Eugene V. Debs letter to Frank P. O'Hare - March 2, 1918
Transcript
March 2nd [1918] Dear Frank: Your communication of the 28th ult. with enclosure from Germer under date of the 25th. has been received and I have just finished reading both carefully. I can tell you what I should do in a few words. If I were you I should take the first train for Chicago and have an understanding with Germer. You cannot arrange matters by correspondence and there is a possibility of friction that ought to be avoided. Adolph will do the fair thing, I am sure, if he properly understands your undertaking. I was under the impression that you had a working understanding with Germer and the national office, especially as you had informed me that Hillquit was co-operating with you in the work you were doing in New York. Now if I were Germer I would place this matter before the N.E.C. and ask them to commission you as the representative of the board for the special purpose of organizing the financial side of the defense of Kate and the rest of our comrades. You are exactly suited to this work and no one could do it better and it can never be made a thorough success unless a special department is organized for it under the direction of a comrade who is fitted for that kind of work, organize the defense committees throughout the country and raise funds enough to thoroughly defend all the comrades under arrest and indictment and have a fund on hand and [ms illegible: 1 wd]
Transcript
[page 2] standing for the same purpose in the future. This committee need not consist wholly of socialists, or members of the party and I think you are right in enlisting influential liberals and radicals to co-operate with you to give this matter your whole attention it is bound to be a success, all the necessary funds will be supplied and legal defenses will be made that will compel the powers that be to sit up and take notice. All of this should be done with the assent and co-operation of the national office and if you make a personal visit there this ought to be arranged with little loss of time and without trouble. You can be no more anxious even as the husband of your beloved Kate than I am as her comrade to see her defense made complete in every particular as well as the defense of all other persecuted comrades who have been arrested and made to suffer for our sake. It is our fight and we have got to put our hearts into it if we are worth of the sacrifices theses splendid comrades have made in our behalf. I note what you say about your personal interests and can sympathize with you in having to let everything go by the board to follow your duty in the cases which have been forced upon you and your family by the enemy. But I know you will not lose cheer and I am sure there are brighter days ahead and that there is compensation in some form for every wrong now endured and every seeming loss now sustained. Thank you warmly for your kind words and with love to you and Kate and the dear little ones I am, Yours always, [signature]
Details
| Title | Eugene V. Debs letter to Frank P. O'Hare - March 2, 1918 |
| Creator | Debs, Eugene V. |
| Source | Debs, Eugene V. Letter to Frank P. O'Hare. 2 March 1918. Frank P. O'Hare Papers, 1850-1960. A1152. Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis, Missouri. |
| Description | In 1912, Fran O'Hare became editor of the Rip-Saw, a socialist monthly issued from St. Louis. He was married to the prominent socialist Kate Richards O'Hare, who was imprisoned during World War I (April 1919 |
| Subject LCSH | World War, 1914-1918; Socialism--United States--Periodicals; Political prisoners--Government policy--United States; Political prisoners--United States; Espionage, American; Sedition--United States; Women prisoners--Abuse of |
| Subject Local | WWI; World War I; Children's Crusade for Amnesty; Llano del Rio Colony; Rip-Saw |
| Site Accession Number | A1152 |
| Contributing Institution | Missouri History Museum |
| Copy Request | Transmission or reproduction of items on these pages beyond those allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the Missouri History Museum: 314-746-4510 |
| Rights | The text and images contained in this collection are intended for research and educational use only. Duplication of any of these images for commercial use without express written consent is expressly prohibited. Contact the Missouri History Museum's Permissions Office at 314-746-4511 to obtain written consent. |
| Date Original | March 2, 1918 |
| Language | English |