered and industry paralyzed as a preliminary to a general uprising. If the plutocrats begin the program, we will end it. no profit use only