No man ever looked into the frank, blue eyes of Eugene V. Debs but felt
the thrill of seeing the open soul of a man without guile. In two years’
daily intercourse with him I never saw him change in mental attitude. He
has won the love of every person who has met and talked with him. His
soul takes in the universe. He is one of the great men who will leave
his footprints on the sands of the road of human uplift. Like all men
who have higher ideals than their time and generation, he will be better
appreciated in the time to come. It is not that he is the peer of any
orator who ever addressed an American public, but that what he says goes
to the root of things. It is what he says more than the beautiful way he
says it. It always reaches the heart, reaches the deep-hidden good that
is in every creature. He is the same in the ordinary conversation that
he is on the platform. No man can look into his frank soul and refuse to
love him. His name will live in letters of light on the pages of the
history of this nation. And his star will grow brighter as humanity
better perfects its telescopes of perception. We love him for what he
is.