Appeal to Reason was founded by Julius Wayland in 1897. The socialist journal was a mixture of articles and extracts from radical books by people such as Tom Paine, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, John Ruskin, William Morris, Laurence Gronlund and Edward Bellamy.

At the time of his death, Appeal to Reason was selling 500,000 copies a week. The following year circulation reached 760,000. However, the new owner of the journal, Walter Wayland, fell out with Fred Warren. In August, 1913, Warren resigned and Louis Kopelin became the new managing editor. Wayland, unlike his father, was not a committed socialist and sold a third of the journal to a wealthy banker, Marcet Haldema-Julius.

On the outbreak of the First World War the Appeal to Reason opposed America's entry into the conflict. This was also true of most journals in the United States but after the USA declared war on the Central Powers

in 1917, the journal came under government pressure to change its policy. This became more of a problem after the passing of the Espionage Act. Under this act it was an offence to publish material that undermined the war effort. Other radical papers such as The Masses decided to cease publication but in order to continue, Louis Kopelin decided to support the war.

After the war, the attorney general, A. Mitchell Palmer, became convinced that Communist agents were planning to overthrow the American government. Palmer recruited John Edgar Hoover as his special assistant and together they used the Espionage Act (1917) and the Sedition Act (1918) to launch a campaign against radicals and left-wing organizations.

On 7th November, 1919, the second anniversary of the Russian Revolution, over 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists were arrested in what became known as the Palmer Raids. Palmer and Hoover found no evidence of a proposed revolution but large number of these suspects were held without trial for a long time. The vast majority were eventually released but Emma Goldman, Alexander Berkman, Mollie Steimer, and 245 other people, were deported to Russia.

As a result of this Red Scare people became worried about subscribing to left-wing journals and sales of Appeal to Reason fell dramatically. Walter Wayland, who had no strong interest in politics or publishing, decided to cease publication in November, 1922.

1) Julius Wayland, The Appeal to Reason (16th May, 1896)

In the midst of plenty you are starving. In the midst of natural wealth and mechanical means waiting idly for the had of Labor many of you are deprived of employment, while those of whom work is given must toil increasingly for a decreasing pittance. The more you produce the less you get. Why. Simply because the plenty of your own creation, those machines of your own make, and nature itself, the common inheritance of men, have been appropriated by a class - the capitalistic class. That class, which you have enriched, keeps you in poverty. That class, which you have raised to power, keeps you in subjection.
(2) Eugene Debs, Appeal to Reason (29th December, 1900)

The machine became more perfect day by day; is lowered the wage of the worker, and in due course of time it became so perfect that it could be operated by unskilled labor of the woman, and she became a factor in industry. The owners of these machines were in competition with each other for trade in the market; it was war; cheaper and cheaper production was demanded, and cheaper labor was demanded.

4) Fred Warren, Appeal to Reason (13th August, 1904)

With the introduction of private ownership in land came the period in the history of the human race when some man by reason of his superior strength or cunning, or some group of men, by reason of greater numbers, took possession of the land being used by another group and made slaves of the latter.

If men understood that the land is one of the great natural resources on which life depends, that it is the natural heritage of all men, and not a few, and it was so recognized through the long ages of savagery and barbarism, and that no title deed was recognized until civilization, so-called, made its appearance, I believe few would be willing to submit longer to the tyranny of the landlord and the master.
5) Julius Wayland, The Appeal to Reason (13th May, 1905)

The Appeal is an agitation sheet - that and nothing more. I am an agitator. The propaganda of Socialism is my specialty. More than a decade ago I resolved to lend myself to this work to the best of my ability. The work of organization I left to others - to the rank and file - because it's not in my line. I have no desire to be other than a private in the party, counting just one. I have repeatedly refused to accept even a local or state office - and have used my influence to prevent anyone connected with the Appeal becoming identified in an official way with the state or national organization, in order to leave the Appeal unhampered in this pioneer agitation work.

(6) Julius Wayland, The Appeal to Reason (5th January, 1906)

When I look at the ferment of this insane social system; when I see its corruption, bribery, oppression, suicides, murders, robberies, prostitution, drunkenness and rapid concentration of wealth; when I see the masses apparently dead asleep to the meaning of their condition or to what is tending; when I see the rulers taking to themselves more power while the millions gradually let slip their influence in public affairs; when I see the courts more and more becoming only tools for the rich, while the poor are helpless before the law; when I see the voters losing what little comprehension they had of the purpose of the ballot, using it merely as a means to favor some scheming, cunning, self-seeking friend with a fat place; when I see the great corporations corralling the lands in great tracts, filling the waterways with their own ships and exploiting the riches of the mines for their kingly self-aggrandizement; I say, when I look over this alleged civilization and see these things, I feel a hopelessness that makes me heart-sick, and I wonder if it is worth the struggle, and if life is worth its care and if annihilation were not a joy.

Then, there is another view, I remember how I felt when I received my first impression of the social system as it is. I woke up as from a dream, and beheld the horrors about me stripped of their flimsy covering and nauseating in their nakedness. I had caught a glimpse of a higher, delightful harmoniousness; and it was so beautiful, so just, that I felt all would accept it as soon as they were told of it; that the present hateful thing could all be remodeled in a few years; that people would flock to the New Civilization as soon as they would read or hear of it. At that time there were no papers or magazines to tell the beautiful story; no books to explain it, except a few academically written volumes on out-of-the-way shelves in public libraries - books which nobody read.

I threw myself into the work of getting the message to the people with a wild delirium of enthusiasm; I read, and talked, and wrote, and printed and circulated the printed page; I stood on the street corners and handed the passers a leaflet or pamphlet; I mailed copies to thousands of names without considering the character of the recipients; I put years of life and energy into a few months. Gradually it began to dawn on me that the job was greater than I had felt in my first enthusiasm; I had been too optimistic; it would take years of persistent, systematic work; a siege must be laid to the inertia and ignorance of the masses.

8) Fred Warren, Appeal to Reason (8th November, 1913)

I believe in the confiscation of the productive property of this nation by the working class. I do not believe in confiscating it by piecemeal. That would be foolish and illegal. The plan I favor is that the working class shall first capture the political powers of the state and nation and then the job can be done without the danger of getting cracked skulls and prison sentences. This is the plan followed by the master class. It has been proved a success by the master. It will prove a workable plan for the slave.

The mission of the Appeal to Reason is to persuade the men who work to use their political power that it may be possible easily, quickly and without opposition to exert their individual strength. I believe the working class should capture the political powers of the cities as rapidly as possible.

9) Eugene Debs, When I Shall Fight, Appeal to Reason (11th September, 1915)

I am not opposed to all war, nor am I opposed to fighting under all circumstances, and any declaration to the contrary would disqualify me as a revolutionist. When I say I am opposed to war I mean ruling class war, for the ruling class is the only class that makes war. It matters not to me whether this war be offensive or defensive, or what other lying excuse may be invented for it, I am opposed to it, and I would be shot for treason before I would enter such a war.

Capitalists wars for capitalist conquest and capitalist plunder must be fought by the capitalists themselves so far as I am concerned, and upon that question there can be no compromise and no misunderstanding as to my position. I have no country to fight for; my country is the earth; I am a citizen of the world. I would not violate my principles for God, much less for a crazy kaiser, a savage czar, a degenerate king, or a gang of pot-bellied parasites.

I am opposed to every war but one; I am for the war with heart and soul, and that is the world-wide war of social revolution. In that war I am prepared to fight in any way the ruling class may make necessary, even to the barricades.

There is where I stand and where I believe the Socialist Party stands, or ought to stand, on the question of war.

10) Louis Kopelin, Appeal to Reason (25th May, 1918)

I presume that the Socialists and laboring people of the Allied and neutral countries are mainly interested in knowing whether official Washington speaks the minds and hearts of the Socialists and laboring people of this country. In your countries, governments have been known to gauge wrongly the wishes of their peoples. Naturally you wonder how a peaceful and progressive nation such as the United States would voluntarily enter the world conflict and carry out the far-reaching program of military participation it has set out for itself. You have unquestionably been told by agents of the Central Powers that our government will not carry out its program because it has not the working people with it. This is told to you in order that you may be discouraged as to the possibilities of a victory for the cause of democracy.

Our people favor the war. Organized labor favors the war. The majority of the American Socialists favor the war. All the liberal and progressive organizations favor the war. It is true we have a few pacifists and objectors. But they are so few that they are negligible. From the very beginning organized labor came out frankly and fully in behalf of America and the Allies. In fact our trade unions through their accredited representatives took this stand a month before the formal declaration of war against Germany.

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