Arriving in New York City from Ohio, Haywood stops by the Call’s office to enthuse over that state’s Socialist movement.

‘Bill Haywood Enthusiastic Over Revolutionary Spirit of Ohio Workers’ from The New York Call. Vol. 4 No. 311. November 7, 1911.

William D. Haywood, the eloquent miner, dropped into The Call office yesterday afternoon, after having made a direct trip from Mansfield, Ohio, where he addressed a large audience on the subject he spoke about at the Lenox Casino, last night, “The Coming Victory of Labor.”

He was full of information about the growing revolutionary Socialist sentiment in the United States, and he unburdened himself of it in the following measure to a Call reporter:

“If one can judge by the enthusiasm and ardor to be found among the working class in the towns of Ohio, It would be safe to predict that the Socialist party in that State will increase the vote more than 200 per cent tomorrow. There are many of the towns and cities where the mayoralty ticket will be elected. Yesterday afternoon, I spoke at Mansfield, an industrial town, and a railroad center. The Socialist candidates are largely railroad men and expect to be elected.

“At Columbus the Socialists have held the largest and most enthusiastic meetings of any party in the field, closing their campaign with a rousing demonstration, a parade of three divisions, each led by a brass band, the followers numbering more than 2,000. Memorial Hall, which has a seating capacity of 6,000, was filled to the doors, with an overflow meeting estimated at near 5,000 which was addressed in turn by the speakers who took part in the general meeting. The collection at the overflow meeting was over $40, with a large general sale of literature. Hundreds of Socialist buttons were also disposed of. The collection in the hall amounted to $185. The Socialists expect to elect their ticket at Columbus; also at Hamilton, Timin, Bucyrus, Niles, Akron, Conneaut, Mary’s and in many other places.” Eugene V. Debs has also been holding monster meetings throughout Ohio.

The Ohio State Journal, of Columbus, which is the most powerful capitalist sheet in the State, devoted almost two columns to a report of the Haywood meeting. It said, in part. “Between 5,000 and 6,000 persons heard Socialist speeches last night inside and outside Memorial Hall following a parade in which 2,000 participated. The demonstration unique and one of the most remarkable political gatherings in the history of Columbus. Attracted by the presence of William D. Haywood, one of the best known leaders in the labor world, and the fact that the meeting was the closing rally of the Socialist campaign, men, women and children struggled in an effort to gain entrance to Memorial Hall.

“Long before the speaking began police ordered the doors closed, and ejected scores who could not find seats and stopped the inflow of persons anxious to hear the addresses and cheer the cause of Socialism. An overflow meeting outside of the hall was addressed by J. Bachman, candidate for City Solicitor; Rev. George W. Scott. of Findlay; W.S. Brown, of Muncie, Ind., and others held the attention for two hours of a shivering and cheering crowd estimated at 2,000. The crowd inside numbered at least 3,500.

“Inspired by red fire, the crash of hand music, the flutter of American flags, mingled with the red standards of their party, fully 2,000 Socialists, including men and women, their sons and daughters, marched through the business sections of the city, displaying transparencies, cheering to the echo the name of Eby and preaching the doctrine of common ownership all along the line. At least 300 women and boys were in line.” Haywood declared that the Socialist candidates throughout Ohio are making an uncompromising fight on revolutionary Socialist principles. Nowhere, he said, have any of the nominees on the Socialist ticket appealed to the voters to support them as persons distinct from the revolutionary Socialist movement, but always and everywhere they have represented themselves merely as the expressions of a great revolutionary philosophy. Haywood is in fine health.

The New York Call was the first English-language Socialist daily paper in New York City and the second in the US after the Chicago Daily Socialist. The paper was the center of the Socialist Party and under the influence of Morris Hillquit, Charles Ervin, Julius Gerber, and William Butscher. The paper was opposed to World War One, and, unsurprising given the era’s fluidity, ambivalent on the Russian Revolution even after the expulsion of the SP’s Left Wing. The paper is an invaluable resource for information on the city’s workers movement and history and one of the most important papers in the history of US socialism. The paper ran from 1908 until 1923.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/the-new-york-call/1911/111107-newyorkcall-v04n311.pdf