Eugene Debs, at age 66, had his sentence for sedition commuted and was released from Atlanta Federal Penitentiary on Christmas Day, 1921. Below is the speech from the porch of his Terre Haute home on his return.

‘Gene in Terre Haute’ from Debs Freedom Monthly. Vol. 1 No. 5. December, 1921-January, 1922.

Mr. Mayor and Friends–and Neighbors–and Comrades! HOME AGAIN! What a wonderful, beautiful demonstration! What a picture to greet the eye and the heart and the soul on my return. From the very depths of my heart I thank you for your kind welcome. I thank every one of you-every man, woman and child who have been kind and sympathetic. I thank the kind friends who have been the cheer and support of my dear wife and family during my absence. And I thank you over and over again for your devotion. What a beautiful homecoming. I felt in leaving here that you were with me in spirit and I was sustained by your faithfulness and devotion. I thank every one of you for the efforts you have been putting forth in my behalf. You have succeeded at last.

But I am not free so long as any are in prison. I have a heart for my fellow man. I hope to devote my life to the liberation of those who are imprisoned. And I shall know no rest until they are restored to their families. I was saddened because I was compelled to leave behind me in Atlanta my fellow-men in prison.

In my heart there is no bitterness, only a resolution not to yield, but to remain true to my honest convictions and to my ideals. I could do no otherwise. I have no regrets. I was faithful to the trust.

What fond recollections will rise in memory. You and I may differ from time to time, and yet may grasp the hand of fellowship. On this touching occasion how little of the emotions struggling within me can be expressed in words. I pictured your faces tonight. I felt your heartbeats.

I would it were possible for me to put my arms around you and express the love that I bear for you.

I could not make a speech tonight, but I can again thank you from the bottom of my heart. This picture will remain forever on memory’s walls. It can never be forgotten.

I offer you my grateful thanks, and wish to friends and comrades–Goodnight and Godspeed.

Debs Freedom Monthly was published in Chicago to highlight Debs imprisonment, the curtailment of civil rights and free speech, political prisoners, and demand his and others freedom after his jailing in 1919 for sedition. Beginning in August, 1921 and edited by Irwin St. John Tucker, the Monthly carried an eight-point program. After Debs’ early 1922 release the journal was renamed ‘Debs Magazine’ and continued as a vehicle for his writings until 1923, when illness and a contracting Socialist Party closed the magazine.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/debs-magazine/v01n05-dec-1921_Debs.pdf