Meng, J.A.C. 1926-03-09

Description:	Letter to Eugene V. Debs, 3/9/1926. Says that he has in his possession a letter written by S. S. McClure saying that he did not publish an article Eugene V. Debs wrote back in 1894 as a response to the use of federal troops in the Pullman Strike because it was oratorical and vituperative. Assures Eugene V. Debs that while the article was indeed oratorical that it was anything but vituperative. Tells Eugene V. Debs that there is no kinder man who walks the earth. Writes that he has always dreamed of meeting Eugene V. Debs but that it will never happen because they come from such different world. Remarks that he first became a socialist 24 years ago as a result of his religion. Mentions that he served as a delegate to the Socialist National Convention in 1912. Tells Eugene V. Debs that he finds that he has no conflicts between Christianity and socialism. Mentions that he is not the kind of socialist, like Dr. Wells LeFever, the seducer of Ernest Untermanns wife, who would turn his back on his religion after becoming a socialist. Says that he is a prohibitionist like Upton Sinclair. Writes that when he was 18 he was a clerk for a storekeeper who sold whiskey from the back of his store. Mentions that his father, a preacher, went to the storekeeper and told him that his son was not to have anything to do with alcohol whatsoever. Says that because of his father that he has taken up the temperance cause. Assures Eugene V. Debs that a socialist millennium is closer now that the saloon is gone. Mentions that someone once told him that drink had been the ruin of Eugene V. Debs but that he did not believe it. Tells Eugene V. Debs that the liquor traffic now debauches the rich more than it does the poor. Writes that Eugene V. Debs is wrong to think that prohibition has failed because of graft and corruption. Says that it is preposterous for Eugene V. Debs to think that government officials could take the profit out of the liquor trade when they are not socialists, the only people who do not believe in the profit motive. Informs Eugene V. Debs that he is cannot believe the way he is suspicious of all prohibitionists because so many of them are bootleggers in disguise. Tells Eugene V. Debs that his statement not only accuses him and every other honest prohibitionist of despicability. Says that Eugene V. Debss article about prohibition has disturbed him greatly. Mentions that he does not want to break with Eugene V. Debs. Asks that he read the letter that he received from Victor Berger supporting his views.
Origin:	1926-03-09
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/evdc/id/8896
Collection:	Eugene V. Debs Correspondence
Subjects:	Prohibition Prohibitionists Socialism Famous Hoosiers Labor

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