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“...REMINISCENCES OF DANIEL DE LEON. 15
delegate not voting. It is interesting to note that even such
a dyed-in-the-wool labor skate as one G. A. Hoehn, of St.
Louis, caved in and voted in favor of taking that revolution-
ary step forward, though, no doubt, never for a moment in-
tending to live up to his vote. But for all that it had been a
battle royal, the speeches made setting forth clearly the new
road the Party was to journey on. Sanial and Vogt took a
very prominent part in that debate and De Leons effort,
closing the same, was particularly brilliant.
Gold and Silver in 1896
The political situation of that day was interesting and
was also decidedly hot. The capitalist forces had, at the out-
set of the Presidential campaign, divided along the line of the
creditor and debtor divisions of capitalist interests, the for-
mer waving the full dinner-pail, while the latter allegedly-
objected to the crucifixion of mankind "on a cross of gold.
The Republicans, headed by McKinley, stood for the...”
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“...maneuvred to take the
stenographic report from our hands and then pigeon-hole it
We foiled them.
^ would suggest that certain episodes of the con-
vention report be given the right of way. Haywood also is
of that opinion, seeing that it would otherwise take very long
before those episodes would appear in the regular course.
The episodes are the following in the following order: a)
Ratification meeting; b) Episode on the exclusion of law-
yers; c) Episode of speechesDebs, I, etc.; d) Episode of
debate on adoption of preamble.
I have arranged with the stenographer for this sequence,
subject to Chases decision, he, possibly finding practical or...”
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“...individual efforts may be relied upon by
you, if you desire them, towards the Work that circumstances
have combined to cut out for you.
Men who are incapable of appreciating straight-forward
and consistent action have long been pronouncing the S. L.
P. dead, more lately also the I. W. W., and myself as merely
anxious to hang on to something. The soundness of the
.S. L. P. principle, coupled with the power of its press, in-
sures it against any such death. As I stated in the course
of the recent debate AS TO POLITICSso long as its mis-
sion remains unfulfilled, the S. L. P. will hold the field un-
terrified; the day, however, when the I. W. W. will have re-
flected its own political party, in other words, the day when
the vicious nonsense of pure and simple political Socialism
will be at an end, it will be with a shout of joy that the S.
L. P. will break ranks....”
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“...correctness of the details, except
in one particular, the date of his birth, which I have correct-
ed according to his own statement.
"Modest and unassuming, with a manner and countenance
as open as that of a boy, De Leons appearance gives the lie
to the claims of his enemies that he is a boss among S. L. P.
men. When speaking, De Leon presents a striking appear-
ance as he calmly and logically strings together the facts of
his argument or coolly picks to pieces the statements of an
opponent in debate.
De Leons career is no less remarkable than his person-
ality. Born on Dec. 14, 1852, on the island of Curacoa, off the
coast of Venezuela, he was early sent to Europe to be edu-
cated in a school at Hildesheim, Germany, and later transfer-
red to the famous University of Leyden, from which he gradu-
ated in 1872, having mastered German, Spanish, Dutch, Latin,
French, English and ancient Greek, and made a deep study
of History, Philosophy and Mathematics, besides being able
to read Italian, ...”
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“...128
DANIEL DE LEONOUR COMRADE.
more. This is probably the view of the N. E. C. and should
not be misconstrued as being opposition.
Fraternally,
(Signed) O. M. Howard.
Holyoke, Mass., March 27, 1899.
Mr. D. De Leon.
Dear Comrade:Comrade Malloney wrote to me today
asking for a letter I had received from the Debs Headquarters
in Chicago. (There is going to be a debate between Malloney
and Gordon at Winchester.) In looking up this letter I came
across two letters you wrote to me at the time of the Casson
affair and I owe it to you to admit what you prophesied has
happened. What seemed to me then a harsh and dogmatical
letter seems now a bit of mighty good and friendly advice.
Events proved your words true. I have sent the letters to
Malloney to read them to his audience in case Gordon should
come out with his old chestnuts about your bossism and tyr-
anny, etc. It took me several years to see the truth, but it is
all the plainer now after reading your letters, and then Gor-
dons, Careys, Cassons...”
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“...that he read Das
Kapital but found nothing in it; praising one Socialist pa-
per and denouncing the other. To be sure, I dropped the pa-
per praised by Gompers like a hot potato.
At this convention Gompers boastfully declared that he
was willing to debate the question with any Socialist, but that
it was time wasted to discuss Socialist theories while the dele-
gates had far more important work to do. Such debates, he
said, should take place outside of the convention hall. Soon
thereafter Gompers was challenged to debate with Daniel De
Leon. Gompers declined. He might have been too shallow
mentally when, as he claimed, after reading Das Kapital he
found there was nothing in it, but he certainly had his wits
all there when he preferred not to debate with the editor of
that sheet he had so paternally warned me against.
Capitalist Lieutenants and Politicians in the
Labor Unions^An Instance in Troy
In 1895 the Socialist Labor Party made further gains at
the polls, the vote rising to 45,000. The...”
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“...Works by DanielJ De Leon
As to Politics,
- Bergers Hit and Misses.
Burning Question of Trades Unionism.
De Leon-Berry Debate.
De Leon-Carmody Debate.
De Leon-Harriman Debate.
Father Gassoniana
- Fifteen Questions
Flashlights of the Amsterdam Congress.
Industrial Unionism.
James Madison and Karl Marx.
Marx on Mallock.
Money.
- Reform or Revolution.
' Socialism vs. Anarchism.
Socialist Reconstruction of Society.
Two Pages from Roman History.
The Trusts.
Unity.
Vulgar Economy.
Watson on the Gridiron.
What Means This Strike?
Woman Suffrage....”
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