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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e22eba9 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #64373 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64373) diff --git a/old/64373-0.txt b/old/64373-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index df65688..0000000 --- a/old/64373-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6652 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The industrial republic, by Upton Sinclair - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The industrial republic - a study of the America of ten years hence - -Author: Upton Sinclair - -Release Date: January 23, 2021 [eBook #64373] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team - at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images - generously made available by The Internet Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC *** - - - - - THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC - - - - - BOOKS BY UPTON SINCLAIR - - THE JUNGLE - MANASSAS - THE JOURNAL OF ARTHUR STIRLING - PRINCE HAGEN - KING MIDAS - -[Illustration: - - _Courtesy of Everybody’s Magazine_ - - “VOORUIT” - Home of the Socialist Societies of Ghent -] - - - - - The Industrial Republic - A Study of the America of Ten Years Hence - - - By - UPTON SINCLAIR - - ILLUSTRATED - -[Illustration] - - New York - Doubleday, Page & Company - 1907 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY - DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY - PUBLISHED, MAY, 1907 - - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES - INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN - - - - - TO H. G. WELLS - “THE NEXT MOST HOPEFUL” - - - - - INTRODUCTION - - -The thought of the time has familiarised us with the evolutionary view -of things; we understand that life is the product of an inner impulse, -labouring to embody itself in the world of sense; and that the product -is always changing—that there is nothing permanent save the principles -and laws in accordance with which development goes on. We understand -that the universe of things was evolved by slow stages into what it is -to-day, that all life has come into being in the same way. We have -traced this process in the far-distant suns and in the strata of the -earth; we have traced it in the vegetables and in the animals, in the -seed and in the embryo; we have traced it in all of man’s activities, -his ways of thinking and acting, of eating and dressing and working and -fighting and praying. - -This book is an attempt to interpret in the light of evolutionary -science the social problem of our present world; to consider American -institutions as they exist at this hour—what forces are now at work -within them, and what changes they are likely to produce. The -subject-matter dealt with is not abstract speculation, but rather the -everyday realities of the world we know—our present political parties -and public men, our present corporations and captains of industry, our -present labour unions and newspapers, colleges and churches. The thing -sought is an answer to a concrete and definite question: _What will -America be ten years from now?_ - -Inasmuch as the people who are most interested in practical affairs are -very busy people, I judge it to be a common-sense procedure to set forth -my ideas in miniature at the outset; so that one may learn in two or -three minutes exactly what my book contains, and judge whether he cares -to read it. - -It is my belief that the student of a generation from now will look back -upon the last two centuries of human history and interpret them as the -final stage of a long process whereby man was transformed from a -solitary and predatory individual to a social and peaceable member of a -single world community. He will see that men, pressed by the struggle -for existence, had united themselves into groups under the discipline of -laws and conventions; and that the last two centuries represented the -period when these laws and conventions, having done their unifying work, -and secured the survival of the group, were set aside and replaced by -free and voluntary social effort. - -The student will furthermore perceive that this evolutionary process had -two manifestations, two waves, so to speak; the first political, and the -second industrial; the first determined by man’s struggle to protect his -life, and the second by his struggle to amass wealth. The culmination of -the first occurred successively in the English revolutions, the American -and French revolutions, and the other various efforts after political -freedom. After each of these achievements the historian notices a period -of bitterness and disillusionment, a sense of failure, it being -discovered that the expected did not occur, that Liberty, Equality and -Fraternity did not become the rule of men’s conduct. After that, -however, succeeds a period of enlightenment, it having been realised -that the work has only been half done, that man has been made only half -free. The political sovereignty has been taken out of the possession of -private individuals and made the property of the whole community, to be -shared in by all upon equal terms; but the industrial sovereignty still -remains the property of a few. A man can no longer be put in jail or -taxed by a king, but he can be starved and exploited by a master; his -body is now his own, but his labour is another’s—and there is very -little difference between the two. So immediately there begins a new -movement, the end of which is a new revolution, and the establishment of -THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC. - -What do I mean by an Industrial Republic? I mean an organisation for the -production and distribution of wealth, whose members are established -upon a basis of equality; who elect representatives to govern the -organisation; and who receive the full value of what their labour -produces. I mean an industrial government of the people, by the people, -for the people; a community in which the means of production have been -made the inalienable property of the State. My purpose in writing this -book is to point out the forces which are now rapidly developing in -America; and which, when they have attained to maturity, will usher in -the Industrial Republic by a process as natural and as inevitable as -that by which a chick breaks out of its shell or a child comes forth -from the womb at the proper hour. I believe that the economic process is -whirling us on with terrific momentum toward the crisis; and I look to -see the most essential features of the great transformation accomplished -in America within one year after the Presidential election of 1912. - -If I had been a tactful person I should have kept that last statement -until far on in my argument. For I find many people who are interested -in the idea of an Industrial Republic, and some few who are willing to -think of it as a possibility; but I find none who do not balk when I -presume to set the day. Yet the setting of the day is a vital part of my -conviction, and I should play the reader false if I failed to mention it -in this preliminary statement of my argument. It is a conviction to -which I have come with the diligent use of the best faculties I possess, -and after a preparation of a sort that is certainly unusual, and -possibly even quite unique. - -Perhaps I cannot do better by way of introduction than to explain just -what I mean. Our country has passed through two great crises, when -important political and social changes came with startling suddenness. I -refer to the Revolution and the Civil War; and to the latter of these -crises, or rather the period of its preparation—1847 to 1861—I once had -occasion to give two years of an interesting kind of study. I read -everything which I could find in the two largest special collections in -the country; not merely histories and biographies, but the documents of -the time, speeches and sermons and letters, newspapers and magazines and -pamphlets. I literally lived in the period; I knew it more intimately -than the world that was actually about me. My purpose was to write a -novel which should make the crisis real to the people of the present; -and so I had to read creatively, I had to get into the very soul of what -I read. I had to struggle and to suffer with the people of that time, to -forget my knowledge of the future, and to watch through their eyes the -hourly unfolding of the mighty drama of events. - -There were so many kinds of men—statesmen and business men, lawyers and -clergymen, heroes and cowards; and I had to study them all, and see the -thing through the eyes of each of them. And of course, I could only play -at ignorance, for I knew the future; and I saw all their mistakes, and -the reasons for them, and the pity and the folly and the tragedy of it -all. Knowing, as I did, the great underlying forces which were driving -behind the events, I saw all these people as puppets, moved here and -there by powers of whose existence they never dreamed. - -And, of course, all the while I was also reading my morning newspaper, -and watching the world of to-day; and inevitably I found myself testing -the people of the present by these same methods. I would find myself -seeking for the forces which were at work to-day, and striving to reach -out to the future to which they were leading. I would find myself, by -the way of helping in this interpretation, comparing and balancing the -two eras, and transposing its figures back and forth. This famous -educator or this newspaper editor of to-day—what would he have been -saying had he lived in 1852? And this clergyman friend of mine, this -politician—where would he fit into that period? Or if Yancey had been -alive to-day, what would he have been doing? Where should I have found -Seward—what parts would Edward Everett and Wendell Phillips and -Jefferson Davis have been playing? - -It was really a fascinating problem in proportion. The men of fifty -years ago stood thus and so to a known crisis; similar men of the -present stand thus to an unknown crisis—and now find the crisis. When I -had finished “Manassas” I took up the writing of “The Jungle”; which is -simply to say that I was drawn on irresistibly to seek for this latter -crisis, and to try to understand it—to get into the heart of it, and -live it and follow it to its end, just as I had done with the earlier -one. So now I feel that I have much the same sort of power as Cuvier, -the naturalist, who could construct a prehistoric animal from a bit of -its bone. I have far more than the bone of this monster—I have his tail, -beginning far back in the seventies; and I have the whole of his huge -body—the present. I have counted his scales and measured his limbs; I -have even felt his pulse and had his blood under the microscope. And now -you ask me—How many more vertebræ will there be in the neck of this -strange animal? And what will be the size and the shape of his head? - -So it is that I write in all seriousness that the revolution will take -place in America within one year after the Presidential election of -1912; and, in saying this, I claim to speak, not as a dreamer nor as a -child, but as a scientist and a prophet. - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - Introduction vii - - CHAPTER - I. The Coming Crisis 3 - - II. Industrial Evolution 27 - - III. Markets and Misery 72 - - IV. Social Decay 103 - - V. Business and Politics 138 - - VI. The Revolution 179 - - VII. The Industrial Republic 215 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - “Vooruit,” Home of the Socialist societies of Ghent _Frontispiece_ - - FACING PAGE - A Socialist view of the Trusts 48 - - Reaping by hand and by machinery 92 - - Child labor in glass factories and coal mines 114 - - The Social contrast in New York 126 - - Coxey’s Army on the march and in Washington 206 - - The competitive vs. coöperative distribution of information 220 - - Helicon Hall 274 - - - - - THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC - - - - - CHAPTER I - THE COMING CRISIS - - -The thing which most impresses the student of the Civil War struggle, is -how generally and completely the people who lived through it failed to -understand it themselves. We of the present day know that the War was a -clash between two incompatible types of civilisation; between an -agricultural and conservative aristocracy, and a commercial and -progressive democracy. We can see that each society developed in its -people a separate point of view, separate customs and laws, ideals and -policies, literatures and religions. We can see that their differing -interests as to tariffs, police regulations, domestic improvements and -foreign affairs, made political strife between them inevitable; and that -finally the expansion which was necessary to the life of each brought -them into a conflict which could only end with the submission of one or -the other. Yet, plain as this seems to us now, the people of that time -did not grasp it; through the whole long process they were dragged, as -it were, by the hair of their heads, and each event as it came was a -separate phenomenon, a fresh source of astonishment, alarm, and -indignation. Even after the war had broken out, the vast majority of -them would not be enlightened as in regard to it—a few of them have not -been enlightened yet. I talked recently with an old Confederate naval -officer, who said to me: “Oh, yes; it was the politicians who made the -war.” I recall the astonished look which crossed the old gentleman’s -face when I ventured the opinion that the politicians of this country -had never yet made anything except their own livings. - -It seemed not merely that they _could_ not understand the thing; they -_would_ not. The truth did not please them, and the best and wisest of -them appeared to have the idea that they had only not to see it, and it -would cease to be the truth; after the manner of the learned men of -Galileo’s time, who declined to look through his telescope, or to watch -him drop weights from the Tower of Pisa. They made it a matter of -offence that anyone should understand; the ability to predict political -events was held to imply some collusion with them. When Lincoln, just -before the crash, ventured to doubt the stability of “a house divided -against itself,” his enemies fell upon him precisely as if he had -declared, not that such a house would fall, but that he intended to -knock it down. And this was the established view of all the conservatism -of the country, only two or three years before there burst upon it one -of the most fearful cataclysms of history. - -Let us endeavour to place ourselves in the position of the average man -of 1860, and see now the whole matter appeared to him. - -Way back in the early thirties, eight or ten more or less insane -fanatics—“apostate priests and unsexed women,” as one writer described -them—had got together and begun an agitation for a wholly impossible and -visionary (to say nothing of revolutionary and unconstitutional) -programme—“the immediate and unconditional emancipation of the slaves.” -They formed a society and started a paper called the _Liberator_. When -governors of Southern states protested concerning it, the Hon. Harrison -Gray Otis, Mayor of Boston, wrote as follows: “It appeared upon inquiry -that no member of the city government, nor any person of my -acquaintance, had ever heard of the publication. Sometime afterward it -was reported to me by the city officers that they had ferreted out the -paper and its editor; that his office was an obscure hole, his only -visible auxiliary a negro boy, and his supporters a very few ignorant -persons of all colours. This information, with the consent of the -Aldermen, I communicated to the above named governors, with an utterance -of my belief that the new fanaticism had not made, nor was likely to -make, proselytes among the respectable classes of the people.” - -Nevertheless, the danger of this propaganda was recognised, and before -long the Abolitionists were being stoned and shot, their presses -smashed, and their meetings broken up; a “broadcloth mob” put a rope -round the neck of the editor of the _Liberator_ and dragged him through -the streets of the city. And still, in spite of this, the agitation went -on. All the “cranks” of the country gradually rallied about the -movement. Their leader was a woman’s suffragist, an infidel, a -prohibitionist, and a vegetarian; he denounced the Constitution as “an -agreement with Death, and a covenant with Hell.” There was one man among -them who addressed meetings with clanking chains about his wrists, and a -three-pronged iron slave-collar about his neck; and who declared to the -people of a town that they “had better establish among them a hundred -rum-shops, fifty gambling-houses and ten brothels, than one church.” -They allowed Negroes to speak on the platform with them, and they opened -schools for Negro girls, or tried to, until these were broken up. One of -them refused to pay taxes to a slave-holding government, and went to -jail for it. - -Assuredly, no common-sense person would have thought that here was -anything save a madness that might be allowed to run its course. Yet the -Abolitionists kept at it. In the election of 1840, a wing of them split -off, and nominated a candidate for the Presidency, who received seven -thousand votes out of a total of two or three millions. Four years -later, when the Democratic Party was on the verge of forcing the country -into a war with Mexico, they raised a hue and cry that this was a -“slave-driver’s enterprise,” with the result that their vote went up to -sixty-two thousand. And by keeping up the ceaseless agitation all -through the war, and taking advantage of a factional quarrel in New York -state to nominate a politician who came into their camp for the sake of -revenge, they cast, in 1848, a vote of two hundred and ninety-one -thousand. - -And also they had by this time succeeded in colouring a great mass of -the popular thought with their views. They had gotten the country -unsettled; they had made people feel that something was wrong, and all -sorts of anti-slavery measures were beginning to be championed. Some -wanted to exclude slavery from the new Territories; some wanted to -exclude it from the National Capital; some wanted to restrict the -domestic slave-trade. All of these people, of course, denied indignantly -that they were Abolitionists, denied that they had any sympathy with -Abolitionism, or that their measures had anything to do with it. But the -South, whom the matter concerned, understood perfectly well the folly of -such a claim—understood that the institution of Slavery was one which -could not be made war upon, or limited, and that the first hostile move -which was made against it would necessarily mean its downfall. Hence, to -the South, all these people were “Abolitionists.” - -Over the California question, there came at last a crisis, and all the -Conservative forces of the nation were scarcely equal to the settling of -it. Edward Everett and Rufus Choate and Calhoun and Clay and Webster, -and a dozen others that one might name, exerted all their influence, and -went about warning their countrymen of the danger, and denouncing what -Webster called “the din and roll and rub-a-dub of Abolition presses and -Abolition lectures.” Under these circumstances the “Compromise” was -adopted, and the vote of the Abolitionist Party fell off to one hundred -and fifty-six thousand. - -But then came the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, which brought -Lincoln into politics. The Abolition clamour surged up as never -before—here was one proof the more, they said, that Slavery was menacing -American institutions. The whole country seemed suddenly to be full of -their supporters; and the Kansas Raid only added more fuel to the flame. -The Republican Party was formed, the _Black_ Republican Party, as the -slave-holders called it; and at the Presidential election of 1856, they -cast more than one million three hundred thousand votes, about one-third -of the total vote of the country. - -After that came, in due course, the attempt of the Supreme Court to put -an end to the Abolitionist agitation, declaring that Congress could not -restrict slavery in the Territories, which meant that the Republican -Party had no right to exist. To “cheerfully acquiesce” in the decision -of the Supreme Court, was the duty of “all good citizens,” according to -President Buchanan; yet the only result of the action of the Supreme -Court was to cause the agitation to burst out afresh. In Illinois, -Abraham Lincoln ran for senator in flat defiance of the Supreme Court’s -decision, and the Republican Party all over the country went on in its -revolutionary course, precisely as if no Supreme Court had ever existed. -A year or two later an agitator made matters still worse by his attempt -to set free the slaves by force. “It is my firm and deliberate -conviction,” said Senator Douglas, “that the Harper’s Ferry crime was -the natural, logical and inevitable result of the doctrines and -teachings of the Republican Party.” And he was perfectly right. - -It was disgraceful, and yet it would not stop. The North had by this -time become so full of Abolitionism, that even the Democrats were not to -be trusted. When the split came, in Charleston, Yancey of Alabama -explained this. “When I was a boy in the Northern States,” he said, -“Abolitionists were pelted with rotten eggs. But now this band of -Abolitionists has spread and grown into three bands—the Black -Republicans, the Free-soilers, and the Squatter-sovereignty men—all -representing the common sentiment that Slavery is wrong.” And when -Abraham Lincoln was elected President by a minority of the people, upon -a platform which declared that the Constitution was to be disregarded, -the party of conservatism and tradition resorted to _force_ to maintain -its rights. - -And what happened then? Why, simply this: a group of fanatical -visionaries who had for thirty years been jeered at for demanding of the -country something that was revolutionary and inconceivable—the -destruction of an institution which had stood for centuries, and was -built into the very framework of the nation—suddenly began to see the -mighty structure totter, to see cracks open in it, to see its pillars -crumble, its roof fall in; and at last, before they had fairly time to -realise what was happening, the whole heaven-defying colossus lay a heap -of dust and ruins at their feet! - - -I have said that I believe that our country is now only a few years away -from a similar great transformation. In order to maintain that thesis, -it will be necessary to show, first, a great underlying economic cause, -working irresistibly to force the issue; and second, a consequent -movement of protest, slowly making headway and ultimately permeating the -whole thought of the country. - -What was the cause of the Civil War? To put it into a phrase, it was the -need under which Slavery laboured of securing new territory. The reader -may find a contemporary exposition of the situation in Olmstead’s -“Cotton Kingdom.” Slave labour was a very wasteful means of -cultivation—only the top of the soil was used, and ten or fifteen crops -exhausted it. Virginia was once a great exporting state, but in the -forties and fifties it had become simply a slave-breeding ground for the -younger generation, which had moved to the Far South. And then, when the -Far South began to prove insufficient, there was another move, into -Texas; and finally an attempt at still a third, into Kansas—which -brought on the clash with the free states. - -At the present day we have a society, industrial instead of -agricultural; and the struggle which we are witnessing is that between -capital and labour. It is a struggle, not for land, but for profits; and -if we are to show that it is, like the Civil War, “an irrepressible -conflict between opposing and enduring forces,” we must show in this -case also that the thing struggled for is limited in quantity, and -ultimately insufficient to satisfy the needs of both the contending -parties. - -That our industrial system is based upon profits, and that a failure of -profits would lead to its collapse, will be admitted by anyone. But how -could profits ever fail? the reader asks. Will not the soil always -produce? And does not every man who comes into the world bring a pair of -hands with him, to produce things and earn his living? And so, can there -not always be profitable exchange? There could, I answer, provided that -the various pairs of hands were to remain upon equal terms. But suppose -that one pair were to get some advantage over the other pairs, and use -that advantage to get constantly increasing advantage; might there not -then come a time when the other pairs, having less and less, were -finally unable to furnish as much profits as were necessary? - -We began the economic battle in this country upon equal terms. Some got -the advantage and became masters, the others becoming wage-workers. This -advantage—that is, capital—brought constantly increasing -advantage—profit, rent, interest; and those who had not the advantage -stayed meanwhile just where they were—they got enough to live on, and no -more. Numerous exceptions to this do not in the least disturb the main -facts—that as a class the wage-workers stayed wage-workers, and the -masters stayed masters. Neither does the fact that wages rose constantly -in the least disturb the main fact, for the cost of living rose also; -the wage-worker got his living then, and he gets it now. And meanwhile, -according to the way of nature, and in spite of the outcry of moralists -and old-fashioned statesmen, the strong went on growing stronger, and -fighting among each other, the victors growing ten times stronger yet; -until now we have come to a stage where, industrially speaking, we are a -nation of eighty million pygmies and a dozen giants. Nor is the work -quite done yet—it is going straight on, in spite of anti-trust decisions -and the labour of the “muckrake man”—and within a very few more years -the dozen giants will be but one giant. - -The dozen, meanwhile, are giants, and they are that because the -industrial opportunities of the nation are their property. They are the -nation, economically speaking; they own its railroads and telegraphs, -its coal mines, oil fields, factories and stores. And they grant to the -eighty millions of the nation the right to these opportunities and a -chance to earn their living upon one certain definite condition—that of -what they produce, they receive only a part, yielding up the balance to -be “profits.” - -It is also important to notice that these profits are not taken “in -kind”—the product must first be sold, so that both wages and profits can -be paid in money. It thus follows that the amount of profits is strictly -limited by the amount of _market_ that can be found; in other words, -that a society whose income is limited, is also limited as to its -profit-yielding capacity—that, for instance, a society of eighty -millions of people receiving a mere living wage will be able to yield -just so much rent, interest and dividends, and not any more. - -But what it yields has in the past been enough, says the reader. Why -will it not be enough for the future? - -Just this is the crux of the whole matter. Rent, interest, dividends, it -must be understood, are fractions; and fractions may be decreased as -well by increasing the denominator, as by decreasing the numerator. A -man, for instance, who invested a hundred dollars and made six, would -receive six per cent. interest; but if he invested the second year one -hundred and six dollars, and was able still to gain only six, his profit -would be, not six per cent., but only five and a fraction. If he wished -to make six, he would have to squeeze out a little more than six -dollars; would have to compel the man who paid it to him to work just a -little harder. And that, in miniature, is a representation of what is -going on in our society to-day. You, the well-meaning reader, who are -struggling to make the world better, and failing—whether the thing which -you are trying to reform be politics or literature or religion, New York -or Colorado or the Philippines, Fifth Avenue or Wall Street or Hell’s -Kitchen—you are meeting with failure because of that little arithmetical -difficulty which has just been set forth. - -Consider our millionaire fortunes, how they grow. Consider, for -instance, that Mr. John D. Rockefeller makes fifty per cent. a year upon -his holdings in the Standard Oil Company. The stock of the Standard Oil -Company is now at five hundred, and has been as high as eight hundred in -the market. This is assuming that Mr. Rockefeller invested in the stock -at par—though as a matter of fact, he put in only about twenty dollars a -share, which would make his profit two hundred and fifty per cent. His -income is at least fifty million dollars a year. - -What does he do with it? Of course, he can’t spend it—if he treated -himself to a St. Louis Exposition every year, he couldn’t spend it. What -he does with it is to take it promptly, and reinvest it in the form of -new capital; he employs a staff of thirty-two trained experts to aid him -in this work. The effect of this is, of course, to make his income fifty -per cent., _compound_ interest, instead of simple; and what it will be -in the course of time is a problem for those who like figures. While he -is doing this, all the other capitalists are doing the same—the American -millionaire lets his wife and daughters spend as much of his money as -they can, but he seldom spends any himself; he is more interested in -“doing things.” The consequence is, therefore, that year after year we -are paying the vast mass of our people mere living wages, and all the -surplus product of our toil we are selling, and devoting to the creation -of new instruments of production. We have, mark you, machinery that -creates products for hundreds of times as many men as it employs, and -still we skim off the surplus and devote it to making new machines. Is -it not obvious that this cannot go on forever? And that the time must -come that we make all that we need—or rather that our people have money -to buy, wages being what they are? And if that ever happens, then of -course the factories will have to shut down. We shall have millions of -men out of work, and starving on our streets; and when they form -processions and begin agitating, demanding that we give them work, then -we say—that is, our newspapers, our preachers, our politicians, -everybody says— - -“But, my good man, there is no more work to be done!” - -“But I am starving,” insists the workingman, “we are _all_ starving. -_Why_ is there no work?” - -“The reason there is no work is ‘overproduction.’ The market is clogged -with products, you must understand, and we can’t sell them. What is your -trade?” - -“I work in a shoe-factory.” - -“But the shoe market is already glutted—there are twice as many shoes as -there is any use for.” - -“Twice as many shoes! But my feet are on the ground!” - -“Well, we can’t help that, my good man; that’s because you have no money -to buy them with.” - -“And my friend here,” goes on the workingman—“he is a tailor, and he is -naked because there are too many coats on the market?” - -“Exactly.” - -“And the baker here is starving because we are both too poor to buy his -bread?” - -“Exactly.” - -“And then this druggist is sick because we have no money to buy -medicine?” - -“Exactly.” - -After which, the workingman stands and scratches his head for a moment. -“There is too much of everything,” he reflects. “There is no more work -to be done.” And suddenly the light breaks. “Oh, I see!” he cries, “we -have finished our work for the capitalists!” And you answer, “Exactly! -Everything is complete, and of course there is no more room for you. -Therefore you had best be off to another planet!” - - -So it would be, if the workingman were content to take his doctrines -from the other side—from the retainers of those “to whom God in His -Infinite Wisdom has entrusted the care of the property interests of the -country.” But, meantime, the workingman has been thinking for -himself—and evolving a quite new doctrine, all his own, concerning the -property interests of the country. This doctrine is, in a word, that the -means of production of wealth belong of right to no individual, but to -the whole people; and that in the hour of the collapse of the -profit-making system, the thing for the people to do is to take -possession of the machinery, and use it to produce goods, no longer for -those who own, but for those who work. - -And that brings me to the second of my tasks. I have shown the “great -underlying economic cause, working irresistibly to force the issue”; -there remains to show the consequent “movement of protest.” - -I have before me, as I write, a little pamphlet published by the -“Standard Publishing Company,” of Terre Haute, Indiana, and entitled, -“The American Movement,” by Eugene V. Debs. It opens with the statement -that “The twentieth century, according to the prophecy of Victor Hugo, -is to be the century of humanity,” and will witness “the crash of -despotism and the rise of world-wide democracy, freedom and -brotherhood.” The reader, continuing, soon discovers that the “American -movement,” with which this pamphlet deals, is the American Socialist -movement. The writer tells of its early “Utopian” forms, the Owenites -and the Brook-farmers, and names the exiles who came from abroad in -1848, bringing the Marxian doctrine, and influencing such men as Horace -Greeley and Parke Godwin. “The first large society to adopt and -propagate Socialism in America,” he writes, “was composed of the German -Gymnastic Unions. Through the sixties and seventies the agitation -steadily increased, local organisations were formed in various parts of -the country. Following the Paris Commune of 1871, and its tragic ending, -many French radicals came to our shores and gave new spirit to the -movement. In 1876 the Workingman’s Party was organised, and in 1877, at -the convention held in Newark, it became the Socialist Labour Party. The -Socialists were intent upon building up a working-class party for -independent political action.” This party, “composed of thoughtful, -intelligent men, aggressive and progressive, of rugged honesty and -thrilled with the revolutionary spirit and aspiration for freedom, -became from its inception a decided factor in the labour movement. The -busy, ignorant world about the revolutionary nucleus knew little or -nothing about it; had no conception of its significance, and looked upon -its adherents as foolish fanatics whose antics were harmless and whose -designs would dissolve like bubbles on the surface of a stream. In -March, 1885, was inaugurated the strike of the Knights of Labour. On May -1st of the same year, the general strikes for the eight-hour work-day -broke out in various parts of the country. In 1884, Laurence Gronlund -published his “Coöperative Commonwealth.” In 1888 Edward Bellamy -published his “Looking Backward,” and it had a wonderful effect upon the -people. The editions ran into hundreds of thousands.” - -The author then goes on to narrate his version of the Pullman strike of -1893. He declares that the American Railway Union, of which he was -president, had won, when the General Managers’ Association caused the -swearing in of “an army of deputies,” whom the Chief of Police of -Chicago declared to be “thieves, thugs and ex-convicts,” and that it was -these men who caused the violence which led to President Cleveland’s -action, and the breaking of the strike. He then continues the story of -the Socialist movement. _The Coming Nation_, started at Greensburg, -Indiana, by J. A. Wayland, in 1893, was the first popular propaganda -paper to be published in the interests of Socialism in this country. It -reached a large circulation, and the proceeds were used in founding and -developing the Ruskin coöperative colony in Tennessee. Later Mr. Wayland -began the publication of the _Appeal to Reason_, and it now numbers its -subscribers by the hundreds of thousands. It is not saying too much for -the _Appeal_ that it has been a great factor in preparing the American -soil for the seed of Socialism. Its enormous editions have been and are -being spread broadcast, and copies may be found in the remotest recesses -and the most inaccessible regions. The periodical and weekly press, so -necessary to any political movement, is now developing rapidly, and -there is every reason to believe that within the next few years there -will be a formidable array of reviews, magazines, illustrated journals, -and daily and weekly papers to represent the movement and do battle for -its supremacy. The last convention of the American Railway Union was the -first convention of the Social Democracy of America, and this was held -in Chicago, in June, 1897, the delegates voting to change the railway -union into a working-class political party. _The Railway Times_, the -official paper of the union, became the _Social-Democrat_, and later the -_Social-Democratic Herald_, and is now published at Milwaukee in the -interest of the Socialist Party. Since the election of 1900, there has -been greater activity in organising, and a more widespread propaganda -than ever before. In the elections of the past, it can scarcely be -claimed that the Socialist movement was represented by a national party. -It entered these contests with but few states organised, and with no -resources worth mentioning to sustain it during the campaign. It is far -different to-day. The Socialist Party is organised in almost every state -and territory in the American Union. Its members are filled with -enthusiasm and working with an energy born of the throb and thrill of -revolution. The party has a press supporting it that extends from sea to -sea, and is as vigilant and tireless in its labours as it is steadfast -and true to the party principles. - -“Viewed to-day from any intelligent standpoint, the outlook of the -Socialist movement is full of promise—to the capitalist, of struggle and -conquest; to the worker, of coming freedom. It is the break of dawn upon -the horizon of human destiny, and it has no limitation but the walls of -the universe.” - - -Whatever the reader may think about the foregoing narrative, there is -one part of it which he cannot dismiss; the statements concerning the -growth of the American Socialist Party. In 1888 the Socialist vote was -two thousand. In 1892, it was twenty-one thousand. In 1896, it was -thirty-six thousand. In 1900, it was one hundred and thirty-one -thousand. In 1904, it was four hundred and forty-two thousand. - -The Socialist Party has some twenty-seven thousand subscribing members, -who pay monthly dues. It has over eighteen hundred “locals,” or centres -of agitation; the members of these “locals” are for the most part -workingmen, who give their spare hours to the cause, holding meetings -and debates, and circulating the literature of Socialism. In the larger -cities, there are generally several lectures each week, and there are a -score of “national organisers,” who travel about, speaking night after -night in various towns, forming new “locals,” and taking subscriptions -to the Socialist publications. Of these there are four monthlies and -about thirty-five weeklies. Since 1892, Wayland’s paper, _The Appeal to -Reason_ (Girard, Kansas), has increased its paid circulation from one -hundred and twenty-six thousand to over two hundred and seventy-five -thousand, and last year it printed one edition of two millions and a -half, and another of over three millions. Another Socialist paper, -_Wilshire’s Magazine_ (New York), has increased its circulation from -fifty-five thousand to two hundred and seventy thousand in a single -year. In addition to this, there are many publishing companies, which -distribute books, leaflets and pamphlets, at little more than cost. I -have before me a treatise, the price of which is one cent, of which over -five million copies have been sold since its publication some years ago. -Its title is “Why Workingmen Should Be Socialists,” by Gaylord Wilshire. - -And in giving the figures of the Socialist growth, it is worth while to -point out that this is not merely a local movement, but a world -movement; that the United States is one of the most backward of the -civilised nations in respect to Socialism. In Australia the labour -unions have adopted a full Socialist program, and the labour unions hold -the balance of power. In England, they have just elected twenty-seven -members of Parliament; they have now members in the Cabinet of France, -and in Italy they have turned out ministries. In Belgium, the vote of -the party is half a million, and in Austria it is nearly a million, -while in Germany it has grown from thirty thousand in 1870, to five -hundred and forty-nine thousand in 1884, one million, eight hundred and -seventy-six thousand in 1893, three million and eight thousand in 1903 -and three million two hundred and fifty thousand in 1907. The Socialists -are electing representatives in Argentina and South Africa; in spite of -government persecution, the movement is now growing rapidly in Japan. -Including all languages, the Socialist journals number nearly seven -hundred, and the Socialist vote of the world is figured at nearly eight -million. Allowing for women, and for the disfranchised proletariat of -such nations as Russia, Austria, and Italy, there are estimated to be -thirty million class-conscious Socialists in the world. - -To overlook the significance of a movement such as this, is but to -repeat upon a larger scale the error of half a century ago, and to pay -with blood and anguish for blundering and indifference. The processes of -time have their laws, which can be studied; and all the waste and ruin -of history, which make its records scarcely to be read, are consequences -of the fact that man has to be lashed to his goal through the darkness, -instead of marching to it in the light. You take but a shallow view of -the problems of our present time, if you do not realise that when thirty -million people, in every corner of the civilised world, organise -themselves into a political party, they do it because of some -fundamental and tremendous motive, and that they will not be apt to -abandon their efforts until they have accomplished some proportionately -significant result. - - - - - CHAPTER II - INDUSTRIAL EVOLUTION - - -Herbert Spencer gives a definition of Evolution, phrased in technical -terms, which might be roughly summed up in these words: A process -whereby many similar and simple things become dissimilar parts of one -complex thing. If we trace, for instance, the evolution of human -society, we see about as follows: In the beginning man exists in widely -scattered and unrelated tribes, having a very loosely organised -government, each individual doing about as he pleases, and all -individuals being very much the same. Each finds his own food and cooks -it, makes his own weapons and clothing, and looks and thinks and acts -like his neighbour. Little by little, as the tribe grows, it begins to -come into contact with other tribes that also are growing, and a -pressure begins; the tribes make war upon each other, and each -individual of the tribe is forced by the presence of danger to unite -himself more closely with his fellows, to establish a more rigid rule of -obedience, and to force refractory members to the general will. Then, -under still growing pressure, one tribe unites with another against a -common enemy, and the strongest man in the two rules both; which process -of combining continues until at last there results an organism of great -complexity, whose members are no longer equal and self-sustaining, but -have different activities and ranks and characteristics, and are each -dependent upon the rest. If, for instance, we examine France during the -Feudal period, we find numerous principalities, duchies and baronies, -each one an elaborate and complex organisation, with various classes and -hierarchies and tributary parts, and a whole system of laws and customs -and beliefs to correspond. And no sooner is this process complete than -an evolution begins among these organisms; under the stress of -jealousies and ambitions they too begin to struggle, to combine; and -presently in one of them arises a strong man who secures command of them -all. When the process is completed, there stands in the place of a -hundred principalities, one kingdom, the Kingdom of France. - -The object of all this long labour is, of course, to get some kind of an -organism that shall be capable of maintaining itself in a world of -ferocious strife; that shall be able to withstand all enemies that may -come against it, and all rebellions that may arise within it. The French -monarchy was a marvellous piece of work when it was done; it had men -graded into a thousand different classes and occupations, and everything -fitted perfectly and ran like a clock. It had peasants to till the soil, -and soldiers and sailors to fight; artisans to make all its necessaries, -and merchants to handle them; and rising tier upon tier, a whole pyramid -of governing and administrative officials, up to the king. It had -likewise the whole outfit of ideas and customs necessary to its -operation; it was complete and perfect and sublime—it was like a mighty -vessel defying the tempests; it had also its pennons that waved, and its -songs for the crew to sing. Was it any wonder that those who had made it -were proud of it, and felt that there was nothing more to be done in the -world but to keep it going? - -And yet evolution was not through with it. Men grow weary and want to -rest, they become “conservative” and fret at the bare thought of -change—but the processes of life go on inexorably. This mighty -structure, the Kingdom of France, was only a means and not an end—its -purpose was to bind the people of the nation together and protect them -until they were able to take care of themselves. It took a long time for -this idea to make its way; it took a fearful struggle—men were -imprisoned and exiled, burned and beheaded; but the idea went right on, -and the nation went right on; and when the time came, it burst the old -integument to pieces, and out of the Kingdom of France there emerged the -French Republic. - -What a marvellous event that was, and what a stir it made in the -world—what a stir especially in our own corner of the world—every one -knows. Looking at it from a century’s distance, and calmly, we see the -whole age-long event as an exemplification of the process of life; the -combining of a number of simple things into one complex thing. The means -was struggle and rivalry—it was a cruel process; but you will notice -that at the end the effort and the pain are all gone—that the organism -fulfils its functions freely and joyfully, and that the only difference -between the first stage and the last is that the individual man has been -raised to a higher plane of being. - -Now, as I have said before, the first care of a man is to protect his -life; the second is to accumulate wealth. A man does not set much store -by his goods while his enemies are within sound; but just as soon as -they are dispersed, the tribe begins to gather flocks, and to till the -soil. And so, following close upon the heels of the evolution of -political society, you have the evolution of _industrial_ society. - -And it is precisely the same process. We may see nearly the whole of it -in this country. It begins with the colonial village, where every man -owns a little land and raises his own food; also he cobbles his own -shoes, spins his own wool, weaves his own cloth, and makes his own -clothes. In the very earliest days, he never buys anything, because -there is nothing to buy. He may be the deacon or the schoolmaster or the -judge, but still he has his own farm, and any other man in the village -is about as well fitted to be the deacon or the schoolmaster or the -judge as he. But then his goods expand and war begins—industrial war, I -mean—a horse-trade, for example. Political evolution is slow, because -the rate of increase of men is limited; but the rate of increase of -goods proves to be unlimited. Machines are invented, and straightway the -industrial process is accelerated tenfold. It took a thousand years to -evolve a monarchy; it took only a hundred to evolve a trust. - -The industrial units fight each other, and the strongest survive as -employers, the weakest becoming employees. Then, as growth continues, -these various little groups all over the country come into contact, and -they struggle also. The struggle is of course no longer fighting with -swords—it is underselling; but the process is exactly the same, and its -purpose is the building up of a capable industrial organism. Precisely -as in one case the tribes by combining find they are stronger to fight, -the employers, by combining, find that they are stronger to undersell; -and this process goes on until you have an industrial feudalism, -corresponding in all its details to the political feudalism of France. -And then, as before, the barons and the princes and the dukes fight -among each other, until out of the midst arises a strong man, a -Rockefeller or a Harriman, who smashes them right and left, and makes -himself a king. - -He is a king in precisely the same way, and to precisely the same -purpose, as Louis the Great was king. You know how Richelieu served the -nobility of France—if they would not obey they simply lost their heads. -If you have read Miss Tarbell’s “History of the Standard Oil Company,” -or Henry D. Lloyd’s “Wealth Against Commonwealth,” you know how Mr. -Rockefeller served the oil nobility; how he tricked them and crushed -them; how sometimes, it is said, he blew up their refineries with -dynamite, or burned them with fire. You know how Louis said he was the -State; and you heard the president of one of the coal companies, who is -doing business in flat defiance of the laws of the land, declare that -God in His Infinite Wisdom had entrusted to him the property interests -of the country. It is not necessary to pursue this analogy; if you do -not see that in the due and inevitable course of evolution, our -industrial organism has attained the monarchical stage, it is simply -because you do not wish to see it, and no amount of exposition will -avail. I have only to add, as before, that the purpose of _this_ process -was to evolve an organism which should be capable of maintaining itself -against all enemies, without and within. The task of King Louis was the -aggrandisement of France; the task of Mr. Rockefeller is the keeping up -of Standard Oil stock. Incidentally, Louis the Great gave the world a -race-heritage and a civilisation; incidentally, Mr. Rockefeller -furnishes the world with oil. Also—what is true in one case is true in -the other—the Standard Oil Company is a marvellous piece of work. It has -men graded into a thousand different classes and occupations, and all -fitting perfectly and running like a clock. It has labourers to till the -soil, lobbyists and salesmen to fight, factories to make all its -necessaries, and railroads to handle them; and, rising tier upon tier, -it has a whole pyramid of governing and administrative officials, up to -the president. It has likewise the whole outfit of ideas necessary to -its operation; it is complete and perfect and sublime—it is like a -mighty vessel, defying the tempests. Is it any wonder that those who -have constructed it are proud of it, and feel that there is nothing more -to be done in the world but to keep it going? - -It is of course clear that the next step, according to my parallel, -would be into an Industrial Republic. The reader differs from most -Americans whom I meet if this idea is not startling to him. Let us go -forward slowly. - -In Mr. John Bach McMaster’s “History of the People of the United -States,” is a narrative of the terrible yellow-fever epidemic which -occurred in Philadelphia in the year 1793, causing the death of over -four thousand people in four months. In those days men had strange ideas -as to the causes of yellow fever; they believed, in this case, that it -“had come from a pile of stinking hides that had been on one of the -wharves.” The historian goes on to describe the strange expedients they -adopted to get rid of it. “People were bidden to keep out of the sun, -and not to get tired. The doctors had little faith in bonfires as -purifiers of the air, but much in the burning of gunpowder. Every one -then who could buy or borrow a gun, loaded and fired it from morning -till night. Then one remedy after another would be suggested, and people -would cover themselves with it—nitre, tobacco, and garlic, mud-baths, -camphor, and thieves’ vinegar. The last could only be procured by going -to the shop. The purchaser going to get it was careful to have a piece -of tarred rope wet with camphor at his nose, and in his pocket his -handkerchief soaked with the last preventive he had heard of. He shunned -the footpaths, fled down the nearest alley at sight of a carriage, and -would go six blocks to avoid passing a house where a dead body had been -taken out a week before. He would not enter a shop where another man -stood at the counter; he would rush in, throw down the money, and rush -home—soak everything in this prepared vinegar, and live on a prescribed -diet, water-gruel, oatmeal, tea, barley-water, or a vile concoction -called apple-tea. If his head pained him or his tongue felt rough, he -would immediately wash out his mouth with warm water and honey and -vinegar——” etc., etc. At the time when I read all this, it made a -peculiar impression upon me, because the newspapers happened just then -to be full of the discovery of the true cause of yellow fever. And so -all the time that I was reading about the man with the tarred rope in -his hands and a sponge wet with camphor at his nose, I had this thought -in my mind: And while he was waiting outside of the shop, a mosquito -flew up, all unheeded, and bit him. And so he died! - -It seemed to me a peculiarly neat illustration of the precise difference -between knowledge and ignorance. It led me to reflect how very eager men -ought to be to possess the former; and I put the anecdote away in my -mind, thinking, “I shall use it some day when I want—all of a sudden—to -scare someone out of a prejudice!” - -For just imagine, if you can, that mosquitoes, instead of being a pest -about which every man was glad to believe evil, had been the basis of -some important industry, or otherwise the source of incalculable -advantage to the dominant classes of the community; that universities -were endowed, and newspapers owned, and churches and hospitals -supported, out of the proceeds of the mosquito monopoly! Are you sure -that in that case the discovery of the physicians in Havana would have -been hailed as a triumph of Science? Or do you not think that there -might have been a strong opposition to the fantastic speculation, and -that the men who had published it might have been denounced as enemies -of society, and turned out of office for their incendiary teachings? -That other physicians of high standing might have been found to ridicule -the idea? That newspapers might have refused to print arguments in -favour of it—that, in short, the mosquito monopoly might have succeeded -in conjuring up before the imaginations of the multitude so horrible an -image of this doctrine and its consequences, that they would have looked -upon anyone who advocated it as in some way morally deformed? Assuming -that this could have been done, there are only two things to be added. -The first is that all the while the mosquitoes would have gone right on -causing the yellow fever; and the second is that the people would have -found it out in the end—that all that the makers of public opinion would -have done, would be to put just so many millions of dollars into the -pockets of the mosquito monopoly, at a cost of just so much misery to -the human race. - -At the outset of this argument, I very much wish that you, the reader, -would commune with yourself prayerfully, as to whether or not it might -not possibly be that the ideas you have in your head concerning an -“Industrial Republic” are really not ideas of your own at all, but -prejudices which other people have put there for purposes known to them. - - -Let me repeat the definition which I gave at the outset of this -argument: I mean by an Industrial Republic, an organisation for the -production of wealth, whose members are established upon a basis of -equality; who elect representatives to govern the organisation; and who -share equally in all its advantages. - -A century or two ago our ancestors were governed, “by grace of God,” by -an unamiable old gentleman over in England, who controlled their -destinies, and sent his representatives over here to tax and oppress -them; and they impiously rose up and adopted a declaration to the effect -that all men were born free and equal; and they seized the property and -revenues of their king, and thereafter managed the country for their own -benefit solely. “No taxation without representation,” had been their -doctrine beforehand. And you, who are an American, and celebrate the -Fourth of July, and teach your children to admire the men who threw the -tea into Boston Harbour—do you think that you could give me any reason -why a man has a right to be represented where he pays his taxes, and no -right to be represented where he gets his daily bread? Do you not -perceive that a man who can say to me, “Do thus, or you and your -children can have nothing to eat,” is just as much my lord and master as -the man who can say to me, “Do thus, or be put into jail?” - -You stop and think. “The case is not quite the same,” you say. “One is -not represented, to be sure; but certainly every man has a right to get -his daily bread as he pleases.” - -Indeed, I answer. Suppose, for instance, that his occupation happens to -be that of a steel-worker; has he any way of getting his daily bread, -except upon certain precise terms which a certain group of men offer -him? - -“H’m,” you say, “that’s so. But then, if he doesn’t like it, can’t he -change his occupation?” - -My answer is, I do not believe that George the Third would have had any -objection to one of our ancestors going to France to become a subject of -King Louis. But I understand that freedom began in America when the men -of Lexington and Bunker Hill resolved to _stay at home_ and be free. - -“This is all very well in theory,” you say, “but how can it ever be -realised?” As I said before, I expect to see it realised in the United -States of America within the next ten years. I expect to see it, exactly -as I should have expected to see the French Revolution, had I known what -I know now; understood that institutions and systems have their day, and -perceived the signs of a breakdown as they existed in France in 1780, -and as they exist in America in 1907. - -What was the cause of the French Revolution? The French monarchy was -organised upon a basis of force, represented by taxes; and those who ran -the machine had no idea but that a machine so organised could go on -forever. But in the long process of time, there developed a tendency on -the part of those to whom the taxes came, to grow richer and richer, -while those by whom the taxes were paid grew poorer and poorer. Little -by little, all the property and all the land of France came into the -hands of the nobility; until at last they had everything, and the -populace had nothing. Then suddenly the machinery of a society organised -upon a basis of force and taxes began to refuse to work; the French -peasantry had stood everything, but they could not stand being required -to pay taxes when they had nothing to pay with. So the States-General -had to be sent for, and the Revolution came. - -And note this—that the trouble was not at all that the country was poor. -Everyone is familiar with the picture of the horrible condition of the -peasantry of that time, how they were little better than wild animals, -hiding in holes, naked, and with blackened skins. Yet all the while -France was full of wealth—all the trouble was that it was stagnant in -the hands of a single class; the fields of France were ready to produce, -but the people were too poor to till them. And notice the curious fact, -that no sooner was the Revolution accomplished than the difficulty -vanished in a flash. The machinery started up again—the peasant had land -and tilled it, and the artisans of the cities found work. It seems -strange to read that under the “Terror,” when the heads of the -“aristocrats” were falling by the dozens every day and all the world was -convulsed with horror, the _people_ of France were more prosperous and -happy than ever they had been before in history. And when war broke out, -the nation that had been on the verge of bankruptcy for a generation, -withstood the armies of the combined kingdoms of Europe for more than -twenty years! - -Here in America, we all started even. Wages were high, and there was -work for every man; there was no need to strike—a workingman had only to -leave and go elsewhere if he were not pleased. We found employment for -the stream of immigrants as fast as they came—we had an enormous country -to build up, and an inexhaustible supply of new lands for the settler. -We manufactured only for our own use, and we could not manufacture half -of what we needed. - -But time passed on. Some who were frugal and diligent—and others who -were cunning and unscrupulous—grew rich; and then machinery came in, and -the pace grew faster. The rich were on top, and they stayed there. As -the country expanded, railroads were built, and fortunes made; the war -came, with its enormous expenditures, and still more fortunes were made. -Capital grew; but it could not grow fast enough—in the seventies the -rate of interest was ten per cent., and the promoters made fortunes -besides. It was in those days that the battles of the giants were -fought, the railroad wars in which the Gould and Vanderbilt millions -were accumulated. Still there was plenty to do; the people had money, -and there were some of them to buy everything we could make, and what -came from abroad besides. The cities grew and spread, and the immigrants -flowed in; railroads and factories were built, and the mighty structure -of our modern industrial machine began to take shape. It must be -understood that all the while inventions and improvements were being -made, that enabled one man to do the work of ten, of fifty, of a -hundred; and each such improvement set free so many thousands more men, -to turn their attention to another part of the structure and to rush it -on to completion. - -_Completion!_ Has it never dawned upon you that this machine might -possibly some day reach completion? - -The purpose of it is a very definite and obvious one—it is to supply the -needs of men; and when it is adequate to that purpose, it is complete. -But how will you know when _that_ is? Why, by the simplest of methods in -the world—by that insufficiency of profits which I described before. You -are in business for profits, you understand; and when you are making -something that men need, you make profits; and when you are making -something that men do not need, you _stop_ making profits. It would be -too bad if men went on making railroads where no one wanted to ride, and -building houses for no one to occupy; how fortunate that Nature has -arranged it so that we all know when our work is done! - -We were trembling on the very verge—in fact, we were half-way over the -verge—three years ago, when the Russo-Japanese War came along and saved -us. Everybody had begun to realise the peril. The investor, who had been -making ten per cent. in the seventies, came down to three. The -workingman who had a job that did not suit him, stuck to it all the -same, because he saw a million men in the country who had no job at all. -And the capitalist, the captain of industry—he mounted into his -watch-tower, and proceeded to scan the landscape. A market! A market! My -kingdom for a market! - -Our newspapers a few years ago were quite wild with delight over a -phenomenon called the “American Invasion.” They told how we were -conquering all over the world—how Europe stood shuddering with -fright—how our exports were mounting by leaps and bounds! How prosperous -we were! What ocean-tides of wealth were coming in to us! It seemed so -strange to read it all, and to understand that this “Invasion” which the -editors were celebrating, was in reality the last death-kick of the -industrial system which they had been taught to consider the foundation -of all society! - -It will be more convenient to consider the whole question of foreign -markets at a later stage; suffice it here to say, that if my analysis of -the overproduction of capital be correct, then the first signal of -danger will be what is commonly hailed as a “favourable balance of -trade”—the existence of a surplus product which must be sold abroad. You -must distinguish, of course, between a mere exchange of goods, where -exports are balanced by imports, and _selling_, which is sending out -goods and taking in gold, or promises to pay gold. In 1893 our exports -were eight hundred and forty-seven million dollars and our imports were -eight hundred and sixty-six millions. But in 1901, our exports had -leaped to one billion, four hundred and eighty-seven million dollars, -and our imports had sunk to eight hundred and twenty-three millions; and -during the next four years the excess of exports over imports amounted -to a total of over a billion and a half of dollars! According to an -estimate made public on January 6, 1907, by the Secretary of the -Treasury, the figures for 1906 will be: Imports, one billion, two -hundred million dollars, and exports, one billion, eight hundred million -dollars. And for how many more years does anyone imagine that the world -will be able to pay us six hundred million dollars in cash, for those -surplus products which we are compelled to sell? - -Do not fail to mark the word “compelled.” If we cannot sell them, we -cannot make profits; and if we cannot make profits, we cannot pay -dividends. “I am a great clamourer for dividends,” said Mr. Rockefeller; -and other captains of industry share in his weakness. And when a few -years ago they found that foreign markets were beginning to fail, they -set to work to remedy the evil in the only other possible way—by -combining, and limiting the product, and raising prices. And that brings -us to the other great symptom of the approach of the breakdown—the -organising of the trusts. For six or eight years the process has been -going on, irresistibly, automatically—while the country raged and -stormed, and poured out its wrath upon the greedy capitalist. And yet -the capitalist was no more to blame than a steam-engine that turns aside -when it comes to a switch. The capitalist was making profits; and he -saw, by the cessation of his profits, that the industrial machine of the -country was getting too big for the country’s use. Unless he, and the -machine also, were to go to smash, competition in that particular -industry must be ended. - -The work is done now; we have only to sit by and wait until the people -get through trying to undo it. I never realise more keenly the naïve and -touching incompetence of our so-called intellectual classes, than when I -reflect that while our men of action have been accomplishing this mighty -work—one of the greatest labours ever wrought for civilisation—our -benevolent editors and college presidents have gone right on with their -prattling of “freedom of contract” and “_laissez faire_.” And actually, -civilisation must sit by and wait ten years, until our people have got -through butting their heads against the granite wall of this -accomplished fact! - -But we Socialists have to take the world as we find it, and cultivate a -cheerful disposition; and so behold our great national spectacle, the -morality-play of the terrible hundred-headed monster of Competition! The -terrible monster has killed and destroyed himself, according to the -nature of him; but now by Congressional statute and Supreme Court decree -he has been patched together again, and will be compelled to go on -fighting! Or at least he shall be stuffed and mounted, and shall look as -if he were fighting! He shall have wires attached to his joints and -electric lights to gleam from his eyes; he shall be taken out in the -gorgeous Presidential campaign chariot, drawn by the Grand Old Party -elephant, and all the people shall see him, and marvel at his ferocity, -and at the deadly conflict he wages among his various heads! Come now, O -people!—come editors and statesmen and judges and bishops—come and see -how the terrible hundred-headed monster rends and tears himself, and -shout for four years more of the “full dinner-pail.” - -But surely we must destroy the trusts! you say. _Why_ must we destroy -the trusts? The trusts are marvellous industrial machines, of power the -like of which was never known in the world before; they are the last and -most wonderful of the products of civilisation—and we must destroy them! -We have been a century building them—you, and I, and the balance of the -American people have toiled for three generations night and day, -stinting and starving ourselves, so that we might get these trusts -finished; we have taxed ourselves ten, twenty, thirty per cent. of our -incomes, under the disguise of a protective tariff, to maintain and -develop them; and now that they are complete, we must destroy them! - -But they belong to Rockefeller! you protest to me. They belong to -Rockefeller in precisely the same way and to precisely the same extent -as the Kingdom of France belonged to Louis XIV, or the North American -colonies to George III. They belong to the people of the United States, -who made them, who contributed every plank of them, and drove every nail -of them, and who paid Mr. Rockefeller and his family ample living wages -while they superintended the job. - -But you only answer again—we must destroy the trusts! Go ahead then, and -have your try! Have it out with them! War to the hilt with them!—and see -which is the stronger, two corporations which are resolved not to cut -each other’s throats, or you with your law that they _shall_ cut each -other’s throats! Two railroad systems which know that they cannot -continue to exist separately, or you who are resolved that they shall -not exist together!—It makes one think of the scene in “Twelfth Night,” -where Sir Toby has engineered a bloody duel between two terror-stricken -antagonists. “Pox on’t, I’ll not meddle with him!” cries Sir Andrew -Aguecheek. “Come, Sir Andrew,” says Sir Toby. “There’s no remedy. Come -on, to’t.” But poor Sir Andrew will not to’t, he fights with his back to -the enemy. - -[Illustration: - - _Courtesy of Wilshire’s Magazine_ - - A SOCIALIST VIEW OF THE TRUSTS -] - -You will hear people abuse the Socialists for wishing to abolish -competition. No Socialist wishes to abolish competition, no modern -Socialist at any rate. He watches competition, as the mischievous -Irishmen watched the Kilkenny cats; keeping off at a suitable distance -during the battle, and simply proposing to the spectators that when it -is all over they shall recognise the accomplished fact. - -There is some competition in the world to-day among the nations; there -was recently competition between Russia and Japan, and there will -perhaps be competition between some of the others. But what competition -is left to-day within the limits of the United States, is left simply -because it is of a kind so petty that the capitalists have not yet had -time to bother with it. For the most part it exists between a swarm of -retailers of trust-made products, and takes the form of the screwing -down of the wages of helpless clerks and errand-boys, the adulteration -of products, and the placarding of the surface of the land with blatant -advertisements which affect a decent man like the stench of a carcass. -One of the “competitive” industries that is flourishing just now is that -of cereals prepared in packages and labelled with names that suggest -Hiawatha and the South Sea Islands. The usual price of one of these -packages is fifteen cents, and of that, two cents and a half represents -the cost of the product, and nearly all of the balance goes into the -effort to trap the public into buying it. And did not the “boodle” -investigations in Missouri disclose the fact that William Ziegler had -spent a fortune in bribing newspapers and legislatures to implant in the -public mind the idea that “alum baking-powders” were poisonous, so that -the Royal Baking Powder Trust might have the custom of the country? - - -But, you say, if competition perishes, what becomes of incentive—of -initiative? Will not individual enterprise be destroyed? I answer that -it depends entirely upon what you mean by individual enterprise. If you -mean that ardent desire which now consumes every man to cut his -neighbour’s economic throat, to get the better of him and make money out -of him, to beat him down and leave him a financial wreck—why, -civilisation will suppress this ardent desire in precisely the same way -that it has suppressed the duel, or the right of private vengeance, and -piracy, or the right of private war upon the high seas. The putting down -of these things went hard, you know, for they had been the greatest -glory of men, and all progress has been due to them. “Franz von -Sickingen was a robber-knight,” writes Henderson, in his “History of -Germany,” “but with such noble traits, and such a concept of his -calling, that one wonders if he ought not rather to be put on the level -of a belligerent prince. In carrying on feuds, he seldom aimed lower -than a duke, or a free city of the Empire; and there are persons who -insist to this day that his weapons were only drawn in favour of the -oppressed. Be that as it may, he was not above exacting enormous fines; -and being an excellent manager, he greatly increased his possessions. He -was lord of many castles, which he furnished with splendid defences.” - -And then the historian goes on to describe the gallant struggle of this -old nobleman against the advancing power of the Empire. “He determined, -by one brilliant feud, to restore the tarnished splendour of his name. -He would help the whole order of knighthood to assert itself against the -power of the princes.” The end of it was that “the enemy appeared in -full force, demolished in a single day an outer tower with walls the -thickness of twenty feet, and made a breach in the actual ramparts.” -Having been wounded, “the grim commander was carried to a dark, deep -vault of the castle, where it was thought he would be safe from the -cannon-balls of his pursuers; such an unchristian shooting, he declared -to an attendant, he had never heard in all his days.” The castle -surrendered, and his foes gathered about him. “He had now to do, he -said, with a greater lord, and a few hours later he closed his eyes. The -three princes knelt at his side and prayed God for the peace of his -soul.” Let us hope that the makers of our Industrial Republic will not -forget to pray for the souls of Baer and Parry, if these gallant -captains of industry should perish in defending the elemental right of a -capitalist to manage his own business in his own way. - -This is all very well, you say, but will not such a system decrease -production? I rather think that it will; I hope to see the prophecy of -Annie Besant come true, that when men no longer have to struggle to get -a living, they will at last begin to live. That they will at last open -their eyes to the world of books and music, of nature and art, of -friendship and love, that stretches out its arms to them; that they will -cease to regard ingenuity and rapidity in the production of material -things as the final end and goal of the creation of man; that they will -cease to look upon a human being as a machine for the getting of -money—to be valued like an automobile, by the number of miles an hour it -can be driven, by the number of thousands of miles it can cover before -it is worn out and ready for the scrap-heap. - - -Let us have the philosophy of this thing, in order that we may -understand it. We saw that the process of evolution, in an individual or -in a society, consists of an expansion and a struggle, the end of which -is the emergence of the organism into a higher state of being. There is -a certain life impulse, and there is a certain environment, certain -difficulties with which it contends. We have perhaps no right to speak -of purpose in the process, but we have a right to speak of results; and -the result of this contest is to shape the organism, to educate it, to -bring out certain qualities in it which it did not possess before; until -finally it triumphs over its environment, and emerges from its -prison-house. - -The struggle for life goes on, but the form of it changes unceasingly; -and this changing is _progress_. Without it there can be none—the very -essence of progress consists in the suppressing of old forms of strife, -the conquest of old difficulties and the escape from their thraldom. We -know that there was once a time when men were hairy beings who dwelt in -caves, and contended with club and hatchet against the monsters which -assailed them; and now supposing that we could take some man of modern -times, some one who has risen to eminence and power under the conditions -which now prevail, and put him among those cavemen, how do you suppose -that he would make out? How do you suppose that he would fare, if he -were placed even one century back, in the country of the Iroquois, where -the snapping of a twig and the flight of an arrow decided the fate of a -man? Is it not obvious that there has been here an entire change in the -_form_ of the struggle for existence? - -The same thing is true of nations. Once upon a time a nation was an -army, and fighting was its business, the conquering of its neighbours -was its glory and its ideal; but now we have moved on, we have become -complex and highly organised, and can no longer afford to conquer our -neighbours. It would not pay us financially, and intellectually and -morally it would destroy us. We have, for instance, a powerful country -to the north of us; and imagine what would be the inconvenience and -waste were we under the necessity of fortifying all our boundary lines, -and keeping garrisons at every few miles of them; if every day we were -shaken by rumours that an army was gathering at Montreal, that a fleet -of torpedo-boats was building at Toronto. As a matter of simple fact, do -we not both go quietly on our way, understanding that we are two -civilised nations, between which a war of conquest would be an -unthinkable crime? - -We have grown to used to the change, that the mere memory of the old -ways of life makes us shudder; it seems to us horrible, and we forget -that it was once beautiful and delightful to men: that the Germans of -the time of Tacitus held fighting the joy of life, and imagined a heaven -where a man might be patched up every night and fight again the next -day. We have passed so far beyond such a state that we cannot even -imagine it, and we have lost the power of seeing that it was ever -necessary and right; that to those long ages of struggle we owe our -physical being, with all its perfections, which we take so as a matter -of course; a swift foot and a dexterous hand, an ear attuned to every -sound, an eye that adjusts itself to every distance, a mind quick and -alert, a spirit bold and enterprising. And in the same way the nations -owe to war their unity and their complexity, and a great deal of their -power, not merely physical, but industrial and moral as well. - -It was one of the noblest of the world’s poets who wrote that: - - “God’s most dreaded instrument, - In working out a pure intent, - Is man—arrayed for mutual slaughter; - Yea, Carnage is His daughter.” - -And to the same purpose writes Fletcher: - - “Oh great corrector of enormous times, - Shaker of o’er-rank states—that heal’st with blood - The earth when it is sick.” - -And yet the time of wars is past. We still have them, of course, and we -still have a war-propaganda; but it would be easy to show that these -wars are never military, but always commercial—that when two civilised -states fight nowadays, it is not because they expect to subjugate each -other, or desire to, but because their capitalists both need the same -foreign market. I am acquainted with only one writer of any standing in -the United States, Captain Mahan, who is nowadays willing even to hint -that wars may still be necessary to the disciplining of a nation; and I -think one might assert without fear of contradiction that people now go -to war, not because they want to, but because they are persuaded they -have to; and that right-thinking men throughout the world know that a -war is a national calamity, a cause of evils innumerable, scarcely ever -overbalanced by good. - -And it is of the utmost importance to notice how this has been done; how -it is that the military ideal is universally discredited in the world. -It has not been due to the preachings of moralists and enthusiasts; it -has not been brought about by the intervention of any _deus ex machina_. -It has come about in the perfectly inevitable course of nature. No hero -has arisen to slay the demon of war—the demon of war has slain himself. -It is simply that the work of war is _done_. It is simply that war has -brought about a survival of the fittest, and that there is no more need -of conquest, and no possibility of it. The peoples have gone on to a -different life, they have almost forgotten for thought of conquering, or -of being conquered; they know that they cannot afford it; they know that -their social organism is of too delicate a type to stand it; they can no -more stand it than one of our modern captains of industry could stand -the shock of jousting with Richard Cœur de Lion. - -We have moved on to another kind of struggle—to the kind which is known -as industrial competition. And we are to come to the end of that in -precisely the same way. We are to see the fittest survive, and grow, and -establish themselves impregnably; and so long as there is room for -competition they will compete; and when they find there is no longer -room for competition, that by continuing it they are doing as much harm -to themselves as to their rivals, they will put an end to competition, -and no power on earth can prevent their putting an end to it. Any power -which really tried to prevent their putting an end to it would simply -destroy them, as two civilised nations would be destroyed if they could -be compelled to keep on making war against each other. - -The great task of civilisation is the leading of men to recognise when -these mighty changes have taken place. For so far I have spoken of only -one side of the evolutionary process; I have shown the victory—but there -are also defeats. Sometimes in the struggle between the individual and -his environment, it is the environment that conquers. Sometimes the man -or the society is not equal to the new task, and falls back; and the law -of this is death. The stag which can run swiftly enough escapes, and is -able to run all the more swiftly as the result of the race; the stag -which cannot run quite swiftly enough becomes venison. The tiny shoot -which can grow high enough finds the light, and becomes a mighty tree; -its neighbour which could not grow quite so high, turns to mould. There -comes now and then in the history of every living thing some moment when -its future hangs in the balance; when it summons all its forces, and -lives or dies. The butterfly faces such a crisis when it emerges from -the chrysalis; the child when it is born. You have known such fateful -hours in your own moral life; and you can go through history and put -your finger upon them—here when the Greeks drove back the Persians, here -when the Franks drove back the Saracens, here on the field of Waterloo, -on the hills of Gettysburg. - -You would like to stay as you are, of course; for that is the least -trouble. You have your routine and your habits, your old well-worn paths -in which your thoughts move—you would like to stay as you are. But the -curse of life is upon you—you cannot stay as you are. You have to go -forward, or else to go back. When the crisis comes there is no escaping -it—it _comes_. When the birth-pangs begin, either the child is born, or -the mother dies; when the throes of revolution seize a nation, either -the old forms are shattered, or the life of the people is crushed. There -was once a reformation and a revolution in France; there was no -reformation and no revolution in Spain. So in one case you have new life -and abounding vigour—literatures and philosophies and sciences, and -impulse after impulse without end; and on the other hand you have -stagnation and ruin. - -The task was simply too hard for the Spanish nation; they had lived for -centuries in imminent proximity to an enemy of an alien faith, and the -result was the fastening upon the people of a system of military -despotism and religious bigotry. And when the danger was by, when the -work of these forces was done, and the time came for the people of Spain -to throw them off, their efforts were of no avail; their kings and their -priests tortured them and burned them at the stake; and so the impulse -died, and never afterwards did they lift their heads. In the same way -consider the “Negro question,” as we have it in the United States. Here -also we are dealing with a defeated race; a race which was bred where -nature proved too strong for man—where savage beasts fell upon him, and -deadly diseases smote him, and the swift powers of the jungle balked his -every effort to rise. So for centuries and ages he was trampled upon and -crushed, until every spark of genius was extinguished in him; and now we -strive with all the resources of our civilisation—our noblest and best -have given their lives to the task; and we do not know yet if we are to -win or lose. - -Let the reader of this book get a clear understanding upon at least one -point—that no Socialist expects to abolish competition, and the survival -of the fittest; all that any Socialist expects to do is to change the -_kind_ of competition and the standard of the fitness. The purpose of -industrial competition is to raise up the industrially fit, and to -establish a system for the feeding and clothing of men. The sign that -the former task is done is the outcry against the money-madness of the -time; the sign that the latter is done is “overproduction” and the -“trust.” - -The purpose of this little book is to lay before candid and -truth-seeking Americans the overwhelming evidence which exists of the -fact that industrial competition, as an evolutionary force, has done its -work in our society: that it has disciplined our labourers in diligence -and skill, and our leaders in foresight, enterprise and administrative -capacity; that it has built us up a machine for the satisfying of all -the material needs of civilisation, a machine that has only to be used; -and that until we have found out how to use it, our national life must -remain at a standstill, stagnation must take the place of progress, and -in every portion of our body politic, the symptoms of disease and decay -must multiply and grow more and more alarming. - -We have been taught to think that the institutions of freedom in this -country are so secure that we may go about our business and our play, -and leave them to take care of themselves. And yet, “eternal vigilance -is the price of liberty,” is the motto our ancestors left us. For the -forms of tyranny change from generation to generation, and it is always -out of the old freedom that the new slavery is made. You think that you -can stay free by clinging to the good old ways, by repeating the good -old formulas, by standing by the good old faiths; but you cannot, for -freedom is not a thing of institutions, but of the soul. It has always -been under the forms of spirituality that men have been chained by -priestcraft; and it is with the very pennons and banners of liberty that -this land is bound to-day. It always has been so, and it always will be -so—that the despot asks nothing save that things should stay as they -are. What was it that the slave-holder wanted, but that things should -stay as they were? That men should hold by the Constitution as it was, -while America was made into a Slave Empire? What is it that our masters -want to-day, save that we should stand by the good old traditions of -American individualism, freedom of contract and the right of every man -to manage his own business as he pleases—the while the Republic of -Jefferson and Lincoln is forged into a weapon for the enslaving of -mankind? - -There is not one single tradition of the early times that is not being -used to-day for the betraying of liberty. Take the Monroe Doctrine, for -instance. We shout for it every Fourth of July, and we are rushing to -completion a score or two of battleships to defend it; whenever it is in -peril, our most rabid anti-trust editors and politicians drop everything -and take to singing Yankee Doodle. And yet, has never the least -suspicion about it come to you? Has it never occurred to you to look who -it is that is leading you upon this crusade of freedom—this strange -propaganda of civilisation and republican institutions by battleship and -rapid-firing gun? This zeal of our captains of industry for the spread -of American institutions among the Filipinos and Hawaiians and Porto -Ricans and Panamanians and Venezuelans, the while they are so busy -crushing American institutions in Rhode Island and Colorado! - -There was once a time when all the despotisms of Europe were banded -together to destroy republican institutions, and when the threatening -gesture of this young republic held them back from half a world. And -thus bravely we guarded civilisation with our Monroe Doctrine, until the -lesson of freedom had been learned. But now time has passed, and we have -come to a new age, with new perils and new duties; there is a new kind -of slavery in the world, and a kind in which we lead all civilisation. -The control of our Republic has passed out of the hands of the people; -by fraud and force our liberties have been overthrown—the very word has -been relegated to schoolboy orations and Grand Army reunions. And by -this new despotism of greed the people have first been plundered and -crushed, and now are to be marshalled and led out to do battle with -other peoples, similarly beguiled. In this work every force of reaction -and conservatism in civilised society is now enlisted, every tradition -of olden time has been called into service. No pretence is too hollow, -no blasphemy too abominable to be employed; every national prejudice, -every racial hatred, every religious bigotry is made use of—and the -starving wretches of the slums and gutters of London are sent into South -Africa to capture diamond mines for the glory of free Britannia, while -the helpless peasants of Russia are led out with jewelled images of the -Virgin in front of them to steal Manchuria in the name of Jesus Christ. - -It is with Germany that we Americans are scheduled to battle for the -sake of the Monroe Doctrine. And what is the situation in Germany? There -is first of all, the degenerate who sits upon its throne, and proclaims -himself by grace of God the lord and master of the German people. There -is in the second place, the hide-bound mediæval nobility of the Empire, -the direct descendants of those robber-knights of whom we read a while -ago, some of them living in the very same castles from which their -ancestors made their raids. There is in the third place, the aristocracy -of the army, whose insolent and dissolute officers beat, kick and maim -the helpless country boys and artisans who are herded like sheep under -their command. There is in the fourth place, the bigoted -seventeenth-century Protestant Church, with its snuffy country parsons -and doctors of dusty divinity. There is in the fifth place, the mediæval -Roman Catholic Church, with its confessional and other agencies of -Darkness. There is in the sixth place, a subsidised “reptile press,” -whose opinions are written and whose news is garbled by knavish bureau -officials. And every one of these powers, forgetting all past -differences, and uniting with brotherly affection, are struggling with -every prejudice they can appeal to, and every threat which they can -wield, to hold the German people subject to the identical same “System” -that rules in America, the industrial aristocracy of cunning and greed; -is working them upon starvation wages at home, and driving them to serve -in armies and navies, to conquer markets abroad; to threaten Dewey at -Manila, and to seize Chinese ports and conduct “punitive expeditions” -against Chinamen; to sell bad whiskey and firearms to Hereros and then -slaughter them when they rebel; to blockade ports in Venezuela and to -sink “pirates” in the West Indies; and to sound and measure channels as -a preliminary to the taking of a naval base and the inauguration of a -war with the United States! - -But then, you say, _we_ can’t help that. What can we _do_? Is the only -thing you can think of to do, to build battleships and get ready for the -strife? How differently our fathers did it, in the old days when the -Monroe Doctrine was really what it pretends to be—a pledge of freedom to -men! How the impulses that started in this land thrilled through the -civilised world and made the “despots of Europe” tremble! What messages -of brotherhood flashed upon invisible wires from continent to continent, -bearing hope and comfort to all the oppressed of mankind! How we -welcomed Lafayette, as if he had been an emperor! How the whole nation -turned out in honour of Kossuth, making his long journey one triumphal -procession! And are we doing anything like that now? - -The people of Germany, you must understand, are closed in a death grip -with all these powers of infamy. In spite of obloquy and contempt, in -spite of lies and blandishments and menaces, in spite of persecution and -exile and imprisonment, for a generation they have been toiling—devoted, -heroic men and women have given their labour and their lives to the task -of teaching, writing, speaking, exhorting, to open the eyes of the -masses to the truth. And step by step they have marched on, gathering -force every hour, strengthened by each new persecution, training -themselves in literary and political combat, building up a system of -scientific thought which has never been refuted and never can be, -inspired by a moral purpose as noble as any the world has ever -seen—preparing in all ways for the glorious hour when the people of the -Fatherland are to come to their own! The man at their head was once a -poor working boy, a wheelwright, and he has raised himself to the -leadership of the mightiest effort after freedom that the world now -sees; and day by day in the Reichstag he leads the opposition to -militarism and savagery, and his speeches are such as a century ago, and -even half a century ago, would have set this land aflame from end to end -with revolutionary fervour. And this is no isolated movement of a -nation, it is a world movement—it is a movement to which the lovers of -liberty all over the earth are welcomed as comrades and brothers. It is -a movement at one with every high tradition of American life; and -you—what is your attitude to it? What do you know about it—what do you -care about it? Do you hold public meetings and send messages of -sympathy? Do the halls of Congress ring with fervid speeches, as they -did in the days of Webster and Henry Clay? Do your papers teem with -glowing editorials, with news about the movement, and sketches of its -leaders? What have you to say about it, what have you to do for it—but -to repeat day in and day out one miserable, pitiful lie, with which you -try to blind and deceive the masses of your own country, that this -tremendous Socialist movement is not really a Socialist movement at all, -but only a movement of political reform! - -I do not think that we shall sleep forever; I do not think that the -memories of Jefferson and Lincoln will call to us in vain forever; but -assuredly there never was in all American history a sign of torpor so -deep, of degeneration so frightful, as this fact that in such a crisis, -when the downtrodden millions of the German Empire are struggling to -free themselves from the tyranny of military and personal government, -there should come to them not one breath of sympathy from the people of -the American Republic! And all our interest, all our attention, is for -that strutting turkeycock, the war-lord whose mailed fist holds them -down! That monstrous creature, with his insane egotism, his blustering -and his swaggering, his curled mustachios and military poses! An -epileptic degenerate, who spends his whole life in cringing terror of -hereditary insanity: whose spies and police agents are invading the -homes of German Socialists, searching for letters in behalf of the -agents of the Czar, obtaining evidence to send men in Russia to exile -and death! This ruler of his people, who the other day cashiered a near -relative, an army officer who had advised soldiers to complain when they -were maltreated! whose generals and admirals are swaggering about and -spitting in the face of civilisation—and making maps and plans for a -naval station in defiance of the Monroe Doctrine! - -Forty years ago, at the time of our Civil War, when the fate of this -nation hung trembling in the balance, when the Emperor of France and the -aristocracy of England saw a chance to cripple republican government and -to set back civilisation half a century—what was it then that prevented -them? What was it but the fact that in England there existed an -organised opposition, alert and watchful, trained by a generation of -parliamentary conflict, and with leaders who in such a crisis could not -be put down? What was it but the fact that the workers of the factory -towns of Great Britain had been disciplined and taught, and could not be -deceived—that they chose rather to starve than to help the cause of -Slavery? And if you care to see what would have happened had not that -opposition been ready, go back three- or four-score years, when the -people of France struck their blow for liberty, and see the leaders of -the British aristocracy crushing out protest and imprisoning objectors, -and hurling the nation into a criminal and causeless war! Hear the king -and the nobility, statesmen and authors, newspapers and pulpits -screaming in frenzy and goading the people on, till they had desolated -Europe with fifteen years of hideous slaughter, from the moral and -spiritual effects of which the world has not yet recovered! - -And now you stand and contemplate another such crime against -civilisation. The two most enlightened peoples of the world are to come -together and strip for a fight. The powers that rule in each of them -made up their minds years ago, and among the officers, both in the army -and in the navy of each, the coming conflict is taken for granted. Two -or three years ago a German officer promised that an army corps would -march from one end of this continent to the other; and an admiral in our -own navy has publicly foretold the struggle. The German capitalists are -in desperation for new markets, and the German people are on the edge of -a revolt, with an irresponsible military despot in absolute control of -them, who knows that his only chance to put off the revolution is to -pick a quarrel and beat the war-drum, and summon the masses to the -defence of the honour of the Fatherland. When that supreme hour comes, -and when the war-lust begins to burn, upon the Social-Democratic Party -of Germany will fall the task of saving civilisation; and what shall -_we_ have done to help them—what encouragement shall _we_ have sent -them? We have sent ships of grain to the cotton-operatives of Lancashire -when they were starving; but what have we done for the people of -Germany? What reason have we given them, with our tariffs and -imperialisms, to think of us otherwise than as a nation of shopkeepers, -a nation sunk in greed and commercialism, and dead to every noble -impulse of men? - - - - - CHAPTER III - MARKETS AND MISERY - - -I gave in the first chapter a brief outline of my view of the process of -wealth-concentration. It is now time to consider the present status of -affairs, and determine if we can exactly how near to completion our -industrial machinery has come. Because of the vital part which the -question of foreign markets has played and must play in our affairs, it -is necessary that this inquiry should include a careful survey of -conditions in the rest of the world. - -The manufactures of the United States have grown from one hundred and -ninety-eight million dollars in 1810, to five billion in 1890, and -thirteen billion in 1900. Our exports to foreign countries increased -from sixty-six million dollars in 1810 to eight hundred and fifty-six -million in 1890, and a billion and half in 1905. Of course, if we could -find unlimited markets abroad we might go on for half a century, or at -least until our people grew tired of doing hard work for the rest of the -world, and getting in return either bad debts, or else money to be used -in building new machines to do more work of the same sort. But this is -not the case, as it happens; there are half a dozen nations that have -been building up industrial machines of their own, and have completed -them; the meaning of the Socialist movements of England and Germany and -France and Belgium and Italy is simply that all these nations are now -able to manufacture more than their own people are able to buy, under -the old deadly combination of a monopoly price and a competitive wage. -And so when we go over to Europe to look for markets, we meet people who -are coming over to look for markets among us; and when in our -desperation we begin to sell out at any cost, the German capitalist -cries out in protest, and the German workingmen are thrown on the -streets, and the German Socialists increase their vote. And when the -German capitalist retaliates and sells out at cost, _our_ capitalists -are checked, and _our_ mills are stopped—and _our_ Socialist vote goes -up. - -Look at the figures. England was the first in the field. The output of -coal of Great Britain was one hundred and fifty million dollars in 1810; -it was six hundred and sixty-five million dollars in 1878; in the same -period the exports of manufactures rose from two hundred and thirty -million dollars to one billion dollars. All that while, of course, -England ruled the sea and had things her own way. In 1820 the value of -all her manufactures was about seven billion dollars—equal to that of -Germany and Austria combined, or to France and the United States -combined, or to all the rest of the world, excluding these four nations. -But then, little by little, the others began to catch up with her: in -1880, instead of manufacturing one-fourth of the world’s products, Great -Britain manufactured one-fifth, and in 1894 she manufactured less than -one-sixth. Between the years 1894 and 1902, British exports increased -only thirteen per cent., while those of France increased sixteen per -cent., those of Germany thirty-nine per cent., and those of the United -States sixty-six per cent. The result was that a few years ago tens and -hundreds of thousands of starving men were parading the streets of -London, and all England was startled by Mr. Chamberlain’s announcement -that the last hope of England was a tariff which would reserve for her -the trade of the colonies! Of course England could not have made money -by a tariff unless her colonies had consented to lose money; and the -colonies were not planning to lose money—they were counting on making -some by England’s tax on food. So the plan simply reduced itself to an -invitation to the British workingman to pay more for his bread so that -he could get starvation wages for doing the manufacturing of Canada and -Australia and India. Is it any wonder that the reply to the proposal -should have been an independent labour vote which sent a thrill of alarm -through the nation? - -And meanwhile Canada and Australia and India are straining every nerve -to build up manufactures of their own! “No person connected with the -cotton industry can be ignorant of the progress of cotton manufactures -in India,” wrote the _Textile Recorder_ in 1888. “Indian cotton -piece-goods are coming to the front and displacing those of Manchester.” -The Bombay Factory Commission of the same year recorded in Parliament -how this was being done. “The factory engines are at work as a rule from -5:00 A. M. to 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 P. M. In busy times it happens that -the same set of workers remain at the gins and presses night and day, -with half an hour’s rest in the evenings.” And, like India, Canada also -puts duties on British goods to protect her own growing industries! - -Meanwhile, also, the rest of the world is hard at work. Let us continue -viewing that same industry of cotton-spinning. The value of the -manufactured-cotton product of Austria has grown from fifteen million -dollars in 1834, to thirty-five million dollars in 1860, and ninety -millions in 1894. The textile manufactures of Belgium trebled themselves -in three years previous to 1894; those of Germany have increased -twenty-fold in sixty years; those of Italy nine-fold in twenty years, -while even such backward countries as Russia and Spain have doubled -their textile industries, one in thirty, the other in twenty years. Most -unexpected and disconcerting of all, however, is Japan, who was once -looked upon as a permanent customer, but whose home industries have been -growing like a magic plant. The textile manufactures of Japan doubled in -value in the three years between 1896 and 1899. From six million pounds -of cotton spun in 1886, Japan advanced to ninety-one million in 1893, -and to one hundred and fifty-three million in 1895, in nine years -increasing twenty-four fold. The value of all her textile produce was -six million dollars in 1887, and it was seventy million dollars in 1895. -Therefore her imports of cotton goods from Europe fell from eight -million dollars in 1884 to four million in 1895. - -And while this was going on in the rest of the world, in the United -States the value of manufactured cotton was rising from forty-five -million dollars in 1840, to two hundred and ten million dollars in 1880, -to two hundred and sixty-seven million dollars in 1890, and to three -hundred and thirty-nine million in 1900! Under such circumstances, is it -any wonder that, at the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war, the -factories of Massachusetts and Canada were running on half-time, and -dozens not running at all; that British cotton manufacturers found that -prices had decreased fifteen per cent. in as many years; that the -weavers of Belgium were starving, and the country was full of riots and -insurrections; and that all the nations of Europe were gathering in the -Far East like vultures about a carcass—knowing that the sole condition -upon which any one of them could maintain its industrial and social -régime for another decade, was its ability to secure the custom of some -hundreds of millions of Chinamen, who are so poor that a handful of rice -and a cotton shirt are all they own in the world! - -I often wonder what our college presidents and other after-dinner -economists make of facts such as these. They do not discuss them in -their speeches. I am acquainted with only one man among all our orthodox -advisers who believes in the permanence of the competitive régime, and -at the same time really understands what it is and what it implies—who -cares for the truth, follows his views to their conclusions, and then -speaks the conclusions. When I first became acquainted with this -gentleman—intellectually acquainted, that is—it affected me painfully, -and even now the sight of his book gives me internal sensations akin to -those of a man in an ascending elevator which comes to a sudden halt. - -The book is “The New Empire,” and the author is Mr. Brooks Adams. He -writes coldly and dispassionately, and with the certainty of the man of -science, whose conclusions may not be disputed. His style is -characteristic; it is brief and to the point, and there are no -apologies. - -Mr. Adams is the apostle of competition. He explains that he is this, -not from choice but from necessity. “Very probably keen competition is -not a blessing. We cannot alter our environment. Nature has cast the -United States into the vortex of the fiercest struggle ever known.” His -theory of life Mr. Adams condenses as follows: “For the purpose of -obtaining a working hypothesis it is assumed that men are evolved from -their environment like other animals, and that their intellectual, -moral, and social qualities may be investigated as developments from the -struggle for life.... Food is the first necessity, but as most regions -produce food more or less abundantly, the pinch lies not so much in the -existence of the food itself as with its distribution.... To satisfy -their hunger men must not only be able to defend their own, but, in case -of dearth, to rob their neighbours, where they cannot buy, for the -weaker must perish.... Life may be destroyed as effectually by peaceful -competition as by war. A nation which is undersold may perish by famine -as completely as if slaughtered by a conqueror.... For these reasons men -have striven to equip themselves well for the combat, and since the end -of the Stone Age no nation in the more active quarters of the globe has -been able to do so without a supply of relatively cheap metal.... Thus -the position of the mines has influenced the direction of travel. The -centre of the mineral production is likely to be the seat of empire. I -believe it is impossible to overestimate the effect upon civilisation of -the variation of trade routes. According to the ancient tradition, the -whole valley of the Syr-Daria was once so thickly settled that a -nightingale could fly from branch to branch of different trees, and a -cat walk from wall to wall and from housetop to housetop, from Kashgar -to the Sea of Aral.” But the trade route across central Asia was -displaced, “and so it has come to pass that Bagdad has sunk into a mass -of hovels, and the valley of Syr-Daria is a wilderness. The fate of the -empire of Haroun-al-Raschid exemplifies an universal law.” - -“The greatest prize of modern times,” in Mr. Adams’s opinion, is -northern China, and upon this the fate of empire rests. His book was -published in 1901, and he considered then that the chances were all with -the United States. Ten years before we had been “tottering upon the -brink of ruin.... Relief came through an exertion of energy and -adaptability, perhaps without a parallel.... In three years America -reorganised her whole social system by a process of consolidation, the -result of which has been the so-called trust. But the trust is in -reality the highest type of administrative efficiency, and therefore of -economy, which has as yet been attained. By means of this consolidation -the American people were enabled to utilise their mines to the full.... -The shock of the impact of the new power seems overwhelming.... In -March, 1897, Pittsburg achieved supremacy in steel, and in an instant -Europe felt herself poised above an abyss.... The Spanish Empire -disintegrated, and Great Britain displayed a lassitude which has -attracted the attention of the entire world.... Germany has also been -perturbed.... Russia has, however, suffered most. - -“The world seems agreed that the United States is likely to achieve, if -indeed she has not already achieved, an economic supremacy. The vortex -of the cyclone is near New York. No such activity prevails elsewhere; -nowhere are undertakings so gigantic, nowhere is administration so -perfect; nowhere are such masses of capital centralised in single hands. -And as the United States becomes an imperial market, she stretches out -along the trade routes which lead from foreign countries to her heart, -as every empire has stretched out from the days of Sargon to our own. -The West Indies drift toward us, the Republic of Mexico hardly longer -has an independent life, and the City of Mexico is an American town. -With the completion of the Panama Canal all Central America will become -a part of our system. We have expanded into Asia, we have attracted the -fragments of the Spanish dominions, and reaching out into China, we have -checked the demands of Russia and Germany, in territory, which, until -yesterday, had been supposed to be beyond our sphere. We are penetrating -Europe, and Great Britain especially is assuming the position of a -dependency, which must rely upon us as the base from which she draws her -food in peace, and without which she could not stand in war.” - -“Supposing the movement of the next fifty years only equal to that of -the last,” continues our author, ... “the United States will outweigh -any single empire, if not all empires combined. The whole world will pay -her tribute. Commerce will flow to her, both from east and west, and the -order which has existed from the dawn of time will be reversed.” - -There is only one peril about all this, in the opinion of Mr. Adams. -“Society is now moving with intense velocity, and masses are gathering -bulk with proportional rapidity. There is also some reason to surmise -that the equilibrium is correspondingly delicate and unstable. If so -apparently slight a cause as a fall of prices for a decade has been -sufficient to propel the seat of empire across the Atlantic, an equally -slight derangement of the administrative functions of the United States -might force it across the Pacific. Prudence therefore would dictate the -adoption of measures to minimise the likelihood of sudden shocks.... If -the New Empire should develop, it must be an enormous complex mass, to -be administered only by means of a cheap, elastic and simple machinery; -an old and clumsy mechanism must, sooner or later, collapse, and in -sinking may involve a civilisation.” - -By “an old and clumsy mechanism” Mr. Adams explains elsewhere that he -means our American political system. Our ancestors were opposed to much -consolidation, and they formed a constitution that was practically -unchangeable, because they believed they had “reached certain final -truths of government.” “The language of the Declaration of Independence, -in which they proclaimed one of these truths (that all men are created -equal), varies little from that of a Catholic council,” says Mr. Adams. -An American is apt to believe such formulas, being “dominated by -tradition.” But a modern thinker views them “as having no necessary -relation to the conduct of affairs in the twentieth century.” “If men -are to be observed scientifically, the standard by which customs and -institutions must be gauged cannot be abstract moral principles, but -success.... Institutions are good when they lead to success in -competition, and bad when they hinder.” - -The United States now forms a “gigantic and growing empire. She occupies -a position of extraordinary strength. Favoured alike by geographical -position, by deposits of minerals, by climate, and by the character of -her population, she has little to fear either in peace or war, from -rivals, provided the friction created by the movement of the masses with -which she has to deal does not neutralise her energy.”... - -“The alternative presented is plain. We may cherish ideals and risk -substantial benefits to realise them. Such is the emotional instinct. Or -we may regard our government dispassionately, as we would any other -matter of business.... The United States has become the heart of the -economic system of the age, and she must maintain her supremacy by wit -and force, or share the fate of the discarded. What that fate is the -following pages tell.... With conservative populations _slaughter_ is -nature’s remedy.” - -Never in my life shall I forget the hours in which I wrestled with these -problems—the weeks and the months of perplexity and despair. It happened -long before I ever heard of Mr. Adams—for of course these thoughts of -his are the thoughts of the time, there is a whole literature of them, -from Kipling, Roosevelt, and the Kaiser down. And to look back over the -weary wastes of history—the blind, hideous nightmare of blood and -tears—and then to look forward, and in all the future see nothing else! -To see never any rest for agonised humanity, only kill or be killed for -ages upon ages! To see this newest and noblest effort of man after -freedom and peace—the American Republic—turned into an engine of -slaughter and oppression! To be shown by cold, scientific formulas that -my reverence for the traditions of Lincoln was merely an “emotional -impulse,” and that the end of it could only be that my country would -share “the fate of the discarded!” I could not believe it—I cried out in -the night-time for deliverance from it. - -[1]There is a certain relentlessness about Mr. Adams, which fills the -reader with rebellion, and makes him think. The average imperialist -carefully avoids doing this; he veils his doctrines with moral phrases, -with the decent pretence of “destiny” at the very least. But Mr. Adams -dances a very war-dance upon the thing called “moral sense”—never before -was it made to seem such an impertinent superfluity. - -Footnote 1: - - Portions of the following argument were published as an article in the - _North American Review_. - -Have you, the reader, never had one smallest doubt? Does it not, for -instance, seem strange to you now, when you think of it, that this -mighty people cannot stay quietly at home and live their own life and -mind their own affairs? How does it happen that our existence as a -nation depends upon expansion? Is it that our population is growing so -fast? But here is our Imperialist President lamenting that our -population is not growing fast enough! And so we have to fight to find -room for our children; and we have to have more children in order that -we may be able to fight! We deplore race suicide, and we give as our -reason that it prevents race-murder! - -Picture to yourself half a dozen men on an island. If the island be -fertile they can get along without any foreign trade, can they not? And -then why cannot a _nation_ do it? According to Mulhall, in 1894 two -millions of our agricultural labourers were raising food for foreign -countries. And all our imports are luxuries, save a few things such as -tea and coffee and some medicines! And still our existence as a nation -depends upon foreign trade—trade with Filipinos and Chinamen, with -Hottentots and Esquimaux! Why? - -Can you, the reader, tell me? We manufacture more than we can use, you -say. Unless we can sell the balance to the Chinamen some of our -factories must close down, and then some of our people would starve. But -why, I ask, cannot our own starving people have the things that go -abroad—some of all that food that goes abroad, for instance? Why is it -that the Chinamen come first and our own people afterwards? Until we -have made some things for the Chinamen, you explain, we have no money to -buy anything ourselves. And so always the Chinamen first. It seems such -a strange, upside-down arrangement—does it not seem so to you? For, look -you, the people of England are in the same fix, and the people of -Germany are in the same fix—the people of all the competing nations are -in the same fix! They actually have to go to war to kill each other, in -order to get a chance to sell something to the Chinamen, so that they -can get money to buy some things for themselves! They were actually -doing that in Manchuria for eighteen months! More amazing yet, they had -to go and murder some of the Chinamen, in order to compel the rest to -buy something, so that they could get money to buy something for -themselves! - -How long can it be possible for a human being, with a spark of either -conscience or brains in him, to gaze at such a state of affairs and not -_know_ that there is something wrong about it? And how long could he -gaze before the truth of it would flash over him—that the reason for it -is that some private party owns all the machinery and materials of -production, and will not give the people anything, until they have first -made something that can be sold! That all the world lies at the mercy of -those who own the materials and machinery, and who leave men to starve -when they cannot make profits! And that this is why we Americans cannot -stay at home and be happy, but are forced to go trading with Filipinos -and Chinamen, Hottentots and Esquimaux, and competing for “empire” with -our brothers in England and Germany and Japan! - -If the reader be an average American, these thoughts will be new to him. -He has been brought up on a diet of misunderstood Malthusianism. He is -told that life has always been a struggle for existence and always will -be; that there is not food enough to go round, and that therefore, every -now and then, the surplus population has to be cut down by famine and -war. It is to be pointed out concerning the doctrine that, while he -swears allegiance to it, he doesn’t like to think about it, and when it -comes to the practical test he shows that he does not really believe it. -Whenever famine comes, he subscribes to a grain-fund, and does his best -to defeat nature; when war comes, he gets up a Red Cross Society for the -same purpose. And yet he still continues to swear by this wiping out of -the nations, and any discussion about abolishing poverty he waves aside -as Utopian. - -The writer may fail in his purpose with this paper, but he will not have -written in vain if he can lead a few men to see the pitiful folly of -that half-baked theory which ranks men with the wild beasts of the -jungle, and ignores the existence of both science and morality. He can -do that, assuredly, with any one whom he can induce to read one little -book—Prince Kropotkin’s “Fields, Factories and Workshops.” - -The book was published nine years ago, but apparently it has not yet had -time to affect the cogitations of the orthodox economists. You still -read, as you have been used to reading since the days of Adam Smith, -that the possibilities of the soil are strictly limited, and that -population always stays just within the starvation limit. Nearly all the -fertile land in this country, for instance, is now in use, and so we -shall soon reach the limit here. The forty million people of Great -Britain have long since passed it, and they would starve to death were -it not for our surplus. And there are portions of the world where -population is even more dense, as in Belgium. All this you have known -from your school-days, and you think you know it perfectly, and beyond -dispute; and so how astonished you will be to be told that it is simply -one of the most stupid and stupefying delusions that ever were believed -and propagated among men; that the limits of the productive -possibilities of the soil have not only not been attained, but are, so -far as science can now see, absolutely unattainable; that not only could -England support with ease her own population on her own soil, and not -only could Belgium do it, but any most crowded portion of the world -could do it, and do it once again, and yet once again, and do it with -two or three hours of work a day by a small portion of its population! -That England could now support, not merely her thirty-three million -inhabitants, but seventy-five and perhaps a hundred million! And that -the United States could now support a billion and a quarter of people, -or just about the entire population of this planet! And that this could -be done year after year, and entirely without any possibility of the -exhaustion of the soil! And all this not any theory of a closet -speculator or a Utopian dreamer, but by methods that are used year after -year by thousands and tens of thousands of men who are making money by -it in all portions of the world—in the market-gardens of Paris and -London, of Belgium, Holland and the island of Jersey, the truck-farms of -Florida and Minnesota, and of Norfolk, Virginia! - -Prince Kropotkin writes: - -“While science devotes its chief attention to industrial pursuits, a -limited number of lovers of nature and a legion of workers, whose very -names will remain unknown to posterity, have created of late a quite new -agriculture, as superior to modern farming as modern farming is superior -to the old three-fields system of our ancestors. They smile when we -boast about the rotation system having permitted us to take from the -field one crop every year, or four crops every three years, because -their ambition is to have six and nine crops from the very same plot of -land every twelve months. They do not understand our talk about good and -bad soils, because they make the soil themselves, and make it in such -quantities as to be compelled yearly to sell some of it; otherwise, it -would raise up the levels of their gardens by half an inch every year. -They aim at cropping, not five or six tons of grass to the acre, as we -do, but from fifty to one hundred tons of various vegetables on the same -space; not twenty-five dollars’ worth of hay, but five hundred dollars’ -worth of vegetables, of the plainest description, cabbages and carrots. -That is where agriculture is going now.” - -The writer tells about all these things in detail. Here is the _culture -maraîchere_ of Paris—a M. Ponce, with a tiny orchard of two and -seven-tenths acres, for which he pays five hundred dollars rent a year, -and from which he takes produce that could not be named short of several -pages of figures: twenty thousand pounds of carrots, twenty thousand of -onions and radishes, six thousand heads of cabbage, three thousand of -cauliflower, five thousand baskets of tomatoes, five thousand dozen -choice fruit, one hundred and fifty-four thousand heads of “salad”—in -all, two hundred and fifty thousand pounds of vegetables. Says the -author: - -“The Paris gardener not only defies the soil—he would grow the same -crops on an asphalt pavement—he defies climate. His walls, which are -built to reflect light and to protect the wall-trees from the northern -winds, his wall-tree shades and glass protectors, his _pépinières_, have -made a rich Southern garden out of the suburbs of Paris.” - -The consequence of this is that the population of the districts of that -city, three millions and a half of people, could, if it were necessary, -be maintained in their own territory, provided with food both animal and -vegetable, from a piece of ground less than sixty miles on a side! And -at the same time, by the same methods, they are raising thirty tons of -potatoes on an acre in Minnesota, and three hundred and fifty bushels of -corn in Iowa, and six hundred bushels of onions in Florida. And with -machinery, on the prairie wheat-farms, they raise crops at a cost which -makes twelve hours and a half of work of _all kinds_ enough to supply a -man with the flour part of his food for a year! And then, as if to cap -the climax, comes Mr. Horace Fletcher with his discovery that all the -ailments of civilised man, (including old age and death) are due to -overeating; and Professor Chittenden with his practical demonstration -that the quantity of food needed by man is about four-tenths of what all -physiologists have previously taught! [2]And while all this has been -going on for a decade, while encyclopedias have been written about it, -our political economists continue to discuss wages and labour, rent and -interest, exchange and consumption, from the standpoint of the dreary, -century-old formula that there must always be an insufficient supply of -food in the world! - -Footnote 2: - - Horace Fletcher: “The A-B-Z of Our Own Nutrition.” R. L. Chittenden: - “Physiological Economy in Nutrition.” - -[Illustration: - - _Courtesy of Wilshire’s Magazine_ -] - -[Illustration: - - _Courtesy of Wilshire’s Magazine_ - - REAPING BY HAND AND BY MACHINERY -] - -Such is the state of affairs with agriculture: and now how is it with -everything else? In the Thirteenth Annual Report of the Commissioner of -Labour (1898), Carroll D. Wright has figured the relative costs of doing -various pieces of work by hand and by modern machinery. Here are a few -of the cases he gives: - -“_Making of 10 plows_: By hand, 2 workmen, performing 11 distinct -operations, working a total of 1,180 hours, and paid $54.46. By machine, -52 workmen, 97 operations, 37½ hours, $7.90. - -“_Making of 500 lbs. of butter_: By hand, 3 men, 7 operations, 125 -hours, $10.66. By machine, 7 men, 8 operations, 12½ hours, $1.78. - -“_Making of 500 yds. twilled cottonade_: By hand, 3 men, 19 operations -7,534 hours, $135.61. By machine, 252 men, 43 operations, 84 hours, -$6.81. - -“_Making of 100 pairs of cheap boots_: By hand, 2 workmen, 83 -operations, 1,436 hours, $408.50. By machine, 113 workmen, 122 -operations, 154 hours, $35.40.” - -Thus we see human labour has been cut to the extent of from eighty to -ninety-five per cent. From other sources I have gathered a few facts -about the latest machinery. In Pennsylvania, some sheep were shorn and -the wool turned into clothing in six hours, four minutes. A steer was -killed, its hide tanned, turned into leather and made into shoes in -twenty-four hours. The ten million bottles used by the Standard Oil -Company every year are now blown by machinery. An electric -riveting-machine puts rivets in steel-frame buildings at the rate of two -per minute. Two hundred and sixty needles per minute, ten million -match-sticks per day, five hundred garments cut per day—each by a -machine tended by one little boy. The newest weaving-looms run through -the dinner hour and an hour and a half after the factory closes, making -cloth with no one to tend them at all. The new basket-machine invented -by Mergenthaler, the inventor of the linotype, is now in operation -everywhere, “making fruit-baskets, berry-baskets and grape-baskets of a -strength and quality never approached by hand labour. Fancy a single -machine that will turn out completed berry-baskets at the rate of twelve -thousand per day of nine hours’ work! This is at the rate of one -thousand three hundred per hour, or over twenty baskets a minute! One -girl, operating this machine, does the work of twelve skilled hand -operators!” - -Since all these wonders are the commonplace facts of modern industry, it -is not surprising that here and there men should begin to think about -them; here is the naïve question recently asked by the editor of a -Montreal newspaper which I happened on: - -“With the best of machinery at the present day, one man can produce -woollens for three hundred people. One man can produce boots and shoes -for one thousand people. One man can produce bread for two hundred -people. Yet thousands cannot get woollens, boots and shoes, or bread. -_There must be some reason for this state of affairs._” - -There is a reason, a perfectly plain and simple reason, which all over -the world the working-people, whom it concerns, are coming to -understand. The reason is that all the woollen manufactories, the boot -and shoe and bread manufactories, and all the sources of the raw -materials of these, and all the means of handling and distributing them -when they are manufactured, belong to a few private individuals instead -of to the community as a whole. And so, instead of the cotton-spinner, -the shoe-operative and the bread-maker having free access to them, to -work each as long as he pleases, produce as much as he cares to, and -exchange his products for as much of the products of other workers as he -needs, each one of these workers can only get at the machines by the -consent of another man, and then does not get what he produces, but only -a small fraction of it, and does not get that except when the owner of -the balance can find some one with money enough to buy that balance at a -profit to him! - -Prof. Hertzka, the Austrian economist, in his “Laws of Social -Evolution,” has elaborately investigated the one real question of -political economy to-day, the actual labour and time necessary for the -creation, under modern conditions, of the necessaries of life for a -people. Here are the results for the Austrian people, of twenty-two -million: - -“It takes 26,250,000 acres of agricultural land, and 7,500,000 of -pasturage, for all agricultural products. Then I allowed a house to be -built for every family, consisting of five rooms. I found that all -industries, agriculture, architecture, building, flour, sugar, coal, -iron, machine-building, clothing, and chemical production, need 615,000 -labourers employed 11 hours per day, 300 days a year, to satisfy every -imaginable want for 22,000,000 inhabitants. - -“These 615,000 labourers are only 12.3 per cent. of the population able -to do work, excluding women and all persons under 16 or over 50 years of -age; all these latter to be considered as not able. - -“Should the 5,000,000 able men be engaged in work, instead of 615,000, -they need only to work 36.9 days every year to produce everything needed -for the support of the population of Austria. But should the 5,000,000 -work all the year, say 300 days—which they would probably have to do to -keep the supply fresh in every department—each one would only work 1 -hour and 22½ minutes per day. - -“But to engage to produce all the _luxuries_, in addition, would take, -in round figures, 1,000,000 workers, classed and assorted as above, or -only 20 per cent. of all those able, excluding every woman, or every -person under 16 or over 50, as before. The 5,000,000 able, strong male -members could produce everything imaginable for the whole nation of -22,000,000 in 2 hours and 12 minutes per day, working 300 days a year.” - -But then you say: If this be true, if two hours’ work will produce -everything, how can everybody go on working twelve hours forever? They -can’t; and that is just why I am writing this book. They can do it only -until they have filled the needs, first of themselves, then of all the -Filipinos and Chinamen, Hottentots and Esquimaux who have money to buy -anything—and then until they have filled all the factories, warehouses -and stores of the country to overflowing. Then they cannot do one single -thing more; then they are out of work. They can go on so long as their -masters can find a market in which to sell their product at a profit; -then they have to stop. And then suddenly (_instantly_, God help them!) -they have to take their choice between two alternatives—between an -Industrial Republic, and a political empire. Either they will hear -Prince Kropotkin, or they will hear Mr. Brooks Adams. Either they will -take the instruments and means of production and produce for use and not -for profit; or else they will forge themselves into an engine of war to -be wielded by a military despot. In that case, they will fling -themselves upon China and Japan, and seize northern China, “the greatest -prize of modern times.” They will enter upon a career of empire, and by -the wholesale slaughter of war they will keep down population, while at -the same time by the wholesale destruction of war they keep down the -surplus of products. So there will be more work for the workers for a -time, and more profits for the masters for a time; until what wealth -there is in northern China has also been concentrated and possessed, -when once more there will begin distress. By that time, however, we -shall have an hereditary aristocracy strongly intrenched, and a -proletariat degraded beyond recall; so that our riots will end in mere -slaughter and waste, and we shall never again see freedom. We shall run -then the whole course of the Roman Empire—of frenzied profligacy among -the wealthy, and beastly ferocity among the populace: until at last we -fall into imbecility, and are overwhelmed by some new, clean race which -the strong heart of nature has poured out. - -Empires have risen and have fallen; but it has not been, as Mr. Adams -asserts, because of “variations of trade routes,” but solely because of -wealth-concentration, with its ensuing corruption, ignorance and -brutality among the populace, and avarice and luxury among the rich. Let -the reader take Froude’s “Cæsar,” and read, in the first chapter, his -picture of the last days of the Roman Republic: - -“An age in so many ways the counterpart of our own, the blossoming -period of the old civilisation, when the intellect was trained to the -highest point that it could reach, and on the great subjects of human -interest, on morals and politics, on poetry and art, even on religion -itself and the speculative problems of life, men thought as we think, -doubted where we doubt, argued as we argue, aspired and struggled after -the same objects. It was an age of material progress and material -civilisation; an age of civil liberty and intellectual culture; an age -of pamphlets and epigrams, of salons and of dinner-parties, or -senatorial majorities and electoral corruption. The highest offices of -state were open in theory to the meanest citizen; they were confined, in -fact, to those who had the longest purses, or the most ready use of the -tongue on popular platforms. Distinctions of birth had been exchanged -for distinctions of wealth. The struggles between plebeians and -patricians for equality of privilege were over, and a new division had -been formed between the party of property and a party that desired a -change in the structure of society. The free cultivators were -disappearing from the soil. Italy was being absorbed into vast estates, -held by a few favoured families and cultivated by slaves, while the old -agricultural population was driven off the land, and was crowded into -towns. The rich were extravagant, for life had ceased to have practical -interest, except for its material pleasures; the occupation of the -higher classes was to obtain money without labour, and to spend it in -idle enjoyment. Patriotism survived on the lips, but patriotism meant -the ascendancy of the party which would maintain the existing order of -things, or would overthrow it for a more equal distribution of the good -things which alone were valued. Religion, once the foundation of the -laws and rule of personal conduct, had subsided into opinion. The -educated in their hearts disbelieved it. Temples were still built with -increasing splendour; the established forms were scrupulously observed. -Public men spoke conventionally of Providence, that they might throw on -their opponents the odium of impiety; but of genuine belief that life -had any serious meaning there was none remaining beyond the circle of -the silent, patient, ignorant multitude.” - -Is not this a parallel to make one pause and think? And if our American -republic is to escape the fate of Rome, to what cause will it be due? -The Roman failure was due to the fact that “the men and women by whom -the hard work of the world was done were chiefly slaves”; those who held -the franchise, the free Roman citizens, were a comparatively small -class, and the patricians bought them with “bread and circuses,” and so -held the reins of power. In our present time, however, those who do the -work and those who have the ballot are the same class; and also they -have the public school and the press, and the whole of modern science at -their backs. More important yet—the all-dominating fact—is the machine. -The Roman chattel-slave worked with his hands, while the modern -wage-slave works with tools of gigantic speed and power; which means -that our modern economic process, while infinitely more cruel and -destructive, makes up for these qualities by the certainty and swiftness -with which it rushes to its end. So it is that a Revolution which in -Rome took centuries to culminate and fail, will require only decades in -America to accomplish its inevitable triumph. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - SOCIAL DECAY - - -If my analysis of the industrial process be correct, there will be two -developments observable in our society: the first a material change, a -kind of economic apoplexy, the concentration of wealth in one portion of -society, accompanied by an intensification of competition, a falling in -the rate of interest, and a steady rise in the cost of living; and -second, a spiritual change coincident with the material one, a protest -against the rising frenzy of greed, and against the constantly -increasing economic pressure. - -It is important that these two processes should be clearly perceived, -and their relationship correctly understood; for there is no aspect of -the whole problem about which there is more bad thinking done. The two -are cause and effect, and they explain and prove each other; and yet -almost invariably you will hear them cited as contradicting each other. -If, for instance, one speaks of the ever-rising tide of misery and -suffering in our society, he will be met with the response that “the -world is getting better all the time.” And when he asks for some proof -of the statement, the reply will be that a great national awakening is -going on, that we are developing new ideals and a new public spirit! - -Similarly I have, time and again, when advocating this or that concrete -remedy, been met with the statement that the cure for the evils of the -time is publicity—that the people must be educated—that we must appeal -to men’s moral sense, etc. It is useless to argue with a person who -cannot perceive that all these things are simply means to an end, and -not the end. You cannot educate people just to be educated; when you -appeal to them, you have to appeal to them to _do_ something. - -One cannot insist too strongly upon the futility of sentiment in -connection with this process. We are dealing with facts, with grim and -brutal and merciless reality. And it will not avail you to try to smooth -it over—it will not do any good to turn your head and refuse to face it. -Here is the monster machine of competition, grinding remorselessly on; -the wealth of the world is rushing with cyclonic speed into one portion -of the social body, and in the other portion whole classes of men and -women and children are being swept out of existence, are being wiped off -the economic slate. Exactly as capital piles up—at compounded and -re-compounded interest—so also piles up the mass of human misery of -every conceivable sort—luxury, debauchery and cynicism at the top, -prostitution, suicide, insanity, and crime at the bottom. Political -corruption spreads further and eats deeper, business practice becomes -more impersonal and more ruthless; and all progress awaits the swing of -the pendulum, the time when the cumulative pressure of all this mass of -misery shall have driven the people to frenzy, and forced them to -overturn the system of class exploitation and greed. - -I purpose to cite in detail the symptoms of disease and decay in our -body politic; before I begin, I wish to put my interpretation of them -into one sentence, which a man can carry away with him. I say that the -evils of our time are due without exception to one single cause—_that -our people are being driven, with constantly increasing rigour, to the -ultimately hopeless task of paying interest upon a mass of capital which -is increasing at compound interest_. - -Consider in the first place the broader aspect of the situation—the -dollar-madness of the time which is the staple theme of the moralist. I -have a friend who is in control of a great business concern, and who -will read this little book with intense disapproval; and yet so -fearfully has this man been driven by the lash of competition that when -I saw him last he could scarcely digest a bit of dry bread, and his hand -trembled so that he could hardly lift a glass of water to his lips. He -talked of his business in his sleep, and he could not go for a walk and -forget it for five minutes. And why? Was it money? He has so much that -his family could not spend it if they lived a hundred years; but it was -his business, it was his life. He was caught in the mill and he could -not get out. His is one of those few industries which have not yet -formed a trust, and he is in the last gasp of the competitive -struggle—he has to plot and plan day and night to get new orders, and to -cut down expenses, and to keep up the dividends upon which his -_reputation_ rests. - -And as it is with him, so it is with the rest of us. We have to play the -game; we have to cut our neighbour’s throat, knowing that otherwise our -neighbour will cut ours. And year after year the pressure of the whole -thing grows more tense. Suicide in the United States has increased from -twelve per one hundred thousand of population in the year 1890, to -sixteen in the year 1896, and seventeen in the year 1902; in Germany it -rose from twenty to nearly twenty-two in the three years between 1900 -and 1903; in England it rose from thirty in 1894, to thirty-five in -1904. According to the _Civiltà Cattolica_ the frequency of this crime -in Europe has increased four hundred per cent. while population has -increased only sixty per cent.; and there have been over one million -suicides recorded in the last twenty-five years. There were ninety-two -thousand insane persons in the United States in 1880, one hundred and -six thousand in 1890, and one hundred and forty-five thousand in 1896. -Per one thousand of population, there were twenty-nine prisoners in -1850, sixty-one in 1860, eighty-five in 1870, one hundred and seventeen -in 1880, and one hundred and thirty-two in 1890. In 1876 the population -of this country consumed eight and sixty-one one-hundredths gallons of -liquor per capita; in 1890 they consumed fifteen and fifty-three -one-hundredths, and in 1902 they consumed nineteen and forty-eight -one-hundredths. The actual consumption at the last date was a billion -and a half of gallons. These figures take but a few lines to state; and -yet no human imagination can form any conception of the frightful mass -of human anguish which they imply. They constitute in themselves a proof -of the thesis here advanced, that there is at work in our society some -great and fundamental evil force.[3] - -Footnote 3: - - “An experienced magistrate, Recorder John W. Goff of New York, told me - not long since that in his judgment the course of crime in this - country is not only towards more frequency and gravity, but that it is - changing its old hot impulsiveness, openness and directness for cold - calculation, secretiveness and deliberate intention to strike without - being discovered. This progress and difference he attributes mediately - and immediately to extending and deepening poverty.” Henry George: - “The Menace of Privilege.” - -Whenever the administrators of our “constantly increasing mass of -capital” find they are no longer making profits, they either reduce -wages, or raise the price of their product. One or the other they must -do, because without profits the machine cannot run. When good times come -they sometimes raise the wages again—because of the unions; but they -never lower the price of the product—the poor consumer is a nonunion -man. Two years ago Mr. Rockefeller put up the price of oil one cent, and -the Beef Trust has done the same about once a year. And of course a -general increase in prices is exactly the same as a general cut in -wages—in either case the consumer has to work a little harder to make -ends meet, and if he cannot work harder, he dies. The coal-miners -rejoiced in the award of the Commission, untroubled by the extra fifty -cents the coal companies put on the product; but when the miner comes to -add up his account with the butcher and the oil man, he finds he is just -where he was before. He does not know why, you understand—it is merely -that he finds himself compelled to do without something he used to -consider a necessity. Dun’s Review, figuring the cost of living in the -United States upon a basis of 100, puts it at 72.455 in 1897, and -102.208 in 1904—an increase of forty-one per cent. Bradstreet, reckoning -in another way, shows an increase from 6.51 in 1897, to 9.05 in 1904, or -thirty-nine per cent. According to the annual report of the Commissary -General, United States Army, the cost of feeding the soldiers of the -army has increased from eighteen cents in 1898 to thirty-four and -six-tenths cents in 1903. Statisticians have figured that the average -employee earns ninety dollars a year more than he did twenty years ago, -while it costs him to live on the same scale, one hundred and thirty -dollars a year more. According to the last United States census the -average compensation per wage earner was only three hundred and forty -dollars, while the value of the manufactured product was two thousand -four hundred and fifty dollars per wage earner. Perhaps no clearer -statement of the intensification of exploitation can be found than in -the fact that whereas the average profit on the products of all -industries was three hundred and seventy-five dollars per wage earner in -1880, in 1900 it had increased to six hundred and twenty-six dollars. - -Another consequence of the increasing strain is “race suicide”; which is -simply a popular term for that “elimination of the middle class” which -Karl Marx predicted half a century ago. The homilies of President -Roosevelt may have caused a few more superfluous bourgeois babies to be -born; but I rather fancy that in general it has been a case of -“everybody’s business and nobody’s business”—that the average -middle-class American has no idea of lowering his standard of living for -the purpose of affecting the census returns. As a result of a -confidential census of “race suicide,” taken in England and reported in -the _Popular Science Monthly_, Mr. Sidney Webb found that the offspring -had been voluntarily limited in two hundred and twenty-four cases out of -a total of two hundred and fifty-two marriages; and out of the one -hundred and twenty-eight cases in which the causes of limitation were -given, economic causes were specified in seventy-three. Similar results -would certainly follow an inquiry in this country; in fact Americans of -refinement have come to have an instinctive feeling of repugnance to a -large family; to have six or seven children is vulgar and “common,” and -suggestive of foreigners. The reason is simply that conditions now -prevail which make large families impossible, except to Poles and -Hungarians and Italians and French-Canadians, people who are too -ignorant to limit their offspring, and whose standards of life are close -to animals—their children earning their own livings in sweatshops, mines -and factories, as soon as they are able to walk. - -And yet, low as our lowest classes have been ground, they are not low -enough. Thousands of agents of steamship companies are gathering the -outcasts from the sewers of Europe and shipping them here. The rate of -immigration into this country was three hundred and eleven thousand in -1899, four hundred and eighty-seven thousand in 1901, six hundred and -forty-eight thousand in 1902, eight hundred and fifty-seven thousand in -1903, and over a million in 1905—more than one-half of the last -shipments being from Hungary, Russia, and southern Italy. All this, you -must understand, is managed by the “System” which rules in our centres -of industry. “In that unhappy anthracite country,” writes Mr. John -Graham Brooks, a person of authority, “the employers will tell you -openly, and with conscious bravado, that they must get cheaper and -cheaper labour to keep wages down, else they could make no money.” And -it was recently estimated by George W. Morgan, State Superintendent of -Elections in New York, that in one past year over six hundred thousand -dollars profit was made by selling false naturalisation papers. The -Federal authorities who had been investigating the frauds believed that -over one hundred thousand sets of such papers had been sold, and that -thirty thousand of these had been issued in New York City. Fully thirty -per cent. of the Italian citizens in the southern district of New York -were estimated to hold false papers. - -Cheaper and cheaper labour! Women’s labour and children’s labour! Over -one million of women are at present working in factories alone in this -country; and one million and three-quarters of children between ten and -fifteen years of age are engaged in gainful occupations. In the cotton -factories of the South, while the number of men employed increased -seventy-nine per cent. in the past ten years, the number of women -increased one hundred and fifty-eight per cent. and the number of -children under sixteen increased two hundred and seventy per cent. The -number employed in Alabama alone was estimated by the Committee on Child -Labour to be fifty thousand, with thirty-four per cent. of them under -twelve years, and ten per cent. under _ten_ years. These children work -twelve hours a day, and the oldest get fifty cents and the youngest get -nine cents. Here are the descriptions of observers: - -“A little boy of six years has been working 12 hours a day, from 6:20 A. -M. to 6:20 P. M. (40 minutes off at noon), for 15 cents per day. - -“Three boys aged respectively 9, 8, and 7 years. The boy aged 9 has been -working two years, the boy aged 8 has been working three years; the boy -aged 7 years has been working two years. These little fellows work 13 -hours a day, from 5:20 A. M. to 6:30 P. M., with twenty minutes for -dinner. In ‘rush’ periods their mill works until 9:30 and 10 P. M. They -were refused a holiday for Thanksgiving and they obtained Christmas Day -only by working till 7 P. M. in order to make up the time.” - -Mrs. Irene Ashby-Macfadden says: “I have talked with a little boy of -seven years, in Alabama, who worked for forty nights; and another child -not nine years old, who at six years old had been on the night shift -eleven months.” - -Miss Jane Addams, of Chicago, says: “In South Carolina, in a large new -mill, I found a child of five working at night. In Columbia, S. C., in a -mill controlled by Northern capital, I stood at ten-thirty at night and -saw many children who did not know their own ages, working from 6 P. M. -to 6. A. M.” - -Here is a description of their surroundings: - -“An atmosphere redolent of oil, thick with lint, the deafening, -incessant whir of machinery, in summer stifling heat, always the -insensate machinery claiming the strained attention of young eyes and -tiny fingers, broken threads clamorously crying for adjustment, all -requiring not hard work, but incessant vigilance, springing feet and -nimble fingers. Young eyes watching anxiously for a fault in these -intricately constructed machines, paying with crushed or broken members -for an error in judgment, for the crime of carelessness, how must the -responsibility—lightly smiled at by adults—weigh upon the barely -developed intelligence of a young child? And after long hours, lagging -footsteps, throbbing heads, wandering attention—what sort of stone is -this, O Brothers, to be placed in the children’s hands who cry for -bread?” - -Several years ago I saw in the _Independent_ an advertisement setting -forth the advantages of the State of Alabama as an investing-place for -capital. I wish I had cut it out. The point of it was that there were no -“labour-troubles” in Alabama; the boycott being prohibited there, and -labour unions being sued for damages and smashed. The advertisement -might have added that there is no factory-legislation to amount to -anything, and that the percentage of native white illiteracy is fourteen -and eight-tenths. There _is_ factory-legislation in Massachusetts, and -it is enforced, and the percentage of native white illiteracy is only -eight-tenths of one per cent., or one-eighteenth of the proportion of -Alabama. So in the last overproduction crisis the mills of Alabama were -running, while those of Massachusetts were shut down; and the special -correspondence of the New York _Evening Post_ contained the following -pregnant item: - -[Illustration: - - _Courtesy of Penna. Child Labor Committee_ -] - -[Illustration: - - _Courtesy of Penna. Child Labor Committee_ - - CHILD LABOR IN GLASS FACTORIES AND COAL MINES -] - -“ATLANTA, Ga., June 12—‘The sceptre of commercial supremacy is falling -from the palsied hand of New England industry; apparently it is to be -taken up by the South. Grasp it firmly. The whole country, torn by -labour disputes, looks to the South to make the final stand against -legislative encroachments on the liberty of the individual workman and -the individual employer.’ - -“So Daniel Davenport of Bridgeport, Conn., spoke to the members of the -Georgia Industrial Association, at their annual convention at Warm -Springs, Ga., last week. This association was one of the earliest to -recognise the depressing effect of restrictive labour legislation upon -the cotton manufacturing of New England; its members fear that similar -legislation in the South would be followed by even more disastrous -consequences, and what has injuriously affected the more hardy and older -establishments of the North, would, they believe, stunt the growth of -the infant industries of the South, if it did not actually crush them.” - -I made an effort in “The Jungle” to show what is happening to the wage -earner in our modern highly concentrated industries, under the régime of -a monopoly price and a competitive wage. I spent seven weeks in -Packingtown studying conditions there, and I verified every smallest -detail, so that as a picture of social conditions the book is as exact -as a government report. But the reader does not have to take my word for -it, there are any number of studies by independent investigators. Let -him go to a library and consult the American Journal of Sociology for -March, 1901, and read the reports of a graduate of the University of -Chicago, who investigated the conditions in the garment-trade in that -city. Here were girls working ten hours a day for forty cents a week. -The average of all the “dressmakers” was but ninety cents a week, and -they were able to find employment on the average only forty-two weeks in -the year. The “pants-finishers” received a dollar and thirty-one cents, -and they were employed only twenty-seven weeks in the year. The general -average in the entire trade was less than two dollars and a half a week, -and the average number of weeks of work was only thirty-one, _making an -average yearly wage for a whole industry of seventy-six dollars and -seventy-four cents per year_. Or let the reader get Mr. Jacob A. Riis’s -pictures of conditions in the slums of New York. In his book, “How the -Other Half Lives,” Mr. Riis states that in the block bounded by Stanton, -Houston, Attorney and Ridge streets, the size of which is two hundred by -three hundred feet, are two thousand two hundred and forty-four human -beings. In the block bounded by Sixty-first and Sixty-second streets, -Amsterdam and West End avenues, are over four thousand. Jack London, in -his “War of The Classes,” quotes the Rev. Dr. Behrends, speaking of the -block bounded by Hester, Canal, Eldridge and Forsyth Streets: “In a room -twelve feet by eight, and five and a half feet high, it was found that -nine persons slept and prepared their food. In another room, located in -a dark cellar, without screens or partitions, were together two men with -their wives and a girl of fourteen, two single men and a boy of -seventeen, two women and four boys, nine, ten, eleven and fifteen years -old—fourteen persons in all!” Apropos of this it may be well to add that -an investigation conducted in Berlin established the fact that with -families living in one room the death rate was one hundred and -sixty-three per thousand, while with families living in three or four -rooms it was twenty. What it was with three or four families living in -one room does not appear. According to a recent report of the New York -Tenement House Commission there were four hundred thousand “dark -rooms”—rooms without any outside opening whatever. Mr. Riis has been so -successful in battling with such conditions that he has been called by -President Roosevelt “the most useful American.” Neither the President -nor Mr. Riis understand economics, and so probably they are both -perplexed at the result of his ten years of effort—which is that rents -on the East Side have gone up about fifty per cent. in the last two -years, and there have been riots and evictions—and a Socialist all but -elected to Congress! - -But Mr. Riis is a business man, and he can figure the social cost of -these evil conditions. Of the New York tenements he writes: - -“They are the hot beds of epidemics that carry death to the rich and -poor alike; the nurseries of pauperism and crime that fill our jails and -police courts; that throw off a scum of forty thousand human wrecks to -the island asylums and workhouses year by year; that turned out in the -last eight years a round half million beggars to prey upon our -charities; that maintain a standing army of ten thousand tramps with all -that that implies; because, above all, they taint the family life with -deadly moral contagion.” - -In his newly published discussion of social problems called “In the Fire -of the Heart,” Mr. Ralph Waldo Trine writes of the country’s situation -as follows: - -“And over ten millions of our people are in a state of chronic poverty -at this very hour—almost one out of every seven, or, to make full -allowance, one out of every eight of all our people are in the condition -where they have not sufficient food, and clothing, and shelter to keep -them in a state of physical and mental efficiency. And the sad part of -it is that large additional numbers—numbers most appalling for such a -country as this, are each year, and through no fault of their own, -dropping into this same condition. - -“And a still sadder feature of it is, that each year increasingly large -numbers of this vast army of people, our fellow-beings, are, unwillingly -on their part and in the face of almost superhuman efforts to keep out -of it till the last moment, dropping into the pauper class—those who are -compelled to seek or to receive aid from a public, or from private -charity, in order to exist at all, already in numbers about four -million, while increasing numbers of this class, the pauper, sink each -year, and so naturally, into the vicious, the criminal, the inebriate -class. In other words, we have gradually allowed to be built around us a -social and economic system which yearly drives vast numbers of hitherto -fairly well-to-do, strong, honest, earnest, willing and admirable men -with their families into the condition of poverty, and under its weary, -endeavour-strangling influences many of these in time, hoping against -hope, struggling to the last moment in their semi-incapacitated and -pathetic manner to keep out of it, are forced to seek or to accept -public or private charity, and thus sink into the pauper class. - -“It is a well-authenticated fact that strong men, now weakened by -poverty, will avoid it to the last before they will take this step. Many -after first parting with every thing they have, break down and cry like -babes when the final moment comes, and they can avoid it no longer. -Numbers at this time take their own lives rather than pass through the -ordeal, and still larger numbers desert their families for whom they -have struggled so valiantly—it is almost invariably the woman who makes -her way to the charity agencies. The public and private charities cost -the country during the past year as nearly as can be _conservatively_ -arrived at, over two hundred million dollars. - -“Moreover, a strange law seems to work with an accuracy that seems -almost marvellous. It is this. Notwithstanding the brave and almost -superhuman struggles that are gone through with, on the part of these, -before they can take themselves to the public or private charity for -aid, when the step is once taken, they gradually sink into the condition -where all initiative and all sense of self-reliance seems to be stifled -or lost, and it is only in a rare case now and then that they ever cease -to be dependent, but remain content with the alms that are doled out to -them—practically never do they rise out of that condition again. Talk -with practically any charity agent or worker, one with a sufficiently -extended experience, and you will find that there is scarcely more than -one type of testimony concerning this. And as this condition gradually -becomes chronic, and endeavour and initiative and self-respect are lost, -a certain proportion then sink into the condition of the criminal, the -diseased, the chronically drunk, the inebriate, from which reclamation -is still more difficult.” - -The fullest and most authoritative treatise upon conditions in America -is of course Mr. Robert Hunter’s “Poverty.” Mr. Hunter is a settlement -worker, and he has gathered his material in the midst of the conditions -of which he writes. He quotes, for instance, the following definite -facts, which are obtained from official sources: - -“1903: twenty per cent. of the people of Boston in distress. - -“1897: nineteen per cent. of the people of New York state in distress. - -“1899: eighteen per cent. of the people of New York state in distress. - -“1903: fourteen per cent. of the families of Manhattan evicted. - -“Every year ten per cent. (about) of those who die in Manhattan have -pauper burials.” “On the basis of these figures,” Mr. Hunter continues, -“it would seem fair to estimate that certainly not less than fourteen -per cent. of the people, in prosperous times (1903), and probably not -less than twenty per cent. in bad times (1897), are in distress. The -estimate is a conservative one, for despite all the imperfections which -may be found in the data, and there are many, any allowance for the -persons who are given aid by sources not reporting to the State Board, -or for those persons not aided by the authorities of Boston, or for -those persons who, although in great distress, are not evicted, must -counterbalance the duplications or errors which may exist in the figures -either of distress or evictions. - -“These figures, furthermore, represent only the distress which manifests -itself. There is no question but that only a part of those in poverty, -in any community, apply for charity. I think anyone living in a -Settlement will support me in saying that many families who are -obviously poor—that is, underfed, underclothed, or badly housed—never -ask for aid or suffer the social disgrace of eviction. Of course, no one -could estimate the proportion of those who are evicted or of those who -ask assistance to the total number in poverty; for whatever opinion one -may have formed is based, not on actual knowledge, gained by inquiry, -but on impressions, gained through friendly intercourse. My own opinion -is that probably not over half of those in poverty ever apply for -charity, and certainly not more than that proportion are evicted from -their homes. However, I should not wish an opinion of this sort to be -used in estimating, from the figures of distress, etc., the number of -those in poverty. And yet from the facts of distress, as given, and from -opinions formed, both as a charity agent and as a Settlement worker, I -should not be at all surprised if the number of those in poverty in New -York, as well as in other large cities and industrial centres, rarely -fell below twenty-five per cent. of all the people.” - -Such are the conditions in America to-day; what they would be in the -future, if present tendencies went on unchecked, the reader may learn by -going to Europe, where industrial evolution has been slower in coming to -a head, and where the people have been held down by religious -superstition and military despotism. Let him take Mr. Richard Whiteing’s -“No. 5 John Street”; or, if he has a particularly strong stomach, let -him try Jack London’s “People of the Abyss,” or Charles Edward Russell’s -terrifying story of the poverty of India, in his “Soldiers of the Common -Good.” Here is a scene in a London park, selected, by way of example, -from the first-named book: - -“We went up the narrow, gravelled walk. On the benches on either side -was arrayed a mass of miserable and diseased humanity, the sight of -which would have impelled Doré to more diabolical flights of fancy than -he ever succeeded in achieving. It was a welter of filth and rags, of -all manner of loathsome skin-diseases, open sores, bruises, grossness, -indecency, leering monstrosities and bestial faces. A chill, raw wind -was blowing, and these creatures huddled there in their rags, sleeping -for the most part, or trying to sleep. Here were a dozen women, ranging -in age from twenty years to seventy. Next a babe, possibly nine months -old, lying asleep, flat on the hard bench, with neither pillow nor -covering, nor with anyone looking after it. Next, half a dozen men -sleeping bolt upright, and leaning against one another in their sleep. -In one place a family group, a child asleep in its sleeping mother’s -arms, and the husband (or male mate) clumsily mending a dilapidated -shoe. On another bench a woman trimming the frayed strips of her rags -with a knife, and another woman with thread and needle, sewing up rents. -Adjoining, a man holding a sleeping woman in his arms. Farther on, a -man, his clothing caked with gutter mud, asleep, with his head in the -lap of a woman, not more than twenty-five years old, and also asleep. -‘Those women there,’ said our guide, ‘will sell themselves for -thru’pence or tu’pence, or a loaf of stale bread.’ He said it with a -cheerful sneer.” - -And then turn back to the preface: “It must not be forgotten that the -time of which I write was considered ‘good times’ in England. The -starvation and lack of shelter I encountered constituted a chronic -condition of misery, which is never wiped out, even in the periods of -greatest prosperity. Following the summer in question came a hard -winter. To such an extent did the suffering and positive starvation -increase that society was unable to cope with it. Great numbers of the -unemployed formed into processions, as many as a dozen at a time, and -daily marched through the streets of London crying for bread. Mr. Justin -McCarthy, writing in the month of January, 1903, to the New York -_Independent_, briefly epitomises the situation, as follows: ‘The -workhouses have no space left in which to pack the starving crowds who -are craving every night at their doors for food and shelter. All the -charitable institutions have exhausted their means in trying to raise -supplies of food for the famishing residents of the garrets and cellars -of London lanes and alleys.’” - -And then consider that in the city where this was going on, the leading -newspaper (the _Times_) was printing a three-column article setting -forth the fact that competition had grown so great that it was now no -longer possible for a “gentleman” to maintain his status with a family -in London upon an income of half a million dollars a year! - -Yet if one wishes for social contrasts, there is really no need of -crossing the ocean. Mr. Schwab’s nine million dollar palace in New York -will answer the purpose; or so will the St. Regis Hotel. The swinging -doors of the St. Regis, so the visitor is informed, cost ten thousand -dollars apiece; the panelling of the smoking-room cost forty-five -thousand dollars, and the carriage-entrance rain-shed cost eighty-five -thousand dollars. The walls of it are covered with a silk brocade, which -cost twenty dollars a yard, and the ceiling is gilded with material -costing one dollar an ounce. It cost a hundred thousand dollars to fit -up the office, and four million dollars to build the whole structure. A -two-room apartment in it, without meals, is valued at nine thousand six -hundred dollars a year; and for your meals you may try—say, “milk-fed -chicken” at two dollars for each tiny portion. - -[Illustration: - - _Courtesy of Penna. Child Labor Committee_ -] - -[Illustration: - - _From Stereograph, Copyrighted 1906, by Underwood & Underwood_ - - THE SOCIAL CONTRAST IN NEW YORK -] - -Perhaps this seems monstrous; but it really is not—it is a perfectly -inevitable consequence of industrial competition, and of the “constantly -increasing mass of capital.” Mr. John Jacob Astor, who owns the hotel, -has an income of more than its value every year, and he is in desperate -straits to find any way of investing it by which he can make profits. -There are seven thousand millionaires in this country, who want the -best, the only best they know being what costs the most; and so he knew -that if he built a hotel exceeding in cost any other hotel in the world, -that hotel would pay him profits. For precisely the same reason a number -of buildings are now being torn down in Brooklyn to make room for a -graveyard for wealthy people’s pet dogs. - -The founder of the Astor fortune came to New York a century ago and -bought land while it was cheap. Millions of men have since contributed -their labour to the building up of New York; and no one of them did -anything without adding to the wealth of the Astors—who merely sat by -and watched. Now the property of the family is estimated to be worth -four hundred and fifty millions of dollars, according to Mr. Burton J. -Hendricks’s recent account of it in _McClure’s Magazine_. It includes -half a dozen hotels like the St. Regis; it includes also innumerable -slum-tenements with “dark rooms.” Its value grows by leaps and -bounds—one corner lot on Fifth Avenue “made” them seven hundred thousand -dollars in two years. To Mr. William Waldorf Astor alone the harried and -overdriven population of Manhattan Island delivers eight or ten millions -of tribute money every year; and Mr. William Waldorf Astor resides at -Clieveden, Taplow, Bucks, England—giving as his reason the fact that -“America it not a fit place for a gentleman to live in.” - -The fundamental characteristic of the régime under which we live is that -it values a man only in so far as he is capable of producing wealth. -Hence one of the signs of the increasing difficulty of making profits -will be an increasing recklessness of human life. Our railroads killed -six thousand people in 1895, seven thousand in 1899, eight thousand in -1902, nine thousand in 1903, and ten thousand in 1904; they injured -thirty-three thousand in 1895, forty-four thousand in 1899, sixty-four -thousand in 1902, seventy-six thousand in 1903, and eighty-four thousand -in 1904. According to the statistics of the Interstate Commerce -Commission, our railways injured one passenger out of every one hundred -and eighty-three thousand passengers they carried in 1894; in 1904 they -injured one out of every seventy-eight thousand. If casualties are to -continue increasing at the same rate until 1912, there are one hundred -thousand people under sentence of sudden death, and a number doomed to -be maimed greater than the entire population of the District of -Columbia, Delaware, Montana, Arizona, Nevada, Wyoming, Alaska, Idaho and -the Hawaiian Islands. - -In 1890, before the present appalling slaughter began, we were killing, -of a given number of employees, twice as many as the State-owned roads -of Germany, and three times as many as Austria. The street railroads of -New York City alone take one human life every day, or one in ten -thousand of the population every year. People walk about the streets -carelessly, but tremble when there is a thunderstorm; yet the -street-cars kill ten persons in a year for every one that the lightning -kills in the lifetime of a man! - -These things create indignation in our pulpits and editorial rooms; but -any practical railroad man could tell you that to stop them would be to -overthrow society. The reason they occur is that it costs less to pay -the damages than it would to take proper precautions, and if the -railroads were forced to take the precautions, many of them would have -to shut down at once. The situation is covered so completely in the -following news item, clipped from the Minneapolis _Journal_ of May 26, -1904, that I cannot do better than to quote it entire: - -“Because James J. Hill guaranteed eight per cent. to the stockholders of -the Burlington when he assumed control of that system, many of the older -employees are undergoing what they consider real hardship. Ten days ago -the _Journal_ voiced the complaints of Burlington employees on other -parts of the system, mentioning the fact that the runs to and from the -Twin Cities had been combined in some way, to squeeze more work out of -the train crews. The new schedule has now been in effect longer and -complaints are correspondingly more emphatic. No dissatisfaction is -openly expressed, as the Hill guillotine gets nobody more surely than -the man who talks too much. - -“Trainmen complain that with the long runs and long hours they are -forced to work to a point almost beyond human endurance. They are -haunted by the fear of accidents from unpreventable neglect of duty. -They hold that the running of trains in safety depends upon the -vigilance and alertness of the crews and they cannot do themselves and -their employers justice, when compelled to work long hours on fast runs. - -“Crews are now running from Minneapolis to Chicago, a distance of about -430 miles, with seventy-two stops. The men start from Minneapolis at -7:30 A. M., and arrive, on locals, in Chicago at 9:35 P. M. The men -leaving Chicago on No. 50 at 10:50 P. M. arrive in Minneapolis at 1:20 -P. M. the next afternoon. - -“Trainmen declare that in making this schedule the management has broken -faith and virtually abrogates previous working agreements. Hints of a -strike are made. In discussing the conditions an old Burlington employee -said: - -“‘A conductor and his crew feel a sense of responsibility for the lives -of those upon a train. A man can only be worked so far when he becomes -actually irresponsible. I hate to feel that I am in any way responsible -for the lives of passengers on a train when the length of the run and -hours have worked me beyond my limit. There is no flagman on the train, -and the brake-man has to help load baggage, brake, flag, and do anything -that comes up. He is certainly not in good condition to be an alert -flagman on the latter end of the run.’”[4] - -Footnote 4: - - “In the matter of rigging the stock-market the American railroad - manager has no superior. In the matter of providing safe and - expeditious facilities for transportation he has no inferior in any - nation of the first rank. He can manipulate political conventions. He - can debauch legislatures. He can send his paid attorneys to Congress - and sometimes put them on the bench. In these matters he is a master, - just as he is a master in the art of issuing and juggling securities. - It is only in the operation of railroads that he is deficient. The - mere detail of transporting lives and property safely and - satisfactorily he seems to regard as unworthy of his genius. His - equipment is usually inadequate. His road-bed is generally second - class or worse. His employees are undisciplined and his system is - archaic. Whatever the causes may be, the fact remains that, judged by - the results of operation, the American railroad manager is - incompetent, and the records of death and disaster prove it.”—_New - York World._ - -In the same way it is cheaper for a theatre-manager to bribe police -officials with free tickets than to comply with the regulations of the -Fire Department; and so it is that five or six hundred people are burned -up in five minutes. It is easier to bribe a building inspector than it -is to put steel rivets in a building, and so you have a Darlington Hotel -collapse, and kill ten or twenty workingmen. And a few weeks later came -the _Slocum_ disaster, and a helpless steamboat captain was punished, -and the responsible capitalists not even named. At the same time, in -Trenton, New Jersey, some other capitalists were arrested for making -life-preservers with iron bars in them. Of course they were not -punished, for everyone understands that such things cannot be helped. In -1893 the number of miners killed in the United States and Canada was two -and fifty-three hundredths per thousand; in 1902 it was three and -fifty-one hundredths. Better precautions against accidents were one of -the demands for making which the miners of Colorado were strung up to -telegraph poles, shut in bull-pens, beaten and “deported.” Their -mortality was thirty-two per thousand in ten years; the mortality among -railroad brake-men is now thirty-two per thousand in _two_ years, so it -was very unreasonable of the miners to complain. - -There are annually, says _Social Service_, 344,900 accidents among the -7,086,000 people engaged in this country in manufacturing and mechanical -pursuits. It calculates that if the percentage of accidents among the -other 23,000,000 employed in other occupations is only one-tenth as much -as the above, it means that another 100,000 must be added to the list. -“This is perpetual war on humanity,” the paper goes on to say, “and more -bloody than any civil or international war known to history. This war is -costing suffering, physical and mental, which is beyond calculation. It -is costing great economic loss. It is creating a sense of wrong and a -feeling of class-hatred on the part of those who are its victims.” - -In the same category of waste of human life belong all the facts of -over-driving, long hours, and irregular employment among workingmen. -Under the old Southern system of slavery the master took care of his -servant the year round; but the wage-slave is kept only while he is -needed, and only while he remains at his maximum of working efficiency. -Recently in a single month, I clipped from a New York newspaper, items -to the effect that the Brooklyn street-railroad combine was discharging -all of its superannuated employees; that the master-pilots of the Great -Lakes had agreed to engage no man over forty; that the Delaware and -Hudson Railroad Company had just published a rule barring all over -thirty-five; and that the Carnegie Steel Company had done the same. - -And in this same category of waste of human life belong all the facts of -woman and child-labour. For of course the children die; and the women -produce deformed and idiot and degenerate offspring, to fill our asylums -and prisons. The reader is referred, for first-hand accounts of the life -of the American woman wage-slave, to Van Vorst’s “The Woman who Toils,” -and to that fascinating human document, “The Long Day.” In Mr. John -Spargo’s “The Bitter Cry of the Children,” he will find a mass of facts -about child-labour, the most hideous of all the evils incidental to the -process of wealth-concentration. - -There is, if one had only time to point it out, no tiniest nook of our -society where human lives are not being ground up for profit; the -capitalists are ground up, as Mr. Schwab was, and the meanest woman of -the town shares his fate. There was a time when a prostitute was an -independent person, who could support herself until she grew old; -nowadays, under the stress of competition, every city has its -prostitution trust. It takes capital to pay the police, and the business -is therefore in the hands of the proprietors of houses, who buy young -girls out of the slums and immigrant population by thousands and tens of -thousands, use them up in a year or two, and then fling them out into -the gutters to die, often when they are not out of their teens. In the -same way the gambler and the saloon-keeper are now as much employees as -are the officials of the Standard Oil Company: the whole profits of -these occupations flowing into the hands of some “captain of industry” -as inevitably as all the rills on the mountain-side flow into the river. -All of these facts are perfectly familiar, but for the sake of -concreteness, I will quote a paragraph from Mr. Steffens’s book, “The -Shame of the Cities.” He is telling of the city of Pittsburg: - -“The vice-graft ... is a legitimate business, conducted, not by the -police, but in an orderly fashion by syndicates, and the chairman of one -of the parties at the last election, said it was worth two hundred and -fifty thousand dollars a year. I saw a man who was laughed at for -offering seventeen thousand five hundred dollars for the slot-machine -concession; he was told that it was let for much more. ‘Speakeasies’ -(unlicensed drinking places) pay so well that when they earn five -hundred dollars or more in twenty-four hours their proprietors often -make a bare living. Disorderly houses are managed by ward syndicates. -Permission is had from the syndicate real-estate agent, who alone can -rent them. The syndicate hires a house from the owners at, say, -thirty-five dollars a month, and he lets it to a woman at from -thirty-five to fifty dollars a week. For furniture, the tenant must go -to the ‘official furniture-man,’ who delivers one thousand dollars worth -of ‘fixings’ for a note for three thousand dollars, on which high -interest must be paid. For beer the tenant must go to the ‘official -bottler,’ and pay two dollars for a one-dollar case of beer; for wines -and liquors to the ‘official liquor-commissioner,’ who charges ten -dollars for five dollars’ worth; for clothes to the ‘official -wrapper-maker.’ These women may not buy shoes, hats, jewellery, or any -other luxury or necessity except from the official concessionaries, and -then only at the official, monopoly prices.” - -And by way of conclusion, in reference to this particular aspect of the -consequences of the “increasing mass of capital,” let me quote the -following little incident, which a friend of mine clipped from one of -the New York newspapers: - -“One night a young girl called at the entrance to the House of the Good -Shepherd in New York City; she asked for food and a place to sleep. -’Twas a pitiful tale she told the matron in charge. She told of her -parents having died and left her alone in the great dark city; she told -of jobs she had secured but was discharged owing to her physical -inability to keep pace with the machine, and as a last resort she -appealed to this institution for succour and support. The matron in -attendance, after having heard this terrible tale of woe and being -thoroughly convinced as to the girl’s honesty and integrity, as well as -to her virtue, informed her that she could not take her in there, as -that institution was established for the reclamation of fallen women -only. The poor girl went away, but on the following night she -returned.... ‘You may take me now,’ she said, ‘you may take me now, for -I am a fallen woman!’” - - - - - CHAPTER V - BUSINESS AND POLITICS - - -In this discussion of the process of wealth-concentration, I have so far -purposely omitted all mention of the most important aspect of the -phenomenon—the seizing by the “constantly increasing mass of capital” of -the powers of the State, and their use for purpose of intensifying -exploitation. I have avoided that feature, partly because it is -conspicuous enough to deserve a chapter to itself, but mainly in order -to make clear my view-point, that the phenomenon, while important, is -secondary—an effect rather than a cause. - -This is, of course, contrary to the view usually taken. In most -discussions of the problems of the time, it is taken for granted that -“government by special interests” is the source of all the evil. But -while recognising how enormously the process of wealth concentration has -been accelerated by the political alliance, it is my thesis that exactly -the same conditions would have developed had economic forces been left -to work out their own results. I maintain that economic competition is a -self-destroying stage in social development; and that to regard it as -permanent is simply not to realise what it is. For competition is a -struggle, and the purpose of every struggle is a victory; to conceive of -a struggle without the intention to end the struggle, is simply -impossible in the nature of things. In the industrial combat the end is -the victory of a class, and the reduction of all other classes to -servitude—with the ultimate extinction of all individuals not needed by -the victors. - -Again, it is generally the custom to regard this phenomenon of -class-government with indignation and astonishment, as if it were -something abnormal and monstrous; but from the point of view of this -discussion, it is a perfectly natural and inevitable incident of the -intensification of competition. You are to picture Capital, seeking -profits; like a wild beast in a cage, pacing about, watching for an -opening, here and there; like water, caught behind a dam, creeping up, -crowding forward, feeling for a weak spot. And the one thing to be -determined is: _Is there any way in which profits can be made through -the powers of government?_ If so, it is quite certain that there will be -an attempt made by capital to get possession of those powers. - -You can see the thing in its germ in any primitive community; I once -amused myself by studying it in a little village in Canada, where the -trusts had never been heard of. The storekeeper was a rich man, and he -had a “pull” with the squire and with the constable and with the -game-warden; he did little favours for them, and they for him—so that a -poor “Frenchman” who was suspected of stealing a pair of socks found -himself in jail before he knew why. And then there was a big “lumber -man” in the township; he owned all the jobs, and he traded with the -storekeeper, and the storekeeper in return ran the political machine. -That was the whole story of the politics of the district—except that -there were several fellows of independent temperament, who grumbled, and -who constituted the germ of the Socialist movement. - -Political corruption first became epidemic in our country in 1861, when -the government had to go into business upon an enormous scale. There -were contractors—and competition. And then, of course, there was the -tariff, a shrewd scheme to compel the people to pay high prices without -knowing it. Later on someone discovered the brilliant idea of the -franchise, the selling for a nominal sum of the right to tax the public -without limit. And so capital went into politics. - -At first it did a purely retail business, buying up the legislators as -it needed them; but soon the thing became systematised, and Capital got -wholesale prices—it financed the machines, and chose its own candidates. -The process culminated at the beginning of the present decade, when “big -business” was in practically undisputed possession of both the majority -parties, of Congress and the Presidency, and of the governments in every -town, city and state in America. - -You see, it was as if our society was in unstable equilibrium. We had a -political democracy, and we were developing an industrial aristocracy; -and it was impossible for them to exist side by side. Innocent people -had taken it for granted that they could; but it is no more possible for -a democracy to be aristocratic in any of its aspects and remain a -democracy, than it is for a virtuous man to be vicious in one -particular, and remain a virtuous man. Democracy is not a code of laws, -nor is it a system of government—it is an attitude of soul. It has as -its basis a perception of the spiritual nature of man, from which -follows the corollary that all men either are equal, or must become so. -And so between aristocracy and democracy, wherever and under whatever -aspects they appear, there is, and forever must be, eternal and deadly -war. Here is the testimony and the warning of the greatest of American -democrats, Abraham Lincoln, who if he could rise from his grave to speak -to us in these times of our country’s trial could speak no more -pertinent words than these. He had declared that the Slavery question -was one between right and wrong. “Right and wrong,” he said—“that is the -issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of -Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle -between these two principles—right and wrong—throughout the world. They -are the principles which have stood face to face from the beginning of -time and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of -humanity, and the other is the divine right of kings. It is the same -principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit -that says: ‘You work and toil and earn bread, and I’ll eat it.’ No -matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who -seeks to bestride the people of his own nation, and live by the fruit of -their labour, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving -another race, it is the same tyrannical principle.” - -It is worth while pointing out the utter hopelessness of the struggle. -On the one hand was the capitalist, with his millions, alert, aggressive -and resourceful; he had an army of experts to help him—shrewd attorneys, -skilful lobbyists, newspapers and publicity bureaus, political henchmen -trained all their lifetime to the trade; he was cold and unscrupulous—as -a rule he was not a man at all, but a corporation, a thing without a -soul, a monster “clamouring for dividends.” He had a thousand devices, a -thousand pretences, a thousand disguises. And opposed to him was the -Public—unorganised, uninformed, and sound asleep! - -Recently, when Mr. H. G. Wells was in this country, I had a long talk -with him, and he asked me how I accounted for the saturnalia of -corruption in our political life; he said that our people did not seem -to him degraded or brutal, and he could not understand why things were -so much worse here than in England. I said that in England the economic -process had been modified by the existence of an hereditary aristocracy, -holding over from old times and having high traditions of public -service. By nature this aristocracy sympathised with capital, and to a -certain extent fraternised with it; but it would not abdicate to it, and -occasionally, to preserve its own power, it made concessions to the -public, and so served as a check upon the forces of commercialism. On -the other hand the American people had only themselves to rely upon and -until they had been goaded into revolt, there was no limit whatever to -the power of greed. - -I suppose it is unnecessary to offer any proofs of the existence of -“government by special interests.” If there is anyone who has been out -of the country for the past three years and has not read any of the -magazines, it will be sufficient to refer him to the two books of Mr. -Lincoln Steffens—“The Shame of the Cities” and “The Struggle for Self -Government.” - -Steffens himself is a proof of the evil conditions: a man who has spent -ten years studying our politics, who went to the task with no -preconceptions, and only a passion for honesty and fair dealing—and who -has been made into a thorough-going radical by the irresistible logic of -facts. It was his particular service to the Republic to trace the stream -of graft to its fountain-head, which is what he calls “big business”; -and the series of papers in which he proved that thesis to our people -will long be studied as models of the higher journalism—the journalism -which is to ordinary newspaper writing what statesmanship is to -politics. - -As I say, there is no need of proof; but simply by way of illustration, -and to call the picture to the reader’s mind, let me quote a few -paragraphs from one of these papers—“Pittsburg, a City Ashamed”: - -“The railroads began the corruption of this city. There always was some -dishonesty, as the oldest public men I talked with said, but it was -occasional and criminal till the first great corporation made it -business-like and respectable. The Pennsylvania Railroad was in the -system from the start, and as the other roads came in and found the city -government bought up by those before them, they purchased their rights -of way by outbribing the older roads, then joined the ring to acquire -more rights for themselves and to keep belated rivals out. As -corporations multiplied and capital branched out, corruption increased -naturally, but the notable characteristic of the ‘Pittsburg plan’ of -misgovernment was that it was not a haphazard growth, but a deliberate, -intelligent organisation.... The Pennsylvania Railroad is a power in -Pennsylvania politics, it is part of the State ring, and part also of -the Pittsburg ring. The city paid in all sorts of rights and privileges, -streets, bridges, etc., and in certain periods the business interests of -the city were sacrificed to leave the Pennsylvania road in exclusive -control of a freight traffic it could not handle alone.” - -The “bosses” who ruled Pittsburg were Magee and Flynn, and Mr. Steffens -prints in full the agreement between them and Senator Quay, by which -they divided the boodle of the state. “Magee and Flynn were the -government and the law. How could they commit a crime? If they wanted -something from the city they passed an ordinance granting it, and if -some other ordinance was in conflict it was repealed or amended. If the -laws of the state stood in the way, so much the worse for the laws of -the state; they were amended. If the constitution of the state proved a -barrier, as it did to all special legislation, the Legislature enacted a -law for cities of the second class (which was Pittsburg alone) and the -courts upheld the Legislature. If there were opposition on the side of -public opinion, there was a use for that also. - -“As I have said before, unlawful acts were exceptional and unnecessary -in Pittsburg. Magee did not steal franchises and sell them. His councils -gave them to him. He and the busy Flynn took them, and built railways, -which Magee sold and bought and financed and conducted, like any other -man whose successful career is held up as an example for young men. His -railways, combined into the Consolidated Traction Company, were -capitalised at thirty million dollars. There was scandal in Chicago over -the granting of charters for twenty-eight and fifty years. Magee’s read, -‘for nine hundred and fifty years,’ ‘for nine hundred and ninety-nine -years,’ ‘said Charter is to exist a thousand years,’ ‘said Charter is to -exist perpetually,’ and the Councils gave franchises for the ‘life of -the charter.’” - -And all this was a regular profession, a custom of the country, which -its devotees studied. “Two of them told me repeatedly that they -travelled about the country looking up the business, and that a -fellowship had grown up among boodling aldermen of the leading cities in -the United States. Committees from Chicago would come to St. Louis to -find out what ‘new games’ the St. Louis boodlers had, and they gave the -St. Louisans hints as to how they ‘did the business’ in Chicago. So the -Chicago and St. Louis boodlers used to visit Cleveland and Pittsburg and -all the other cities, or, if the distance was too great, they got their -ideas by those mysterious channels which run all through the ‘World of -Graft.’ The meeting place in St. Louis was Decker’s stable, and ideas -unfolded there were developed into plans which the boodlers say to-day, -are only in abeyance. In Decker’s stable was born the plan to sell the -Union Market; and though the deal did not go through, the boodlers, when -they saw it failing, made the market-men pay ten thousand dollars for -killing it. This scheme is laid aside for the future. Another that -failed was to sell the court-house, and this was well under way when it -was discovered that the ground on which this public building stands was -given to the city on condition that it was to be used for a court-house -and nothing else.... The grandest idea of all came from Philadelphia. In -that city the gas-works were sold out to a private concern, and the -water-works were to be sold next. The St. Louis fellows have been trying -ever since to find a purchaser for their water-works. The plant is worth -at least forty million dollars. But the boodlers thought they could let -it go at fifteen million dollars, and get one million dollars or so -themselves for the bargain. ‘The scheme was to do it and skip,’ said one -of the boodlers who told me about it, ‘and if you could mix it all up -with some filtering scheme it could be done. Only some of us thought we -could make more than one million dollars out of it—a fortune apiece. It -will be done some day.’... - -“Such, then, is the boodling system as we see it in St. Louis. -Everything the city owned was for sale by the officers elected by the -people. The purchasers might be willing or unwilling takers; they might -be citizens or outsiders; it was all one to the city government. So long -as the members of the combines got the proceeds they would sell out the -town. Would? They did and they will. If a city treasurer runs away with -fifty thousand dollars there is a great halloo about it. In St. Louis -the regularly organised thieves who rule have sold fifty million -dollars’ worth of franchises and other valuable municipal assets. This -is the estimate made for me by a banker, who said that the boodlers got -not one-tenth of the value of the things they sold.” - -Two or three years ago, before I met Mr. Steffens, I thought that he -knew only as much as he “let on”; and so I wrote him an “open letter,” -to point out the consequences of this régime of “big business.” The -story of this manuscript is an amusing one, and worth telling for the -light it throws upon my argument. Mr. Steffens was so good as to say -that it was the best criticism of himself that he had ever read; and it -was scheduled for publication in one of our three or four largest -magazines. But alas—it was purchased by the enthusiastic young editor, -and then read by the elderly and unenthusiastic proprietor. When I -rebelled at the long wait which followed, the proprietor invited me to -dinner, and unbosomed his soul to me. He was the dearest old gentleman I -ever met, and he put his arm about me while he explained the situation. -“My boy,” he said, “you are a very clever chap, and you know a lot; but -why don’t you put it all into a book, where you can’t hurt anyone but -yourself? Why do you try to get it into my magazine, and scare away my -half million subscribers?” - -So the letter was shelved. But the questions it asked are now the -questions which events are asking of the American people; and so I shall -take the advice of the elderly and unenthusiastic proprietor—and publish -some of the letter in a book! It ran as follows: - - -This is the question I have wished to ask you, Mr. Steffens. “A -revolution has happened,” you tell us; we have no longer “a government -of the people, by the people, for the people,”—we have “a government of -the people, by the rascals, for the rich.” And if we find that that -revolution, which has overthrown the law, and which defies the law, -cannot be put down and overcome by the means of the law—what are we -going to do then? Are we going to sit still, and content ourselves with -saying it is too bad? Are we going to bear it—to bear it forever? _Can_ -we bear it forever? And if we cannot bear it forever what are we going -to do when we can bear it no longer? - -A revolution is a serious thing, Mr. Steffens. A man should not talk -about a “revolution” except with a thorough realisation of what the word -implies. A revolution means that the social contract has been broken, -that rights have been violated and justice defied—that, in a word, the -game of life has not been fairly played, that those who have lost may -possibly have had the right to win. And the game of life is a pretty -stern game for many of us, Mr. Steffens. - -You and your friends, I and my friends, belong to a class whom this -“system” touches only through our ideals. Editors and authors, clergymen -and lawyers, we are pained to know that corruption is eating out the -heart of our country—but still, if the problem be not solved to-day, we -can put it off till to-morrow, and not realise what a difference it -makes. But there are some in our country whom the System touches far -more intimately and directly than this—some to whom the difference -between to-day and to-morrow is simply a difference between life and -death. I happened only yesterday to be reading a letter from a man who, -I think, knows that “System,” which is our new government, in this -personal and intimate way. I will quote a few words from his letter: - -“I have been arrested, put in jail, prosecuted and persecuted. I have -had my customers driven away; I have been boycotted to the extent that -men who dared to trade with me have lost their jobs; I have had my home -broken into at night; been beaten with guns and abused by vile and -foul-mouthed thugs; been torn, partly dressed and bleeding, from the -side of my wife, who was driven from her bedroom and roughly handled; -and finally I have been shipped out and told that if I returned to my -home I would be hung. Not satisfied with this they have twice deported -my brother, who was conducting the business in which we were both -earning our living, so that it became necessary for an adjuster to take -charge, of our store.” All this was, needless to say, in Colorado; the -writer is Mr. A. H. Floaten, a storekeeper of Telluride, but now of -Richmond County, Wisconsin, where he was working in a hayfield when he -wrote. He goes on to add that the charge upon which he was “deported” -was that of selling goods to members of the Western Federation of -Miners. “As for my brother and myself,” he states, “I defy any and all -persons to show a single instance where either of us have ever violated -any law or even been suspected of crime, or have ever wronged any -person.” - -Here is your “revolution,” Mr. Steffens, in full swing. One of the -questions which I have for some months found myself longing to ask you -is, how clearly you recognised in the Colorado civil war the natural and -inevitable consequences of a continuation of your “government of the -people, by the rascals, for the rich?” Here is an unequivocal -declaration, by a vote of two to one, by the people in one of the states -of this free country, in favour of a constitutional amendment permitting -an eight-hour law; and here are representatives of both the majority -parties pledging themselves to enact it, and then openly and shamelessly -selling themselves out to the predatory corporations of the state. The -people then resort to a strike to secure their rights; and when they are -seen to be winning, the militia is summoned, criminals are hired to -commit a dynamite outrage and afford the necessary pretext, and then -every tradition of American liberty and every safeguard of free -institutions is overthrown, and the strike crushed and the striker’s -organisation exterminated with a ruthlessness and a recklessness which -no police official in Russia could have surpassed. And then the party of -“law and order”—that is the “System”—sat enthroned in Colorado, and the -guileless reader of newspaper despatches believed that an “election” -took place in that state last November! The “System” suspended the -_Habeas Corpus_ Act, censored newspapers and telegrams, opened mails, -entered houses without warrant and drove women from their beds at dead -of night, deported men, defied and threatened judges, shut down mines in -spite of their owners’ will—and finally haled a score or two of elected -officials before it and put ropes around their necks and compelled them -to resign. And then the “rebellion,” that is, the agitation for an -eight-hour law, attempted to reassert itself in the form of ballots; and -by means of a threat of deposition it compelled the newly elected -governor to accede in everything to its will—and in particular to retain -in office the infamous militia official who was its agent in these -crimes! - -But we, as I said before, are touched by these things only through our -ideals. We are sorry to see American institutions overthrown in an -American state; but we do not live in Colorado, and we are quite sure -that there is no danger of our being turned out of our homes. And yet we -know that the system exists in our own city and state, and sits just as -surely intrenched there as in Colorado. And we know also that it exists -for a purpose—that it exists to rule. And are we to imagine that it -exists to rule the people of Patagonia, of Greenland and Afghanistan? Do -we not know that it exists to rule _us_? - -How does it rule us? How does it rule the people of Colorado? Whatever -is it that is wanted of the people of Colorado? Why, simply that they -should go into the mines and factories and work, not eight hours a day, -as they wished to, but twelve hours a day, the time the “System” bade -them to. And what is it that it wants everywhere else—in California, in -Maine and in Texas? What, save that those who have labour to sell shall -sell it at the price the “System” is paying, and that those who have -goods to buy shall buy them at the price the “System” asks? If this be -so, is not the only difference between us and the people of Colorado -that they went on strike against the “System,” whereas we are not on -strike—we _pay_? - -Let us deal with facts. Here is a corporation which runs a -street-railroad in a city. It gives an abominable service, its cars are -cold and filthy, its employees are underpaid wretches who work thirteen -and fifteen hours a day—and the fare is just double that of the splendid -government service of Berlin. And the public-spirited men of the city -have for ten or twenty years been trying to do something with that -corporation at the state capital; but the corporation has its lobby and -continues to pay pig dividends upon its watered stock year after year. -And then do the people of the city organise and go on strike against -that corporation? No indeed—they pay. - -You know of the agitation for a parcels post; you know that under the -parcels-post system an Englishman can send a package to California for -one-third of what it costs us to send one from New York. In Germany a -ten-pound package may be sent anywhere in the Empire for twelve cents; -and our post office pays the railroads more for its service than all the -rest of the civilised world combined, though the quantity of mail matter -carried is less than that of Great Britain, France and Germany alone! -Yet we know that it is a waste of ink setting these facts forth. Is not -the president of the United States Express Company the United States -senator from your own state? The railroad systems of this country have, -of course, their lobby in every state capital, and in Washington as -well; and every single year the railroad systems of this country -slaughter and maim the equivalent of a Gettysburg campaign—there were as -many people killed in the last three years as the British lost in the -entire Boer war. Yet there is not the least reason for this; the -railroads could, if they chose, build cars which will not crumble up -like matchboxes—they have proven it by killing only six Pullman-car -passengers in the same three years. But of course you have to pay a -large sum extra to ride in a Pullman car. If you cannot pay with money, -you pay with your bones—in either case, of course, you pay. - -And then there is the tariff. You, Mr. Steffens, are a man who has both -the ability and the honesty to think, and you know what the tariff is. -You know that it is a device to keep out foreign competition and thus -enable home manufacturers to charge higher prices. You know that in the -early days its effect was to make manufacturing possible by keeping -prices at a level where a fair profit was paid. Above this level they -could not go, because there was free domestic competition. The tariff -was thus a tax, self-imposed by every man in the country, for the -purpose of building up the country’s home industries; exactly as if the -owner of a sugar-plantation should conclude it would pay him to grind -his own cane, and should set aside his gains for a few years to buy the -machinery. Now I might stop to argue the socialistic implications of -such a procedure—involving as it does the doctrine that the manufactures -are the interest and concern of the whole people, to the advantages of -which, when completed, they all have a right. (No plantation master, I -take it, would expect to furnish himself with machinery out of the wages -of his hands.) Continuing, however, to discuss facts and not theories, -you see that these industries which we have “encouraged” have now become -the mightiest power in the land. It is they who have accomplished the -revolution and set up the “System”; it is they who use the money which -the people have turned over to them, to maintain and perpetuate the old -arrangement—an arrangement which now enables them, since they have -become monopolies, to charge for their products from thirty to fifty per -cent. more than a fair price, as is proven by what they charge abroad. - -The workingman, you know, Mr. Steffens, has all this justified to him by -the fact that he gets his share of this “prosperity”; but of late the -workingman has been finding that he does _not_ get his share. He has -brought the industrial machinery of the country to such a pitch of -perfection that he produces more than the country needs; and so when -foreign markets fail he is out of work part of the time; and the mass of -unemployed labour operates by the “iron law” to beat down wages and to -break strikes, and to make his share less and less. And all the time, to -pay interest on the constantly increasing capital of the country, the -prices of trust products are being raised yet higher, and the cost of -living is rising, year by year. - -In the cotton mills of Alabama and Georgia little children six and eight -years of age are working twelve hours for a wage of nine cents a day. -And how do you think they fare in this fearful race for profits—what do -you think is the effect upon them of the continued operation of the -“System”? You may remember that I said a little way back that there were -people in this country to whom the difference between to-day and -to-morrow is simply a difference between life and death. It was such -people as these I had in mind. - -Look, Mr. Steffens; you go from town to city, and from city to state, -and everywhere you show us hordes of political parasites battening on -corruption; and you tell us that the fortunes that they make represent -but a small portion of what is made by the “big business men” who bribe -them. Magee and Quay, you tell us, made thirty millions out of the -street railroads of Pittsburg; and all over this land, year in and year -out, such sums are being “made.” And soon afterward came Mr. Lawson’s -story of how the Standard Oil group “made” forty-six million dollars in -a single deal without turning over their hands. Mr. Lawson expatiates -upon this way of “making” dollars—he makes reflections which I had often -wondered if you were making. I have wondered if you realised entirely -that these millions of dollars were _real_ dollars? Dollars that a man -might spend, just the same as any other dollars—with which he might -purchase food that men had toiled to raise, and houses that men had -toiled to build! I am writing these words in October, and the windows of -my room look out upon a cornfield. All the year long I have watched a -farmer and his son at work in this field—first plowing it, then -harrowing it back and forth and across, then planting the corn, -patiently, row by row. The field is ten acres in size, and it seemed to -me that not a week passed all summer that the farmer was not plowing and -weeding it; and now that the fall has come he has cut it stalk by stalk, -and stacked it; and now I can see him and his son sitting on the bare, -bleak hillside this morning, husking it, ear by ear. That will take them -all of two or three weeks, and when the whole thing has been done they -will gather up the ears to cart them to town, and the farmer will have -five hundred bushels of corn and will get for them two hundred and fifty -dollars. And then I read Mr. Lawson’s account of how the Rockefellers -“made” forty-six million dollars out of Amalgamated Copper—and strive to -realise that what they made was the equivalent of the labour of the -farmer and the farmer’s sons and the farmer’s horses in one hundred and -eighty-six thousand ten-acre cornfields such as the one I look out upon! - -Is it not obvious that if I were to have the power to call a piece of -paper one dollar and to put it into circulation, exchanging it for two -bushels of corn, I could only do it by diminishing the value of every -other dollar in the country a certain small amount? Supposing that the -total wealth of the country was one billion dollars, I should diminish -every single dollar by one-billionth. Suppose that similarly I “made” -one million dollars—by any sort of “making” whatever save by producing -some useful thing and increasing the total wealth of the country—I -should then tax the holder of every dollar one mill. A man who owned ten -thousand dollars would be robbed by me of ten dollars—he would be robbed -of it just as literally and as actually as if I had broken into his -house and stolen his watch. He would not know that he was robbed, -perhaps—all that he would know would be that when he spent his ten -thousand dollars he would not get quite so much. In Dun’s and -Bradstreet’s the event would be recorded in the statement that the cost -of living had risen one-tenth of one per cent. since last week, and that -interest rates had similarly declined. And now here is the young girl -who works in the sweatshops of Chicago for a wage of forty cents a week, -as thousands of them do. The great Amalgamated Copper deal is -consummated, Mr. Rockefeller and his fellow-conspirators “make” -forty-six million dollars—and the young girl’s wage becomes thirty-nine -cents and a fraction. At forty cents she was hanging on for her life; at -thirty-nine cents and a fraction she enters the nearest brothel. Here is -the little child of eight years toiling from six at night till six in -the morning in the midst of throbbing cotton-looms for nine cents. Magee -and Quay of Pittsburg “make” thirty million dollars in street -railroads—and the little child’s wage becomes eight cents and a -fraction. At nine cents he was starving; at eight and a fraction he -faints, and the machinery seizes him, and his arm has been torn out of -him before anyone can answer his screams. So it is, Mr. Steffens, that -there are people in this country to whom the difference between to-day -and to-morrow is simply a difference between life and death. - -That farmer about whose work I spoke will take his two hundred and fifty -dollars to the bank for deposit; and in the line before the window will -be a young spendthrift idler with a month’s income from his father’s -estate, and a politician with a bribe for a street railway franchise; -and to the banker all these deposits will stand upon equal terms, they -will all be equally “good,” and will claim and get interest at the same -rate. The farmer will have to content himself with a lower rate, because -of the competition of the others; and next week, when the activities of -some speculator in Wall Street bring about a failure of the bank, he -will get not a bit more out of the wreck than the other two. And then he -will go back and toil for another year, to raise a similar crop—and what -will he find then? Why this: the forty-six millions of the Standard Oil -gang will have survived all mischances, and having by their enormous -mass attracted profits, will have become fifty millions, or even sixty; -and the thirty millions of Magee and Quay will have become thirty-five. -All the untold millions of the capital of the country will have -increased similarly; and the investment field will have become more -crowded yet, and the prizes fewer yet, and the chances more hazardous -yet; and the cost of living will be a little higher yet; and the -interest rate a little lower yet, and wages a little lower yet; and the -whole of human society will be toiling a little harder yet to pay the -profits upon that heaped-up mass of wealth. More men will be taking to -drink, and more women will be taking to brothels—more to suicide, -madness, vagabondage and crime. The race for profits will be a little -more fierce, social ostentation will be a little more vulgar, political -corruption will be a little more shameless, strikes and riots will be a -little more common, the socialists will be a little more active—and you, -Mr. Lincoln Steffens, will be a little more saddened at the sight of -your country’s downward career. - -I have noticed the very curious fact about your views, that all your -hope of betterment is in the future—it is always how we can prevent new -stealing, never how we can punish the past. And so those thirty million -dollars of Magee and Quay, the forty-six millions of the Amalgamated -deal—they are safe and beyond recall forever? Mr. Lawson talks about -“restitution”; do you think he will ever bring it about—do you see any -signs of it so far? And yet those forty-six million dollars, assuming -that they grow at ten per cent., a small earning for such a sum—year -after year they will be, roughly speaking, as follows: 46, 51, 56, 63, -69, 76, 84, 92, 101, 111, 122, 134, 147, 162, 178, 196, 216, 238, 262, -288, 318, and so on. In other words, the heirs of the “Amalgamated” -financiers will twenty years from now have multiplied that sum nearly -seven times, and be receiving nearly seven times as much tribute from -the sewing-girl in the Chicago slums and the children in the Georgia -cotton mill. I, Mr. Steffens, am one of those who look upon all profits, -rent, interest, and dividends as a survival of barbarism, the last but -not the least of the devices whereby the strong enslave the weak and -profit by their toil; but I assume that you are not one of these—that -you are one of the class I heard described by a speaker the other night, -“who think that the first dollar is a male dollar and the second a -female, and that when you put them in the bank together they bring forth -dimes and nickels, which in the course of the years grow up to be -dollars as big as their parents.” Yet even so, you can not but recognise -the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children. You can -not—to drop an inconvenient metaphor—claim that society can by any -possibility whatever be required to go on paying tribute to that stolen -forty-six millions—the three hundred and eighteen millions of twenty -years from now. It is a maxim of law, Mr. Steffens, that there is no -wrong without its redress. - -And if you grant this and begin to examine the millions in that -light—what perplexities you come upon! Only take the tariff, for -instance—is there a dollar invested in the business of this country -to-day which has not profited by that, and which is therefore not made -up out of the tiny contributions of thousands of persons who not only do -not own that dollar, but do not own any other dollar? And then consider -that the beginnings of most of our great fortunes were made in Civil War -times, when the nation in its extremity paid two dollars for every -dollar in value it received! And consider the chaos of political -corruption that followed, the twenty years of plundering of every -variety that American ingenuity could invent, from Black Friday to the -Western land grabs and railroad steals! Try to figure how many crimes -are represented by the Vanderbilt millions, how many by the Goulds’s; -think of the commercial assassinations represented by the word Standard -Oil—the secret rebates and discriminations, the wholesale buyings of -legislatures and elections; think of the whole institution of corruption -of the present day, of the “System,” intrenched in village and town, -city, and state, and nation, owning both parties, the executive, the -legislative, and the judicial branches of the Government, the schools, -the colleges, the pulpits, the press, literature, and art, and public -opinion—making it, not figuratively and hyperbolically, but literally, -simply, and indisputably the fact that there is not to-day in the land a -place where a man can take a dollar and invest it, and get back a copper -cent that is not tainted with corruption, polluted by violence, treason, -and crime, and stained with the blood and tears of uncounted thousands -of agonised women and children! - - -So much for the letter. If there is anyone who, after reading it, is -still of the opinion that the people should pay the tribute demanded -twenty years from now, there is nothing more that I can say to -him—except to give a few statistics by way of further elucidation, -showing him how many more millions of dollars there will be to enter -their claim. There will be, for instance, the four hundred and fifty -million dollars of the Astor family—all invested in New York City real -estate, and at the rate of growth of the city, certainly destined to be -a billion dollars in twenty years from date. There is the half billion -dollars of Mr. Rockefeller, increasing by a most conservative estimate -at the rate of ten per cent. per year, and therefore destined to be over -four billions at that time. And then there are the railroads of the -country. We are now being prepared for a decision to be some day -delivered by the Supreme Court, to the effect that any rate regulation -which interferes with dividends is confiscation, and therefore -unconstitutional. And yet we know that railroad capitalisation is simply -a function of earning-power; that what the financiers have uniformly -done was to charge all the traffic would bear, and then water their -stock until the rate of dividends came down to the market average. The -capitalisation of the railroads of the country, fixed upon this basis, -is thirteen billion dollars, whereas their actual cost was only six or -seven billions. To give one or two samples of this process, the Western -Maryland Railroad was bought up by the Goulds, and watered from nine -millions up to fifty-one millions. The Central Railroad of Georgia, -which cost less than seven millions, has now been watered up to -fifty-five millions. Assuming that the watering were to stop to-day, and -that the railroads simply re-invested their dividends at the present -rate of six per cent., in twenty years we should be paying interest upon -over forty billion dollars. - -From a brokerage circular which recently came in my mail, I have clipped -a few more instances of the workings of trust finance. The argument of -the circular is that I need not be frightened at their offer to make my -money earn more than six per cent.—that over a hundred per cent. is -“being frequently earned by legitimate business.” Thus the Diamond Match -Company recently paid ten per cent. on a capitalisation of fifteen -million dollars, when its original capitalisation had been only six -million dollars. The Western Union Telegraph Company began in 1858 with -only three hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars, yet in 1874 it paid -one hundred and fourteen per cent. on seventeen million dollars. Anyone -who had invested one thousand dollars in this stock in 1858 would by -1890 have received fifty thousand dollars in stock dividends and one -hundred thousand dollars in cash dividends. The present capital is over -ninety-seven millions—“and the greater part of the equipment has been -created out of the earnings of the company!” In the case of the -Prudential Life Insurance Company (owing, though the circular does not -state it, to a little deal between United States Senator Dryden and the -New Jersey State Legislature) for every one thousand dollars originally -paid in, the stockholders now own twenty-two thousand dollars’ worth of -stock and received annual cash dividends of twenty-two hundred dollars, -or two hundred and twenty per cent. upon their original investment! - -And then, to diversify the subject, let us consider the tariff, and its -variegated plunderings. In a letter to the New York _Evening Post_ of -Oct. 26th, 1904, Mr. J. R. Dunlap gave some figures showing the -“scandalous taxes imposed by trusts upon the people”: - -“Now, to show how the Dingley duty of eight dollars per ton on steel -rails taxes American railroads and hence reaches deep into the pockets -of shippers and travellers on American railroads, I need only cite the -fact that, during the year 1903 our American railroads purchased from -the steel pool exactly three million forty-six thousand eight hundred -and thirty-six tons of new steel rails (see statistical abstract, -Department of Commerce and Labour). The price to _foreign_ railroads -being, say twenty dollars per ton—as we _now know_—and the pool price to -American railroads being twenty-eight dollars per ton, that means that -the American people, _during the single year last past_, contributed a -clean net profit of twenty-four million three hundred and seventy-four -thousand six hundred and eighty-eight dollars to the rail pool—by -reason, presumably, of their “patriotic” belief in the Dingley duties! -And during the past six years—since the Dingley Bill was enacted—these -same American railroads have been forced to contribute to the few -members of the rail pool exactly one hundred and two million six hundred -and twenty-one thousand two hundred and fifty-six dollars, or eight -dollars per ton on twelve million eight hundred and twenty-seven -thousand six hundred and fifty-seven tons of rails bought and used. -Dividing that stupendous sum of protection profit (one hundred and two -million six hundred and twenty-one thousand two hundred and fifty-six -dollars) by eighty million of population, we see that the rail pool -alone—to say nothing of other combinations “sheltered” by the Dingley -duties—has collected a tax of exactly one dollar and twenty-eight and -one-quarter cents ($1.28¼) for every man, woman, and child in America, -white and coloured. - -“To further indicate the fabulous profits which the Dingley duties make -possible to our ‘infant’ iron and steel industries, I need only cite -recent and familiar records. In the spring of 1899, when the Steel Trust -was in process of formation, and when it became necessary for the -influential men in the steel industry to _prove_ what enormous profits -the steel manufacturers were making, and thus to induce the investing -public to put their money into Steel Trust stocks—then it was that Mr. -Charles M. Schwab, president, wrote to Mr. Henry C. Frick, chairman of -the Carnegie Steel Company, the famous letter of May 15, 1899, now -public property, in which Mr. Schwab used these words:’ - -“‘What is true of rails _is equally true of other steel products_.... -_You know_ we can make rails for less than twelve dollars per ton, -leaving a nice margin on foreign business.’ - -“Mark you, that was in 1899, when the boom was at its zenith, when wages -were highest, and when all the costs of production were far above all -averages of recent boom years. - -“To show how accurate Mr. Schwab was in these statements, and to show -how trustworthy was his confident forecast of future profits, I need -only cite the following speaking figures from the two annual statements -which have been made public by the United States Steel Corporation, -namely: - -Total number of employees: - - 1902. 1903. - 168,127 167,709 - -Total annual salaries and wages paid: - - $120,528,343.00 $120,763,896.00 - -Net earnings: - - $133,308,763.72 $109,171,152.35 - -“It will be observed that during these two years the average annual net -earnings of the Steel Trust _exceeded the total labour cost of their -entire product_!” - - - MEDICINAL PRODUCTS - -“Turning from the iron and steel industry, we might take quinine, and -many other medicinal products; we might take chemicals, many of them -most essential in manufacturing industry; we might take borax, which -sells in America at seven and one-half cents per pound, and in Britain -at two and one-half cents per pound, because the Dingley duty is exactly -five cents per pound; we might take mica, a mining product largely used -in the electrical, wall-paper and stove-making industries, and which -enjoys a modest protection ranging from one hundred and fifty to four -thousand per cent. In short, we might take each and every staple product -now made in America, and needlessly sheltered by the Dingley duties, and -prove, by comparative prices at home and abroad, that the fabulous -profits which the gentlemen engaged in these industries are now -making—and which they have capitalised into watered “industrials”—are -due chiefly and directly to the fostering care of the Dingley Bill, -which was designed to protect our ‘infant’ industries.” - -In the same issue, another correspondent, Mr. W. J. Gibson, shows how -the Government serves as a tool of the trusts in tariff exactions. He -gives several columns of facts about such outrages as the “Rupee Cases.” -For instance: - -“There have been nine or ten decisions on this one question against the -Government, and still the secretary of the treasury refuses to refund -the money which the courts have decided so often he has exacted -illegally. The money he has directed to be wrongfully assessed and -collected, and is retaining in these cases, known as “the Rupee Cases,” -amounts to over a million dollars. The parties cannot get any interest -for their money so wrongfully withheld, and the customs officials are -still being directed to assess all merchandise coming from India on the -basis of the rupee at the value of thirty-two cents in our money. This -has gone on for more than six years, and against the decision of the -United States Circuit Court since January 7, 1899.” - -And now, can we get any broad view of the results of this long process -of wealth-concentration? In 1850 the wealth of the United States was -estimated at nine billions; in 1870 it was thirty billions; in 1890 it -was sixty-five billions; and in 1900 it was ninety-five billions. How is -this wealth distributed? Writing in 1896, Dr. C. B. Spahr made his -famous calculation, embodied in the statement that one-eighth of the -population owned seven-eighths of the wealth, and that one per cent. -owned more than the remaining ninety-nine per cent. And at that time the -machinery of exploitation had hardly more than got under way. The best -attempt at an estimate since then is the one by Lucien Sanial, published -by the American Branch of the International Institute of Social Science. -This is the result of a careful analysis of the census of 1900; it shows -that of ninety-five billions of the country’s present wealth, -sixty-seven billions are owned by a capitalist-class of two hundred and -fifty thousand persons, twenty-four billions by a middle class of eight -million four hundred thousand persons, and four billions by a -working-class of over twenty million persons. And now, if the -sixty-seven billions owned by the capitalists be assumed to earn ten per -cent.—which is surely a reasonable average amount—our people will be -paying interest upon four hundred and fifty billion dollars at the end -of the twenty year period! - -And that represents the centralisation of the actual ownership of -wealth; but one does not get a real understanding of the situation until -he begins to consider the centralisation of the _control_ of wealth. In -explaining the struggle over the surplus of the life-insurance -companies, one of our financial magnates remarked to me: “I would rather -have the power of manipulating four hundred million dollars, than the -actual ownership of fifty millions.” And with that crucial fact in mind, -let one consider the figures given by Mr. Sereno S. Pratt in _The -World’s Work_ for December, 1903, and summarised in Dr. Strong’s “Social -Progress,” as follows: - -“One-twelfth of the estimated wealth of the United States is represented -at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the United States Steel -Corporation. - -“They represent as influential directors more than two hundred other -companies. These companies operate nearly one-half of the railroad -mileage of the United States. They are the great miners and carriers of -coal. The leading telegraph system, the traction lines of New York, of -Philadelphia, of Pittsburg, of Buffalo, of Chicago, and of Milwaukee, -and one of the principal express companies, are represented in the -board. This group includes also directors of five insurance companies, -two of which have assets of seven hundred millions of dollars. In the -Steel Board are men who speak for five banks and ten trust companies in -New York City, including the First National, the National City, and the -Bank of Commerce, the three greatest banks in the country, and the heads -of important chains of financial institutions. Telephone, electric, real -estate, cable, and publishing companies are represented there, and our -greatest merchant sits at the board table. - -“What the individual wealth of these men is, it would be impossible and -beside the point to estimate; but one of them, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, -is generally estimated to be the richest individual in the world. But it -is not the personal, but the representative, wealth of those men that -makes the group extraordinary. They control corporations whose -capitalisations aggregate more than nine billion dollars—an amount (if -the capitalisations are real values) equal to about the combined public -debts of Great Britain, France, and the United States. It is this -concentration of power which is significant. There were at the time of -the last statement sixty-nine thousand nine hundred and fifty-five -stockholders in the Steel Corporation. But the control of this -corporation is vested in twenty-four directors, and this board of -directors is guided by the executive and finance committees, which in -turn are largely directed by their chairmen, who are probably selected -by the great banker who organised the corporation and in a large part -sways its policy. - -“Examinations show that the concentration of control of these great New -York City banks has gone so far that a comparatively small group of -capitalists possesses the power to regulate the flow of credit in this -country. In the last analysis it is found that there are actually only -two main influences, and that these are centred in Mr. Morgan and Mr. -Rockefeller. It is possible to express in approximate figures the extent -of the Morgan influence”—which the writer shows in a table to figure up -over six billion two hundred and sixty-eight million dollars. How very -conservative is Mr. Pratt’s estimate is shown by the fact that he gives -the number of holders of shares of the railroads of this country as nine -hundred and fifty thousand persons; with which the reader may contrast -the following editorial paragraph from a recent issue of the New York -_Times_: - -“It would appear from evidence collected by the Interstate Commerce -Commission and communicated to the Senate, that the ownership of the -railroad system of this country is not as widely diffused as has been -supposed. On the 30th of June, 1904, the 1,220 railroads reporting to -the Commission had only 327,851 stockholders of record. This total -includes many duplications, as it was impossible to know in how many -instances one capitalist was represented in the stockholding interest of -several railroads. Assuming the population of the United States to be, -in round figures, eighty millions, the entire mileage of the railroads -doing an interstate business is owned by about four-tenths of 1 per -cent. of the people of this country.” - - -Such is the situation. It completes our view of the process of -Industrial Evolution, so far as it has progressed up to date. The -condition is like that of an oak tree planted in a jar, or a chick -developing within its shell; the indefinite continuance of the process -is inconceivable. What form the collapse will assume, and when it may be -expected to occur, is the problem next to be taken up. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - THE REVOLUTION - - -One is at a great disadvantage just at present in picturing an -industrial crisis. We are at the very flood-tide of prosperity; the -railroads are paralysed by the volume of the country’s business; the -coal mines cannot furnish the coal, and the farmers are burning their -grain because they cannot get it to market; the steel trust has orders -for two years ahead—and so on without limit. I have to ask the reader to -picture interest rates going down to zero, at a time when they are -higher than they have been in a decade; I have to ask him to picture too -much of everything in the country, at a time when there is not enough of -anything. And yet all this excess of “prosperity” is an integral part of -the phenomenon we are studying. - -If the process of wealth-concentration and overproduction of capital -went on unmodified by any other factor, we should witness a gradual rise -in the price of commodities, a gradual increase in the number of -unemployed, and a gradual fall in the rates of interest. As it happens, -however, the movement proceeds in rhythmic pulses, like the swinging of -a pendulum, or the ebbing and flowing of the tide. This is owing to the -factor of credit-expansion, which we have still to interpret. - -We have pictured Capital, ubiquitous, endlessly resourceful, incessantly -alert—“clamouring for dividends.” Competition is a forcing-process by -which every device that will increase profits is driven into general -use, and subjected to its maximum strain. The most obvious of these -devices is that of credit. - -A business man has a certain amount of capital. If he makes his “turn -over” once a year, he gains, say, ten per cent. profit; if he can make -the “turn over” twice a year, he gains twenty per cent. He sees the -business ahead, and so he goes into debt. And of course this step gives -an impulse to the business of the man who manufactures his machinery, -and to the man who raises his raw material, and to the railroads which -handle both. The effect of that condition, prevailing throughout a whole -community, is to accelerate enormously the industrial process; under it -the capital of the community becomes, exactly as in the case of the -railroads, not the actual definite cost of the instruments of production -existing, but an altogether hypothetical thing, a function of -anticipated earnings. - -So it is that you have a “boom”—a period of furious and fevered -activity, in which everyone sees fortunes springing up about him; and -then comes some disturbing factor, which suggests to a number of men the -advisability of realising on their expectations; and a chill settles -upon the community, and there is a wild rush to collect, and the -discovery is made that most of the anticipated profits are not in -existence. - -There is one more consideration which has to be touched upon before we -are prepared to consider the concrete problem in America. The process -which has been outlined is an industrial one; events have been pictured -here as they would take place in a community given altogether to -manufacturing, mining, and transportation. But as a matter of fact we -have not only to reckon with thirteen billions a year of manufactured -products, but also with four billions a year of farm products. The -importance of this new element lies in the fact that the ownership of -the farms is still largely in the hands of the masses; which means that -once every year the process we have been picturing is stayed while the -American people get rid of four billion dollars of spending money, which -comes to them outside of and independent of the wage-fund. Thus, strange -as it may seem, abundant crops tend to mitigate an “overproduction” -crisis, while a failure of crops would do more than anything else in the -world to precipitate one. - -With these facts in mind we are now in position to interpret our recent -industrial history. We have generally had our hard times in America at -ten year intervals, with especially severe crises at twenty year -intervals. We had our last severe attack in 1893, and we were due to -have one of the lesser sort in 1903. What happened then was very -interesting to watch, in the light of the views just explained. In the -early winter and spring of 1904, the avalanche was well under way. Here, -for instance, is an item clipped from the Chicago _Tribune_ in April of -that year: - -“Organised labour is facing the greatest wage crisis since the panic of -1893, if the forecast of its leaders is correct. It is estimated that -before the close of the year the greatest employing concerns of the -country will have dismissed nearly one million men, most of them -labourers and general-utility workers. Of this number the railroads are -expected to discharge two hundred thousand employees; the mine -operators, fifty thousand; the machine shops, iron, steel, and tin plate -plants, two hundred and fifty thousand; and the building trades, forty -thousand. The railroads and the steel mills have already begun the work -of reducing their forces, and the wage liquidation threatens to become -as sensational as was the recent liquidation in stocks.” - -And then on May 25th following, the New York _Herald_ reported that the -railroads of the country had laid off seventy-five thousand men; and -quoted the following in an interview with James J. Hill: - -“The whole question falls back primarily upon decreasing business and -the reason for it. Why are the railroads carrying less freight than they -were a year or two years ago? Because the demand for the products of the -United States is not commensurate with the supply. We manufacture and we -grow and we mine more than we can consume in the United States. Hence we -are dependent upon foreign markets in order to sell the surplus.” - -The reasons why we got over this period of liquidation with only a -severe scare are two: First, because there came in the fall a “bumper” -crop of unprecedented proportions, which gave the railroads a new start; -and second, and most important, because it happened that at the precise -hour of our stress, there broke out one of the greatest military -struggles of all history. - -The war, you understand, was a new world-market. All at once a million -or two of men were set to work at destroying manufactured articles; and -at the same time several millions more were taken from their regular -tasks to provide and maintain them while they did it; and the greater -part of the surplus capital of civilisation was drawn off to pay the -bills. It was not merely that during the first four months of the -conflict Japan and Russia bought fifty million dollars’ worth of our -spare products, or that they took hundreds of millions of our spare -cash. It made no real difference where the money was raised, or where it -was spent; the man who got it spent it again, and sooner or later the -bulk of it came to us, because we had the things to sell. Under the -conditions of modern Capitalism, all the world is one; and when a nation -goes to war, whoever has a spare dollar lends it to pay the bills, and -wherever in the world there is an idle labourer, he is put to work to -help support the fighters of both nations. In return, the world gets -from the warring governments a paper promise to wring an equivalent -amount of service out of their people at some future date. - -Before going on I ought to mention that there is another view of the -events of 1904. I have heard Mr. Arthur Brisbane maintain that we are to -have no more overproduction crises, for the reason that, competition -having been abolished in all our principal industries, our trust -magnates can so adjust supply to demand as to mitigate the stress, and -give instead periods of partial idleness in widely scattered industries. - -[Illustration: - - _Diagram prepared by Wilshire’s Magazine_ - - DIAGRAM SHOWS HOW HIGH PRICES FOLLOW WARS - - Range of average prices of 25 leading Railway Stocks for the past 22 - years -] - -If this is true, it is very important, for it means a long continuance -of Trust government; but I do not believe that it is true. The trusts -have, of course, put an end to blind production without any assurance of -a market; but even assuming that our industry were so far systematised -and our management so conservative that we never manufactured goods -except upon a definite order—how would that be able to hold in check a -community gone mad with prosperity-drunkenness? For instance, the steel -trust now has orders enough ahead for two years; and upon the basis of -these orders, its administrators are going ahead building a new “steel -city.” Yet does the steel trust know what proportion of its orders for -steel rails are intended for the transportation of purely speculative -freight? Does it know what proportion of its orders for structural steel -is intended for buildings for imaginary tenants? Does it concern itself -with the problem whether its customers are going to be able to find any -use for the materials which they have bought? - -There might be more plausibility in the argument, if our trust magnates -were men of conscience and a keen sense of responsibility; but as a -matter of fact their attitude toward their work is purely predatory. -They are not administrators of production at all, but parasites upon -production, exploiters and wreckers. Far from striving to regulate the -madness of the public, they are competing among themselves to fan it to -a flame, so that they may capitalise the expectations of their own -properties.[5] - -Footnote 5: - - Anyone who wishes to make a scientific study of the true functions of - modern finance is advised to read Professor Veblen’s last book, “The - Theory of Business Enterprise,” a most extraordinary study of the - whole field of present-day economics. In my opinion this book, - together with its author’s other masterpiece, “The Theory of the - Leisure Class,” constitutes the greatest contribution to social - science ever made in America, and perhaps the greatest in the world - since Carl Marx. It might be worth while to add in passing that - Professor Veblen was turned out of Mr. Rockefeller’s University of - Chicago for writing it. - -The ebb of the tide is coming; the only question is, when? According to -precedent, it should come in 1913; but I expect it much sooner, partly -because I do not believe that we had anything like a thorough -liquidation in 1904, and partly because of the extreme violence of the -present activity. During the last year the “boom” has reached real -estate, and that always means that other avenues of investment are -clogged. - -I anticipate the storm in 1908 or 1909; but I do not predict it, because -it depends upon uncertain factors. Another great war might put it off -ten years; and on the other hand, crop failures might precipitate it -this summer. What I do believe that I can predict—for reasons which I -stated in the introduction to this argument—is the course which -political events in this country will take from the hour when the “hard -times” arrive. - -As we saw from the Chicago _Tribune_ item, the first sign of trouble is -the turning out of work of a million workingmen; and what are the -consequences—the economic consequences—of the turning out of work of a -million men? According to the census the average yearly wage of the -factory employee is four hundred and thirty-seven dollars. Dr. Peter -Roberts says that the average wage in the anthracite coal district is -less than five hundred dollars. In the Middle States a third of all the -workers get less than three hundred a year, and in the South nearly -sixty per cent. get less. It was proven before the Industrial Commission -that the maximum wage of the hundred and fifty thousand railroad and -track hands and the two hundred thousand carmen and shopmen, was a -hundred and fifty dollars in the South, and less than three hundred and -seventy-five in the North. And this to feed and clothe a family, and -provide against sickness, accident, and old age! The meaning of it is -simply that when a million men are laid off, in a month or two they and -their families are starving. - -And that, you understand, means a loss of a _market_—of a market of five -million people—a population equal to that of the Dominion of Canada. And -of course, therefore, those whose work it has been to supply these -people, will be out of work, and likewise those who supply the -suppliers. And even this is by far the least of the consequences; for -another part of our domestic market depends upon the fact that our -workingmen too have been able to form trusts. And when this period of -depression comes, their trusts will fall to pieces, and competition will -begin again—a process which they will find all the brickbats and -dynamite in the country cannot check. The employers will, of course, be -straining every nerve to make ends meet; and so wages will go down, and -when strikes are declared, the starving workingman will “scab” and the -strikes will fail. We shall have riots, and perhaps gatling guns in our -streets, but the wages will go down; and step by step as the wages go -down, consumption goes down, with the loss of another Dominion of -Canada. When the thing is once started, it will be an avalanche that no -power upon earth can stop; and it will be the beginning of the -Revolution. - -The word has an ominous sound. The reader thinks of street battles and -barricades. By a Revolution I mean the complete transfer of the economic -and political power of the country from the hands of the present -exploiting class to the hands of the whole people; and in the -accomplishment of this purpose the people will proceed, as in everything -else they do, along the line of least resistance. It is very much less -trouble to cast a ballot than it is to go out in the streets and shoot: -and our people are used to the ballot method. However, the staid and -respectable _Harper’s Weekly_, which calls itself a “Journal of -Civilisation,” suggested in 1896 that if Mr. Bryan were elected, it -might be necessary for the propertied classes to keep him out of office. -If anything of that sort is attempted in this coming crisis, why then -there will be violence—just as there will be in such countries as -Germany and Russia, which have yet to learn to let the people have their -own way. The worst feature of the situation with us is that we have -gotten into the habit of letting our elections be carried by bribery; -and that is likely to play us some ugly tricks in this new emergency. - -The reader perhaps objects to my theory that this change must come with -suddenness. It is such a tremendous change—and would it not be better if -it were brought about little by little? Undoubtedly it would have been a -great deal better; but the time to begin was ten or twenty years ago. -Now the horse is stolen, and we are venting all our energies, and cannot -even succeed in getting the stable-door locked afterward. - -They are bringing it about gradually in Australia and New Zealand—the -only countries in the world in which the people are effectually -regulating the progress of the Juggernaut of Capitalism. That is because -these countries are very young, with comparatively little capital, no -slums, and an intelligent working-class. I have an idea—I do not know -whether there is anything in it—that the extraordinary success of New -Zealand may in part be due to the fact that it was a convict-settlement; -the men whom capitalism makes into criminals being for the most part a -very superior class of people, active, independent, and impatient of -injustice. Transported to a new land, and given a fair chance, I should -think that a burglar or a highwayman ought to make a very excellent -Socialist. - -You ask, perhaps, if the thing is not also being accomplished gradually -in England and on the Continent; you point to “Municipal trading,” to -the London County Council, to the state-owned railroads and telephones -of Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, etc. You have been accustomed to hear -these things referred to as State Socialism, and you have accepted the -statement—not understanding that the essence of Socialism is democracy, -and that it is fundamentally opposed to paternalism in every conceivable -form. Municipal and State ownership is not State Socialism at all, but -State Capitalism. Under it, the government buys certain franchises, pays -for them with bonds, and then runs the roads to pay the bondholders. -Undoubtedly it is a better system for the people than private -Capitalism, for the reason that it fixes the exploiters’ tax, instead of -letting stock-watering go on indefinitely. But, unfortunately, -economical administration by the State is possible at present only in -such countries as have an aristocratic governing-class, jealous of the -power of the capitalist. In this country the holders of the municipal -bonds, who also own the street-car factories and the steel mills and the -coal mines, would use the interest they got from the city to bribe the -city’s servants to pay exorbitant prices for all the street-cars and -steel rails and coal and other supplies which the city would have to -have in order to operate the roads. You have seen that perfectly -illustrated in the case of our Post Office. For example, we pay the -railroads in rent for our mail-cars twice as much per year as it costs -to build the cars; and the cars are so flimsy that the insurance -companies, which own a large share of the railroads and the cars, refuse -to insure the lives of the mail-clerks who work in them! - -However, the advisability of Municipal Ownership under present -conditions is a purely academic question, for the reason that the -capitalist will never give us a chance to try it. The capitalist is in -possession, and he “stands pat.” When you talk about “reform,” he will -make you as many fine speeches and deliver you as many moral discourses -as you wish; but when it comes to giving up any dollars—he has spent all -his lifetime learning to hold on to his dollars. - -You are thinking, perhaps, of President Roosevelt, who is hailed as a -successful reformer. In the first place, it is of importance to point -out that President Roosevelt is a complete anomaly in our political -life; he was probably the last Republican in the country who would have -been selected to rule us. He made himself governor by a shrewd device -called “the Rough Riders;” he was made President for the first time by -the bullet of an assassin, and the second time by the death of Mark -Hanna. By a series of such blind chances as these the people have been -given a chance to vote for what they want, and they of course have -seized the chance. But assuredly it was no part of the “System’s” plan -to ask them what they wanted, nor even to let them find out what they -wanted themselves. - -Under the peculiar circumstances, there has been nothing for the -“System” to do but make sure that the President accomplishes nothing; -and that it has done as a matter of course. In saying this, let me -remind the reader once more of my distinction between moral revolt and -economic remedy. I have no wish to under-estimate the tremendous -importance of President Roosevelt’s services in awakening the people; -but I say that so far as actual concrete accomplishment is concerned, he -might just as well never have lifted a finger. In one case, that of the -suit against the Paper Trust, he did effect a lowering of prices; but in -that case he was simply a pawn in the struggle between two trusts—of -which the Newspaper Trust proved to be the stronger. In no case where -the people alone were concerned has he effected any economic change -whatever. The Northern Securities decision was evaded by another device; -the Beef Trust and the Standard Oil suits ended with nominal fines. Over -the rate regulation question we had two years’ agitation—and not one -single rate has been lowered. In the struggle for life-insurance reform, -to which the President gave all his moral support, a few grafting -officials were hounded to death; but the real and vital evil, the -exploitation of the surplus for purposes of stock-manipulation, was -scarcely even touched upon. And then came the Chicago packing-house -scandals—and I can speak with some knowledge of them. Sometimes, when I -look back upon them, it seems like a dream—I can hardly believe that I -ever played my part in that cosmic farce. Only think of it—we had the -President and Congress and all the newspapers of the country discussing -it—we had this entire nation of eighty million people literally thinking -about nothing else for months—nay, more, we had the attention of the -whole civilised world riveted upon those filthy meat-factories. We -uncovered crimes for which the condemnation of every dollar’s worth of -property in Packingtown would have been a nominal punishment; and then -we settled back with a sigh of contentment, because we had put a few -more inspectors at work and forced the whitewashing of some -slaughter-house walls. And we left the monster upas-tree of -commercialism to flourish untouched—to go on year after year bearing its -fruit of corruption and death! - -There is nothing whatever to be got from the capitalist. I used to think -that the same thing was true of the politician. In common with most -Socialists, I thought that the Revolution would have to wait until the -people had come to full consciousness of their purpose, and had elected -a Socialist president and a Socialist congress. But at the time of the -coal-strike, when Dave Hill came out for government ownership of the -coal mines, I realised that the politician is the jackal and not the -lion. Of course we have amateur politicians—capitalists who play at the -game—and they will not give way; but the professional politician is not -a rich man—the competition has been too keen. He has served the -capitalist because it paid; and when the people get ready to have their -way, it will pay to serve the people. This is really a very important -matter, for our political machinery is complicated, and the people have -got used to it. It would be a frightful waste of energy to create new -machinery—in fact, I do not think that our Constitution could stand the -strain. - -We will now assume that the industrial crisis has come. What will be the -political consequences? It takes two or three years for industrial -conditions to get themselves translated into political acts in this -country; it means an immense amount of agitating—tens of thousands of -meetings have to be held and hundreds of thousands of speeches made; and -then there is all the machinery of conventions and elections. The panic -of 1893, for instance, resulted in the Bryan movement of 1896. That -movement was a revolt of the debtor class; if it had succeeded it would -have precipitated a panic, and that would have been a misfortune, for -the reason that both the people and their leaders were ignorant, and -instead of the Industrial Republic, we should have had a severe -reaction. Mark Hanna was a cunning man; but if he had been still more -cunning, he would never have raised six million dollars to buy the -presidency for William McKinley—he would have let the people have free -silver, and then he would have had the people. - -We came to the election of 1900 on the crest of a prosperity wave; but -prosperity too takes its time to be realised, and so Hanna took the -precaution to raise four million dollars and buy the election again.[6] -And then came 1904, which, I think, was the most interesting election of -them all. With the politicians the prosperity boom still held sway. Mark -Hanna had Roosevelt all ready for the shelf; and the old-time -“state-rights” Democrats arose and buried Mr. Bryan in the deepest vault -of their party catacombs. But then came the people—with the country -trembling on the verge of another “hard times.” They gave President -Roosevelt the most tremendous majority ever recorded in America; and -incidentally, as if this were not enough to show how they felt, they -gave nearly half a million votes to Eugene V. Debs! - -Footnote 6: - - Figures quoted, evidently upon inside information, by the Washington - _Post_, in 1906. - -This election, according to my schedule, corresponds with the election -of 1852 in the Civil War crisis. The “safe and sane” Democracy, which -received its death-blow in 1904, corresponds with the old Whig party. It -will probably make independent nominations in 1908 and 1912, exactly as -did the Whigs, and will receive the votes of all those who believe in -dealing with new conditions according to old formulas. - -In the meantime, the real contestants of the coming crisis are forming -their lines. Under ordinary circumstances the Republican party would -have been the party of disguised but unrelenting conservatism; and our -Presidents in 1904 and 1908 would have been either figureheads like -Fairbanks and Shaw, or shrewd beguilers of the people like Cannon and -Root. As it is, it looks now if President Roosevelt were to remain the -master of his party, in which case we shall have in 1908 a mild reformer -like Taft, or possibly even Governor Hughes. The one thing certain is -that whoever receives the Republican nomination will be the next -President. If it is a Roosevelt man, the President’s prestige will elect -him; or if the “System” concludes to have its own way, he will be put in -by bribery. In any case, he will go in, and it is best that he should go -in. So long as we are to have Capitalism, it is proper that the -capitalist should have a free hand. Personally I should consider the -election of a radical in 1908 a calamity; for “hard times” will be just -about to break, and I greatly desire to see Cannon and Aldrich and the -rest of them “caught with the goods on.” - -Who will be the Democratic candidate? Will it be the champion of the -Western farmers, or of the proletariat of our Eastern cities? I do not -know, but I am inclined to think that it will be Mr. Bryan; and I am -sorry, in a way, because that will put him out of the race in 1912. I -conceived an intense admiration for Mr. Bryan after his last speech in -New York City. - -Never in our history did a public man face a greater temptation than he -did after his two years of travel; everything in the country seemed to -have turned conservative, and the money-power, frightened by Roosevelt, -was ready to throw itself into his arms. What he did was to take his -stand upon the great issue over which the battle of the next six years -will be fought out—the nationalisation of the railroads; and in doing it -he placed his name upon the roll of our statesmen. - - THE TYPE. CHATTEL SLAVERY. WAGE SLAVERY - (1846–1863.) (1893–1914.) - - The Conservative Daniel Webster. Grover Cleveland - Reformer - - The Unwilling Prophet John C. Calhoun Marcus A. Hanna - - The Great Compromiser Henry Clay Theodore Roosevelt - - The Timid Conservative Edward Everett. Alton B. Parker. - - The Editor of Horace Greeley. Arthur Brisbane - Radicalism - - The Statesman of Charles Sumner. Wm. J. Bryan. - Radicalism - - The Politician of Wm. H. Seward. Robt. M. LaFollette. - Radicalism - - The Agitator of the Wm. Lloyd Garrison. Eugene V. Debs. - Revolt - - The Orator of the Wendell Phillips. Geo. D. Herron. - Revolt - - The Martyr of the John Brown. Charles H. Moyer ( ?). - Revolt - - The Voice of the Victim Frederick Douglass. Jack London. - - The Compromising Stephen A. Douglas. John C. Spooner. - Reactionist - - The Aggressive Jefferson Davis. Nelson W. Aldrich. - Reactionist - - The Organiser of Wm. Lownds Yancey. David M. Parry. - Reaction - - The Last Figurehead James Buchanan (1856). William H. Taft (1908). - - The Untried Hope Abraham Lincoln (1860). Wm. Randolph Hearst - (1912). - -A couple of years ago I was sketching out my comparison of the Civil War -crisis and our own, in conversation with an English gentleman, who asked -me to make him a table showing the parallel between the men of the two -periods. This table was afterwards published in the _Independent_, with -an explanatory letter, (in the course of which I pointed out that one -must not take it too literally, or look for a resemblance in external -details).[7] - -Footnote 7: - - See table on page 199. - -In the course of its editorial comment, the _Independent_ suggested -another parallel, that between “The Jungle” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”; and -then it went on to express its perplexity at my venturing to compare -Hearst with Lincoln. - -There is no man in our public life to-day who interests me so much as -William Randolph Hearst. I have been watching him for ten years, during -the last half-dozen of them weighing and testing him as the man of the -coming hour. I do not say that he will be the man; all that I can say is -that he stands the best chance of being the candidate of the Democratic -party in 1912; and that the man who secures that nomination will, if he -does his work (and for him to fail to do it is almost inconceivable) -write his name in our history beside the names of Washington and -Lincoln. - -Mr. Hearst is one of the by-products of the industrial process—a member -of the “second generation.” You are to picture many thousands of young -men, heirs of the enormous fortunes of our captains of industry; they -are brought up in luxury, and in complete idleness—the world gives them -_carte blanche_, with the result that at an early age they are sated -with all the ordinary pleasures of human beings. And at the same time -they have big, healthy bodies, and they crave excitement. - -It would be interesting to compile a list of some of the things they -have done. Of course, a great many simply follow in the footsteps of -their fathers, and become commercial buccaneers; some devote themselves -to automobiles and race-horses, some to society and gossip, some to mere -brutal dissipation—such as the scions of the now extinct line of -Pullman, who used to smash up the saloons of Chicago, and now and then -amuse themselves by hurling brickbats through the windows of their -father’s home. Now and then there is one who goes in for big game, or -for monkey-dinners, or for Sunday-schools, or for Socialism, or for -flying-machines; and there was one who went in for newspapers! - -His father was reluctant to humour the whim—he thought that a million -dollar racing-stable would cost less in the end than a forty thousand -dollar newspaper: which of course put the young man upon his mettle—made -him set out to make the paper pay, and “show the old man.” To make it -pay he had to get circulation; and to get circulation he had to get -something new—there was no use doing things like the old newspapers, -which were not paying, but had to be funded by the political powers -which used them. So once more you see capital, as I have pictured -it—“like a wild beast in a cage, pacing about, watching for an opening -here and there.” - -And where is the opening? Why, the people! The people, whom the -merciless machinery of exploitation beats down and tramples upon, and -pushes out of the way and forgets. They are brutalised and ignorant, -they are stupid with toil—but yet they are human beings, they crave -life. They never read newspapers—but give them what they want, and they -will learn to read. Give them big head-lines, and a shock on every page; -give them royalty and “high life,” scandal and spice, battle, murder and -sudden death—and then they will buy your paper. - -It was good fun for Mr. Hearst to do this. Watching his newspapers, what -has struck me most is the sheer audacity of them. Audacity is his -characteristic quality, and it is a characteristic American quality—it -places him among our national treasures, along with Mark Twain, and P. -T. Barnum, and Buffalo Bill, and the Mississippi steamboats with the -“nigger on the safety-valve.” - -I am told by friends of Mr. Hearst that his instinct from the start was -for democracy. If so, so much the better; but it is not necessary to my -hypothesis. A newspaper has to have editorial opinions; and they had -best be opinions that please its readers. If we are to publish a paper -for the masses to read, we must also voice the hopes and the longings of -the masses. - -So Mr. Hearst turned traitor to his class. He seems to have done this -instinctively, and without pangs. I find, what is very singular and -striking, that the members of his own class hate him, not only publicly, -but personally. It seems to have pleased him to defy _all_ their -conventions. I was told, for example, that when he first came to New -York, he made himself a scandal in the “Tenderloin.” I was perplexed -about that, for the members of our “second generation” are generally -well known in the Tenderloin, and nobody calls it a scandal. But one -young society man who had known Hearst well gave me the reason—and he -spoke with real gravity: “It wasn’t what he did—we all do it: but it was -the way he did. He didn’t take the trouble to hide what he did.” - -I have made clear in this book my belief that the masses are driven to -revolt by the pressure of stern and ruthless economic force. They were -ignorant and helpless, and among our men of wealth and power there was -no one to help them—there was no one among all our intellectual leaders -to voice their wrongs. They were left to help themselves—so what more -natural than that it should occur to some enterprising young millionaire -to leap into the breach? There was endless excitement and notoriety to -be won—and at the end, perhaps, power of a new and quite incredible -sort. - -You will observe that I am taking, deliberately, the lowest possible -view. I am dealing with material conditions and picturing a material -remedy for them. My point is, that whatever he may be personally, Mr. -Hearst is mortgaged, body and soul, to the course to which he has given -himself; not only his public reputation, but his entire fortune, is in -his newspapers, and the public is the master of his newspapers. He has -conjured a storm which he cannot possibly control—he must play out to -the end the part he has chosen. - -It is very curious to observe how his rôle has taken hold of him and -changed him. I am told that when he first came to New York he wore -checked trousers and fancy ties; and now he wears the traditional soft -hat and frock coat of our statesmen. And also, I think, the rôle has -changed his character. For this struggle is a real one, it is a struggle -of the people for life; the cause is a cause of truth and justice, and -the man does not live who can do battle for it as Mr. Hearst has done, -and not come to take fire with the passion of it. The man does not live -who can make the enemies Mr. Hearst has made, and not take a real and -vital interest in the task of bringing them to their knees. I believe -that Mr. Hearst is to-day as sincere a man as we have in political life. - - -It may be, of course, that some one else will get the Democratic -nomination in 1912; that matters not at all in my thesis—the one thing -certain is that it will be some man who stands pledged to put an end to -class-government. Following it there will be a campaign of an intensity -of fury such as this country has never before witnessed in its history. - -Let us outline in a few words the situation as it will then exist. - -In the first place there will be two or three million—perhaps five or -ten million—men out of work. They will have been out for a year or two, -and have had plenty of time to work up excitement. They may have forced -Congress to provide them some temporary employment—which will, of -course, be the first taste of blood to the tiger. They will certainly -have been waging strikes of a violence never before known—they will have -been shot down in great numbers, and they may have done a great deal of -burning and dynamiting. That some particularly conspicuous individual -like Mr. Rockefeller or Mr. Baer may have been assassinated, seems more -than likely; that a “Coxey’s Army” of much larger size will have marched -on Washington, seems quite certain. - -When I was in Chicago, just after the last “Beef Strike,” I met half a -dozen labour leaders who told me an interesting story. Chicago has the -most thoroughly revolutionary working-class of any city in the country, -and towards the end of this strike they were deeply stirred, and there -had been several conferences in which a complete program had been laid -out for an “anti-rent strike.” On a certain day, all the working people -of Chicago were to refuse to pay rent until the meat-packers gave in. -The project was nipped by the settlement of the strike, but it only -waits a new occasion to be put into effect. By the time which we are -picturing here, it will quite certainly have spread east and west to the -two oceans, so that not half our city population will be paying any rent -for their homes at this time. - -[Illustration: - - _Copyright, 1894, Leslie’s Weekly_ -] - -[Illustration: - - _Copyright, 1894, Leslie’s Weekly_ - - COXEY’S ARMY ON THE MARCH AND IN WASHINGTON -] - -And also, of course, there will have been processions in the streets, -and unemployed demonstrations every day. There will be a Socialist -meeting round every corner—all through this period of stress, you are to -picture the Socialists working like bees at swarming time. That is the -function of the Socialist party all through this crisis, to stir up and -organise the proletariat, to make certain that in the crisis the people -are not ignorant of the way. They will be heading the hunger-parades, -carrying the banners and making the speeches, circulating tracts and -five-million-copy editions of the “Appeal to Reason.” They will be -polling unheard of votes—in one or two cities they will be carrying the -elections, and Socialist mayors will be confiscating street-railroads, -and clapping obstructive judges into jail. The Socialist party is a -party of agitation rather than administration; but it is of vital -importance that it should everywhere exist, as a party of the last -resort, a club held over Society. Everywhere the cry will be: Do this, -and do that, or the Socialists will carry the country. - -So will be ushered in the election campaign and the death-grapple. You -will try to beat the people back, as you have done before—but you will -not succeed this time. Before this, the people were ignorant—but now -they will know. They will have had the whole of the festering ulcer of -commercialism laid open before their eyes. You will not be able to blame -it on the labour unions, nor on the Rate Bill, nor on Roosevelt, nor on -the Negro, nor on the Esquimau. You will not be able to awe the people -with any great names, nor to fool them with respectability. They will -have been taught to regard the leaders of our business affairs as -convicted and unpunished criminals; and if you were to propose such a -thing as a “business man’s parade,” you would be greeted with a scream -of fury. - -You will be utterly terrified at the state of affairs. Credit will be -failing, and the business of the country will be holding its breath. You -will subscribe a campaign fund of ten—fifteen—twenty millions of -dollars—but there will be Mr. Hearst with his extras in a dozen cities, -and his twenty million free copies a day, and he will tell how much you -are raising and a whole lot more. So there will be committees of safety -to guard the ballot—and a few more good campaign cries. There will be -frenzied conferences among our political millionaires, and a week or two -before election day Mr. Hearst’s opponent—quite probably ex-President -Roosevelt—will come out favouring nearly all of his radical proposals, -but declaring that they ought not to be carried into effect by a -Socialist like Mr. Hearst. Mr. Hearst will reply with his ten thousand -and tenth declaration that he is not a Socialist, and has no sympathy -with Socialism—a statement which the Socialists, who will not understand -in the least the meaning of events, will cordially substantiate. Mr. -Hearst will declare that he stands upon a platform of Americanism, and -that he seeks only equal rights for all—and therefore Federal ownership -of all criminal monopolies. - -So election day will come, and Mr. Hearst will be elected; and within -the next week the business of the country will have fallen into heaps. -Banks will have closed, mills will be idle—there will be no freight, and -railroads will be failing. The people of New York will be reminded that -if the railroads stop the city will starve to death in a couple of -weeks; and so, perhaps even before Mr. Hearst takes office, government -ownership of the railroads will be realised. - -How will it be accomplished? It is a charmingly simple process—I could -do it all myself. Have you ever heard the inside story of how the last -coal strike was settled? The operators were standing upon their rights -as the persons to whom God in His infinite wisdom had entrusted the care -of the property interests of the country; and all winter long the people -had been lacking coal. Then suddenly President Roosevelt, who is a -master of the art of feeling the public pulse, made the discovery that -government ownership of coal mines was about to crystallise into an -issue of practical politics. So he sent Secretary Root to see Morgan, -and tell him that the coal operators must give in. Morgan saw the -operators, and they insisted upon their rights, and so Root went back to -Washington, and came again to say that, as Mr. Morgan well knew, the -coal roads were doing business in flat violation of the law; and that -unless within twenty-four hours they gave their consent to the -appointment by the President of a board of arbitration, the whole power -of the United States Attorney General’s office would be turned upon an -investigation of their business methods. And so the strike was settled -in a day. - -And in very similar ways will the future problems be settled. There will -be similar conferences; and then some fine day a duly-accredited -commissioner from the President will travel, say to Philadelphia, and -enter the offices of the Pennsylvania Railroad, arch-corrupter of the -great Keystone state. The directors of the company will receive him with -bows and smiles, and will spread their books before him and his staff, -and place themselves and their office at his disposal. He will hear a -brief account of the situation, and will then give his orders to the -president and other officials of the road: to the effect that schedules -are to be continued as previously; that all salaries will remain -unaltered until further notice; and that passenger and freight rates are -to be dropped to a point where net profits will be wiped out. Then he -will shake hands with the directors and thank them for their services in -building up the road, adding that their services are now at an end. And -that, for all practical purposes, will be the application of Socialism -to the Pennsylvania Railroad. - -But, you say, by my hypothesis the road could not run; how will it be -able to run now? The reason it couldn’t run before was that there were -no profits; but now it will not be run for profits, but for service, -like the Post Office. To help it over its momentary embarrassment, of -course, the credit of the government may be needed: but even that is not -likely. For exactly the same thing which happens to the Pennsylvania -Railroad will be happening to the Steel Trust and the Oil Trust and the -Coal Trust and the Beef Trust; and all these industries will be starting -into activity, and so there will be plenty of freight. With the captains -of each of these trusts there will have been secret Presidential -conferences, at which these gentlemen will have been told that since -they can no longer run their business, they must allow the Government to -take possession and run it—the price to be paid for their stock being a -matter for future negotiation, and a matter of no great importance to -them in any case, because of the income and inheritance tax laws just -then being rushed through Congress. - -Such will be the Revolution—and the gateway into the Industrial -Republic. Precisely as in France we saw that the peasant who was -starving because he could not pay his taxes, began to till the land and -grow rich without any taxes, so in the midst of universal destitution, -it will suddenly be discovered that the farmer who could not sell his -grain, and therefore had no hat to wear, may now exchange his grain with -the operative in the hat factory who had produced so many hats for his -master that he was himself out of a job, and could not get any bread. -And all the cotton mills which were shut because we could no longer sell -shirts to the Chinamen, will now start merrily to work making shirts for -all the shirtless wretches the length and breadth of America. And the -shoe operatives of Massachusetts, who were making shoes for the -Filipinos, which the poor Filipinos had to be forced at the point of the -bayonet to buy, will begin making shoes for their own children, and for -the unhappy people of the tenements who were before going barefooted. -And the Steel Trust will suddenly leap into action, because those -misery-smitten four hundred thousand families in the “dark rooms” of the -New York City tenements will now earn money to build themselves decent -habitations. And the tens of thousands of little boys and girls who are -now being ground up in the glass factories of New Jersey and the cotton -mills of Georgia and the coal mines of Pennsylvania, will come out into -the sunlight and play, while their parents are building schools to which -they can be sent. And the young girl who stands shuddering on the brink -of prostitution, working ten hours a day in an East Side sweatshop for a -wage of forty cents a week, will receive the full value of her product, -and be able to maintain herself by two hours of work a day. - -I know what is the attitude of the medical profession towards a -“cure-all”; and yet it is but the sober truth that for nearly every evil -that troubles our age there is one remedy and only one—the -democratisation of our industry. If you were to take a growing boy and -rivet an iron band about his chest, there would come sooner or later a -time when the boy would show symptoms of distress—and for every symptom -there would be but one remedy. Is the boy cross and complaining? Break -the band! Is he pale and sickly? Break the band! Does he gasp and cry -out? Break the band! Do you not know that in the monarchy of France, in -the year 1780, a man who set out to find a remedy for this or that evil -of the hour would have found but one remedy for all of them—the -overthrowing of the aristocracy? And similarly all the diseases of this -period, which are the despair of the moralist and the patriot, are -consequences of the fact that our society is gasping in a last desperate -agony of effort to maintain its system of competitive industry. We are -like a man running on a railroad track pursued by a train. The train is -increasing its speed, and do what he will, it gains upon him; he cries -out, he gasps for breath, he is agonised, wild with terror, making his -last leap with the engine at his very heels—and then suddenly it occurs -to him to leap to one side, and so the train flashes by, and he sits -down and mops his brow and thinks how very stupid it was of him! - - - - - CHAPTER VII - THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC - - -And now let us imagine that society has abolished exploitation and the -competitive wage-system, and got its breath and found leisure to examine -itself under the new régime. How will it find things proceeding? - -One of the first objections that you will run up against, if ever you -start out to agitate Socialism, is your lack of definiteness. Give us -your program, people will say—we want to know what sort of a world you -expect to make, and how you are going to make it. And they will grow -angry when they find that you have not a cut-and-dried scheme of society -in your pocket—that you have stirred them up all to no purpose. And yet -that is just what you have to go on doing. There used to be Utopian -Socialists—Plato was the first of them and Bellamy was the last—who knew -the coming world from its presidents to its chimneysweeps; who could -tell you the very colour of its postage-stamps. But nowadays all -Socialists are scientific. They say that social changes are the product -of the interaction of innumerable forces, and cannot be definitely -foretold; they say that the new organism will be the result of the -strivings of millions of men, acted upon by various motives, ideals, -prejudices and fears. And so they call themselves no longer builders of -systems, but preachers of righteousness; their answer to objectors is -that I once heard given by Hanford, recent candidate for vice-president -on the Socialist ticket, to a lawyer with whom he was debating: “Do you -ask for a map of Heaven before you join the Church?” - -This much we may say, however. The Industrial Republic will be an -industrial government of the people, by the people, for the people. -Exactly as political sovereignty is the property of the community, so -will it be with industrial sovereignty—that is, capital. It will be -administered by elected officials and its equal benefits will be the -elemental right of every citizen. The officials may be our presidents -and governors and legislatures, or they may be an entirely separate -governing body, corresponding to our present directors and presidents of -corporations. In countries where the revolution is one of violence they -will probably be trade-union committees. The governing power may be -chosen separately in each trade and industry, by those who work in it, -just as the officials of a party are now chosen by those who vote in it; -or they may be appointed, as our postmasters and colonial governors are -appointed, by some central authority, perhaps by the President. All of -these things are for the collective wisdom of the country to decide when -the time comes; meanwhile it is only safe to say that there will be as -little change as possible in the business methods of the country—and so -little that the man who should come back and look at it from the -outside, would not even know that any change had taken place. I have -heard a distinguished Republican orator, poking fun at Socialism in a -public address, picture women disputing in the public warehouses as to -whether each had had her fair share of shoes and fish. In the Industrial -Republic the workingman will go to the factory, will work under the -direction of his superior officer, and will receive his wages at the end -of the week in exactly the same way as to-day. He will spend his money -exactly as he spends it to-day—he will go to a store, and if he gets a -pair of shoes he will pay for them. The farmer will till his land -exactly as he does to-day, and when he takes his grain to market he will -be paid for it in money, and will put it in the bank and will draw a -check upon it to pay for the suit of clothes he has ordered by express. -The only difference in all these various operations will be that the -factories will be public property, and the wages the full value of the -product, with no deductions for dividends on stock; and that the street -cars, the banks and the stores will be public utilities, managed exactly -as our post office is managed, charging what the service costs, and -making no profits. In the year 1901 the U. S. Steel Corporation paid one -hundred and twenty-five million dollars and employed one hundred and -twenty-five thousand men; under Socialism the wages of each employee of -the U. S. Steel Corporation would therefore be increased one thousand -dollars a year, which is two or three hundred per cent. In the same way, -the wages of an employee of the Standard Oil Company would be increased -four thousand dollars, which is from eight to ten hundred per cent. The -fare upon the government-owned street railroads in the City of Berlin is -two and a half cents, which would mean that our workingman’s car-fare -bill would be cut by fifty per cent. The toll of the government-owned -telephone of Sweden is three cents, which would mean that the -workingman’s telephone bill would be cut seventy per cent. The -elimination of the speculator and the higher piracy of Wall Street would -raise the price of the farmer’s grain by fifty per cent.; the -elimination of the millers’ trust and the railroad trust would lower the -price of bread by an equal sum. The elimination of the tariff on wool, -of the sweater and the jobber, the department store and the express -trust, would probably lower the price of the farmer’s suit of clothes -sixty per cent; the elimination of the sweatshop and the slum might -raise it to its original level, while decreasing the farmer’s doctor’s -bills correspondingly. Of course I do not mean to say that the gains -from the abolition of exploitation will be distributed in exactly the -ratios outlined above. They will be distributed so as to equalise the -rewards of labour. The point is that there will be a saving at every -point—because at every point there is exploitation. - -I have sketched in “The Jungle” (Chapter 36) a few of the social savings -incidental to the abolition of competition. The reader who cares for a -thorough and scientific study of the subject is referred to a recently -published book, “The Cost of Competition,” by Sidney A. Reeve. I had -never heard of Professor Reeve until his publishers sent me his book. -They say that he worked on it for seven years; and when I read it I -counted myself that many years to the good, for I had meant to try to do -the task myself. Professor Reeve has done it in a way which leaves not a -word to be said. It is a marvellous analysis of the whole of our present -productive system; and best of all, it is free from the jargon of the -schools—it is the work of a man who has kept in touch with actual life, -and has moral feeling as well as scientific training. - -Professor Reeve analyses, not merely the “economic costs” of -competition, but also the “ethical costs,” which after all are the most -important. The difference to the workingman will be, not merely that his -wages will be several times as great, but that he himself will no longer -be a wage-slave, obliged to serve another man for his bread, to cringe -and grovel for a a job, to toil all day for another man’s profit, and -save up his little hoard and live in dread of the next wage reduction, -the next strike, or the next closing down of the factory. He will be a -free and independent member of a coöperative State. He will be delivered -from the necessity of getting the better of his neighbour, because his -neighbour will no longer be able to get the better of him. He will be -certain of permanent employment, without possibility of loss or failure -of payment—certain that so long as he works he will receive just what he -produces, that in case of accident or old age he will be maintained, and -that in case of death his children will be cared for and brought up to -become coöperative partners in the great Industrial Republic. - -[Illustration: - - _From “The Cost of Competition_” - - THE COOPERATIVE DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION - - The Congressional Library -] - -[Illustration: - - _From “The Cost of Competition_” - - THE COMPETITIVE DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION -] - -How, you ask, could Socialism guarantee every man permanent employment? -Could there not be overproduction under Socialism? There could not; the -surplus product being the property of the man who had produced it, and -not, as now, the property of some other man, in a case of overproduction -the workingman would be, not out of work, but on a vacation. As a matter -of fact, only a reasonable surplus would be produced, because the -workingman would stop when he had produced what he wanted—just as you -stop eating when you have satisfied your hunger. - -In the Industrial Republic there will be an administrative officer, a -cabinet official with a bureau of clerks, whose task it will be to -register the decrees of the law of supply and demand. It is found, let -us assume, that the amount of coal needed by the community is -represented by the labour of two million men, five days in the week, and -six hours a day; the number of shoes is represented by the labour of -half a million men the same time. The wages in each trade are ten -dollars a day, and at this rate it is found that two million men go to -the shoe factories to work and only half a million to the coal mines. -The wages of coal mining are therefore made twelve dollars, and the -wages of shoe-making eight dollars; if the balance still does not adjust -itself, it will at the rate of thirteen to seven, or fourteen to six. -Every week the government list shows the wages that can be earned in the -various trades; stoking in a steamship is a painful and dangerous -task—stokers in steamships are receiving twenty dollars a day, and still -few takers, so that the steamships have to be fitted with stoking -machinery at once. On the other hand, driving a rural-delivery -mail-wagon is pleasant work, and is paying at present only five dollars -a day, and with prospects of going still lower. And does all this seem -fantastic to you? But it is exactly the way our employment problem is -solved to-day, when it is solved at all; it is solved by means of “Help -Wanted” advertisements and viva voce rumours—imperfectly, blindly and -sluggishly, instead of instantly, intelligently and consciously by a -universal government information bureau. Out in the country where I -lived two years ago the farmers were unable to get help for love or -money, while millions were out of work and starving in the cities; and -that is only one of the thousands of illustrations one could give of -“how much depends, when two men go out to catch a horse, upon whether -they devote their time to catching him, or to preventing each other from -catching him.” - -The _Independent_ recently published an article entitled “Poverty: Its -Cause and Cure,” by Mr. James Mackaye, a Harvard graduate and -technological chemist; in the course of its editorial comment the paper -hailed his plan for the abolition of poverty as “nothing less than a -very great invention.” “It adds something that was lacking in the older -schemes of Socialism,” the _Independent_ continued, “but absolutely -necessary to any Socialism that would be practically workable.” This -“something” is a device to increase the salaries of managers of the -various industrial departments in proportion as they reduced the -“producing time” of the commodity for which they were responsible. Mr. -Mackaye is another student who, like Professor Reeve and Professor -Veblen, have come into Socialism by their own routes. In his elaborate -book, “The Economy of Happiness,” he shows so thorough a grasp of the -whole subject that I cannot suppose him to share in the ignorance of the -literature of modern proletarian Socialism, which leads the -_Independent_ to hail his plan as a “great invention.” As a matter of -fact, I could name a score of Socialist books and pamphlets in which -such plans are suggested and discussed. I personally have always -rejected them as unsound in theory and unnecessary in practice. I have -already suggested the likelihood of a continuance of present official -salaries after the revolution; but there will be a strong tendency to -reduce these, and I can see no ultimate result except equality of -compensation by the State. I can see no theoretical basis for the -State’s paying to any employee more than it pays to another in the same -industry—hand labour being equally as necessary to the production of -wealth as is superintendence. To my mind, the only necessary stimulus to -efficiency is the community of interest of all the workers. The -incentive to the manager is emulation, and the higher range of activity -which goes with a position of command; and I should be very jealous of -the introduction of any pecuniary motive into the struggle for -promotion—as likely to continue the old evils of graft and favouritism -to which we are now subject. I do not think that, when you have so -organised industry that every man is working for himself, you will find -it necessary to employ any outside force to impel him to work; and in -fact I should consider it a violation of the rights of the worker to -attempt anything of the sort. Of course if the workers themselves chose -to offer a bonus to a manager to invent new methods, that would be -another matter; but that would come under the head of intellectual -production, which I shall consider later on. - -In discussing the question of salaries, it is to be pointed out what a -vast difference will be made in the amount of money which every -individual needs, by the socialisation of all the leading industries. In -the Industrial Republic a thousand dollars a year will buy more comfort -and happiness than ten thousand in the world as at present organised. -There will come, at the very outset, the great economic savings already -outlined; and then, the whole power of the coöperative mind of man being -applied to the elimination of waste and the making of beauty and joy, we -shall have in a very short time a world in which few men will care to -cumber themselves with possessions of any sort excepting the clothes -upon their backs and the few tools of their intellectual trades,—books, -music, etc. The abolition of privilege and class exploitation will of -course wipe out at a stroke all that competition in ostentation which -Professor Veblen has entitled “conspicuous consumption of goods.” In the -Industrial Republic there will be no luxury, for there will be no -slavery. There will be no menial service of any sort under Socialism. I -believe that this gives one a key by which he can do a great deal of -predicting as to what will be found in the world when the impending -revolution has taken place. In the Industrial Republic no man will work -for another man—except for love—because no other man will be able to pay -the “prevailing rate of wages.” - -It is the vision of this that makes the critics of Socialism cry out -that it will destroy the home. What they mean is that it will destroy -that kind of a home which exists upon a basis of butlers, cooks and -kitchen maids, banquets and carriages, jewellery and fine raiment, sweat -shops, and slums, prostitution, child-labour, war and crime. Unless I am -very much mistaken, those people who now wear diamonds, and decorate -their homes with all sorts of objects of “art,” would do a great deal -less of it if they had to pay for it with their own toil—if they were -not able to pay for it with money extracted from the toil of others. I -imagine that those who now, in our restaurants and banquet halls, gorge -themselves upon the contents of earth, sea, and sky, would dine very -much more simply—and very much more wholesomely—if they had to wash the -dishes. For this reason, I expect that in the Industrial Republic there -will be very little of that pseudo-art which ministers to vanity and -sensuality. Our houses and clothing will become simpler and more -dignified, and the artist will turn his thoughts to public works—he will -decorate the parks and public buildings, the theatres, concert halls and -libraries, the great coöperative dining halls and apartment houses. In -the cities and towns of the Industrial Republic there will of course be -possibilities of beauty such as we cannot even dream of at present. Now -our cities grow haphazard, and are typical of all our blindness, -selfishness, and misery. At every turn in them one comes upon new and -more painful signs of these things—filthy and horrible slums, blatant -and vulgar advertisements, insolent rich people in carriages, wan and -starving children in the gutters. In the Industrial Republic a city will -be one thing, and a work of art. It will not be crowded, for the -combination of poverty and the railroad trust will not make spreading -out impossible. Intelligent, coöperative effort having become the rule, -nearly all the things that are now done privately and selfishly will be -done socially. Manual work will not be a disgrace, and poverty will not -keep any man ignorant, filthy and repulsive. There will be no classes -and no class feeling. There will be not only public schools and -academies—there will be public playgrounds for all children, and clubs -and places of recreation for men and women. In the Industrial Republic -you will not mind going to such places and letting your children go. You -will not be afraid of disease, because there will be public hospitals -for all the sick; and you will not be afraid of rowdies, because the -rowdy is a product of the slum, and there will not be any slum. - -At present, we are all engaged in a struggle to beguile as much money -out of each other as we can; and the State has nothing to do save to -stand by and see fair play—and commonly finds that task too much for it! -As a consequence, we find ourselves confronted with an infinite variety -of little petty exactions—we have to spend money every time we turn -around. Very soon after the Revolution, I fancy, men will begin to -realise that these little exactions are more of a nuisance than a -saving. For instance, I shall be very much surprised, if, a generation -from now, the use of postage-stamps is not abolished. At present, with -society wasting so immense a portion of its energy in competitive -advertising, every piece of matter which goes into the mail has to be -made to pay its way; but once do away with competition, and the only -mail is government documents and personal letters—and the time it takes -to stamp and cancel them will be many times greater than the cost of -carrying the additional number of letters that a free mail service would -bring forth. In the same way it will be found not worth while to employ -conductors and spotters, and print tickets and transfers; after that we -shall ride free on our street-cars, and perhaps ultimately in our -government railroad trains. Similarly, all our places of recreation and -of artistic expression would come to be free; and then some one would -realise the waste incidental to our present system of book buying, and -we should then have a universal national library, from which at frequent -intervals delivery service would bring you any books then in existence. -I have just witnessed in New York an exhibition of an invention which -will make music as free as air. Bellamy was ridiculed for predicting -“electric music” in the year 2000; and it is on sale in New York City in -the year 1907. By this marvellous machine, the “telharmonium,” all -previously existing musical instruments are relegated to the junk heap; -and all music composed for them becomes out of date. At one leap the art -of music is set free from all physical limitations, and the musician is -given command of all possible tones, and may play to ten thousand -audiences at once. It is worth while pointing out, that, living under -the capitalist system as we are, the inventor had no recourse save to -use his machine to make profits, and so the newspapers, which are also -in business for profits, left it to make its own way. So it came about -that the first public exhibition of an invention which means more to -humanity than any discovery since the art of printing, received mention -in only one New York paper, and that to the extent of three or four -inches. - - -But to return to the Revolution, and the first steps which have to be -taken. - -There are some industries which anyone can see are all ready for public -ownership; and when the people have once found out the way, they will be -very impatient with all remaining forms of rent, interest, profit and -dividends. Also, the exploiters will soon learn to give way. Just as -soon as the proprietors of department stores find that the people -seriously intend to open a public store in every city, and to sell goods -at cost, they will be glad to sell out for a few cents on the dollar; -just as soon as the bankers find out that there is really to be a -national bank, charging no interest, and incapable of failing, they will -do the same with their buildings and outfits. To quote a paragraph from -“The Jungle” (page 405), “The coöperative Commonwealth is a universal -automatic insurance company and savings bank for all its members. -Capital being the property of all, injury to it is shared by all and -made up by all. The bank is the universal government credit account, the -ledger in which every individual’s earnings and spendings are balanced. -There is also a universal government bulletin, in which are listed and -precisely described everything which the Commonwealth has for sale. As -no one makes any profit by the sale, there is no longer any stimulus to -extravagance, and no misrepresentation, no cheating, no adulteration or -imitation, no bribery, no ‘grafting.’” - -There remains only one other great problem to be mentioned—that of -agriculture. I think no one will want to interfere with the farmer, any -more than with the cobbler, the small storekeeper, the newsman or any -other petty business. The farmer will stay on his land, and make -money—and study the situation. He will find in the first place that -coöperation is a success, and has come to stay. He will find that while -he is working with his hands, the rest of society is working with steam -and electricity, and leaving him far behind. He will find that he can no -longer hire help—that his hired man is employed as a coöperative worker, -and receiving several times more than the farmer himself. He will -understand that to get his share of all the good things of the new -civilisation, he will have to put his land into the common fund, and -work for the commonwealth and not for his own wealth. In this case, of -course, all the risks and losses of his trade will be shared by the -whole community—the result of a bad crop in Maine being made up by a -good crop in California, so that the farmer who works will be as certain -of gain and as free from care as the factory hand. - -And now let us consider the effect of this new system upon certain of -the leading features of our civilisation. What, for instance, will be -the effect of Socialism upon crime? The man who becomes a criminal at -present finds himself in a world where he is compelled to work for some -other man’s profit, and to have flaunted in his face every hour the -wealth which has been exacted from his toil. But now he will find -himself in a world from which luxury and pauperism have been banished, -and in which coöperation and mutual fellowship is the law. He will find -that he gets just what he produces, and that he can produce in a day -more than he can steal in a month. Don’t you think that the criminal may -find these powerful motives to become a worker? He may be a degenerate, -of course, in which case we shall put him in a hospital; we should do -that now, if we did not feel dimly that it would be of no use, because -our social system is making criminals faster than we can pen them up, -and makes the life of the majority of the working-class so horrible that -men have been known to steal on purpose to get into jail. - -I have tried in “The Jungle” to give a picture of the process whereby -the forces of commercialism turn honest workingmen into criminals and -tramps. There is also another story to which I would refer the reader -who cares to have more acquaintance with such conditions—“An Eye for an -Eye,” by Clarence Darrow.—And also, while we are considering this -subject, let us not forget how the change would affect the criminals of -the future, the wretched children of the slums and gutters, who will now -be cared for by the State, and made into decent citizens in public -asylums and hospitals, training schools and playgrounds. - -What will be the effect of Socialism upon prostitution? Any young girl -can go to the public factories or stores, to the coöperative boarding -houses and hotels, the schools and nursery playgrounds, and secure -employment for the asking, and support herself by a couple of hours’ -work a day in decent and attractive surroundings. She will, moreover, be -able to marry the man who loves her, because the problem of a living -will no longer enter into the question of marriage. She will be able to -restrict her family to as many as she and her husband care to support, -because she will be as intelligent and sensible as the women of our -present upper classes. - -The question of the relationship of the system of wage-slavery to the -lives of women is too vast a one to be even outlined here; suffice it to -say that the Socialist battle is the battle of woman, even more than it -is the battle of the workingman. I cannot do better than to refer the -reader to another book in which the whole question of the effects which -age-long conditions of economic inferiority has wrought in the minds and -bodies of women is discussed in scientific and yet fascinating form—Mrs. -Gilman’s “Woman and Economics.” - -What will be the effect of Socialism upon drunkenness? Under Socialism -the workingman will have a decent home, and attractive clubs, reading -rooms, and places of entertainment of all sorts, with plenty of time to -frequent them. He will have steady employment, wholesome food, a -pleasant place to work in, and—railroad fares being almost nothing—a -trip to the country when he fancies it. His wife will not be an -overworked, repulsive drudge, and his children will not be starving -brats. When he wants a drink he will go to a public drinking-place and -get it; what he gets will be pure, and will be sold him by a man who has -no interest in getting him drunk. On the contrary, the attendant may be -getting a royalty upon all nonintoxicating drinks he sells, and the -drinker will quite certainly be paying a big tax upon all the -intoxicating drinks he buys. Do you not think that all this may have -some effect upon the nation’s drink bill, which now is doubling itself -every decade? - -Recently I was invited by the _Christian Herald_ to contribute to a -symposium upon the question of prohibition. I wrote as follows: “In my -opinion the drink evil is primarily an effect, and not a cause; it is a -by-product of wage-slavery. The working classes are to-day organised as -the bond slaves of capital. The conditions under which they live are -such as to brutalise and degrade them and drive them to drink. As I have -phrased it in “The Jungle,” if a man has to live in hell, he would a -great deal rather be drunk than sober. The solution of the drink evil -waits upon the coming of Socialism. - -“As a part of the capitalist system, you have liquor sold for profit, -and the liquor interests are one of the forces which dominate the land. -Therefore, you are unable to effect any legislation to correct the evil. -Liquor is sold in order to make money out of the victim, therefore every -inducement and temptation is laid before him. Under Socialism, the only -barkeeper would be the community, and the community would have every -object in limiting the traffic. The children of the masses would be -taken in hand and taught the secret of right living; and when they grew -up they would have enough to eat and the means of keeping in working -condition, and would know other sources of happiness than drunkenness. -At present, attempts to reform the evil are attempts to sweep back the -tide. Moreover, it is to be noticed that many of those who are most -active in the work are themselves busily engaged in exploiting the -working-class in their private business, and are therefore directly -identified with the cause of the evil they are attempting to combat.” - -What will be the effect of Socialism upon war? The New York _Sun_ -recently expressed the opinion that the end of war will come only with -the Golden Age. If so, the Golden Age is within sight of all of us. -Socialism will abolish war as inevitably, as naturally and serenely, as -the sunrise abolishes the night. The cause of war is foreign markets; -and under Socialism the markets will all be at home. Under Socialism the -existence of the workers of the United States, of England, Germany, and -Japan, will not be dependent upon the ability of their masters to sell -their surplus products for profit to Chinamen. Under Socialism an -international Congress will take in hand the backward nations, will -clean out their sewers and wipe out their plagues and famines, their -kings and their capitalists, their ignorance, their superstition and -their wars. It will do these things because they need to be done—it will -not do them as a mere pretence to cover greed for gold mines and -markets. Outside of mines and markets there is no longer any cause of -war, save the old race hatreds which these have begotten; and race -hatreds are not known among Socialists. In their last International -Congress a Russian and a Japanese shook hands upon the platform, while -their countrymen were flying at each other’s throats in Manchuria. The -Socialist movement is a world movement—it has brought under its banners, -working shoulder to shoulder, men and women of all religions, races and -colours. With their victory, and only with their victory, will the -efforts of “Peace Congresses” bear fruit. - -Finally, what will be the effect of Socialism upon the “System”? It is -important to distinguish between corruption as a sporadic event, an -accident here and there, and corruption as a national institution. In -the Industrial Republic a worker might of course bribe his foreman to -let him cheat the community; but that would be every man’s loss, and -there would be every inducement to find it out and make it known, and no -hindrance whatever to its punishment. At present, however, we have -corruption organised in town, county, city, state, and nation, with -every inducement to keep it hidden, and almost no possibility of -punishing it. Everybody understands that we have corporations, and that -the corporations rule us; all that everybody does not yet understand is -that the continuance of their rule would mean the ruin of free -institutions in America, and ultimately the downfall of civilisation -itself. - - -I have outlined the economic and political conditions which I believe -will prevail in the Industrial Republic; there remains to consider what -influences these will exert upon the moral and intellectual life of men. - -When people criticise the Socialist programme they always think about -government censors and red tape, and limitations upon free endeavour; -and so they say that Socialism would lead to a reign of tameness and -mediocrity. They tell us that under the new régime we should all have to -wear the same kind of coat and eat the same kind of pie. They argue that -if all the means of production are owned by the Government there will be -no way for you to get your own kind of pie; failing to perceive that -government control of the means of production no more implies government -control of the product, than government control of the post office means -government control of the contents of your letters. Said a good -clergyman friend of mine: “What possible place, for instance, would -there be for _me_ in your Socialist society.” And I answered, “There -would be just exactly the same place for you that there is at present. -How is it that you get your living and your freedom? You are maintained -by an association of people who want the work you can do. Every -clergyman in the country is maintained in that way—and so are thousands -upon thousands of editors, authors, artists, actors—so are all our -clubs, societies, restaurants, theatres and orchestras. The Government -has absolutely nothing to do with them at present—and the Government -need have absolutely nothing to do with them under Socialism. The people -who want them subscribe and pay for them. Under our present system they -pay the cost to private profit-seekers; under Socialism they would pay -the State.” - -In the Industrial Republic a man will be able to order anything he -wishes, from a flying machine to a seven-legged spider made of diamonds; -and the only question that anyone will ever dream of asking him will be: -“Have you got the money to pay for it?” There remains only to add that, -the system of wealth-distribution being now one of justice, that -question will mean: “Have you performed for society the equivalent of -the labour-time of the article you desire society to furnish you?” - -Nine-tenths of the argument against Socialism dissolves into mist the -moment one states that single all-important fact, that Socialism is a -science of _economics_. For instance, Mr. Bryan has recently published -in the _Century Magazine_ an article entitled “Individualism versus -Socialism;” and here is the way he contrasts the two: “The individualist -believes that competition is not only a helpful but a necessary force in -society, to be guarded and protected; the Socialist regards competition -as a hurtful force, to be entirely exterminated.” Now there are endless -varieties of competition with which Socialism could in no conceivable -way interfere: the competition of love, and of friendship; the -competition of political life; the competition of ideals, of music and -books, of philosophy and science. It is the claim of the Socialists that -by setting men free from the money-greed and the money-terror—from the -need of struggling to deprive other men of the necessities of life in -order to prevent them from depriving you of these necessities—the mind -of the race would be set free for more vigorous competition in these -other fields, and thus the development of real individuality would be -for the first time made possible. This being the desire of the -Socialist, it should be clear how fundamental is the misconception of -Mr. Bryan, indicated by the bare title of his article—“Individualism -versus Socialism.” Socialism is not opposed to Individualism, and to set -the two in opposition is like the attempt to imagine a fight between an -elephant and a whale. - -Socialism is a proposition for an economic re-organisation; as such, the -only thing to which it can logically and intelligently be opposed is -Capitalism. Mr. Bryan indicates that he discerns this, in another -portion of his article. He says; “For the purpose of this discussion -Individualism will be defined as the private ownership of the means of -production and distribution where competition is possible, leaving to -public ownership those means of production and distribution in which -competition is practically impossible; and Socialism will be defined as -the collective ownership, through the State, of all the means of -production and distribution.” For general unfairness this statement -makes me think of the story of a man who was riding through the country -and stopped to admire a fine pair of turkeys, and after praising them -with enthusiasm, remarked to the farmer: “I will match you for them! -Heads they are mine, and tails they stay yours.” Mr. Bryan has composed -a subtly worded definition of Individualism which takes all the kernels -from the Socialist ear, and leaves to the Socialist only the husk. -“Leaving to public ownership those means of production and distribution -in which competition is practically impossible!” What a beautiful field -for controversy, and what endless opportunities for compromise and -concession, for advance or retreat! Ten years ago Mr. Bryan would not -have appreciated the necessity of inserting this clause; industrial -evolution had not proceeded quite so far, and all our radicals were -bending their efforts to destroying the trusts. It was only after the -last presidential election, unless I am mistaken, that Mr. Bryan -definitely committed himself to the public ownership “of those means of -production and distribution in which competition is practically -impossible.” - -If Mr. Bryan would only procure and read a really authoritative treatise -upon modern scientific Socialism (say Vandervelde’s “Collectivism and -Industrial Evolution”) he would understand that his programme is so -close to that of the Socialists that the difference would require a -microscope to discern. In fact, I imagine that the majority of modern -proletarian thinkers would be willing to subscribe to the programme of -“Individualism” exactly as Mr. Bryan states it: “the private ownership -of the means of production and distribution where competition is -possible, leaving to public ownership those means of production and -distribution in which competition is practically impossible.” - -The one point to be made absolutely clear in this matter is that the -Industrial Republic will be an organisation for the supplying of the -_material necessities_ of human life. With the moral and intellectual -affairs of men it can have very little to do. What Socialism proposes to -organise and systematise is industry, not thought. The difference -between the products of industry and those of thought is a fundamental -one. The former are strictly limited in quantity, and the latter are -infinite. No man can have more than his fair share of the former without -depriving his neighbour; but to a thought there is no such limit—a -single poem or symphony may do for a million just as well as for one. -With the former it is possible for one man to gain control and oppress -others; but it is not possible to monopolise thought. And it is in -consequence of this fact that laws and systems are necessary with the -things of the body, which would be preposterous with the things of the -mind. The bodily needs of men are pretty much all alike. Men need food, -clothing, shelter, light, air, and heat; and they need these of pretty -nearly the same quality and in pretty nearly the same quantity—so that -they can be furnished methodically year in and year out, according to -order. This is being done by our present industrial masters for profit; -in the Industrial Republic it will be done by the State, for use. - -Quite otherwise is it with things in which men are not alike—their -religions and their arts and their sciences. The only conditions under -which the State can with any justice or efficiency have to do with -production in these fields, is after men have come to agreement—when -opinion has given place to knowledge. For instance, we have, in certain -fields of science, methods which we can consider as agreed upon; it -would be perfectly possible for the State to endow astronomical -investigators, and seekers of the North Pole, and inventors of flying -machines, and pioneers in all the technical arts. In the same way we -come to agree, within certain limits, what is a worth-while play or -book; in so far as we agree, we can have government theatres and -publishing houses, government newspapers and magazines. If ever science -should discover the rationale of the phenomenon of genius, so that we -could analyse and judge it with precision, we should then have the whole -problem solved. - -You are a writer, perhaps; and you say that you would not relish the -idea of bringing your book to a government official to be judged. Ask -yourself, however, if some of your prejudice may not be due to your -conception of a government official as the representative of a class, -and of the interests of a class. In the Industrial Republic there will -be no classes, and the officers of the coöperative publishing house will -have no one to serve but the people. If they are not satisfactory to the -people, the people can get rid of them—something the people cannot do -anywhere in the world to-day. You think, perhaps, that you choose your -own governors in this country—but you do not. What you do is to go to -the polls and choose between two sets of candidates, both of whom have -been selected by your economic rulers as being satisfactory to them. - -While I do not profess to be certain, I imagine that an author who -wanted his book published by the Government would have to pay the -expenses of the publication. This would not be any hardship, for wages -in the Industrial Republic could not be less than ten dollars for a day -of six hours’ work. With the rapid improvement in machinery and methods -that would follow, they would probably soon be double that—and of course -it would rest with the people who were doing the work to see that it was -done in an attractive place, with plenty of fresh air and due safeguards -against accidents. Under these conditions a man of refinement could go -to a factory to work for pleasure and exercise, instead of pulling at -ropes in a gymnasium, as he commonly does nowadays. And when a young -author had earned the cost of making his book, he would have done all -that he had to do. He would not have to enter into a race in vulgar -advertising with exploiting private concerns; nor would the public form -its ideas of his work from criticisms in reviews which were run to -secure advertisements, and which gave their space to the books that were -advertised the most. Neither would his critics be employed by a class, -to maintain the interests of a class, and to keep down the aspirations -of some other class. Also, the book-reading public would no longer -consist—as our present society so largely consists—of idle and unfeeling -rich, and ignorant, debased and hunger-driven poor. - -And then, as I said, there is a second method—the method of the churches -and clubs. Out in Chicago there was, four years ago, a man who thought -there ought to be more Socialist books published than there were. He had -no money; but he drew up a programme for a coöperative publishing house, -to furnish Socialist literature at cost to those who wanted it. He got -some ten thousand dollars in ten-dollar shares, and since then he has -been turning out half a million pieces of Socialist literature every -year. That seems to me a perfect illustration of what would happen in -the new society, the second way in which books would be published. Such -concerns—free associations, as they are termed in the Socialist -vocabulary—would spring up literally by the thousands. They would cover -every field that the liberated soul of man might be interested in, they -would care for every type of thinker and artist, no matter how -eccentric; they would offer encouragement to every man who showed the -slightest sign of power in any field. The only reason we do not have -many times as many of these associations as we have now, is simply that -those people who really care about the higher things of life are almost -invariably poor and helpless. - -One of the curious things which I have observed about those who pick -flaws in the suggestions of the Socialist, is how seldom it ever occurs -to them to apply their own tests to the present system of things. How is -it with art and literature production now—are all the conditions quite -free from objection? Is the man of genius always encouraged and -protected, and set free to develop his powers? - -In the _North American Review_ a couple of years ago there appeared an -article by Mrs. Gertrude Atherton, in which she set forth her opinion -that “American literature to-day is the most timid, the most anæmic, the -most lacking in individualities, the most bourgeois, that any country -has ever known.” This seemed to perplex Mrs. Atherton very much—she -could not comprehend why such a very great country should have a -“bourgeois” literature. I replied to her in a paper which was published -in _Collier’s Weekly_, in which I maintained that “American literature -is the most bourgeois that any country has ever known, simply because -American life is the most bourgeois that any country has ever known.” I -shall quote a few paragraphs from the essay, which began with an attempt -to define the word “bourgeois”: - -It signifies, in a sentence, that type of civilisation, of law and -convention, which was made necessary by the economic struggle, and which -is now maintained by the economic victors for their own comfort and the -perpetuation of their power. The _bourgeoisie_, or middle class, is that -class which, all over the world, takes the sceptre of power as it falls -from the hands of the political aristocracy; which has the skill and -cunning to survive in the free-for-all combat which follows upon the -political revolution. Its dominion is based upon wealth; and hence the -determining characteristic of the bourgeois society is its regard for -wealth. To it, wealth is power, it is the end and goal of things. The -aristocrat knew nothing of the possibility of revolution, and so he was -bold and gay. The bourgeois _does_ know about the possibility of -revolution, and so it is that Mrs. Atherton finds that our literature is -“timid.” She finds it “anæmic,” simply because the bourgeois ideal knows -nothing of the spirit, and tolerates intellectual activity only for the -ends of commerce and material welfare. She finds also that it “bows -before the fetich of the body,” and she is much perplexed by the -discovery. She does not seem to understand that the bourgeois represents -an achievement of the body, and that all that he knows in the world is -body. He is well fed himself, his wife is stout, and his children are -fine and vigorous. He lives in a big house, and wears the latest thing -in clothes; his civilisation furnishes these to every one—at least to -every one who amounts to anything; and beyond that he understands -nothing—save only the desire to be entertained. It is for entertainment -that he buys books, and as entertainment that he regards them; and hence -another characteristic of the bourgeois literature is its lack of -seriousness. The bourgeois writer has a certain kind of seriousness, of -course—the seriousness of a hungry man seeking his dinner; but the -seriousness of the artist he does not know. He will roar you as gently -as any sucking dove, he will also wring tears from your eyes or thrill -you with terror, according as the fashion of the hour suggests; but he -knows exactly why he does these things, and he can do them between chats -at his club. If you expected him to act like his heroes, he would think -that you were mad. - -The basis of a bourgeois society is cash payment; it recognises only the -accomplished fact. To be a Milton with a “Paradise Lost” in your pocket -is to be a tramp: to be a great author in the bourgeois literary world -is to have sold a hundred thousand copies, and to have sold them within -memory—that is, a year or two. With the bourgeois, success is success, -and there is no going behind the returns; to discriminate between -different kinds of success would be to introduce new and dangerous -distinctions. As Mr. John L. Sullivan once phrased it: “A big man is a -big man, it don’t matter if he’s a prize-fighter or a president.” Mr. -John L. Sullivan is a big man himself; so is Mr. Frank Munsey, and so -was Mr. Henry Romeike, and so was Senator Hanna. So are they all, all -honourable men, and when you look up in “Who’s Who,” you find that they -are there. - -The bourgeois ideal is a perfectly definite and concrete one: it has -mostly all been attained—there are only a few small details left to be -attended to, such as the cleaning of the streets and the suppressing of -the labour unions. Thus there is no call for perplexity, and no use for -anything hard to understand. Originality is superfluous, and -eccentricity is anathema. The world is as it always has been, and human -nature will always be as it is; the thing to do is to find out what the -public likes. The public likes pathos and the homely virtues; and so we -give it “Eben Holden” and “David Harum.” The public likes high life, and -so we give it Richard Harding Davis and Marie Corelli. The public does -_not_ like passion; it likes sentiment, however—it even likes heroics, -provided they are conventionalised, and so to amuse it we turn all -history into a sugar-coated romance. The public’s strong point is love, -and we lay much stress upon the love-element—though with limitations, -needless to say. The idea of love as a serious problem among men and -women is dismissed, because the social organisation enables us to -satisfy our passions with the daughters of the poor. Our own daughters -know nothing about passion, and we ourselves know it only as an item in -our bank accounts. To the bourgeois young lady—the Gibson girl, as she -is otherwise known—literary love is a sentiment, ranking with a box of -bonbons, and actual love is a class marriage with an artificially -restricted progeny. - -These which have been described are the positive and more genial aspects -of the bourgeois civilisation; the savage and terrible remain to be -mentioned. For it must be understood that this civilisation of comfort -and respectability furnishes its good things only to a class, and to an -exceedingly small class. The majority of mankind it pens up in filthy -hovels and tenements, to feed upon husks and rot in misery. This was -once easy, but now it is growing harder—and thus little by little the -_bourgeoisie_ is losing its temper. Just now it is like a fat poodle by -a stove—you think it is asleep and venture to touch it, when quick as a -flash it has put its fangs in you to the bone. - -The bourgeois civilisation is, in one word, an organised system of -repression. In the physical world it has the police and the militia, the -bludgeon, the bullet, and the jail; in the world of ideas it has the -political platform, the school, the college, the press, the church—and -literature. The bourgeois controls these things precisely as he controls -the labour of society, by his control of the purse-strings. Unless -proper candidates are named by political parties, there are no campaign -funds; unless proper teachers and college presidents are chosen, there -are no endowments. Thus it happens that our students are taught a -political economy carefully divorced, not merely from humanity, but also -from science, history, and sense; any other kind of political economy -the student sometimes despises—more commonly he does not even know that -it exists. And it is just the same with the churches and with theology. -We have at present established in this land a religion which exists in -the name of the world’s greatest revolutionist, the founder of the -Socialist movement; this man denounced the bourgeois and the bourgeois -ideal more vehemently than ever it has since been denounced—declaring in -plain words that no bourgeois could get into Heaven; and yet his church -is to-day, in all its forms, and in every civilised land, the main -pillar of bourgeois society! - -With the press the bourgeois has a still more direct method than -endowment; the press he owns. All the daily newspapers in New York, for -instance, are the property of millionaires, and are run by them in their -own interests, exactly the same as their stables or their _cuisine_. -That does not mean, of course, that many of their journalistic menials -are not sincere—it does not mean that the college presidents and -clergymen may not be sincere. One of the quaintest things about the -bourgeois editor, the bourgeois college president, the bourgeois -clergyman, is the whole-souled naïveté with which he takes it for -granted that just as all civilisation exists for the comfort of the -bourgeois, so also all truth must necessarily be such as the bourgeois -would desire it to be. - -And then there is literature. The bourgeois recognises the novelist and -the poet as a means of amusement somewhat above the prostitute, and -about on a level with the music-hall artist; he recognises the essayist, -the historian, and the publicist as agents of bourgeois repression -equally as necessary as the clergyman and the editor. To all of them he -grants the good things of the bourgeois life, a bourgeois home with -servants who know their places, and a bourgeois club with smiling and -obsequious waiters. They may even, on state occasions, become acquainted -with the bourgeois magnates, and touch the gracious fingers of the -magnates’ pudgy wives. There is only one condition, so obvious that it -hardly needs to be mentioned—they must be bourgeois, they must see life -from the bourgeois point of view. Beyond that there is not the least -restriction; the novelist, for instance, may roam the whole of space and -time—there is nothing in life that he may not treat, provided only that -he be bourgeois in his treatment. He may show us the olden time, with -noble dames and gallant gentlemen dallying with graceful sentiment. He -may entertain us with pictures of the modern world, may dazzle us with -visions of high society in all its splendours, may awe us with the -wonders of modern civilisation, of steam and electricity, the flying -machine and the automobile. He may thrill us with battle, murder, and -Sherlock Holmes. He may bring tears to our eyes at the thought of the -old folks at home, or at his pictures of the honesty, humility, and -sobriety of the common man; he may even go to the slums and show us the -ways of Mrs. Wiggs, her patient frugality and beautiful contentment in -that state of life to which it has pleased God to call her. In any of -these fields the author, if he is worth his salt, may be -“entertaining”—and so the royalties will come in. If there is any one -whom this does not suit—who is so perverse that the bourgeois do not -please him, or so obstinate that he will not learn to please the -bourgeois—we send after him our literary policeman, the bourgeois -reviewer, and bludgeon him into silence; or better yet, we simply leave -him alone, and he moves into a garret. The bourgeois garrets resemble -the bourgeois excursion steamers. They are never so crowded that there -is not room for as many more as want to come on board; and any young -author who imagines that he can bear to starve longer than the world can -bear to let him starve, is welcome to try it. Letting things starve is -the specialty of the bourgeois society—the vast majority of the -creatures in it are starving all the time. - -So much for things as they are. The Revolution will, of course, not -change our present bourgeois people—except that it will scare them -thoroughly, and make them teachable. But it will bring to the front an -enormous class of people to whom life is a new and wondrous thing; and -their children also will grow up in a different world, and with a -different ideal; and so a generation from now there will be a new art -public. The people who compose it will not have been forced to consider -money the only thing in life, the sole test of excellence and power; -they will not have been brought up on the motto, “Do others or they will -do you.” They will have been brought up in a world in which no man is -able to “do” another man, and in which all men stand as equals as -regards money. They will have been brought up in a world in which work -and a decent life are the right and duty of every man, and are taken for -granted with every man; in which influence, reputation, and command are -given for other things than money. If it be true that faith, hope, and -charity are greater things than wealth, it is perhaps not altogether -Utopian to suppose that these will be the things that the new public -will honour and will contrive to promote. The best way in which one can -be sure about this is to study the writers who are shaping the ideals of -Socialism—such men as Whitman and Thoreau, Ruskin and William Morris, -Kropotkin and Carpenter and Gorky. Above all I wish that I could be the -cause of the reader’s looking into one book, in which one of the -master-spirits of our time has made an attempt to picture this beautiful -world that is to be. When I met Mr. H. G. Wells last year, I had not -read any of his books; so he sent me a copy of his “Modern Utopia,” -graciously inscribing it: “To the most hopeful of Socialists, from the -next most hopeful!” Afterward, I was asked by _Life_ to name the book -which had given me the most pleasure during the last year, and I named -this one. It is, in my opinion, one of the great works of our -literature; it is worthy to be placed with the visions of Plato and Sir -Thomas More. It has three great virtues which are rarely, if ever, found -in combination. In the first place, it is characterised by a nobility -and loftiness of spirit which makes its reading a religious exercise. In -the second place, it is the work of an engineer, a man with the modern -sense of reality and acquainted with the whole field of scientific -achievement. In the third place, it is written in a a literary style -which makes the reading of each paragraph a delight in itself. It is a -book to love and to cherish; one leaves it, refreshed and strengthened, -to wait with patience and cheerfulness the hour of the Great Change. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - THE COÖPERATIVE HOME - - -In all that I have outlined concerning the Industrial Republic, I have -tried to indicate my belief that it will be the creation of no man’s -will, but a product of evolution—the result of many forces which are now -at work in our society. These forces we can study and analyse; and in -picturing their final product, we are not simply indulging in fantastic -speculation, but are making scientific deductions. I believe that we -have now in our present world the half-developed embryo of everything -which I have pictured in the future; the Revolution, which comes -suddenly, and in the midst of strain and agony, is precisely the -parallel of a child-birth. In our present “trusts,” for instance, we -have perfect examples of the centralising and systematising of -production and distribution; absolutely the only thing needed to fit -them into the world I have pictured is a change of ownership. Again, in -the labour unions, we see the building up of the machinery of industrial -self-government. And similarly, in our churches and clubs, our -benevolent and artistic and scientific associations, we have the germs -of all the coöperative activities of the future. In our public -educational system, we have a complete and perfect piece of practical -Socialism, ready to fit into the structure of our Industrial Republic. -In our Post Office we have still another, while in the army and navy we -have examples of industrial paternalism which need only the breath of a -new ideal to make them indispensable for all time. We saw after the San -Francisco earthquake the real use of standing armies; and for such -purposes they will continue to exist, long after war shall have become a -nightmare memory. - -It has occurred to me that in concluding my argument, it might be well -to tell of another such seed of the future, in the planting of which I -myself have had the pleasure of assisting. I refer to the Helicon Home -Colony, at Englewood, New Jersey, where I have been living while writing -this book. - -Our industries are organised at present under the competitive system; -and I do not believe that any coöperative method of production can drive -human beings to the same pitch of effort as they are driven by the lash -of wage-slavery. So I consider that any form of coöperation in -production is doomed to failure, under present conditions; and I should -prefer to watch from the outside any attempt to found “colonies” of the -Brook Farm and Ruskin type. The case is quite otherwise, however, when -it comes to coöperation in _distribution_, in the expenditure of one’s -income. We are familiar with hundreds of forms of that sort of -association—coöperative stores, benevolent fraternities, social clubs -and churches. The practicability of any such enterprise depends upon two -questions: First, are there a sufficient number of people who want the -same thing, and second, can they get it more effectively in combination -than otherwise. - -The idea of coöperation in domestic industry has been well worked out in -theory—notably in Mrs. Gilman’s book “The Home.” The first attempt to -realise it in practice, so far as I know, is the Helicon Home Colony. - -The plan was broached in an article which I published in _The -Independent_, in June of 1906. In the course of the article, I outlined -the situation as follows: - -Here am I on my little farm, living as my ancestors lived—like a cave -man or a feudal baron. I have my little castle and my retainers and -dependants to attend me, and we practise a hundred different trades: the -trade of serving meals, and the trade of cleaning dishes, the trade of -washing and ironing clothes, of killing and dressing meat, of churning -butter, of baking bread, of grinding meal, of raising chickens, of -cutting wood, of preserving fruit, of heating a house, of decorating -rooms, of training children, and of writing books! And all these crowded -into one establishment, in close proximity, and all jarring and clashing -with each other! And all carried on in the most primitive and barbarous -fashion, upon a small scale, and by unskilled hand labour. It takes a -hundred cooks to prepare a hundred meals badly, while twenty cooks could -prepare one meal for a hundred families, and do it perfectly. It costs a -hundred thousand dollars to build and equip a hundred kitchens; it would -cost only five thousand dollars to build one kitchen! But, of course, if -you have large-scale cooking at present, you can only have it under -capitalist auspices; and so it is associated in your minds with -uncleanness, and bad service, and high prices. It takes a hundred churns -and a hundred aching backs to make a thousand pounds of butter; it would -take only one machine and a man to tend it to make the same thousand -pounds, and the cost of making it would be cut ninety-five per cent. But -of course you cannot have large-scale butter-making except it is done -for profit—and that means adulteration and poisoning! It takes a hundred -ignorant nursemaids to take care of the children of a hundred families, -and develop every kind of ugliness and badness in them; it would take -only twenty or thirty trained nurses and kindergarten teachers to take -care of them coöperatively, and bring them up according to the teachings -of science. - -One could show this same thing in a thousand different forms, if it were -necessary; but it has all been reasoned out in Charlotte Perkins -Gilman’s book, “The Home,” and anyone to whom the idea is new may read -it there. The purpose of this paper is not to persuade anyone, but to -move to action those already persuaded. There must be, in and near New -York, thousands of men and women of liberal sympathies, who understand -this situation clearly, and are handicapped by its miseries in their own -lives—authors, artists and musicians, editors and teachers and -professional men, who abhor boarding houses and apartment hotels and yet -shrink from managing servants, who have lonely and peevish children like -my own, and are no fonder of eating poisons or of wasting their time and -strength than I am. There must be a few who, like myself, have realised -that it is a question of dragging through life a constantly increasing -burden of care, or making an intelligent effort and solving the problem -once for all. To such I offer my coöperation. I am not a business man, -but circumstances have forced me to take up this problem, and I am not -accustomed to failing in what I undertake. I have said that “Socialism -is not an experiment in government, but an act of will”; and I say the -same of this plan. Having gotten the figures from experts and found out -exactly what we can do, the one thing remaining is to go ahead and do -it. - -I suppose that the average professional man invests ten thousand dollars -in a home (or else pays rent equal to interest upon that sum); and that -he pays two thousand dollars a year living expenses for his family. Let -a hundred such families combine to found a coöperative home, and there -would be a million dollars for building and equipment, and two hundred -thousand dollars a year for running expenses; I believe that for half -the outlay five hundred people could live and enjoy comforts at present -possible only to millionaires. I have, however, no intention of asking -anyone to risk his money upon such a guess. I write this to find out if -there are people disposed to consider the project; and if there are -enough, I will have the plan figured upon by architects, contractors, -stewards, and other qualified experts, and have prepared a definite -business proposition, and a plan of organisation for a stock company. - -The following embodies my own conception of what such a “home colony” -should be. It would be located within an hour of New York, and would -have one hundred families, and three or four hundred acres of land, -healthfully located, near some body of water, and as unspoiled by the -hand of man as possible. It should have an abundant water supply and a -filtering plant; an electric light and power plant, and a large garden -and farm, raising its own stock, meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables, -and canning the last for winter use. It should be administered by a -board of directors, democratically elected. For the management of its -various departments salaried experts should be employed; machinery -should be installed wherever it could be made to pay, and the best -modern methods should be applied in every industry. All its purchases -should be in bulk and tested for quality; and, so far as the preparation -and serving of food is concerned, the processes should be kept as -aseptic as a surgical operation. - -We are accustomed to having our buildings for public purposes endowed by -persons with a great deal of money and few ideals; and so we consume -much space and material and accomplish little, exactly typifying our -civilisation. The buildings of this home colony should be of frame at -the outset, of simple and expressive design, each structure exactly -adapted to its specific purpose. The buildings should be conveniently -grouped—those for the children in one place, those for cooking and -eating in another, those for reading, for music and social intercourse, -for recreation and exercise, in still other places. The greater part of -the land would of course be given up to farm and woodland, and to the -individual dwellings of the families. The ground available for this -latter purpose should be divided into lots, priced according to size and -location, and eased to stockholders for long terms. Each would erect his -own home, according to his own taste—a home, of course, of a kind -hitherto unknown, with no provision for the cooking of food, or the -training of children, or other trades and professions. It would be a -place where the family met, to rest and play and sleep. It might be -large or small, anything that the owner chose to make it—my own would be -a four- or five-room cottage, of rustic design, and it would cost from -six to eight hundred dollars. Besides these there should be apartment -buildings, owned by the colony, and dormitories with rooms for single -men and women. - -As to the public buildings, there should be a large and beautiful dining -hall, and a modern, scientifically constructed kitchen. There should be -separate tables for each family, or for congenial groups of people. The -service should be unexceptionable, the food simple, but perfect in -quality and preparation; there should be a vegetarian service for those -who prefer this cheaper mode of life, and the charge for board should be -based upon the cost of the service. As to what the cost would be, with a -colony raising nearly all its own food upon the premises, I can only -submit three experiences of my own: First, it cost me for my family of -three to board in New York City, in one room and in the cheapest way, a -thousand dollars a year. Second, it cost us, living in a three-room -cottage in the country, doing our own work and buying our food from a -farmer at wholesale prices, seven hundred dollars a year. Third, it cost -us, living upon a sixty-acre farm, which represented a total investment -of four thousand dollars, doing no work ourselves but the managing, -paying a man and woman five hundred and forty dollars a year, having a -horse and carriage, and feeding five persons instead of three, a total -of less than six hundred dollars a year. Lest this should be -unbelievable, I put it in another form—the total expenses of the farm, -including labour, were less than twelve hundred dollars, the income was -six hundred dollars, and the net loss, or the cost to us of a year’s -living, was less than six hundred. And these figures, it should be -explained, included not merely board, but also household supplies and -repairs of all sorts, items which would appear in other places in the -community’s accounts. I will probably be laughed at, but I believe that, -granting the land, horses and machinery, buildings, equipment and -capital, the members of such a colony as I describe could be provided -with perfect service and an abundance of food of the best quality at a -total cost of one hundred dollars a year per person. - -So much for the coöperative preparation of food. And now for the caring -for children. There should be two separate establishments, one for -infants, who like to sleep, and one for children, who like to run and -shout. Both should be scientifically constructed and ventilated and kept -as clean as an up-to-date hospital; the food should be prepared under -the general direction of a physician. No building for children should be -over two stories high, and the upper windows should be beyond the reach -of children; no matches or exposed fire should be permitted, and there -should be a night watchman, fire extinguishers, and an automatic -sprinkling apparatus. These establishments should be under the -supervision of a board of women directors; and the actual work of caring -for the children, washing, dressing and feeding them, playing with them -and teaching them, should be done by trained nurses and kindergarten -teachers who live in the colony as the friends and social equals, of its -members. In other words, it is my idea that the caring for children -should be recognised as a profession, and that servants should have -nothing to do with it; it is my idea that it should be done in a place -built for the purpose, with floors for babies to crawl where there is no -dirt for them to eat, with playgrounds for children where there are no -stoves and no boiling water, no staircases and wells, no cats and dogs, -no workbaskets, lamps, pianos, sewing machines, jam closets, inkstands, -and authors’ writing tables. Instead, there should be sleeping rooms and -bedrooms, and sun parlours for nursing mothers; a separate building for -the sick; kindergarten rooms and indoor playgrounds for bad weather, and -a big all-outdoors romping ground, with sunny places and shady places, -swings, rocking horses, sand piles, and all other accessories of a -children’s heaven. Of course, any mother should come and play with or -care for her own children just as much as she pleased, or take them -home, as she chose; though I think that no one would care to assist this -plan who did not believe that children should be cared for in accordance -with the principles of science, and preserved from the corrupting -influence of grandmothers and aunts. Of course, any mother who believed -that her work in the world was caring for children, and who wished to -care for her own and others, according to the methods of the -commonwealth, would be free to do so, and to earn her living by doing -it. - -I have already explained that I should not regard this as an experiment -in Socialism; but I do think that those who undertook it would have to -be in sympathy with the spirit of Socialism, which is the spirit of -brotherhood and democracy. Whenever I have mentioned this plan to -friends they have always said: “The great difficulty would be to get -together a community of congenial people.” It does not seem to me that -this would be a difficulty at all. Every member of the community would -have his own home, to which he would invite his personal friends as he -chose; and the other members of the community he would meet in the same -way that he meets acquaintances in business and politics, in theatres, -restaurants, and clubs. I myself am the most unsociable of human beings -when I am busy, and have no idea of giving up my hermit’s tastes. In a -colony of a hundred families there ought to be persons of every kind of -inclination, and it would not be in the least necessary for anyone to -associate with those who were not congenial. - -Of course there are people in the world whom we should not want near us -at all; but such people, I think, would not care to join our colony. -Vulgar and snobbish people get along very well in the world as it is, -and do not find it a task to give orders to servants. Those who would be -interested in such a plan would be men and women who wished to practise -“plain living and high thinking”; and they would naturally wish to get -as far as possible from every suggestion of ostentation and -conventionality. They would establish the shirt-waist and the short -skirt as _en règle_, and would, I trust, allow me in without a dress -suit. They would be all hard-working people themselves, and they would -not look down upon honest labour. This spirit, if wisely and earnestly -cultivated, would solve the “servant problem” for the colony, and solve -the health problem for its members as well. I know business and -professional men who, when they need exercise, have to go down into the -basement and lift weights and pull at rubber straps; and they envy me my -farm, where I can hoe the garden, or pitch hay, or pick fruit, and not -merely benefit my body, but also put money in my purse. In this -community every member would be credited for the time he worked; and it -ought to become the custom for the men to help with the harvests, and -the women with the preserving of fruit, and the children with the berry -picking and the weeding of the gardens. I have no doubt that there are -thousands of young men and women in New York City, students of art and -music and the professions, who would be glad of a chance to earn their -way in a community where class feeling did not make labour degrading. I -appreciate the difficulties in the way of such a project; the chances at -present are against a coal-heaver’s being a socially possible person, -and I am not insisting that the day labourers should share in the -privileges of the community. But I do think that this should certainly -be the case with those whom we select to care for and teach our -children, and also, if possible, with those whom we permit to prepare -and serve our food; if I am not willing to shake a man’s hand or sit -next to him in a reading-room, I do not see why I should be willing to -eat what he has cooked. I personally know a young man who is studying -art, and who earns his living by washing dishes in a downtown -restaurant, because it takes only two or three hours a day of his time. -In Memorial Hall at Harvard University, in the sanitarium at Battle -Creek, and in many other places I might name, those who wait upon the -tables are college students; and anyone who knows the difference which -there is in the atmosphere of such a dining hall knows what I should -wish to attain. - - -The above article brought me replies from four or five hundred persons; -and committees were named, which met all through the summer to work out -the details of the plan. In October of the same year the purchase of -Helicon Hall was made, and the “Colony” began its career. Six months -after the publication of my first article, I contributed to _The -Independent_ an account of how the experiment was succeeding; I quote -from it the following paragraphs: - -We made many mistakes; I shall tell about some of them in due course, -for the benefit of future pioneers. But there is one thing to be said -here at the start: we made no mistake in believing in democratic -institutions. It was a point about which the critics of our plan were -all agreed, that it could not possibly work, because people could never -decide what they wanted. That dreadful bugaboo called “human nature” -would wreck us in the end. I, for my part, believed that people in -America were used to the methods of majority government, and I believed -that if we should apply those same methods in a coöperative home, a -group of intelligent and sincere people could manage to solve all their -problems. From the beginning our policy was publicity and democracy; and -from the beginning it brought us through. At the committee meetings -everyone had his say. And little by little you would see a majority -opinion taking shape on the question at issue, until, finally, when all -had been heard, the matter was put to a vote. There was no case where -the minority did not give way with all courtesy. And now that the colony -really exists we sit round the fireside and talk out our questions, and -as a rule we do not even have to take a vote—an informal discussion is -enough to make clear to everyone what is fair and right. - -I am a believer in the materialistic conception of history; I am -accustomed to interpret the characters of men from this position—to say -that competition has made them selfish and deceitful, and that -coöperation will make them beautiful and sincere. I think that I can see -it working out in this colony. We have founded it upon justice and -truth; socially we stand upon terms of equality, and economically we pay -for exactly what we get. These are the principles we have built upon, -and all take them for granted, and no other idea ever enters their -thought. - -[Illustration: - - _Photograph by Jessie Tarbox Beals, N. Y._ - - HELICON HALL -] - -“But will this last?” you ask. I do not see how it can fail to last, and -to grow—admitting, of course, that my analysis of the cause is correct. -We did not start out with any enthusiasms and religious ecstasies; we -had simply cold common sense; we employed lawyers and business men to -put us on a sound basis. Our only real peril was at the beginning, -before the colony spirit was well developed in our members, and some of -us were tired and overworked; and even then there were no -misunderstandings that a little discussion could not clear up. Now -things are beginning to run smoothly, and we are realising some of the -benefits. - -We are as yet in our infancy, of course; there is no one of the -departments in which we do not intend to make numerous improvements; but -we have got over the roughest parts of the road, and we can begin to -look about us a little. We are living in what I think is the most -beautiful suburban town near New York. We have nine and a half acres of -land, sloping down from the western brow of the Palisades, and -commanding a view of thirty miles, and we have only half a mile to walk -to come out upon the Hudson, where there is scenery which tourists would -travel many miles to look at, if they only knew about it. The hall -itself has nearly six thousand square feet of floor space on the ground -floor alone, devoted to rooms for social purposes; there is a central -court filled with palms and rubber trees, which have grown to the very -top of the three-story building. We have a large pipe-organ, a swimming -pool and bowling alley, a theatre, and a billiard room. We have -thirty-five bedrooms, ranged in galleries about the court, so that we -can look out of our windows in the morning and see the sun rise, and -then look out of our door and see the tropics. We have the finest -heating system in the world—we pump fresh air in from outside, heat it -in a three-thousand-foot steam coil, and then distribute it to all the -rooms, with the result that we feel as well all the time as other people -feel when they take a trip to Arizona or the Adirondacks. In such a -place as this we have a comfortable bedroom or study, where we can go -and be by ourselves and never be disturbed, for $3 a week. And -downstairs we have a huge fireplace, where, if we happen to feel in a -sociable humour, we can sit and talk with our friends. And also, we have -a dining-room, where a group of cultivated people meet three times a day -to partake of wholesome and pleasant-tasting food, prepared by other -members of our big family, whose cleanliness and honesty are matters of -common knowledge to us. This last-named privilege costs us $5 a week, or -$4 if we only eat two meals; and we do not have to add to this price any -care or worry, because the price includes the salary of a superintendent -and a manager, who work sixteen hours a day each to straighten out all -the kinks and keep the machine running. - -Finally, this magical building contains a dormitory and a children’s -dining-room and play-room, where ten happy and healthy children receive -their lessons in practical coöperation at a cost of four dollars a week -for each child. It was over these “institutionalised infants” of ours -that the critics of our plan were most incensed. Several dear ladies who -had read my books and conceived a liking for me, sat down and wrote me -tearful letters to point out the wickedness of “separating the mother -from her children.” As a matter of fact, we have five mothers in the -colony, and the work of caring for the children is divided among four of -them. (The fifth is studying medicine in New York.) By the simple -process of combining the care of the ten children we accomplish the -following results: First, the labour and trouble of caring for each -child is reduced about two-thirds; second, the child has playmates, and -is happy all day long; third, we can afford to keep the child in a more -hygienic place than the average nursery—we have a pump driving fresh air -into his play-room all day; and, fourth, we can dispense with the -services of nurse maids, and go away, leaving the child in the care of a -friend. - -Of course we cannot have everything that we should like in the -“children’s department.” We have to wait for more colonists for that. -With only ten children we have to dispense with a resident physician; we -cannot even afford a kindergarten. And, of course, we have not the -scientifically constructed dormitory of which we dream; we have only a -converted theatre, and instead of the uniform cots and the dustproof -walls and all the rest, we have to make apologies to visitors. However, -our children are all enjoying it meantime; and our five mothers are -holding meetings and learning to coöperate. - -The other big problem which we promised to tackle is the servant -problem. All the world is waiting to hear about this, so we are told; -even the aristocracy of Englewood is waiting; the ladies come in and -tell us their troubles and ask if we will feed them in cases of -emergency. They were even going to invite me to lecture them about -it—until one of them recollected that I was a Socialist “of a -particularly dangerous type.” - -We have been only a few months at it; and we have still a great deal -left to accomplish. But we think that we have got far enough to claim to -have proven our thesis—that by means of coöperation, with the saving -which it implies, the introduction of system and of labour-saving -machinery, household labour can be lifted to the rank of a profession, -and people found to do it who can be admitted to the colony as members. -Those who wish to make fun of the idea have assumed this to mean that we -insist upon college diplomas from our cooks and chambermaids. It does -not mean that at all; as a matter of fact, we prefer to employ people -who have always earned their living by doing the work they do for us. It -means simply that we look for people who are cleanly and courteous and -honest; and that then, when they come into the colony, we treat them, -simply and as a matter of course, exactly as we treat everyone else. So -far as I know, there is no one here who has experienced the least -difficulty or unpleasantness in consequence. - -There remains to explain the financial organisation of the colony. The -property is owned by the Home Colony Company, a separate corporation, -which was formed to raise the necessary capital. The company puts the -building in thorough repair and equips it for use as a residence, and -the colony rents it upon a three-year lease, assuming responsibility for -the interest on the mortgages, the insurance, taxes, and other charges, -and paying eight per cent. dividends upon the company stock. The -ownership of stock is thus entirely optional. One may live in the colony -without contributing any capital. - -The Helicon Home Colony is a membership corporation. It is governed by a -board of directors, elected every six months by secret ballot. The only -conditions to residence in the colony are “congeniality” and freedom -from contagious disease; one may reside in the colony indefinitely -without becoming a member, but only members have the right to vote. The -conditions of membership are one month’s residence, election by a -four-fifths vote, and the payment of an initiation fee of $25. The -constitution of the colony provides for initiative, referendum and -recall of members of the board of directors; also for a complete -statement of the financial affairs of the colony, to be rendered every -three months. - - -I have quoted this at length because, as I said before, I believe that -it is the seed from which mighty forests are destined to grow. We should -never have given the time and strength which we have given to this -experiment, but for our certainty that all the world will some day be -following in our footsteps. We are living in a coöperative home because -we wish to do it—but some day you will be doing it because you _have_ -to. You get along badly enough with your servants, you admit; still you -get along somehow or other. But has it ever occurred to you what your -plight would be if, when you went to the “intelligence-office,” instead -of getting a bad servant, you got no servant at all? When that time -comes, you will be grateful to us pioneer “home-colonists.” - -It is a most interesting thing to watch; it is the Industrial Republic -in the making. We care nothing whatever about the intellectual opinions -of the people who come to live in the colony; but I have observed that -nearly every non-Socialist who has come here has been turned into a -Socialist in the course of a month or two. And that is not because we -argue with him, or bother him; it is simply because facts are facts. -What becomes of the old shop-worn argument that it would be necessary to -change human nature—when human nature is suddenly discovered to be so -kindly and considerate as it is in this big home of ours? And what -becomes of the ponderous platitudes about “Socialism versus -Individualism” in a place where so many different kinds of individuals -are developing their individualities. - -I am often moved to use this experiment of ours as an illustration of -what I said in the previous chapter, concerning the difference between -material and intellectual production. Here in Helicon Hall we have all -the dreadful machinery of paternalism which frightens our capitalist -editors and college presidents whenever they contemplate Socialism; we -submit ourselves to the blind rule of majorities—we allow a majority to -decide what we shall pay for our rooms, and when we shall pay it; to lay -out our _menu_, and refuse to give us pie for breakfast; to forbid our -giving tips, or whistling in the halls, or dancing after a certain hour -at night. And we have all the symbols of oppression—constitution and -by-laws and boards of directors and managers. And yet somehow, we are -freer than we ever were in the world before; because, by means of these -little concessions, we have made possible a _system_—and so flung from -our shoulders all at once the burden of care which used to wear the life -out of us. - -And in consequence of that, for the first time in our experience we find -ourselves really free with regard to the real things of life. We have -absolutely not a convention in the place. We do as we please, and we -wear what we please. We are free to come and go, where we please and -whenever we please. We have each our own rooms or apartments, to which -we retire, and it never comes into anyone’s mind to ask what we are -doing there. We may work all night and sleep all day, if we feel like -it—so little do we bother with each others’ affairs that I have known -people to be away for a day or two without being missed. - -And on the other hand, if we feel like company, we can have it; there is -always a group around our wonderful four-sided fireplace in the evening, -and you can always find someone willing to play billiards or go for a -walk. And as for our intellectual freedom—you should see the sparks -scatter when our half-score assorted varieties of “Fabians” and -“impossibilists,” “individualists” and “communist-anarchists,” all get -together after dinner! There are so many typewriters in Helicon Hall -that as you wander about the galleries in the morning you can fancy you -hear a distant battle with rapid-firing guns; and the products of the -industry vary from discussions of Yogi philosophy and modern psychic -research to magazine fiction, woman’s suffrage debates, and Jungle -“muck-raking.” And yet all these people share amicably in the ownership -of the fireplace and the swimming-pool and the tennis-court; providing -thereby a most beautiful illustration of the working out of the formula -laid down by Kautsky for the society of the future: “Communism in -material production, anarchism in intellectual.” - -It is working out so beautifully, that the spirit of it has got hold of -even our children, and they are holding meetings and deciding things. Of -our nine youngsters seven are under six years of age; and last night I -attended a meeting of the whole nine, at which a grave question was -gravely discussed: “When a child wakes up early in the dormitory, is it -proper to wake the other children, or should the child lie still?” After -a long debate, Master David (aged five) remarked: “All in favour, please -say Aye.” Everybody said “Aye.” - - -The above was written in the middle of December, 1906. On March 16, -1907, at four o’clock in the morning, Helicon Hall was burned to the -ground, and forty-six adults and fifteen children were turned out -homeless upon the snow. The story of our ill-fated experiment is left to -stand as it was first printed. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 1. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - 2. Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - 3. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<table style='padding:0; margin-left:0; border-collapse:collapse'> - <tr><td>Title:</td><td>The industrial republic</td></tr> - <tr><td></td><td>a study of the America of ten years hence</td></tr> -</table> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Upton Sinclair</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 23, 2021 [eBook #64373]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC ***</div> - -<div class='tnotes covernote'> - -<p class='c000'><b>Transcriber’s Note:</b></p> - -<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> - -</div> - -<div class='section ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='box'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>BOOKS BY UPTON SINCLAIR</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> -<div class='box'> - -<div class='lg-container-b'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>THE JUNGLE</div> - <div class='line'>MANASSAS</div> - <div class='line'>THE JOURNAL OF ARTHUR STIRLING</div> - <div class='line'>PRINCE HAGEN</div> - <div class='line'>KING MIDAS</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div id='Frontispiece' class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_frontispiece.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Courtesy of Everybody’s Magazine</em></span><br /><br />“VOORUIT”<br />Home of the Socialist Societies of Ghent</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='titlepage'> - -<div> - <h1 class='c002'>The Industrial Republic<br /> <span class='large'>A Study of the America of Ten Years Hence</span></h1> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c003'> - <div><span class='xlarge'>By</span></div> - <div><span class='xlarge'>UPTON SINCLAIR</span></div> - <div class='c004'>ILLUSTRATED</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id002'> -<img src='images/i_title.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> - <div class='nf-center'> - <div>New York</div> - <div>Doubleday, Page & Company</div> - <div>1907</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Copyright, 1907, by</span></span></div> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Doubleday, Page & Company</span></span></div> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Published, May, 1907</span></span></div> - <div class='c004'><span class='small'><span class='sc'>All Rights Reserved</span></span></div> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Including that of Translation into Foreign Languages</span></span></div> - <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>Including the Scandinavian</span></span></div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>TO H. G. WELLS</div> - <div>“THE NEXT MOST HOPEFUL”</div> - </div> -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_vii'>vii</span> - <h2 class='c005'>INTRODUCTION</h2> -</div> - -<p class='c006'>The thought of the time has familiarised -us with the evolutionary view of things; we -understand that life is the product of an -inner impulse, labouring to embody itself -in the world of sense; and that the product -is always changing—that there is nothing -permanent save the principles and laws in -accordance with which development goes -on. We understand that the universe of -things was evolved by slow stages into what -it is to-day, that all life has come into being -in the same way. We have traced this -process in the far-distant suns and in the -strata of the earth; we have traced it in the -vegetables and in the animals, in the seed -and in the embryo; we have traced it in -all of man’s activities, his ways of thinking -and acting, of eating and dressing and working -and fighting and praying.</p> - -<p class='c007'>This book is an attempt to interpret in -the light of evolutionary science the social -problem of our present world; to consider -American institutions as they exist at this -hour—what forces are now at work within -them, and what changes they are likely -to produce. The subject-matter dealt with -is not abstract speculation, but rather the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_viii'>viii</span>everyday realities of the world we know—our -present political parties and public men, -our present corporations and captains of -industry, our present labour unions and -newspapers, colleges and churches. The -thing sought is an answer to a concrete and -definite question: <em>What will America be -ten years from now?</em></p> - -<p class='c007'>Inasmuch as the people who are most -interested in practical affairs are very busy -people, I judge it to be a common-sense -procedure to set forth my ideas in miniature -at the outset; so that one may learn -in two or three minutes exactly what my -book contains, and judge whether he cares -to read it.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is my belief that the student of a generation -from now will look back upon the -last two centuries of human history and -interpret them as the final stage of a long -process whereby man was transformed from -a solitary and predatory individual to a -social and peaceable member of a single -world community. He will see that men, -pressed by the struggle for existence, had -united themselves into groups under the -discipline of laws and conventions; and that -the last two centuries represented the period -when these laws and conventions, having -done their unifying work, and secured the -survival of the group, were set aside and -replaced by free and voluntary social effort.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_ix'>ix</span>The student will furthermore perceive -that this evolutionary process had two manifestations, -two waves, so to speak; the first -political, and the second industrial; the first -determined by man’s struggle to protect -his life, and the second by his struggle to -amass wealth. The culmination of the first -occurred successively in the English revolutions, -the American and French revolutions, -and the other various efforts after political -freedom. After each of these achievements -the historian notices a period of bitterness -and disillusionment, a sense of failure, it -being discovered that the expected did not -occur, that Liberty, Equality and Fraternity -did not become the rule of men’s conduct. -After that, however, succeeds a period of -enlightenment, it having been realised that -the work has only been half done, that man -has been made only half free. The political -sovereignty has been taken out of the possession -of private individuals and made -the property of the whole community, to be -shared in by all upon equal terms; but the -industrial sovereignty still remains the property -of a few. A man can no longer be put -in jail or taxed by a king, but he can be -starved and exploited by a master; his body -is now his own, but his labour is another’s—and -there is very little difference between -the two. So immediately there begins a -new movement, the end of which is a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_x'>x</span>new revolution, and the establishment of -<span class='fss'>THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC</span>.</p> - -<p class='c007'>What do I mean by an Industrial Republic? -I mean an organisation for the production -and distribution of wealth, whose -members are established upon a basis of -equality; who elect representatives to govern -the organisation; and who receive the full -value of what their labour produces. I -mean an industrial government of the people, -by the people, for the people; a community -in which the means of production have been -made the inalienable property of the State. -My purpose in writing this book is to point -out the forces which are now rapidly developing -in America; and which, when they -have attained to maturity, will usher in the -Industrial Republic by a process as natural -and as inevitable as that by which a chick -breaks out of its shell or a child comes forth -from the womb at the proper hour. I -believe that the economic process is whirling -us on with terrific momentum toward the -crisis; and I look to see the most essential -features of the great transformation accomplished -in America within one year after -the Presidential election of 1912.</p> - -<p class='c007'>If I had been a tactful person I should -have kept that last statement until far on in -my argument. For I find many people who -are interested in the idea of an Industrial -Republic, and some few who are willing -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xi'>xi</span>to think of it as a possibility; but I find none -who do not balk when I presume to set the -day. Yet the setting of the day is a vital -part of my conviction, and I should play -the reader false if I failed to mention it in -this preliminary statement of my argument. -It is a conviction to which I have come with -the diligent use of the best faculties I possess, -and after a preparation of a sort that -is certainly unusual, and possibly even -quite unique.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Perhaps I cannot do better by way of -introduction than to explain just what I -mean. Our country has passed through -two great crises, when important political -and social changes came with startling -suddenness. I refer to the Revolution and -the Civil War; and to the latter of these -crises, or rather the period of its preparation—1847 -to 1861—I once had occasion to -give two years of an interesting kind of -study. I read everything which I could find -in the two largest special collections in the -country; not merely histories and biographies, -but the documents of the time, -speeches and sermons and letters, newspapers -and magazines and pamphlets. I -literally lived in the period; I knew it more -intimately than the world that was actually -about me. My purpose was to write a -novel which should make the crisis real to -the people of the present; and so I had to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xii'>xii</span>read creatively, I had to get into the very -soul of what I read. I had to struggle and -to suffer with the people of that time, to -forget my knowledge of the future, and to -watch through their eyes the hourly unfolding -of the mighty drama of events.</p> - -<p class='c007'>There were so many kinds of men—statesmen -and business men, lawyers and -clergymen, heroes and cowards; and I had -to study them all, and see the thing through -the eyes of each of them. And of course, -I could only play at ignorance, for I knew -the future; and I saw all their mistakes, -and the reasons for them, and the pity and -the folly and the tragedy of it all. Knowing, -as I did, the great underlying forces which -were driving behind the events, I saw all -these people as puppets, moved here and -there by powers of whose existence they -never dreamed.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And, of course, all the while I was also -reading my morning newspaper, and watching -the world of to-day; and inevitably I -found myself testing the people of the -present by these same methods. I would -find myself seeking for the forces which were -at work to-day, and striving to reach out to -the future to which they were leading. I -would find myself, by the way of helping in -this interpretation, comparing and balancing -the two eras, and transposing its -figures back and forth. This famous -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xiii'>xiii</span>educator or this newspaper editor of to-day—what -would he have been saying had he -lived in 1852? And this clergyman friend -of mine, this politician—where would he fit -into that period? Or if Yancey had been -alive to-day, what would he have been -doing? Where should I have found Seward—what -parts would Edward Everett and -Wendell Phillips and Jefferson Davis have -been playing?</p> - -<p class='c007'>It was really a fascinating problem in -proportion. The men of fifty years ago -stood thus and so to a known crisis; similar -men of the present stand thus to an unknown -crisis—and now find the crisis. When I -had finished “Manassas” I took up the -writing of “The Jungle”; which is simply -to say that I was drawn on irresistibly to -seek for this latter crisis, and to try to understand -it—to get into the heart of it, and -live it and follow it to its end, just as I had -done with the earlier one. So now I feel that -I have much the same sort of power as Cuvier, -the naturalist, who could construct a -prehistoric animal from a bit of its bone. I -have far more than the bone of this monster—I -have his tail, beginning far back in the -seventies; and I have the whole of his huge -body—the present. I have counted his -scales and measured his limbs; I have even -felt his pulse and had his blood under the -microscope. And now you ask me—How -<span class='pageno' id='Page_xiv'>xiv</span>many more vertebræ will there be in the -neck of this strange animal? And what -will be the size and the shape of his head?</p> - -<p class='c007'>So it is that I write in all seriousness that -the revolution will take place in America -within one year after the Presidential election -of 1912; and, in saying this, I claim to speak, -not as a dreamer nor as a child, but as a -scientist and a prophet.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_xv'>xv</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary='CONTENTS'> -<colgroup> -<col width='20%' /> -<col width='65%' /> -<col width='14%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <th class='c008'></th> - <th class='c009'> </th> - <th class='c010'><span class='small'>PAGE</span></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'> </td> - <td class='c009'>Introduction</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_vii'>vii</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <th class='c008'><span class='small'>CHAPTER</span></th> - <th class='c009'> </th> - <th class='c010'> </th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>I.</td> - <td class='c009'>The Coming Crisis</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_3'>3</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>II.</td> - <td class='c009'>Industrial Evolution</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_27'>27</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>III.</td> - <td class='c009'>Markets and Misery</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_72'>72</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>IV.</td> - <td class='c009'>Social Decay</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_103'>103</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>V.</td> - <td class='c009'>Business and Politics</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_138'>138</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>VI.</td> - <td class='c009'>The Revolution</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_179'>179</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c008'>VII.</td> - <td class='c009'>The Industrial Republic</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_215'>215</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_xvii'>xvii</span> - <h2 class='c005'>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> - -<table class='table0' summary=''> -<colgroup> -<col width='68%' /> -<col width='31%' /> -</colgroup> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>“Vooruit,” Home of the Socialist societies of Ghent</td> - <td class='c010'><em><a href='#Frontispiece'>Frontispiece</a></em></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <th class='c009'></th> - <th class='c010'><span class='small'>FACING PAGE</span></th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>A Socialist view of the Trusts</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_48'>48</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>Reaping by hand and by machinery</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_92'>92</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>Child labor in glass factories and coal mines</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_114'>114</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Social contrast in New York</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_126'>126</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>Coxey’s Army on the march and in Washington</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_206'>206</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The competitive vs. coöperative distribution of information</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_220'>220</a></td> - </tr> - <tr><td> </td></tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>Helicon Hall</td> - <td class='c010'><a href='#Page_274'>274</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<div class='section ph1'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER I<br /> <span class='large'>THE COMING CRISIS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>The thing which most impresses the student -of the Civil War struggle, is -how generally and completely the people -who lived through it failed to understand -it themselves. We of the present day know -that the War was a clash between two incompatible -types of civilisation; between an -agricultural and conservative aristocracy, -and a commercial and progressive democracy. -We can see that each society developed -in its people a separate point of view, -separate customs and laws, ideals and -policies, literatures and religions. We can -see that their differing interests as to tariffs, -police regulations, domestic improvements -and foreign affairs, made political strife -between them inevitable; and that finally -the expansion which was necessary to the -life of each brought them into a conflict -which could only end with the submission -of one or the other. Yet, plain as this seems -to us now, the people of that time did not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>grasp it; through the whole long process -they were dragged, as it were, by the hair -of their heads, and each event as it came was -a separate phenomenon, a fresh source of -astonishment, alarm, and indignation. Even -after the war had broken out, the vast -majority of them would not be enlightened as -in regard to it—a few of them have not been -enlightened yet. I talked recently with an -old Confederate naval officer, who said to me: -“Oh, yes; it was the politicians who made -the war.” I recall the astonished look which -crossed the old gentleman’s face when I -ventured the opinion that the politicians of -this country had never yet made anything -except their own livings.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It seemed not merely that they <em>could</em> not -understand the thing; they <em>would</em> not. The -truth did not please them, and the best and -wisest of them appeared to have the idea -that they had only not to see it, and it would -cease to be the truth; after the manner of -the learned men of Galileo’s time, who -declined to look through his telescope, or -to watch him drop weights from the Tower -of Pisa. They made it a matter of offence -that anyone should understand; the ability -to predict political events was held to imply -some collusion with them. When Lincoln, -just before the crash, ventured to doubt -the stability of “a house divided against -itself,” his enemies fell upon him precisely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>as if he had declared, not that such a house -would fall, but that he intended to knock -it down. And this was the established view -of all the conservatism of the country, only -two or three years before there burst upon -it one of the most fearful cataclysms of -history.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Let us endeavour to place ourselves in -the position of the average man of 1860, and -see now the whole matter appeared to him.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Way back in the early thirties, eight or -ten more or less insane fanatics—“apostate -priests and unsexed women,” as one writer -described them—had got together and begun -an agitation for a wholly impossible and -visionary (to say nothing of revolutionary -and unconstitutional) programme—“the immediate -and unconditional emancipation of -the slaves.” They formed a society and -started a paper called the <cite>Liberator</cite>. -When governors of Southern states protested -concerning it, the Hon. Harrison -Gray Otis, Mayor of Boston, wrote as -follows: “It appeared upon inquiry that -no member of the city government, nor any -person of my acquaintance, had ever heard -of the publication. Sometime afterward -it was reported to me by the city officers that -they had ferreted out the paper and its -editor; that his office was an obscure hole, -his only visible auxiliary a negro boy, and his -supporters a very few ignorant persons of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>all colours. This information, with the -consent of the Aldermen, I communicated -to the above named governors, with an -utterance of my belief that the new fanaticism -had not made, nor was likely to make, -proselytes among the respectable classes of -the people.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Nevertheless, the danger of this propaganda -was recognised, and before long the -Abolitionists were being stoned and shot, -their presses smashed, and their meetings -broken up; a “broadcloth mob” put a rope -round the neck of the editor of the <cite>Liberator</cite> -and dragged him through the streets -of the city. And still, in spite of this, the -agitation went on. All the “cranks” of the -country gradually rallied about the movement. -Their leader was a woman’s suffragist, -an infidel, a prohibitionist, and a -vegetarian; he denounced the Constitution -as “an agreement with Death, and a covenant -with Hell.” There was one man -among them who addressed meetings with -clanking chains about his wrists, and a -three-pronged iron slave-collar about his -neck; and who declared to the people of a -town that they “had better establish among -them a hundred rum-shops, fifty gambling-houses -and ten brothels, than one church.” -They allowed Negroes to speak on the platform -with them, and they opened schools -for Negro girls, or tried to, until these were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>broken up. One of them refused to pay -taxes to a slave-holding government, and -went to jail for it.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Assuredly, no common-sense person would -have thought that here was anything save -a madness that might be allowed to run -its course. Yet the Abolitionists kept at it. -In the election of 1840, a wing of them split -off, and nominated a candidate for the -Presidency, who received seven thousand -votes out of a total of two or three millions. -Four years later, when the Democratic -Party was on the verge of forcing the country -into a war with Mexico, they raised a hue -and cry that this was a “slave-driver’s -enterprise,” with the result that their vote -went up to sixty-two thousand. And by -keeping up the ceaseless agitation all through -the war, and taking advantage of a factional -quarrel in New York state to nominate a -politician who came into their camp for the -sake of revenge, they cast, in 1848, a vote -of two hundred and ninety-one thousand.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And also they had by this time succeeded -in colouring a great mass of the popular -thought with their views. They had gotten -the country unsettled; they had made -people feel that something was wrong, and -all sorts of anti-slavery measures were -beginning to be championed. Some wanted -to exclude slavery from the new Territories; -some wanted to exclude it from the National -<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>Capital; some wanted to restrict the domestic -slave-trade. All of these people, of course, -denied indignantly that they were Abolitionists, -denied that they had any sympathy -with Abolitionism, or that their measures -had anything to do with it. But the South, -whom the matter concerned, understood -perfectly well the folly of such a claim—understood -that the institution of Slavery -was one which could not be made war upon, -or limited, and that the first hostile move -which was made against it would necessarily -mean its downfall. Hence, to the South, -all these people were “Abolitionists.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Over the California question, there came -at last a crisis, and all the Conservative -forces of the nation were scarcely equal to -the settling of it. Edward Everett and -Rufus Choate and Calhoun and Clay and -Webster, and a dozen others that one might -name, exerted all their influence, and went -about warning their countrymen of the -danger, and denouncing what Webster called -“the din and roll and rub-a-dub of Abolition -presses and Abolition lectures.” Under -these circumstances the “Compromise” was -adopted, and the vote of the Abolitionist -Party fell off to one hundred and fifty-six -thousand.</p> - -<p class='c007'>But then came the repeal of the Missouri -Compromise, which brought Lincoln into -politics. The Abolition clamour surged up -<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>as never before—here was one proof the -more, they said, that Slavery was menacing -American institutions. The whole country -seemed suddenly to be full of their supporters; -and the Kansas Raid only added more -fuel to the flame. The Republican Party -was formed, the <em>Black</em> Republican Party, -as the slave-holders called it; and at the -Presidential election of 1856, they cast more -than one million three hundred thousand -votes, about one-third of the total vote of -the country.</p> - -<p class='c007'>After that came, in due course, the attempt -of the Supreme Court to put an end to the -Abolitionist agitation, declaring that Congress -could not restrict slavery in the Territories, -which meant that the Republican -Party had no right to exist. To “cheerfully -acquiesce” in the decision of the Supreme -Court, was the duty of “all good citizens,” -according to President Buchanan; yet the -only result of the action of the Supreme -Court was to cause the agitation to burst out -afresh. In Illinois, Abraham Lincoln ran -for senator in flat defiance of the Supreme -Court’s decision, and the Republican Party -all over the country went on in its revolutionary -course, precisely as if no Supreme Court -had ever existed. A year or two later an -agitator made matters still worse by his -attempt to set free the slaves by force. “It -is my firm and deliberate conviction,” said -<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>Senator Douglas, “that the Harper’s Ferry -crime was the natural, logical and inevitable -result of the doctrines and teachings of the -Republican Party.” And he was perfectly -right.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It was disgraceful, and yet it would not -stop. The North had by this time become -so full of Abolitionism, that even the Democrats -were not to be trusted. When the -split came, in Charleston, Yancey of Alabama -explained this. “When I was a boy -in the Northern States,” he said, “Abolitionists -were pelted with rotten eggs. But -now this band of Abolitionists has spread -and grown into three bands—the Black -Republicans, the Free-soilers, and the Squatter-sovereignty -men—all representing the -common sentiment that Slavery is wrong.” -And when Abraham Lincoln was elected -President by a minority of the people, upon -a platform which declared that the Constitution -was to be disregarded, the party of -conservatism and tradition resorted to <em>force</em> -to maintain its rights.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And what happened then? Why, simply -this: a group of fanatical visionaries who -had for thirty years been jeered at for -demanding of the country something that -was revolutionary and inconceivable—the -destruction of an institution which had -stood for centuries, and was built into the -very framework of the nation—suddenly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>began to see the mighty structure totter, -to see cracks open in it, to see its pillars -crumble, its roof fall in; and at last, before -they had fairly time to realise what was -happening, the whole heaven-defying colossus -lay a heap of dust and ruins at their feet!</p> - -<p class='c006'>I have said that I believe that our country -is now only a few years away from a -similar great transformation. In order to -maintain that thesis, it will be necessary to -show, first, a great underlying economic -cause, working irresistibly to force the issue; -and second, a consequent movement of -protest, slowly making headway and ultimately -permeating the whole thought of -the country.</p> - -<p class='c007'>What was the cause of the Civil War? -To put it into a phrase, it was the need -under which Slavery laboured of securing -new territory. The reader may find a -contemporary exposition of the situation in -Olmstead’s “Cotton Kingdom.” Slave -labour was a very wasteful means of cultivation—only -the top of the soil was used, -and ten or fifteen crops exhausted it. Virginia -was once a great exporting state, but -in the forties and fifties it had become simply -a slave-breeding ground for the younger -generation, which had moved to the Far -South. And then, when the Far South -began to prove insufficient, there was -<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>another move, into Texas; and finally an -attempt at still a third, into Kansas—which -brought on the clash with the free -states.</p> - -<p class='c007'>At the present day we have a society, -industrial instead of agricultural; and the -struggle which we are witnessing is that -between capital and labour. It is a struggle, -not for land, but for profits; and if we are to -show that it is, like the Civil War, “an -irrepressible conflict between opposing and -enduring forces,” we must show in this case -also that the thing struggled for is limited -in quantity, and ultimately insufficient to -satisfy the needs of both the contending -parties.</p> - -<p class='c007'>That our industrial system is based upon -profits, and that a failure of profits would -lead to its collapse, will be admitted by -anyone. But how could profits ever fail? -the reader asks. Will not the soil always -produce? And does not every man who -comes into the world bring a pair of hands -with him, to produce things and earn his -living? And so, can there not always be -profitable exchange? There could, I -answer, provided that the various pairs of -hands were to remain upon equal terms. -But suppose that one pair were to get -some advantage over the other pairs, and -use that advantage to get constantly -increasing advantage; might there not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>then come a time when the other pairs, -having less and less, were finally unable -to furnish as much profits as were -necessary?</p> - -<p class='c007'>We began the economic battle in this -country upon equal terms. Some got the -advantage and became masters, the others -becoming wage-workers. This advantage—that -is, capital—brought constantly increasing -advantage—profit, rent, interest; -and those who had not the advantage -stayed meanwhile just where they were—they -got enough to live on, and no more. -Numerous exceptions to this do not in the -least disturb the main facts—that as a class -the wage-workers stayed wage-workers, and -the masters stayed masters. Neither does -the fact that wages rose constantly in the -least disturb the main fact, for the cost of -living rose also; the wage-worker got his -living then, and he gets it now. And -meanwhile, according to the way of nature, -and in spite of the outcry of moralists and -old-fashioned statesmen, the strong went -on growing stronger, and fighting among -each other, the victors growing ten times -stronger yet; until now we have come to a -stage where, industrially speaking, we are -a nation of eighty million pygmies and a -dozen giants. Nor is the work quite done -yet—it is going straight on, in spite of anti-trust -decisions and the labour of the “muckrake -<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>man”—and within a very few more -years the dozen giants will be but one giant.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The dozen, meanwhile, are giants, and -they are that because the industrial opportunities -of the nation are their property. -They are the nation, economically speaking; -they own its railroads and telegraphs, its -coal mines, oil fields, factories and stores. -And they grant to the eighty millions of the -nation the right to these opportunities and a -chance to earn their living upon one certain -definite condition—that of what they produce, -they receive only a part, yielding up -the balance to be “profits.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is also important to notice that these -profits are not taken “in kind”—the product -must first be sold, so that both wages and -profits can be paid in money. It thus follows -that the amount of profits is strictly -limited by the amount of <em>market</em> that can be -found; in other words, that a society whose -income is limited, is also limited as to its -profit-yielding capacity—that, for instance, -a society of eighty millions of people receiving -a mere living wage will be able to yield -just so much rent, interest and dividends, -and not any more.</p> - -<p class='c007'>But what it yields has in the past been -enough, says the reader. Why will it not -be enough for the future?</p> - -<p class='c007'>Just this is the crux of the whole matter. -Rent, interest, dividends, it must be understood, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>are fractions; and fractions may be -decreased as well by increasing the denominator, -as by decreasing the numerator. A -man, for instance, who invested a hundred -dollars and made six, would receive six -per cent. interest; but if he invested the -second year one hundred and six dollars, -and was able still to gain only six, his -profit would be, not six per cent., but -only five and a fraction. If he wished to -make six, he would have to squeeze out a -little more than six dollars; would have to -compel the man who paid it to him to work -just a little harder. And that, in miniature, -is a representation of what is going on in -our society to-day. You, the well-meaning -reader, who are struggling to make the -world better, and failing—whether the thing -which you are trying to reform be politics or -literature or religion, New York or Colorado -or the Philippines, Fifth Avenue or Wall -Street or Hell’s Kitchen—you are meeting -with failure because of that little arithmetical -difficulty which has just been set forth.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Consider our millionaire fortunes, how -they grow. Consider, for instance, that -Mr. John D. Rockefeller makes fifty per -cent. a year upon his holdings in the -Standard Oil Company. The stock of the -Standard Oil Company is now at five hundred, -and has been as high as eight hundred -in the market. This is assuming that Mr. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>Rockefeller invested in the stock at par—though -as a matter of fact, he put in only -about twenty dollars a share, which would -make his profit two hundred and fifty per -cent. His income is at least fifty million -dollars a year.</p> - -<p class='c007'>What does he do with it? Of course, -he can’t spend it—if he treated himself to -a St. Louis Exposition every year, he -couldn’t spend it. What he does with it -is to take it promptly, and reinvest it in -the form of new capital; he employs a -staff of thirty-two trained experts to aid -him in this work. The effect of this is, -of course, to make his income fifty -per cent., <em>compound</em> interest, instead of -simple; and what it will be in the course of -time is a problem for those who like figures. -While he is doing this, all the other capitalists -are doing the same—the American millionaire -lets his wife and daughters spend -as much of his money as they can, but he -seldom spends any himself; he is more -interested in “doing things.” The consequence -is, therefore, that year after year -we are paying the vast mass of our people -mere living wages, and all the surplus product -of our toil we are selling, and devoting -to the creation of new instruments of production. -We have, mark you, machinery -that creates products for hundreds of times -as many men as it employs, and still we -<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>skim off the surplus and devote it to making -new machines. Is it not obvious that this -cannot go on forever? And that the time -must come that we make all that we need—or -rather that our people have money to -buy, wages being what they are? And -if that ever happens, then of course the -factories will have to shut down. We -shall have millions of men out of work, and -starving on our streets; and when they -form processions and begin agitating, demanding -that we give them work, then we -say—that is, our newspapers, our preachers, -our politicians, everybody says—</p> - -<p class='c007'>“But, my good man, there is no more -work to be done!”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“But I am starving,” insists the workingman, -“we are <em>all</em> starving. <em>Why</em> is -there no work?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“The reason there is no work is ‘overproduction.’ -The market is clogged with -products, you must understand, and we -can’t sell them. What is your trade?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“I work in a shoe-factory.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“But the shoe market is already glutted—there -are twice as many shoes as there is -any use for.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Twice as many shoes! But my feet are -on the ground!”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Well, we can’t help that, my good man; -that’s because you have no money to buy -them with.”</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>“And my friend here,” goes on the workingman—“he -is a tailor, and he is naked -because there are too many coats on the -market?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Exactly.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“And the baker here is starving because -we are both too poor to buy his bread?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Exactly.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“And then this druggist is sick because -we have no money to buy medicine?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Exactly.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>After which, the workingman stands and -scratches his head for a moment. “There -is too much of everything,” he reflects. -“There is no more work to be done.” And -suddenly the light breaks. “Oh, I see!” -he cries, “we have finished our work -for the capitalists!” And you answer, -“Exactly! Everything is complete, and -of course there is no more room for you. -Therefore you had best be off to another -planet!”</p> - -<p class='c006'>So it would be, if the workingman were -content to take his doctrines from the other -side—from the retainers of those “to whom -God in His Infinite Wisdom has entrusted -the care of the property interests of the -country.” But, meantime, the workingman -has been thinking for himself—and -evolving a quite new doctrine, all his own, -concerning the property interests of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>country. This doctrine is, in a word, that -the means of production of wealth belong -of right to no individual, but to the whole -people; and that in the hour of the collapse -of the profit-making system, the -thing for the people to do is to take possession -of the machinery, and use it to produce -goods, no longer for those who own, but for -those who work.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And that brings me to the second of my -tasks. I have shown the “great underlying -economic cause, working irresistibly -to force the issue”; there remains to show -the consequent “movement of protest.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>I have before me, as I write, a little pamphlet -published by the “Standard Publishing -Company,” of Terre Haute, Indiana, and -entitled, “The American Movement,” by -Eugene V. Debs. It opens with the -statement that “The twentieth century, -according to the prophecy of Victor Hugo, -is to be the century of humanity,” and will -witness “the crash of despotism and the -rise of world-wide democracy, freedom and -brotherhood.” The reader, continuing, soon -discovers that the “American movement,” -with which this pamphlet deals, is the -American Socialist movement. The writer -tells of its early “Utopian” forms, the -Owenites and the Brook-farmers, and -names the exiles who came from abroad in -1848, bringing the Marxian doctrine, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>influencing such men as Horace Greeley and -Parke Godwin. “The first large society to -adopt and propagate Socialism in America,” -he writes, “was composed of the German -Gymnastic Unions. Through the sixties -and seventies the agitation steadily increased, -local organisations were formed in -various parts of the country. Following the -Paris Commune of 1871, and its tragic -ending, many French radicals came to our -shores and gave new spirit to the movement. -In 1876 the Workingman’s Party was organised, -and in 1877, at the convention held -in Newark, it became the Socialist Labour -Party. The Socialists were intent upon -building up a working-class party for independent -political action.” This party, -“composed of thoughtful, intelligent men, -aggressive and progressive, of rugged -honesty and thrilled with the revolutionary -spirit and aspiration for freedom, became -from its inception a decided factor in the -labour movement. The busy, ignorant -world about the revolutionary nucleus knew -little or nothing about it; had no conception -of its significance, and looked upon its adherents -as foolish fanatics whose antics -were harmless and whose designs would -dissolve like bubbles on the surface of a -stream. In March, 1885, was inaugurated -the strike of the Knights of Labour. On -May 1st of the same year, the general strikes -<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>for the eight-hour work-day broke out in -various parts of the country. In 1884, -Laurence Gronlund published his “Coöperative -Commonwealth.” In 1888 Edward -Bellamy published his “Looking Backward,” -and it had a wonderful effect upon -the people. The editions ran into hundreds -of thousands.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The author then goes on to narrate his -version of the Pullman strike of 1893. -He declares that the American Railway -Union, of which he was president, had -won, when the General Managers’ Association -caused the swearing in of “an army -of deputies,” whom the Chief of Police of -Chicago declared to be “thieves, thugs and -ex-convicts,” and that it was these men who -caused the violence which led to President -Cleveland’s action, and the breaking of -the strike. He then continues the story of -the Socialist movement. <cite>The Coming -Nation</cite>, started at Greensburg, Indiana, -by J. A. Wayland, in 1893, was the first -popular propaganda paper to be published -in the interests of Socialism in this country. -It reached a large circulation, and the proceeds -were used in founding and developing -the Ruskin coöperative colony in Tennessee. -Later Mr. Wayland began the publication -of the <cite>Appeal to Reason</cite>, and it now -numbers its subscribers by the hundreds of -thousands. It is not saying too much for -<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>the <cite>Appeal</cite> that it has been a great factor -in preparing the American soil for the seed -of Socialism. Its enormous editions have -been and are being spread broadcast, and -copies may be found in the remotest recesses -and the most inaccessible regions. -The periodical and weekly press, so -necessary to any political movement, is -now developing rapidly, and there is every -reason to believe that within the next few -years there will be a formidable array of -reviews, magazines, illustrated journals, and -daily and weekly papers to represent the -movement and do battle for its supremacy. -The last convention of the American Railway -Union was the first convention of the -Social Democracy of America, and this was -held in Chicago, in June, 1897, the delegates -voting to change the railway union into a -working-class political party. <cite>The Railway -Times</cite>, the official paper of the union, -became the <cite>Social-Democrat</cite>, and later -the <cite>Social-Democratic Herald</cite>, and is now -published at Milwaukee in the interest of -the Socialist Party. Since the election of -1900, there has been greater activity in -organising, and a more widespread propaganda -than ever before. In the elections -of the past, it can scarcely be claimed that -the Socialist movement was represented by -a national party. It entered these contests -with but few states organised, and with -<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>no resources worth mentioning to sustain -it during the campaign. It is far different -to-day. The Socialist Party is organised -in almost every state and territory in the -American Union. Its members are filled -with enthusiasm and working with an -energy born of the throb and thrill of -revolution. The party has a press supporting -it that extends from sea to sea, and is -as vigilant and tireless in its labours as -it is steadfast and true to the party -principles.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Viewed to-day from any intelligent -standpoint, the outlook of the Socialist -movement is full of promise—to the capitalist, -of struggle and conquest; to the worker, -of coming freedom. It is the break of dawn -upon the horizon of human destiny, and it -has no limitation but the walls of the -universe.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>Whatever the reader may think about -the foregoing narrative, there is one part -of it which he cannot dismiss; the statements -concerning the growth of the American -Socialist Party. In 1888 the Socialist vote -was two thousand. In 1892, it was twenty-one -thousand. In 1896, it was thirty-six -thousand. In 1900, it was one hundred -and thirty-one thousand. In 1904, it was -four hundred and forty-two thousand.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The Socialist Party has some twenty-seven -<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>thousand subscribing members, who -pay monthly dues. It has over eighteen -hundred “locals,” or centres of agitation; -the members of these “locals” are for the -most part workingmen, who give their -spare hours to the cause, holding meetings -and debates, and circulating the literature -of Socialism. In the larger cities, there are -generally several lectures each week, and -there are a score of “national organisers,” -who travel about, speaking night after night -in various towns, forming new “locals,” -and taking subscriptions to the Socialist -publications. Of these there are four monthlies -and about thirty-five weeklies. Since -1892, Wayland’s paper, <cite>The Appeal to Reason</cite> -(Girard, Kansas), has increased its paid -circulation from one hundred and twenty-six -thousand to over two hundred and seventy-five -thousand, and last year it printed one -edition of two millions and a half, and another -of over three millions. Another Socialist -paper, <cite>Wilshire’s Magazine</cite> (New York), -has increased its circulation from fifty-five -thousand to two hundred and seventy thousand -in a single year. In addition to this, -there are many publishing companies, which -distribute books, leaflets and pamphlets, at -little more than cost. I have before me a -treatise, the price of which is one cent, of -which over five million copies have been sold -since its publication some years ago. Its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>title is “Why Workingmen Should Be Socialists,” -by Gaylord Wilshire.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And in giving the figures of the Socialist -growth, it is worth while to point out that -this is not merely a local movement, but a -world movement; that the United States is -one of the most backward of the civilised -nations in respect to Socialism. In -Australia the labour unions have adopted -a full Socialist program, and the labour -unions hold the balance of power. In England, -they have just elected twenty-seven -members of Parliament; they have now -members in the Cabinet of France, and in -Italy they have turned out ministries. In -Belgium, the vote of the party is half a -million, and in Austria it is nearly a million, -while in Germany it has grown from thirty -thousand in 1870, to five hundred and forty-nine -thousand in 1884, one million, eight -hundred and seventy-six thousand in 1893, -three million and eight thousand in 1903 -and three million two hundred and fifty -thousand in 1907. The Socialists are electing -representatives in Argentina and South -Africa; in spite of government persecution, -the movement is now growing rapidly in -Japan. Including all languages, the Socialist -journals number nearly seven hundred, and -the Socialist vote of the world is figured at -nearly eight million. Allowing for women, -and for the disfranchised proletariat of such -<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>nations as Russia, Austria, and Italy, there -are estimated to be thirty million class-conscious -Socialists in the world.</p> - -<p class='c007'>To overlook the significance of a movement -such as this, is but to repeat upon a -larger scale the error of half a century ago, -and to pay with blood and anguish for -blundering and indifference. The processes -of time have their laws, which can be -studied; and all the waste and ruin of history, -which make its records scarcely to be -read, are consequences of the fact that man -has to be lashed to his goal through the -darkness, instead of marching to it in the -light. You take but a shallow view of the -problems of our present time, if you do not -realise that when thirty million people, in -every corner of the civilised world, organise -themselves into a political party, they do -it because of some fundamental and tremendous -motive, and that they will not be -apt to abandon their efforts until they have -accomplished some proportionately significant -result.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER II<br /> <span class='large'>INDUSTRIAL EVOLUTION</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>Herbert Spencer gives a definition -of Evolution, phrased in technical terms, -which might be roughly summed up in these -words: A process whereby many similar and -simple things become dissimilar parts of one -complex thing. If we trace, for instance, the -evolution of human society, we see about -as follows: In the beginning man exists in -widely scattered and unrelated tribes, having -a very loosely organised government, -each individual doing about as he pleases, -and all individuals being very much the -same. Each finds his own food and cooks -it, makes his own weapons and clothing, -and looks and thinks and acts like his neighbour. -Little by little, as the tribe grows, -it begins to come into contact with other -tribes that also are growing, and a pressure -begins; the tribes make war upon each -other, and each individual of the tribe is -forced by the presence of danger to unite -himself more closely with his fellows, to -establish a more rigid rule of obedience, and -to force refractory members to the general -will. Then, under still growing pressure, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>one tribe unites with another against a -common enemy, and the strongest man in -the two rules both; which process of combining -continues until at last there results -an organism of great complexity, whose -members are no longer equal and self-sustaining, -but have different activities and -ranks and characteristics, and are each -dependent upon the rest. If, for instance, -we examine France during the Feudal -period, we find numerous principalities, -duchies and baronies, each one an elaborate -and complex organisation, with various -classes and hierarchies and tributary parts, -and a whole system of laws and customs and -beliefs to correspond. And no sooner is -this process complete than an evolution -begins among these organisms; under the -stress of jealousies and ambitions they too -begin to struggle, to combine; and presently -in one of them arises a strong man who -secures command of them all. When the -process is completed, there stands in the -place of a hundred principalities, one kingdom, -the Kingdom of France.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The object of all this long labour is, of -course, to get some kind of an organism -that shall be capable of maintaining itself -in a world of ferocious strife; that shall -be able to withstand all enemies that may -come against it, and all rebellions that -may arise within it. The French monarchy -<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>was a marvellous piece of work when it -was done; it had men graded into a thousand -different classes and occupations, -and everything fitted perfectly and ran -like a clock. It had peasants to till the -soil, and soldiers and sailors to fight; artisans -to make all its necessaries, and merchants -to handle them; and rising tier upon tier, -a whole pyramid of governing and administrative -officials, up to the king. It had -likewise the whole outfit of ideas and customs -necessary to its operation; it was complete -and perfect and sublime—it was like -a mighty vessel defying the tempests; it had -also its pennons that waved, and its songs -for the crew to sing. Was it any wonder -that those who had made it were proud of -it, and felt that there was nothing more to -be done in the world but to keep it going?</p> - -<p class='c007'>And yet evolution was not through with -it. Men grow weary and want to rest, -they become “conservative” and fret at -the bare thought of change—but the -processes of life go on inexorably. This -mighty structure, the Kingdom of France, -was only a means and not an end—its purpose -was to bind the people of the nation -together and protect them until they were -able to take care of themselves. It took -a long time for this idea to make its way; -it took a fearful struggle—men were imprisoned -and exiled, burned and beheaded; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>but the idea went right on, and the nation -went right on; and when the time came, it -burst the old integument to pieces, and out -of the Kingdom of France there emerged -the French Republic.</p> - -<p class='c007'>What a marvellous event that was, and -what a stir it made in the world—what a -stir especially in our own corner of the -world—every one knows. Looking at it -from a century’s distance, and calmly, we -see the whole age-long event as an exemplification -of the process of life; the combining -of a number of simple things into -one complex thing. The means was struggle -and rivalry—it was a cruel process; -but you will notice that at the end the -effort and the pain are all gone—that the -organism fulfils its functions freely and -joyfully, and that the only difference between -the first stage and the last is that the individual -man has been raised to a higher -plane of being.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Now, as I have said before, the first care -of a man is to protect his life; the second -is to accumulate wealth. A man does not -set much store by his goods while his enemies -are within sound; but just as soon as they -are dispersed, the tribe begins to gather -flocks, and to till the soil. And so, following -close upon the heels of the evolution of -political society, you have the evolution of -<em>industrial</em> society.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>And it is precisely the same process. We -may see nearly the whole of it in this country. -It begins with the colonial village, where -every man owns a little land and raises his -own food; also he cobbles his own shoes, -spins his own wool, weaves his own cloth, -and makes his own clothes. In the very -earliest days, he never buys anything, because -there is nothing to buy. He may be -the deacon or the schoolmaster or the -judge, but still he has his own farm, and any -other man in the village is about as well -fitted to be the deacon or the schoolmaster -or the judge as he. But then his goods -expand and war begins—industrial war, -I mean—a horse-trade, for example. Political -evolution is slow, because the rate of -increase of men is limited; but the rate of -increase of goods proves to be unlimited. -Machines are invented, and straightway -the industrial process is accelerated tenfold. -It took a thousand years to evolve -a monarchy; it took only a hundred to -evolve a trust.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The industrial units fight each other, and -the strongest survive as employers, the -weakest becoming employees. Then, as -growth continues, these various little groups -all over the country come into contact, and -they struggle also. The struggle is of -course no longer fighting with swords—it -is underselling; but the process is exactly -<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>the same, and its purpose is the building -up of a capable industrial organism. Precisely -as in one case the tribes by combining -find they are stronger to fight, the employers, -by combining, find that they are stronger -to undersell; and this process goes on until -you have an industrial feudalism, corresponding -in all its details to the political -feudalism of France. And then, as before, -the barons and the princes and the dukes -fight among each other, until out of the -midst arises a strong man, a Rockefeller -or a Harriman, who smashes them right and -left, and makes himself a king.</p> - -<p class='c007'>He is a king in precisely the same way, -and to precisely the same purpose, as -Louis the Great was king. You know how -Richelieu served the nobility of France—if -they would not obey they simply lost their -heads. If you have read Miss Tarbell’s -“History of the Standard Oil Company,” -or Henry D. Lloyd’s “Wealth Against -Commonwealth,” you know how Mr. -Rockefeller served the oil nobility; how he -tricked them and crushed them; how sometimes, -it is said, he blew up their refineries -with dynamite, or burned them with fire. -You know how Louis said he was the State; -and you heard the president of one of the -coal companies, who is doing business in -flat defiance of the laws of the land, declare -that God in His Infinite Wisdom had entrusted -<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>to him the property interests of the -country. It is not necessary to pursue this -analogy; if you do not see that in the due -and inevitable course of evolution, our -industrial organism has attained the monarchical -stage, it is simply because you do -not wish to see it, and no amount of -exposition will avail. I have only to add, as -before, that the purpose of <em>this</em> process was -to evolve an organism which should be -capable of maintaining itself against all -enemies, without and within. The task of -King Louis was the aggrandisement of -France; the task of Mr. Rockefeller is the -keeping up of Standard Oil stock. Incidentally, -Louis the Great gave the world -a race-heritage and a civilisation; incidentally, -Mr. Rockefeller furnishes the world -with oil. Also—what is true in one case is -true in the other—the Standard Oil Company -is a marvellous piece of work. It has -men graded into a thousand different classes -and occupations, and all fitting perfectly -and running like a clock. It has labourers -to till the soil, lobbyists and salesmen to -fight, factories to make all its necessaries, -and railroads to handle them; and, rising -tier upon tier, it has a whole pyramid of -governing and administrative officials, up -to the president. It has likewise the whole -outfit of ideas necessary to its operation; -it is complete and perfect and sublime—it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>is like a mighty vessel, defying the tempests. -Is it any wonder that those who have constructed -it are proud of it, and feel that there -is nothing more to be done in the world but -to keep it going?</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is of course clear that the next step, -according to my parallel, would be into an -Industrial Republic. The reader differs -from most Americans whom I meet if this -idea is not startling to him. Let us go -forward slowly.</p> - -<p class='c007'>In Mr. John Bach McMaster’s “History -of the People of the United States,” is a -narrative of the terrible yellow-fever epidemic -which occurred in Philadelphia in -the year 1793, causing the death of over four -thousand people in four months. In those -days men had strange ideas as to the causes -of yellow fever; they believed, in this case, -that it “had come from a pile of stinking -hides that had been on one of the wharves.” -The historian goes on to describe the -strange expedients they adopted to get rid -of it. “People were bidden to keep out of -the sun, and not to get tired. The doctors -had little faith in bonfires as purifiers of -the air, but much in the burning of gunpowder. -Every one then who could buy -or borrow a gun, loaded and fired it from -morning till night. Then one remedy after -another would be suggested, and people -would cover themselves with it—nitre, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>tobacco, and garlic, mud-baths, camphor, -and thieves’ vinegar. The last could only -be procured by going to the shop. The -purchaser going to get it was careful to -have a piece of tarred rope wet with camphor -at his nose, and in his pocket his handkerchief -soaked with the last preventive he -had heard of. He shunned the footpaths, -fled down the nearest alley at sight of a -carriage, and would go six blocks to avoid -passing a house where a dead body had -been taken out a week before. He would -not enter a shop where another man stood -at the counter; he would rush in, throw -down the money, and rush home—soak -everything in this prepared vinegar, and -live on a prescribed diet, water-gruel, oatmeal, -tea, barley-water, or a vile concoction -called apple-tea. If his head pained him -or his tongue felt rough, he would immediately -wash out his mouth with warm -water and honey and vinegar——” etc., etc. -At the time when I read all this, it made a -peculiar impression upon me, because the -newspapers happened just then to be full -of the discovery of the true cause of yellow -fever. And so all the time that I was -reading about the man with the tarred -rope in his hands and a sponge wet -with camphor at his nose, I had this -thought in my mind: And while he was -waiting outside of the shop, a mosquito -<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>flew up, all unheeded, and bit him. And -so he died!</p> - -<p class='c007'>It seemed to me a peculiarly neat illustration -of the precise difference between -knowledge and ignorance. It led me to -reflect how very eager men ought to be -to possess the former; and I put the -anecdote away in my mind, thinking, “I -shall use it some day when I want—all of -a sudden—to scare someone out of a -prejudice!”</p> - -<p class='c007'>For just imagine, if you can, that mosquitoes, -instead of being a pest about which -every man was glad to believe evil, had -been the basis of some important industry, -or otherwise the source of incalculable -advantage to the dominant classes of -the community; that universities were -endowed, and newspapers owned, and -churches and hospitals supported, out of -the proceeds of the mosquito monopoly! -Are you sure that in that case the discovery -of the physicians in Havana would have -been hailed as a triumph of Science? Or -do you not think that there might have been -a strong opposition to the fantastic speculation, -and that the men who had published -it might have been denounced as enemies of -society, and turned out of office for their -incendiary teachings? That other physicians -of high standing might have been -found to ridicule the idea? That newspapers -<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>might have refused to print arguments -in favour of it—that, in short, the -mosquito monopoly might have succeeded -in conjuring up before the imaginations of -the multitude so horrible an image of this -doctrine and its consequences, that they -would have looked upon anyone who -advocated it as in some way morally -deformed? Assuming that this could have -been done, there are only two things to be -added. The first is that all the while the -mosquitoes would have gone right on causing -the yellow fever; and the second is -that the people would have found it out in -the end—that all that the makers of public -opinion would have done, would be to put -just so many millions of dollars into the -pockets of the mosquito monopoly, at a -cost of just so much misery to the human race.</p> - -<p class='c007'>At the outset of this argument, I very -much wish that you, the reader, would commune -with yourself prayerfully, as to -whether or not it might not possibly be that -the ideas you have in your head concerning -an “Industrial Republic” are really not -ideas of your own at all, but prejudices -which other people have put there for purposes -known to them.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Let me repeat the definition which I gave -at the outset of this argument: I mean -by an Industrial Republic, an organisation -<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>for the production of wealth, whose members -are established upon a basis of equality; -who elect representatives to govern the -organisation; and who share equally in all -its advantages.</p> - -<p class='c007'>A century or two ago our ancestors were -governed, “by grace of God,” by an unamiable -old gentleman over in England, -who controlled their destinies, and sent his -representatives over here to tax and oppress -them; and they impiously rose up and -adopted a declaration to the effect that all -men were born free and equal; and they -seized the property and revenues of their -king, and thereafter managed the country -for their own benefit solely. “No taxation -without representation,” had been their -doctrine beforehand. And you, who are -an American, and celebrate the Fourth of -July, and teach your children to admire -the men who threw the tea into Boston -Harbour—do you think that you could -give me any reason why a man has a right -to be represented where he pays his taxes, -and no right to be represented where he -gets his daily bread? Do you not perceive -that a man who can say to me, “Do thus, -or you and your children can have nothing -to eat,” is just as much my lord and master -as the man who can say to me, “Do thus, -or be put into jail?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>You stop and think. “The case is not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>quite the same,” you say. “One is not -represented, to be sure; but certainly every -man has a right to get his daily bread as he -pleases.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Indeed, I answer. Suppose, for instance, -that his occupation happens to be that of a -steel-worker; has he any way of getting his -daily bread, except upon certain precise -terms which a certain group of men offer -him?</p> - -<p class='c007'>“H’m,” you say, “that’s so. But then, -if he doesn’t like it, can’t he change his -occupation?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>My answer is, I do not believe that George -the Third would have had any objection to -one of our ancestors going to France to -become a subject of King Louis. But I -understand that freedom began in America -when the men of Lexington and Bunker -Hill resolved to <em>stay at home</em> and be free.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“This is all very well in theory,” you say, -“but how can it ever be realised?” As I -said before, I expect to see it realised in the -United States of America within the next -ten years. I expect to see it, exactly as I -should have expected to see the French -Revolution, had I known what I know now; -understood that institutions and systems -have their day, and perceived the signs of -a breakdown as they existed in France in -1780, and as they exist in America in 1907.</p> - -<p class='c007'>What was the cause of the French Revolution? -<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>The French monarchy was organised -upon a basis of force, represented by -taxes; and those who ran the machine had -no idea but that a machine so organised -could go on forever. But in the long -process of time, there developed a tendency -on the part of those to whom the taxes -came, to grow richer and richer, while those -by whom the taxes were paid grew poorer -and poorer. Little by little, all the property -and all the land of France came into the -hands of the nobility; until at last they had -everything, and the populace had nothing. -Then suddenly the machinery of a society -organised upon a basis of force and taxes -began to refuse to work; the French peasantry -had stood everything, but they could not -stand being required to pay taxes when -they had nothing to pay with. So the -States-General had to be sent for, and the -Revolution came.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And note this—that the trouble was not -at all that the country was poor. Everyone -is familiar with the picture of the horrible -condition of the peasantry of that -time, how they were little better than wild -animals, hiding in holes, naked, and with -blackened skins. Yet all the while France -was full of wealth—all the trouble was that -it was stagnant in the hands of a single -class; the fields of France were ready to -produce, but the people were too poor to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>till them. And notice the curious fact, that -no sooner was the Revolution accomplished -than the difficulty vanished in a flash. The -machinery started up again—the peasant -had land and tilled it, and the artisans of -the cities found work. It seems strange to -read that under the “Terror,” when the -heads of the “aristocrats” were falling by -the dozens every day and all the world was -convulsed with horror, the <em>people</em> of France -were more prosperous and happy than ever -they had been before in history. And when -war broke out, the nation that had been -on the verge of bankruptcy for a generation, -withstood the armies of the combined -kingdoms of Europe for more than twenty -years!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Here in America, we all started even. -Wages were high, and there was work for -every man; there was no need to strike—a -workingman had only to leave and go -elsewhere if he were not pleased. We -found employment for the stream of immigrants -as fast as they came—we had an -enormous country to build up, and an -inexhaustible supply of new lands for the -settler. We manufactured only for our own -use, and we could not manufacture half of -what we needed.</p> - -<p class='c007'>But time passed on. Some who were -frugal and diligent—and others who were -cunning and unscrupulous—grew rich; and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>then machinery came in, and the pace grew -faster. The rich were on top, and they -stayed there. As the country expanded, -railroads were built, and fortunes made; -the war came, with its enormous expenditures, -and still more fortunes were made. -Capital grew; but it could not grow fast -enough—in the seventies the rate of interest -was ten per cent., and the promoters made -fortunes besides. It was in those days that -the battles of the giants were fought, the -railroad wars in which the Gould and -Vanderbilt millions were accumulated. Still -there was plenty to do; the people had -money, and there were some of them to buy -everything we could make, and what came -from abroad besides. The cities grew and -spread, and the immigrants flowed in; railroads -and factories were built, and the -mighty structure of our modern industrial -machine began to take shape. It must be -understood that all the while inventions -and improvements were being made, that -enabled one man to do the work of ten, of -fifty, of a hundred; and each such improvement -set free so many thousands more men, -to turn their attention to another part of -the structure and to rush it on to completion.</p> - -<p class='c007'><em>Completion!</em> Has it never dawned upon -you that this machine might possibly some -day reach completion?</p> - -<p class='c007'>The purpose of it is a very definite and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>obvious one—it is to supply the needs of -men; and when it is adequate to that purpose, -it is complete. But how will you -know when <em>that</em> is? Why, by the simplest -of methods in the world—by that insufficiency -of profits which I described before. -You are in business for profits, you understand; -and when you are making something -that men need, you make profits; and -when you are making something that men -do not need, you <em>stop</em> making profits. It -would be too bad if men went on making -railroads where no one wanted to ride, and -building houses for no one to occupy; how -fortunate that Nature has arranged it so -that we all know when our work is done!</p> - -<p class='c007'>We were trembling on the very verge—in -fact, we were half-way over the verge—three -years ago, when the Russo-Japanese -War came along and saved us. Everybody -had begun to realise the peril. The -investor, who had been making ten per cent. -in the seventies, came down to three. The -workingman who had a job that did not -suit him, stuck to it all the same, because -he saw a million men in the country who -had no job at all. And the capitalist, the -captain of industry—he mounted into his -watch-tower, and proceeded to scan the -landscape. A market! A market! My -kingdom for a market!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Our newspapers a few years ago were -<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>quite wild with delight over a phenomenon -called the “American Invasion.” They -told how we were conquering all over the -world—how Europe stood shuddering with -fright—how our exports were mounting by -leaps and bounds! How prosperous we -were! What ocean-tides of wealth were -coming in to us! It seemed so strange to -read it all, and to understand that this -“Invasion” which the editors were celebrating, -was in reality the last death-kick -of the industrial system which they had -been taught to consider the foundation of -all society!</p> - -<p class='c007'>It will be more convenient to consider -the whole question of foreign markets at -a later stage; suffice it here to say, that -if my analysis of the overproduction of -capital be correct, then the first signal of -danger will be what is commonly hailed -as a “favourable balance of trade”—the -existence of a surplus product which must -be sold abroad. You must distinguish, of -course, between a mere exchange of goods, -where exports are balanced by imports, -and <em>selling</em>, which is sending out goods -and taking in gold, or promises to pay gold. -In 1893 our exports were eight hundred and -forty-seven million dollars and our imports -were eight hundred and sixty-six millions. -But in 1901, our exports had leaped to one -billion, four hundred and eighty-seven million -<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>dollars, and our imports had sunk to -eight hundred and twenty-three millions; -and during the next four years the excess -of exports over imports amounted to a -total of over a billion and a half of dollars! -According to an estimate made public on -January 6, 1907, by the Secretary of the -Treasury, the figures for 1906 will be: -Imports, one billion, two hundred million -dollars, and exports, one billion, eight hundred -million dollars. And for how many -more years does anyone imagine that the -world will be able to pay us six hundred -million dollars in cash, for those surplus -products which we are compelled to sell?</p> - -<p class='c007'>Do not fail to mark the word “compelled.” -If we cannot sell them, we cannot make -profits; and if we cannot make profits, we -cannot pay dividends. “I am a great -clamourer for dividends,” said Mr. Rockefeller; -and other captains of industry share -in his weakness. And when a few years -ago they found that foreign markets were -beginning to fail, they set to work to remedy -the evil in the only other possible way—by -combining, and limiting the product, and -raising prices. And that brings us to the -other great symptom of the approach of -the breakdown—the organising of the trusts. -For six or eight years the process has been -going on, irresistibly, automatically—while -the country raged and stormed, and poured -<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>out its wrath upon the greedy capitalist. -And yet the capitalist was no more to blame -than a steam-engine that turns aside when -it comes to a switch. The capitalist was -making profits; and he saw, by the cessation -of his profits, that the industrial -machine of the country was getting too big -for the country’s use. Unless he, and the -machine also, were to go to smash, competition -in that particular industry must -be ended.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The work is done now; we have only to -sit by and wait until the people get through -trying to undo it. I never realise more -keenly the naïve and touching incompetence -of our so-called intellectual classes, than -when I reflect that while our men of action -have been accomplishing this mighty work—one -of the greatest labours ever wrought -for civilisation—our benevolent editors and -college presidents have gone right on with -their prattling of “freedom of contract” -and “<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">laissez faire</span></i>.” And actually, civilisation -must sit by and wait ten years, until -our people have got through butting their -heads against the granite wall of this -accomplished fact!</p> - -<p class='c007'>But we Socialists have to take the world -as we find it, and cultivate a cheerful disposition; -and so behold our great national -spectacle, the morality-play of the terrible -hundred-headed monster of Competition! -<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>The terrible monster has killed and destroyed -himself, according to the nature of -him; but now by Congressional statute and -Supreme Court decree he has been patched -together again, and will be compelled to go -on fighting! Or at least he shall be stuffed -and mounted, and shall look as if he were -fighting! He shall have wires attached to -his joints and electric lights to gleam from -his eyes; he shall be taken out in the gorgeous -Presidential campaign chariot, drawn -by the Grand Old Party elephant, and all -the people shall see him, and marvel at his -ferocity, and at the deadly conflict he wages -among his various heads! Come now, O -people!—come editors and statesmen and -judges and bishops—come and see how the -terrible hundred-headed monster rends and -tears himself, and shout for four years more -of the “full dinner-pail.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>But surely we must destroy the trusts! -you say. <em>Why</em> must we destroy the trusts? -The trusts are marvellous industrial machines, -of power the like of which was never -known in the world before; they are the -last and most wonderful of the products of -civilisation—and we must destroy them! -We have been a century building them—you, -and I, and the balance of the American -people have toiled for three generations -night and day, stinting and starving ourselves, -so that we might get these trusts -<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>finished; we have taxed ourselves ten, -twenty, thirty per cent. of our incomes, -under the disguise of a protective tariff, to -maintain and develop them; and now that -they are complete, we must destroy them!</p> - -<p class='c007'>But they belong to Rockefeller! you protest -to me. They belong to Rockefeller in -precisely the same way and to precisely the -same extent as the Kingdom of France -belonged to Louis XIV, or the North -American colonies to George III. They -belong to the people of the United States, -who made them, who contributed every -plank of them, and drove every nail of them, -and who paid Mr. Rockefeller and his -family ample living wages while they superintended -the job.</p> - -<p class='c007'>But you only answer again—we must -destroy the trusts! Go ahead then, and -have your try! Have it out with them! -War to the hilt with them!—and see which -is the stronger, two corporations which are -resolved not to cut each other’s throats, or -you with your law that they <em>shall</em> cut each -other’s throats! Two railroad systems which -know that they cannot continue to exist -separately, or you who are resolved that they -shall not exist together!—It makes one think -of the scene in “Twelfth Night,” where -Sir Toby has engineered a bloody duel -between two terror-stricken antagonists. -“Pox on’t, I’ll not meddle with him!” cries -Sir Andrew Aguecheek. “Come, Sir Andrew,” -says Sir Toby. “There’s no remedy. -Come on, to’t.” But poor Sir Andrew -will not to’t, he fights with his back to the -enemy.</p> -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_048.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Courtesy of Wilshire’s Magazine</em></span><br /><br />A SOCIALIST VIEW OF THE TRUSTS</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>You will hear people abuse the Socialists -for wishing to abolish competition. No -Socialist wishes to abolish competition, no -modern Socialist at any rate. He watches -competition, as the mischievous Irishmen -watched the Kilkenny cats; keeping off at -a suitable distance during the battle, and -simply proposing to the spectators that -when it is all over they shall recognise the -accomplished fact.</p> - -<p class='c007'>There is some competition in the world -to-day among the nations; there was recently -competition between Russia and -Japan, and there will perhaps be competition -between some of the others. But what -competition is left to-day within the limits -of the United States, is left simply because -it is of a kind so petty that the capitalists -have not yet had time to bother with it. -For the most part it exists between a swarm -of retailers of trust-made products, and -takes the form of the screwing down of -the wages of helpless clerks and errand-boys, -the adulteration of products, and the -placarding of the surface of the land with -blatant advertisements which affect a decent -man like the stench of a carcass. One of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>the “competitive” industries that is flourishing -just now is that of cereals prepared -in packages and labelled with names that -suggest Hiawatha and the South Sea Islands. -The usual price of one of these packages -is fifteen cents, and of that, two cents and -a half represents the cost of the product, -and nearly all of the balance goes into the -effort to trap the public into buying it. -And did not the “boodle” investigations -in Missouri disclose the fact that William -Ziegler had spent a fortune in bribing newspapers -and legislatures to implant in the -public mind the idea that “alum baking-powders” -were poisonous, so that the -Royal Baking Powder Trust might have -the custom of the country?</p> - -<p class='c006'>But, you say, if competition perishes, -what becomes of incentive—of initiative? -Will not individual enterprise be destroyed? -I answer that it depends entirely upon what -you mean by individual enterprise. If -you mean that ardent desire which now -consumes every man to cut his neighbour’s -economic throat, to get the better of him -and make money out of him, to beat him -down and leave him a financial wreck—why, -civilisation will suppress this ardent -desire in precisely the same way that it has -suppressed the duel, or the right of private -vengeance, and piracy, or the right of private -<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>war upon the high seas. The putting -down of these things went hard, you know, -for they had been the greatest glory of -men, and all progress has been due to them. -“Franz von Sickingen was a robber-knight,” -writes Henderson, in his “History of -Germany,” “but with such noble traits, and -such a concept of his calling, that one wonders -if he ought not rather to be put on the -level of a belligerent prince. In carrying -on feuds, he seldom aimed lower than a -duke, or a free city of the Empire; and -there are persons who insist to this day that -his weapons were only drawn in favour of -the oppressed. Be that as it may, he was -not above exacting enormous fines; and -being an excellent manager, he greatly increased -his possessions. He was lord of -many castles, which he furnished with -splendid defences.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>And then the historian goes on to describe -the gallant struggle of this old nobleman -against the advancing power of the Empire. -“He determined, by one brilliant feud, -to restore the tarnished splendour of his -name. He would help the whole order -of knighthood to assert itself against -the power of the princes.” The end of it -was that “the enemy appeared in full force, -demolished in a single day an outer tower -with walls the thickness of twenty feet, and -made a breach in the actual ramparts.” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>Having been wounded, “the grim commander -was carried to a dark, deep vault of -the castle, where it was thought he would -be safe from the cannon-balls of his pursuers; -such an unchristian shooting, he -declared to an attendant, he had never -heard in all his days.” The castle surrendered, -and his foes gathered about him. -“He had now to do, he said, with a greater -lord, and a few hours later he closed his -eyes. The three princes knelt at his side -and prayed God for the peace of his soul.” -Let us hope that the makers of our Industrial -Republic will not forget to pray for the souls -of Baer and Parry, if these gallant captains -of industry should perish in defending the -elemental right of a capitalist to manage -his own business in his own way.</p> - -<p class='c007'>This is all very well, you say, but will -not such a system decrease production? I -rather think that it will; I hope to see the -prophecy of Annie Besant come true, that -when men no longer have to struggle to get -a living, they will at last begin to live. -That they will at last open their eyes to the -world of books and music, of nature and -art, of friendship and love, that stretches -out its arms to them; that they will cease -to regard ingenuity and rapidity in the -production of material things as the final end -and goal of the creation of man; that they -will cease to look upon a human being as a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>machine for the getting of money—to be -valued like an automobile, by the number -of miles an hour it can be driven, by the -number of thousands of miles it can cover -before it is worn out and ready for the -scrap-heap.</p> - -<p class='c006'>Let us have the philosophy of this thing, -in order that we may understand it. -We saw that the process of evolution, in -an individual or in a society, consists of an -expansion and a struggle, the end of which -is the emergence of the organism into a -higher state of being. There is a certain -life impulse, and there is a certain environment, -certain difficulties with which it -contends. We have perhaps no right to -speak of purpose in the process, but we -have a right to speak of results; and the -result of this contest is to shape the organism, -to educate it, to bring out certain -qualities in it which it did not possess -before; until finally it triumphs over its -environment, and emerges from its -prison-house.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The struggle for life goes on, but the form -of it changes unceasingly; and this changing -is <em>progress</em>. Without it there can be -none—the very essence of progress consists -in the suppressing of old forms of strife, -the conquest of old difficulties and the -escape from their thraldom. We know that -<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>there was once a time when men were hairy -beings who dwelt in caves, and contended -with club and hatchet against the monsters -which assailed them; and now supposing -that we could take some man of modern -times, some one who has risen to eminence -and power under the conditions which now -prevail, and put him among those cavemen, -how do you suppose that he would -make out? How do you suppose that he -would fare, if he were placed even one -century back, in the country of the Iroquois, -where the snapping of a twig and the flight -of an arrow decided the fate of a man? -Is it not obvious that there has been here an -entire change in the <em>form</em> of the struggle for -existence?</p> - -<p class='c007'>The same thing is true of nations. Once -upon a time a nation was an army, and -fighting was its business, the conquering -of its neighbours was its glory and its ideal; -but now we have moved on, we have -become complex and highly organised, and -can no longer afford to conquer our neighbours. -It would not pay us financially, -and intellectually and morally it would -destroy us. We have, for instance, a powerful -country to the north of us; and imagine -what would be the inconvenience and waste -were we under the necessity of fortifying -all our boundary lines, and keeping garrisons -at every few miles of them; if every day we -<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>were shaken by rumours that an army was -gathering at Montreal, that a fleet of torpedo-boats -was building at Toronto. As a -matter of simple fact, do we not both go -quietly on our way, understanding that we -are two civilised nations, between which a war -of conquest would be an unthinkable crime?</p> - -<p class='c007'>We have grown to used to the change, -that the mere memory of the old ways of -life makes us shudder; it seems to us horrible, -and we forget that it was once beautiful -and delightful to men: that the Germans -of the time of Tacitus held fighting the joy -of life, and imagined a heaven where a man -might be patched up every night and fight -again the next day. We have passed so far -beyond such a state that we cannot even -imagine it, and we have lost the power of -seeing that it was ever necessary and right; -that to those long ages of struggle we owe -our physical being, with all its perfections, -which we take so as a matter of course; a -swift foot and a dexterous hand, an ear -attuned to every sound, an eye that adjusts -itself to every distance, a mind quick and -alert, a spirit bold and enterprising. And -in the same way the nations owe to war -their unity and their complexity, and a great -deal of their power, not merely physical, -but industrial and moral as well.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It was one of the noblest of the world’s -poets who wrote that:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'><span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>“God’s most dreaded instrument,</div> - <div class='line'>In working out a pure intent,</div> - <div class='line'>Is man—arrayed for mutual slaughter;</div> - <div class='line'>Yea, Carnage is His daughter.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c013'>And to the same purpose writes Fletcher:</p> - -<div class='lg-container-b c012'> - <div class='linegroup'> - <div class='group'> - <div class='line'>“Oh great corrector of enormous times,</div> - <div class='line'>Shaker of o’er-rank states—that heal’st with blood</div> - <div class='line'>The earth when it is sick.”</div> - </div> - </div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>And yet the time of wars is past. We -still have them, of course, and we still have -a war-propaganda; but it would be easy -to show that these wars are never military, -but always commercial—that when two -civilised states fight nowadays, it is not -because they expect to subjugate each other, -or desire to, but because their capitalists -both need the same foreign market. I am -acquainted with only one writer of any -standing in the United States, Captain -Mahan, who is nowadays willing even to -hint that wars may still be necessary to the -disciplining of a nation; and I think one -might assert without fear of contradiction -that people now go to war, not because they -want to, but because they are persuaded -they have to; and that right-thinking men -throughout the world know that a war is a -national calamity, a cause of evils innumerable, -scarcely ever overbalanced by good.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>And it is of the utmost importance to -notice how this has been done; how it is -that the military ideal is universally discredited -in the world. It has not been due -to the preachings of moralists and -enthusiasts; it has not been brought about -by the intervention of any <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">deus ex machina</span></i>. -It has come about in the perfectly inevitable -course of nature. No hero has arisen to -slay the demon of war—the demon of war -has slain himself. It is simply that the -work of war is <em>done</em>. It is simply that war -has brought about a survival of the fittest, -and that there is no more need of conquest, -and no possibility of it. The peoples have -gone on to a different life, they have almost -forgotten for thought of conquering, or -of being conquered; they know that they -cannot afford it; they know that their social -organism is of too delicate a type to stand -it; they can no more stand it than one of -our modern captains of industry could -stand the shock of jousting with Richard -Cœur de Lion.</p> - -<p class='c007'>We have moved on to another kind of -struggle—to the kind which is known as -industrial competition. And we are to -come to the end of that in precisely the same -way. We are to see the fittest survive, and -grow, and establish themselves impregnably; -and so long as there is room for competition -they will compete; and when they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>find there is no longer room for competition, -that by continuing it they are doing as much -harm to themselves as to their rivals, they -will put an end to competition, and no -power on earth can prevent their putting -an end to it. Any power which really tried -to prevent their putting an end to it would -simply destroy them, as two civilised nations -would be destroyed if they could be compelled -to keep on making war against each -other.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The great task of civilisation is the leading -of men to recognise when these mighty -changes have taken place. For so far I -have spoken of only one side of the evolutionary -process; I have shown the victory—but -there are also defeats. Sometimes in -the struggle between the individual and -his environment, it is the environment that -conquers. Sometimes the man or the -society is not equal to the new task, and -falls back; and the law of this is death. -The stag which can run swiftly enough -escapes, and is able to run all the more -swiftly as the result of the race; the stag -which cannot run quite swiftly enough -becomes venison. The tiny shoot which can -grow high enough finds the light, and becomes -a mighty tree; its neighbour which -could not grow quite so high, turns to mould. -There comes now and then in the history -of every living thing some moment when its -<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>future hangs in the balance; when it summons -all its forces, and lives or dies. The -butterfly faces such a crisis when it emerges -from the chrysalis; the child when it is -born. You have known such fateful hours -in your own moral life; and you can go -through history and put your finger upon -them—here when the Greeks drove back -the Persians, here when the Franks drove -back the Saracens, here on the field of -Waterloo, on the hills of Gettysburg.</p> - -<p class='c007'>You would like to stay as you are, of -course; for that is the least trouble. You -have your routine and your habits, your -old well-worn paths in which your thoughts -move—you would like to stay as you are. -But the curse of life is upon you—you cannot -stay as you are. You have to go forward, -or else to go back. When the crisis -comes there is no escaping it—it <em>comes</em>. -When the birth-pangs begin, either the -child is born, or the mother dies; when the -throes of revolution seize a nation, either -the old forms are shattered, or the life of -the people is crushed. There was once a -reformation and a revolution in France; -there was no reformation and no revolution -in Spain. So in one case you have new -life and abounding vigour—literatures and -philosophies and sciences, and impulse after -impulse without end; and on the other hand -you have stagnation and ruin.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>The task was simply too hard for the -Spanish nation; they had lived for centuries -in imminent proximity to an enemy of an -alien faith, and the result was the fastening -upon the people of a system of military -despotism and religious bigotry. And when -the danger was by, when the work of these -forces was done, and the time came for the -people of Spain to throw them off, their -efforts were of no avail; their kings and -their priests tortured them and burned them -at the stake; and so the impulse died, and -never afterwards did they lift their heads. -In the same way consider the “Negro question,” -as we have it in the United States. -Here also we are dealing with a defeated -race; a race which was bred where nature -proved too strong for man—where savage -beasts fell upon him, and deadly diseases -smote him, and the swift powers of the -jungle balked his every effort to rise. So -for centuries and ages he was trampled -upon and crushed, until every spark of -genius was extinguished in him; and now -we strive with all the resources of our -civilisation—our noblest and best have -given their lives to the task; and we do not -know yet if we are to win or lose.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Let the reader of this book get a clear -understanding upon at least one point—that -no Socialist expects to abolish competition, -and the survival of the fittest; all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>that any Socialist expects to do is to change -the <em>kind</em> of competition and the standard -of the fitness. The purpose of industrial -competition is to raise up the industrially -fit, and to establish a system for the feeding -and clothing of men. The sign that the -former task is done is the outcry against -the money-madness of the time; the sign -that the latter is done is “overproduction” -and the “trust.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The purpose of this little book is to lay -before candid and truth-seeking Americans -the overwhelming evidence which exists -of the fact that industrial competition, as -an evolutionary force, has done its work in -our society: that it has disciplined our -labourers in diligence and skill, and our -leaders in foresight, enterprise and administrative -capacity; that it has built us -up a machine for the satisfying of all the -material needs of civilisation, a machine -that has only to be used; and that until we -have found out how to use it, our national -life must remain at a standstill, stagnation -must take the place of progress, and in -every portion of our body politic, the -symptoms of disease and decay must multiply -and grow more and more alarming.</p> - -<p class='c007'>We have been taught to think that the -institutions of freedom in this country are -so secure that we may go about our business -and our play, and leave them to take care -<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>of themselves. And yet, “eternal vigilance -is the price of liberty,” is the motto our -ancestors left us. For the forms of tyranny -change from generation to generation, and -it is always out of the old freedom that the -new slavery is made. You think that you -can stay free by clinging to the good old -ways, by repeating the good old formulas, -by standing by the good old faiths; but -you cannot, for freedom is not a thing of -institutions, but of the soul. It has always -been under the forms of spirituality that -men have been chained by priestcraft; -and it is with the very pennons and banners -of liberty that this land is bound to-day. -It always has been so, and it always will be -so—that the despot asks nothing save that -things should stay as they are. What was -it that the slave-holder wanted, but that -things should stay as they were? That -men should hold by the Constitution as it -was, while America was made into a Slave -Empire? What is it that our masters want -to-day, save that we should stand by the -good old traditions of American individualism, -freedom of contract and the right of -every man to manage his own business as -he pleases—the while the Republic of Jefferson -and Lincoln is forged into a weapon -for the enslaving of mankind?</p> - -<p class='c007'>There is not one single tradition of the -early times that is not being used to-day -<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>for the betraying of liberty. Take the -Monroe Doctrine, for instance. We shout -for it every Fourth of July, and we are rushing -to completion a score or two of battleships -to defend it; whenever it is in peril, -our most rabid anti-trust editors and politicians -drop everything and take to singing -Yankee Doodle. And yet, has never the -least suspicion about it come to you? Has -it never occurred to you to look who it is -that is leading you upon this crusade of -freedom—this strange propaganda of civilisation -and republican institutions by battleship -and rapid-firing gun? This zeal of our -captains of industry for the spread of -American institutions among the Filipinos -and Hawaiians and Porto Ricans and Panamanians -and Venezuelans, the while they -are so busy crushing American institutions -in Rhode Island and Colorado!</p> - -<p class='c007'>There was once a time when all the despotisms -of Europe were banded together to -destroy republican institutions, and when -the threatening gesture of this young republic -held them back from half a world. -And thus bravely we guarded civilisation -with our Monroe Doctrine, until the lesson -of freedom had been learned. But now -time has passed, and we have come to a -new age, with new perils and new duties; -there is a new kind of slavery in the world, -and a kind in which we lead all civilisation. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>The control of our Republic has passed -out of the hands of the people; by fraud -and force our liberties have been overthrown—the -very word has been relegated to -schoolboy orations and Grand Army reunions. -And by this new despotism of -greed the people have first been plundered -and crushed, and now are to be marshalled -and led out to do battle with other peoples, -similarly beguiled. In this work every -force of reaction and conservatism in civilised -society is now enlisted, every tradition -of olden time has been called into service. -No pretence is too hollow, no blasphemy -too abominable to be employed; every national -prejudice, every racial hatred, every -religious bigotry is made use of—and the -starving wretches of the slums and gutters -of London are sent into South Africa to -capture diamond mines for the glory of -free Britannia, while the helpless peasants -of Russia are led out with jewelled images -of the Virgin in front of them to steal Manchuria -in the name of Jesus Christ.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is with Germany that we Americans -are scheduled to battle for the sake of the -Monroe Doctrine. And what is the situation -in Germany? There is first of all, the -degenerate who sits upon its throne, and -proclaims himself by grace of God the lord -and master of the German people. There -is in the second place, the hide-bound -<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>mediæval nobility of the Empire, the direct -descendants of those robber-knights of whom -we read a while ago, some of them living in -the very same castles from which their -ancestors made their raids. There is in the -third place, the aristocracy of the army, -whose insolent and dissolute officers beat, -kick and maim the helpless country boys and -artisans who are herded like sheep under -their command. There is in the fourth -place, the bigoted seventeenth-century Protestant -Church, with its snuffy country -parsons and doctors of dusty divinity. -There is in the fifth place, the mediæval -Roman Catholic Church, with its confessional -and other agencies of Darkness. There -is in the sixth place, a subsidised “reptile -press,” whose opinions are written and -whose news is garbled by knavish bureau -officials. And every one of these powers, -forgetting all past differences, and uniting -with brotherly affection, are struggling with -every prejudice they can appeal to, and -every threat which they can wield, to hold -the German people subject to the identical -same “System” that rules in America, the -industrial aristocracy of cunning and greed; -is working them upon starvation wages at -home, and driving them to serve in armies -and navies, to conquer markets abroad; -to threaten Dewey at Manila, and to seize -Chinese ports and conduct “punitive -<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>expeditions” against Chinamen; to sell bad -whiskey and firearms to Hereros and then -slaughter them when they rebel; to blockade -ports in Venezuela and to sink “pirates” -in the West Indies; and to sound and -measure channels as a preliminary to the -taking of a naval base and the inauguration -of a war with the United States!</p> - -<p class='c007'>But then, you say, <em>we</em> can’t help that. -What can we <em>do</em>? Is the only thing you -can think of to do, to build battleships and -get ready for the strife? How differently -our fathers did it, in the old days when the -Monroe Doctrine was really what it pretends -to be—a pledge of freedom to men! -How the impulses that started in this land -thrilled through the civilised world and -made the “despots of Europe” tremble! -What messages of brotherhood flashed upon -invisible wires from continent to continent, -bearing hope and comfort to all the -oppressed of mankind! How we welcomed -Lafayette, as if he had been an emperor! -How the whole nation turned out in honour -of Kossuth, making his long journey one -triumphal procession! And are we doing -anything like that now?</p> - -<p class='c007'>The people of Germany, you must understand, -are closed in a death grip with all -these powers of infamy. In spite of obloquy -and contempt, in spite of lies and blandishments -and menaces, in spite of persecution -<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>and exile and imprisonment, for -a generation they have been toiling—devoted, -heroic men and women have given -their labour and their lives to the task of -teaching, writing, speaking, exhorting, to -open the eyes of the masses to the truth. -And step by step they have marched on, -gathering force every hour, strengthened -by each new persecution, training themselves -in literary and political combat, -building up a system of scientific thought -which has never been refuted and never -can be, inspired by a moral purpose as -noble as any the world has ever seen—preparing -in all ways for the glorious hour -when the people of the Fatherland are to -come to their own! The man at their head -was once a poor working boy, a wheelwright, -and he has raised himself to the -leadership of the mightiest effort after -freedom that the world now sees; and day -by day in the Reichstag he leads the opposition -to militarism and savagery, and -his speeches are such as a century ago, and -even half a century ago, would have set -this land aflame from end to end with -revolutionary fervour. And this is no isolated -movement of a nation, it is a world -movement—it is a movement to which the -lovers of liberty all over the earth are -welcomed as comrades and brothers. It -is a movement at one with every high -<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>tradition of American life; and you—what -is your attitude to it? What do you know -about it—what do you care about it? Do -you hold public meetings and send messages -of sympathy? Do the halls of Congress -ring with fervid speeches, as they did in -the days of Webster and Henry Clay? Do -your papers teem with glowing editorials, -with news about the movement, and sketches -of its leaders? What have you to say -about it, what have you to do for it—but -to repeat day in and day out one miserable, -pitiful lie, with which you try to blind and -deceive the masses of your own country, -that this tremendous Socialist movement -is not really a Socialist movement at all, -but only a movement of political reform!</p> - -<p class='c007'>I do not think that we shall sleep forever; -I do not think that the memories of Jefferson -and Lincoln will call to us in vain -forever; but assuredly there never was in -all American history a sign of torpor so -deep, of degeneration so frightful, as this -fact that in such a crisis, when the downtrodden -millions of the German Empire -are struggling to free themselves from the -tyranny of military and personal government, -there should come to them not one -breath of sympathy from the people of the -American Republic! And all our interest, -all our attention, is for that strutting turkeycock, -the war-lord whose mailed fist holds -<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>them down! That monstrous creature, with -his insane egotism, his blustering and his -swaggering, his curled mustachios and military -poses! An epileptic degenerate, who -spends his whole life in cringing terror of -hereditary insanity: whose spies and police -agents are invading the homes of German -Socialists, searching for letters in behalf of -the agents of the Czar, obtaining evidence -to send men in Russia to exile and -death! This ruler of his people, who -the other day cashiered a near relative, an -army officer who had advised soldiers to -complain when they were maltreated! whose -generals and admirals are swaggering about -and spitting in the face of civilisation—and -making maps and plans for a naval -station in defiance of the Monroe Doctrine!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Forty years ago, at the time of our Civil -War, when the fate of this nation hung -trembling in the balance, when the Emperor -of France and the aristocracy of England -saw a chance to cripple republican government -and to set back civilisation half a century—what -was it then that prevented them? -What was it but the fact that in England -there existed an organised opposition, alert -and watchful, trained by a generation of -parliamentary conflict, and with leaders who -in such a crisis could not be put down? -What was it but the fact that the workers of -the factory towns of Great Britain had been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>disciplined and taught, and could not be -deceived—that they chose rather to starve -than to help the cause of Slavery? And if -you care to see what would have happened -had not that opposition been ready, go back -three- or four-score years, when the people -of France struck their blow for liberty, and -see the leaders of the British aristocracy -crushing out protest and imprisoning objectors, -and hurling the nation into a criminal -and causeless war! Hear the king and the -nobility, statesmen and authors, newspapers -and pulpits screaming in frenzy and goading -the people on, till they had desolated Europe -with fifteen years of hideous slaughter, from -the moral and spiritual effects of which -the world has not yet recovered!</p> - -<p class='c007'>And now you stand and contemplate -another such crime against civilisation. The -two most enlightened peoples of the world -are to come together and strip for a fight. -The powers that rule in each of them made -up their minds years ago, and among the -officers, both in the army and in the navy -of each, the coming conflict is taken for -granted. Two or three years ago a German -officer promised that an army corps would -march from one end of this continent to -the other; and an admiral in our own navy -has publicly foretold the struggle. The -German capitalists are in desperation for -new markets, and the German people are on -<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>the edge of a revolt, with an irresponsible -military despot in absolute control of them, -who knows that his only chance to put off -the revolution is to pick a quarrel and beat -the war-drum, and summon the masses -to the defence of the honour of the Fatherland. -When that supreme hour comes, and -when the war-lust begins to burn, upon the -Social-Democratic Party of Germany will -fall the task of saving civilisation; and what -shall <em>we</em> have done to help them—what -encouragement shall <em>we</em> have sent them? -We have sent ships of grain to the cotton-operatives -of Lancashire when they were -starving; but what have we done for the -people of Germany? What reason have -we given them, with our tariffs and imperialisms, -to think of us otherwise than as a -nation of shopkeepers, a nation sunk in -greed and commercialism, and dead to every -noble impulse of men?</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER III<br /> <span class='large'>MARKETS AND MISERY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>I gave in the first chapter a brief outline -of my view of the process of wealth-concentration. -It is now time to consider the -present status of affairs, and determine if -we can exactly how near to completion our -industrial machinery has come. Because -of the vital part which the question of foreign -markets has played and must play in our -affairs, it is necessary that this inquiry should -include a careful survey of conditions in the -rest of the world.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The manufactures of the United States -have grown from one hundred and ninety-eight -million dollars in 1810, to five billion -in 1890, and thirteen billion in 1900. Our -exports to foreign countries increased from -sixty-six million dollars in 1810 to eight -hundred and fifty-six million in 1890, and -a billion and half in 1905. Of course, if -we could find unlimited markets abroad -we might go on for half a century, or at -least until our people grew tired of doing -hard work for the rest of the world, and -getting in return either bad debts, or else -money to be used in building new machines -<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>to do more work of the same sort. But -this is not the case, as it happens; there are -half a dozen nations that have been building -up industrial machines of their own, and -have completed them; the meaning of the -Socialist movements of England and Germany -and France and Belgium and Italy -is simply that all these nations are now able -to manufacture more than their own people -are able to buy, under the old deadly combination -of a monopoly price and a competitive -wage. And so when we go over -to Europe to look for markets, we meet -people who are coming over to look for -markets among us; and when in our desperation -we begin to sell out at any cost, the -German capitalist cries out in protest, and -the German workingmen are thrown on the -streets, and the German Socialists increase -their vote. And when the German capitalist -retaliates and sells out at cost, <em>our</em> capitalists -are checked, and <em>our</em> mills are stopped—and -<em>our</em> Socialist vote goes up.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Look at the figures. England was the -first in the field. The output of coal of -Great Britain was one hundred and fifty -million dollars in 1810; it was six hundred -and sixty-five million dollars in 1878; in the -same period the exports of manufactures -rose from two hundred and thirty million -dollars to one billion dollars. All that -while, of course, England ruled the sea and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>had things her own way. In 1820 the value -of all her manufactures was about seven -billion dollars—equal to that of Germany -and Austria combined, or to France and -the United States combined, or to all the -rest of the world, excluding these four -nations. But then, little by little, the others -began to catch up with her: in 1880, instead -of manufacturing one-fourth of the world’s -products, Great Britain manufactured one-fifth, -and in 1894 she manufactured less -than one-sixth. Between the years 1894 -and 1902, British exports increased only -thirteen per cent., while those of France increased -sixteen per cent., those of Germany -thirty-nine per cent., and those of the -United States sixty-six per cent. The -result was that a few years ago tens and -hundreds of thousands of starving men were -parading the streets of London, and all -England was startled by Mr. Chamberlain’s -announcement that the last hope of England -was a tariff which would reserve for -her the trade of the colonies! Of course -England could not have made money by a -tariff unless her colonies had consented to -lose money; and the colonies were not -planning to lose money—they were counting -on making some by England’s tax on -food. So the plan simply reduced itself -to an invitation to the British workingman -to pay more for his bread so that he could -<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>get starvation wages for doing the manufacturing -of Canada and Australia and -India. Is it any wonder that the reply to -the proposal should have been an independent -labour vote which sent a thrill of alarm -through the nation?</p> - -<p class='c007'>And meanwhile Canada and Australia -and India are straining every nerve to build -up manufactures of their own! “No person -connected with the cotton industry can be -ignorant of the progress of cotton manufactures -in India,” wrote the <cite>Textile -Recorder</cite> in 1888. “Indian cotton piece-goods -are coming to the front and displacing -those of Manchester.” The Bombay Factory -Commission of the same year recorded -in Parliament how this was being done. -“The factory engines are at work as a rule -from 5:00 <span class='fss'>A. M.</span> to 7:00, 8:00 and 9:00 <span class='fss'>P. M.</span> -In busy times it happens that the same -set of workers remain at the gins and -presses night and day, with half an hour’s -rest in the evenings.” And, like India, -Canada also puts duties on British goods -to protect her own growing industries!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Meanwhile, also, the rest of the world is -hard at work. Let us continue viewing -that same industry of cotton-spinning. The -value of the manufactured-cotton product -of Austria has grown from fifteen million -dollars in 1834, to thirty-five million dollars -in 1860, and ninety millions in 1894. The -<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>textile manufactures of Belgium trebled -themselves in three years previous to 1894; -those of Germany have increased twenty-fold -in sixty years; those of Italy nine-fold -in twenty years, while even such backward -countries as Russia and Spain have doubled -their textile industries, one in thirty, the -other in twenty years. Most unexpected -and disconcerting of all, however, is Japan, -who was once looked upon as a permanent -customer, but whose home industries have -been growing like a magic plant. The -textile manufactures of Japan doubled in -value in the three years between 1896 and -1899. From six million pounds of cotton -spun in 1886, Japan advanced to ninety-one -million in 1893, and to one hundred and -fifty-three million in 1895, in nine years -increasing twenty-four fold. The value of -all her textile produce was six million dollars -in 1887, and it was seventy million -dollars in 1895. Therefore her imports of -cotton goods from Europe fell from eight -million dollars in 1884 to four million in 1895.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And while this was going on in the rest -of the world, in the United States the value -of manufactured cotton was rising from -forty-five million dollars in 1840, to two -hundred and ten million dollars in 1880, -to two hundred and sixty-seven million -dollars in 1890, and to three hundred and -thirty-nine million in 1900! Under such -<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>circumstances, is it any wonder that, at -the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war, -the factories of Massachusetts and Canada -were running on half-time, and dozens not -running at all; that British cotton manufacturers -found that prices had decreased -fifteen per cent. in as many years; that the -weavers of Belgium were starving, and the -country was full of riots and insurrections; -and that all the nations of Europe were -gathering in the Far East like vultures about -a carcass—knowing that the sole condition -upon which any one of them could maintain -its industrial and social régime for another -decade, was its ability to secure the custom -of some hundreds of millions of Chinamen, -who are so poor that a handful of rice and a -cotton shirt are all they own in the world!</p> - -<p class='c007'>I often wonder what our college presidents -and other after-dinner economists make of -facts such as these. They do not discuss -them in their speeches. I am acquainted -with only one man among all our orthodox -advisers who believes in the permanence of -the competitive régime, and at the same -time really understands what it is and what -it implies—who cares for the truth, follows -his views to their conclusions, and then -speaks the conclusions. When I first -became acquainted with this gentleman—intellectually -acquainted, that is—it affected -me painfully, and even now the sight of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>his book gives me internal sensations akin -to those of a man in an ascending elevator -which comes to a sudden halt.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The book is “The New Empire,” and -the author is Mr. Brooks Adams. He -writes coldly and dispassionately, and with -the certainty of the man of science, whose -conclusions may not be disputed. His -style is characteristic; it is brief and to -the point, and there are no apologies.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Mr. Adams is the apostle of competition. -He explains that he is this, not from choice -but from necessity. “Very probably keen -competition is not a blessing. We cannot -alter our environment. Nature has cast -the United States into the vortex of the -fiercest struggle ever known.” His theory -of life Mr. Adams condenses as follows: -“For the purpose of obtaining a working -hypothesis it is assumed that men are -evolved from their environment like other -animals, and that their intellectual, moral, -and social qualities may be investigated as -developments from the struggle for life.... -Food is the first necessity, but -as most regions produce food more or less -abundantly, the pinch lies not so much in -the existence of the food itself as with its distribution.... -To satisfy their hunger -men must not only be able to defend their -own, but, in case of dearth, to rob their -neighbours, where they cannot buy, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>for the weaker must perish.... Life -may be destroyed as effectually by peaceful -competition as by war. A nation which is -undersold may perish by famine as completely -as if slaughtered by a conqueror.... -For these reasons men have striven -to equip themselves well for the combat, and -since the end of the Stone Age no nation in the -more active quarters of the globe has been -able to do so without a supply of relatively -cheap metal.... Thus the position of -the mines has influenced the direction of -travel. The centre of the mineral production -is likely to be the seat of empire. I believe -it is impossible to overestimate the effect -upon civilisation of the variation of trade -routes. According to the ancient tradition, -the whole valley of the Syr-Daria was once so -thickly settled that a nightingale could fly -from branch to branch of different trees, -and a cat walk from wall to wall and from -housetop to housetop, from Kashgar to -the Sea of Aral.” But the trade route -across central Asia was displaced, “and so -it has come to pass that Bagdad has sunk -into a mass of hovels, and the valley of -Syr-Daria is a wilderness. The fate of -the empire of Haroun-al-Raschid exemplifies -an universal law.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“The greatest prize of modern times,” -in Mr. Adams’s opinion, is northern China, -and upon this the fate of empire rests. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>His book was published in 1901, and he -considered then that the chances were all -with the United States. Ten years before -we had been “tottering upon the brink of -ruin.... Relief came through an -exertion of energy and adaptability, perhaps -without a parallel.... In three -years America reorganised her whole social -system by a process of consolidation, the -result of which has been the so-called trust. -But the trust is in reality the highest type -of administrative efficiency, and therefore -of economy, which has as yet been attained. -By means of this consolidation the American -people were enabled to utilise their mines -to the full.... The shock of the impact -of the new power seems overwhelming.... -In March, 1897, Pittsburg achieved -supremacy in steel, and in an instant -Europe felt herself poised above an abyss.... -The Spanish Empire disintegrated, -and Great Britain displayed a lassitude -which has attracted the attention of the -entire world.... Germany has also -been perturbed.... Russia has, however, -suffered most.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“The world seems agreed that the United -States is likely to achieve, if indeed she -has not already achieved, an economic -supremacy. The vortex of the cyclone is -near New York. No such activity prevails -elsewhere; nowhere are undertakings so -<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>gigantic, nowhere is administration so perfect; -nowhere are such masses of capital -centralised in single hands. And as the -United States becomes an imperial market, -she stretches out along the trade routes -which lead from foreign countries to her -heart, as every empire has stretched out -from the days of Sargon to our own. The -West Indies drift toward us, the Republic -of Mexico hardly longer has an independent -life, and the City of Mexico is an American -town. With the completion of the Panama -Canal all Central America will become a -part of our system. We have expanded into -Asia, we have attracted the fragments of -the Spanish dominions, and reaching out -into China, we have checked the demands -of Russia and Germany, in territory, which, -until yesterday, had been supposed to be -beyond our sphere. We are penetrating -Europe, and Great Britain especially is -assuming the position of a dependency, -which must rely upon us as the base from -which she draws her food in peace, and -without which she could not stand in war.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Supposing the movement of the next -fifty years only equal to that of the last,” -continues our author, ... “the United -States will outweigh any single empire, if -not all empires combined. The whole -world will pay her tribute. Commerce -will flow to her, both from east and west, and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>the order which has existed from the dawn -of time will be reversed.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>There is only one peril about all this, -in the opinion of Mr. Adams. “Society -is now moving with intense velocity, and -masses are gathering bulk with proportional -rapidity. There is also some reason to -surmise that the equilibrium is correspondingly -delicate and unstable. If so -apparently slight a cause as a fall of prices -for a decade has been sufficient to propel -the seat of empire across the Atlantic, an -equally slight derangement of the administrative -functions of the United States -might force it across the Pacific. Prudence -therefore would dictate the adoption of -measures to minimise the likelihood of -sudden shocks.... If the New Empire -should develop, it must be an enormous -complex mass, to be administered only by -means of a cheap, elastic and simple machinery; -an old and clumsy mechanism must, -sooner or later, collapse, and in sinking -may involve a civilisation.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>By “an old and clumsy mechanism” -Mr. Adams explains elsewhere that he means -our American political system. Our ancestors -were opposed to much consolidation, -and they formed a constitution that was -practically unchangeable, because they believed -they had “reached certain final truths -of government.” “The language of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>Declaration of Independence, in which they -proclaimed one of these truths (that all -men are created equal), varies little from -that of a Catholic council,” says Mr. -Adams. An American is apt to believe -such formulas, being “dominated by tradition.” -But a modern thinker views -them “as having no necessary relation to -the conduct of affairs in the twentieth -century.” “If men are to be observed scientifically, -the standard by which customs -and institutions must be gauged cannot -be abstract moral principles, but success.... -Institutions are good when they -lead to success in competition, and bad -when they hinder.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The United States now forms a “gigantic -and growing empire. She occupies -a position of extraordinary strength. -Favoured alike by geographical position, -by deposits of minerals, by climate, and by -the character of her population, she has -little to fear either in peace or war, from -rivals, provided the friction created by -the movement of the masses with which -she has to deal does not neutralise her -energy.”...</p> - -<p class='c007'>“The alternative presented is plain. We -may cherish ideals and risk substantial benefits -to realise them. Such is the emotional -instinct. Or we may regard our government -dispassionately, as we would any other -<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>matter of business.... The United -States has become the heart of the economic -system of the age, and she must maintain her -supremacy by wit and force, or share the fate -of the discarded. What that fate is the following -pages tell.... With conservative -populations <em>slaughter</em> is nature’s remedy.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Never in my life shall I forget the hours -in which I wrestled with these problems—the -weeks and the months of perplexity and -despair. It happened long before I ever -heard of Mr. Adams—for of course these -thoughts of his are the thoughts of the time, -there is a whole literature of them, from -Kipling, Roosevelt, and the Kaiser down. -And to look back over the weary wastes of -history—the blind, hideous nightmare of -blood and tears—and then to look forward, -and in all the future see nothing else! To -see never any rest for agonised humanity, -only kill or be killed for ages upon ages! -To see this newest and noblest effort of -man after freedom and peace—the American -Republic—turned into an engine of slaughter -and oppression! To be shown by cold, -scientific formulas that my reverence for -the traditions of Lincoln was merely an -“emotional impulse,” and that the end of -it could only be that my country would share -“the fate of the discarded!” I could not -believe it—I cried out in the night-time for -deliverance from it.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span><a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c014'><sup>[1]</sup></a>There is a certain relentlessness about -Mr. Adams, which fills the reader with -rebellion, and makes him think. The -average imperialist carefully avoids doing -this; he veils his doctrines with moral -phrases, with the decent pretence of “destiny” -at the very least. But Mr. Adams -dances a very war-dance upon the thing -called “moral sense”—never before was -it made to seem such an impertinent -superfluity.</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f1'> -<p class='c007'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. Portions of the following argument were published as an article in -the <cite>North American Review</cite>.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>Have you, the reader, never had one smallest -doubt? Does it not, for instance, seem -strange to you now, when you think of it, -that this mighty people cannot stay quietly -at home and live their own life and mind -their own affairs? How does it happen -that our existence as a nation depends upon -expansion? Is it that our population is -growing so fast? But here is our Imperialist -President lamenting that our population -is not growing fast enough! And so -we have to fight to find room for our children; -and we have to have more children -in order that we may be able to fight! We -deplore race suicide, and we give as our -reason that it prevents race-murder!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Picture to yourself half a dozen men on an -island. If the island be fertile they can get -along without any foreign trade, can they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>not? And then why cannot a <em>nation</em> do -it? According to Mulhall, in 1894 two -millions of our agricultural labourers were -raising food for foreign countries. And all -our imports are luxuries, save a few things -such as tea and coffee and some medicines! -And still our existence as a nation depends -upon foreign trade—trade with Filipinos -and Chinamen, with Hottentots and Esquimaux! -Why?</p> - -<p class='c007'>Can you, the reader, tell me? We -manufacture more than we can use, you -say. Unless we can sell the balance to -the Chinamen some of our factories must -close down, and then some of our people -would starve. But why, I ask, cannot our -own starving people have the things that go -abroad—some of all that food that goes -abroad, for instance? Why is it that the -Chinamen come first and our own people -afterwards? Until we have made some -things for the Chinamen, you explain, we -have no money to buy anything ourselves. -And so always the Chinamen first. It -seems such a strange, upside-down arrangement—does -it not seem so to you? For, -look you, the people of England are in the -same fix, and the people of Germany are -in the same fix—the people of all the competing -nations are in the same fix! They -actually have to go to war to kill each other, -in order to get a chance to sell something -<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>to the Chinamen, so that they can get money -to buy some things for themselves! They -were actually doing that in Manchuria for -eighteen months! More amazing yet, they -had to go and murder some of the Chinamen, -in order to compel the rest to buy something, -so that they could get money to buy something -for themselves!</p> - -<p class='c007'>How long can it be possible for a human -being, with a spark of either conscience or -brains in him, to gaze at such a state of -affairs and not <em>know</em> that there is something -wrong about it? And how long could he -gaze before the truth of it would flash over -him—that the reason for it is that some -private party owns all the machinery and -materials of production, and will not give -the people anything, until they have first -made something that can be sold! That -all the world lies at the mercy of those who -own the materials and machinery, and who -leave men to starve when they cannot make -profits! And that this is why we Americans -cannot stay at home and be happy, but are -forced to go trading with Filipinos and -Chinamen, Hottentots and Esquimaux, and -competing for “empire” with our brothers -in England and Germany and Japan!</p> - -<p class='c007'>If the reader be an average American, -these thoughts will be new to him. He has -been brought up on a diet of misunderstood -Malthusianism. He is told that life has -<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>always been a struggle for existence and -always will be; that there is not food enough -to go round, and that therefore, every now -and then, the surplus population has to be -cut down by famine and war. It is to be pointed -out concerning the doctrine that, while he -swears allegiance to it, he doesn’t like to -think about it, and when it comes to the -practical test he shows that he does not -really believe it. Whenever famine comes, -he subscribes to a grain-fund, and does his -best to defeat nature; when war comes, he -gets up a Red Cross Society for the same -purpose. And yet he still continues to -swear by this wiping out of the nations, and -any discussion about abolishing poverty -he waves aside as Utopian.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The writer may fail in his purpose with -this paper, but he will not have written in -vain if he can lead a few men to see the -pitiful folly of that half-baked theory which -ranks men with the wild beasts of the jungle, -and ignores the existence of both science -and morality. He can do that, assuredly, -with any one whom he can induce to read -one little book—Prince Kropotkin’s “Fields, -Factories and Workshops.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The book was published nine years ago, -but apparently it has not yet had time to -affect the cogitations of the orthodox economists. -You still read, as you have been -used to reading since the days of Adam -<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>Smith, that the possibilities of the soil are -strictly limited, and that population always -stays just within the starvation limit. Nearly -all the fertile land in this country, for instance, -is now in use, and so we shall soon -reach the limit here. The forty million -people of Great Britain have long since -passed it, and they would starve to death -were it not for our surplus. And there are -portions of the world where population is -even more dense, as in Belgium. All this -you have known from your school-days, -and you think you know it perfectly, -and beyond dispute; and so how astonished -you will be to be told that it is simply one -of the most stupid and stupefying delusions -that ever were believed and propagated -among men; that the limits of the productive -possibilities of the soil have not only -not been attained, but are, so far as science -can now see, absolutely unattainable; that -not only could England support with ease -her own population on her own soil, and not -only could Belgium do it, but any most -crowded portion of the world could do it, -and do it once again, and yet once again, -and do it with two or three hours of work a -day by a small portion of its population! -That England could now support, not -merely her thirty-three million inhabitants, -but seventy-five and perhaps a hundred -million! And that the United States could -<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>now support a billion and a quarter of -people, or just about the entire population -of this planet! And that this could be done -year after year, and entirely without any -possibility of the exhaustion of the soil! -And all this not any theory of a closet -speculator or a Utopian dreamer, but by -methods that are used year after year by -thousands and tens of thousands of men -who are making money by it in all portions -of the world—in the market-gardens of -Paris and London, of Belgium, Holland -and the island of Jersey, the truck-farms of -Florida and Minnesota, and of Norfolk, -Virginia!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Prince Kropotkin writes:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“While science devotes its chief attention -to industrial pursuits, a limited number of -lovers of nature and a legion of workers, -whose very names will remain unknown to -posterity, have created of late a quite new -agriculture, as superior to modern farming -as modern farming is superior to the old -three-fields system of our ancestors. They -smile when we boast about the rotation -system having permitted us to take from -the field one crop every year, or four crops -every three years, because their ambition -is to have six and nine crops from the very -same plot of land every twelve months. -They do not understand our talk about -good and bad soils, because they make the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>soil themselves, and make it in such quantities -as to be compelled yearly to sell some -of it; otherwise, it would raise up the levels -of their gardens by half an inch every year. -They aim at cropping, not five or six tons -of grass to the acre, as we do, but from -fifty to one hundred tons of various -vegetables on the same space; not twenty-five -dollars’ worth of hay, but five hundred -dollars’ worth of vegetables, of the plainest -description, cabbages and carrots. That -is where agriculture is going now.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The writer tells about all these things in -detail. Here is the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">culture maraîchere</span></i> of -Paris—a M. Ponce, with a tiny orchard of -two and seven-tenths acres, for which he -pays five hundred dollars rent a year, and -from which he takes produce that could not -be named short of several pages of figures: -twenty thousand pounds of carrots, twenty -thousand of onions and radishes, six thousand -heads of cabbage, three thousand of -cauliflower, five thousand baskets of tomatoes, -five thousand dozen choice fruit, -one hundred and fifty-four thousand heads -of “salad”—in all, two hundred and fifty -thousand pounds of vegetables. Says the -author:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“The Paris gardener not only defies the -soil—he would grow the same crops on an -asphalt pavement—he defies climate. His -walls, which are built to reflect light and to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>protect the wall-trees from the northern -winds, his wall-tree shades and glass protectors, -his <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">pépinières</span></i>, have made a rich -Southern garden out of the suburbs of -Paris.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The consequence of this is that the population -of the districts of that city, three -millions and a half of people, could, if it -were necessary, be maintained in their own -territory, provided with food both animal -and vegetable, from a piece of ground less -than sixty miles on a side! And at the same -time, by the same methods, they are raising -thirty tons of potatoes on an acre in Minnesota, -and three hundred and fifty bushels -of corn in Iowa, and six hundred bushels -of onions in Florida. And with machinery, -on the prairie wheat-farms, they raise crops -at a cost which makes twelve hours and a -half of work of <em>all kinds</em> enough to supply -a man with the flour part of his food for a -year! And then, as if to cap the climax, -comes Mr. Horace Fletcher with his discovery -that all the ailments of civilised man, -(including old age and death) are due to -overeating; and Professor Chittenden with -his practical demonstration that the quantity -of food needed by man is about four-tenths -of what all physiologists have previously -taught! <a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c014'><sup>[2]</sup></a>And while all this has been -going on for a decade, while encyclopedias -have been written about it, our political -economists continue to discuss wages and -labour, rent and interest, exchange and consumption, -from the standpoint of the dreary, -century-old formula that there must always -be an insufficient supply of food in the world!</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f2'> -<p class='c007'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. Horace Fletcher: “The A-B-Z of Our Own Nutrition.” R. L. Chittenden: -“Physiological Economy in Nutrition.”</p> -</div> -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_092a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Courtesy of Wilshire’s Magazine</em></span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_092b.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Courtesy of Wilshire’s Magazine</em></span><br /><br />REAPING BY HAND AND BY MACHINERY</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>Such is the state of affairs with agriculture: -and now how is it with everything -else? In the Thirteenth Annual Report of -the Commissioner of Labour (1898), Carroll -D. Wright has figured the relative costs of -doing various pieces of work by hand and -by modern machinery. Here are a few of -the cases he gives:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“<em>Making of 10 plows</em>: By hand, 2 workmen, -performing 11 distinct operations, -working a total of 1,180 hours, and paid -$54.46. By machine, 52 workmen, 97 -operations, 37½ hours, $7.90.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“<em>Making of 500 lbs. of butter</em>: By hand, -3 men, 7 operations, 125 hours, $10.66. -By machine, 7 men, 8 operations, 12½ -hours, $1.78.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“<em>Making of 500 yds. twilled cottonade</em>: By -hand, 3 men, 19 operations 7,534 hours, -$135.61. By machine, 252 men, 43 operations, -84 hours, $6.81.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“<em>Making of 100 pairs of cheap boots</em>: By -hand, 2 workmen, 83 operations, 1,436 -hours, $408.50. By machine, 113 workmen, -122 operations, 154 hours, $35.40.”</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>Thus we see human labour has been cut -to the extent of from eighty to ninety-five -per cent. From other sources I have -gathered a few facts about the latest machinery. -In Pennsylvania, some sheep were -shorn and the wool turned into clothing in -six hours, four minutes. A steer was killed, -its hide tanned, turned into leather and -made into shoes in twenty-four hours. The -ten million bottles used by the Standard -Oil Company every year are now blown by -machinery. An electric riveting-machine -puts rivets in steel-frame buildings at the -rate of two per minute. Two hundred and -sixty needles per minute, ten million match-sticks -per day, five hundred garments cut -per day—each by a machine tended by one -little boy. The newest weaving-looms run -through the dinner hour and an hour and a -half after the factory closes, making cloth -with no one to tend them at all. The new -basket-machine invented by Mergenthaler, -the inventor of the linotype, is now in operation -everywhere, “making fruit-baskets, -berry-baskets and grape-baskets of a -strength and quality never approached by -hand labour. Fancy a single machine that -will turn out completed berry-baskets at -the rate of twelve thousand per day of nine -hours’ work! This is at the rate of one -thousand three hundred per hour, or over -twenty baskets a minute! One girl, operating -<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>this machine, does the work of twelve -skilled hand operators!”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Since all these wonders are the commonplace -facts of modern industry, it is not -surprising that here and there men should -begin to think about them; here is the naïve -question recently asked by the editor of a -Montreal newspaper which I happened on:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“With the best of machinery at the present -day, one man can produce woollens for three -hundred people. One man can produce -boots and shoes for one thousand people. -One man can produce bread for two hundred -people. Yet thousands cannot get woollens, -boots and shoes, or bread. <em>There must be -some reason for this state of affairs.</em>”</p> - -<p class='c007'>There is a reason, a perfectly plain and -simple reason, which all over the world the -working-people, whom it concerns, are coming -to understand. The reason is that all -the woollen manufactories, the boot and shoe -and bread manufactories, and all the sources -of the raw materials of these, and all the -means of handling and distributing them -when they are manufactured, belong to a -few private individuals instead of to the community -as a whole. And so, instead of the -cotton-spinner, the shoe-operative and the -bread-maker having free access to them, -to work each as long as he pleases, produce -as much as he cares to, and exchange his -products for as much of the products of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>other workers as he needs, each one of these -workers can only get at the machines by -the consent of another man, and then does -not get what he produces, but only a small -fraction of it, and does not get that except -when the owner of the balance can find -some one with money enough to buy that -balance at a profit to him!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Prof. Hertzka, the Austrian economist, -in his “Laws of Social Evolution,” has -elaborately investigated the one real question -of political economy to-day, the actual -labour and time necessary for the creation, -under modern conditions, of the necessaries -of life for a people. Here are the results for -the Austrian people, of twenty-two million:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“It takes 26,250,000 acres of agricultural -land, and 7,500,000 of pasturage, for all -agricultural products. Then I allowed a -house to be built for every family, consisting -of five rooms. I found that all industries, -agriculture, architecture, building, flour, -sugar, coal, iron, machine-building, clothing, -and chemical production, need 615,000 -labourers employed 11 hours per day, 300 -days a year, to satisfy every imaginable want -for 22,000,000 inhabitants.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“These 615,000 labourers are only 12.3 -per cent. of the population able to do work, -excluding women and all persons under 16 -or over 50 years of age; all these latter to be -considered as not able.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>“Should the 5,000,000 able men be engaged -in work, instead of 615,000, they need -only to work 36.9 days every year to produce -everything needed for the support of the -population of Austria. But should the -5,000,000 work all the year, say 300 days—which -they would probably have to do to -keep the supply fresh in every department—each -one would only work 1 hour and 22½ -minutes per day.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“But to engage to produce all the <em>luxuries</em>, -in addition, would take, in round figures, -1,000,000 workers, classed and assorted as -above, or only 20 per cent. of all those able, -excluding every woman, or every person -under 16 or over 50, as before. The -5,000,000 able, strong male members could -produce everything imaginable for the whole -nation of 22,000,000 in 2 hours and 12 -minutes per day, working 300 days a year.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>But then you say: If this be true, if two -hours’ work will produce everything, how -can everybody go on working twelve hours -forever? They can’t; and that is just why -I am writing this book. They can do it -only until they have filled the needs, first -of themselves, then of all the Filipinos and -Chinamen, Hottentots and Esquimaux who -have money to buy anything—and then -until they have filled all the factories, warehouses -and stores of the country to overflowing. -Then they cannot do one single -<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>thing more; then they are out of work. -They can go on so long as their masters can -find a market in which to sell their product at -a profit; then they have to stop. And then -suddenly (<em>instantly</em>, God help them!) they -have to take their choice between two alternatives—between -an Industrial Republic, -and a political empire. Either they will -hear Prince Kropotkin, or they will hear -Mr. Brooks Adams. Either they will take -the instruments and means of production -and produce for use and not for profit; or -else they will forge themselves into an engine -of war to be wielded by a military despot. -In that case, they will fling themselves -upon China and Japan, and seize northern -China, “the greatest prize of modern times.” -They will enter upon a career of empire, -and by the wholesale slaughter of war they -will keep down population, while at the -same time by the wholesale destruction of -war they keep down the surplus of products. -So there will be more work for the workers -for a time, and more profits for the masters -for a time; until what wealth there is in -northern China has also been concentrated -and possessed, when once more there will -begin distress. By that time, however, we -shall have an hereditary aristocracy strongly -intrenched, and a proletariat degraded beyond -recall; so that our riots will end in -mere slaughter and waste, and we shall -<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>never again see freedom. We shall run -then the whole course of the Roman Empire—of -frenzied profligacy among the -wealthy, and beastly ferocity among the -populace: until at last we fall into imbecility, -and are overwhelmed by some new, clean -race which the strong heart of nature has -poured out.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Empires have risen and have fallen; -but it has not been, as Mr. Adams asserts, -because of “variations of trade routes,” -but solely because of wealth-concentration, -with its ensuing corruption, ignorance and -brutality among the populace, and avarice -and luxury among the rich. Let the reader -take Froude’s “Cæsar,” and read, in the -first chapter, his picture of the last days of -the Roman Republic:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“An age in so many ways the counterpart -of our own, the blossoming period of the old -civilisation, when the intellect was trained -to the highest point that it could reach, and -on the great subjects of human interest, -on morals and politics, on poetry and art, -even on religion itself and the speculative -problems of life, men thought as we think, -doubted where we doubt, argued as we -argue, aspired and struggled after the same -objects. It was an age of material progress -and material civilisation; an age of -civil liberty and intellectual culture; an -age of pamphlets and epigrams, of salons -<span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>and of dinner-parties, or senatorial majorities -and electoral corruption. The highest -offices of state were open in theory to the -meanest citizen; they were confined, in fact, -to those who had the longest purses, or the -most ready use of the tongue on popular -platforms. Distinctions of birth had been -exchanged for distinctions of wealth. The -struggles between plebeians and patricians -for equality of privilege were over, and a -new division had been formed between the -party of property and a party that desired a -change in the structure of society. The free -cultivators were disappearing from the soil. -Italy was being absorbed into vast estates, -held by a few favoured families and cultivated -by slaves, while the old agricultural -population was driven off the land, and -was crowded into towns. The rich were -extravagant, for life had ceased to have -practical interest, except for its material -pleasures; the occupation of the higher -classes was to obtain money without labour, -and to spend it in idle enjoyment. Patriotism -survived on the lips, but patriotism -meant the ascendancy of the party which -would maintain the existing order of things, -or would overthrow it for a more equal -distribution of the good things which alone -were valued. Religion, once the foundation -of the laws and rule of personal conduct, had -subsided into opinion. The educated in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>their hearts disbelieved it. Temples were -still built with increasing splendour; the -established forms were scrupulously observed. -Public men spoke conventionally -of Providence, that they might throw on -their opponents the odium of impiety; but -of genuine belief that life had any serious -meaning there was none remaining beyond -the circle of the silent, patient, ignorant -multitude.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Is not this a parallel to make one pause -and think? And if our American republic -is to escape the fate of Rome, to what -cause will it be due? The Roman failure -was due to the fact that “the men and -women by whom the hard work of the world -was done were chiefly slaves”; those who -held the franchise, the free Roman citizens, -were a comparatively small class, and the -patricians bought them with “bread and -circuses,” and so held the reins of power. -In our present time, however, those who do -the work and those who have the ballot -are the same class; and also they have the -public school and the press, and the whole of -modern science at their backs. More important -yet—the all-dominating fact—is the -machine. The Roman chattel-slave worked -with his hands, while the modern wage-slave -works with tools of gigantic speed and -power; which means that our modern economic -process, while infinitely more cruel and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>destructive, makes up for these qualities -by the certainty and swiftness with which -it rushes to its end. So it is that a Revolution -which in Rome took centuries to -culminate and fail, will require only decades -in America to accomplish its inevitable -triumph.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER IV<br /> <span class='large'>SOCIAL DECAY</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>If my analysis of the industrial process -be correct, there will be two developments -observable in our society: the first a -material change, a kind of economic apoplexy, -the concentration of wealth in one portion -of society, accompanied by an intensification -of competition, a falling in the rate -of interest, and a steady rise in the cost -of living; and second, a spiritual change -coincident with the material one, a protest -against the rising frenzy of greed, and -against the constantly increasing economic -pressure.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is important that these two processes -should be clearly perceived, and their -relationship correctly understood; for there -is no aspect of the whole problem about -which there is more bad thinking done. -The two are cause and effect, and they -explain and prove each other; and yet almost -invariably you will hear them cited as -contradicting each other. If, for instance, -one speaks of the ever-rising tide of misery -and suffering in our society, he will be met -with the response that “the world is getting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>better all the time.” And when he asks -for some proof of the statement, the reply -will be that a great national awakening is -going on, that we are developing new ideals -and a new public spirit!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Similarly I have, time and again, when -advocating this or that concrete remedy, -been met with the statement that the cure -for the evils of the time is publicity—that -the people must be educated—that we -must appeal to men’s moral sense, etc. -It is useless to argue with a person who -cannot perceive that all these things are -simply means to an end, and not the end. -You cannot educate people just to be educated; -when you appeal to them, you have -to appeal to them to <em>do</em> something.</p> - -<p class='c007'>One cannot insist too strongly upon the -futility of sentiment in connection with this -process. We are dealing with facts, with -grim and brutal and merciless reality. And -it will not avail you to try to smooth it over—it -will not do any good to turn your head -and refuse to face it. Here is the monster -machine of competition, grinding remorselessly -on; the wealth of the world is rushing -with cyclonic speed into one portion of the -social body, and in the other portion whole -classes of men and women and children are -being swept out of existence, are being -wiped off the economic slate. Exactly as -capital piles up—at compounded and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>re-compounded interest—so also piles up the -mass of human misery of every conceivable -sort—luxury, debauchery and cynicism at -the top, prostitution, suicide, insanity, and -crime at the bottom. Political corruption -spreads further and eats deeper, business -practice becomes more impersonal and more -ruthless; and all progress awaits the swing of -the pendulum, the time when the cumulative -pressure of all this mass of misery shall -have driven the people to frenzy, and forced -them to overturn the system of class -exploitation and greed.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I purpose to cite in detail the symptoms -of disease and decay in our body politic; -before I begin, I wish to put my interpretation -of them into one sentence, which -a man can carry away with him. I say -that the evils of our time are due without -exception to one single cause—<em>that our -people are being driven, with constantly increasing -rigour, to the ultimately hopeless -task of paying interest upon a mass of -capital which is increasing at compound -interest</em>.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Consider in the first place the broader -aspect of the situation—the dollar-madness -of the time which is the staple theme of the -moralist. I have a friend who is in control -of a great business concern, and who will -read this little book with intense disapproval; -and yet so fearfully has this man been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>driven by the lash of competition that when -I saw him last he could scarcely digest a bit -of dry bread, and his hand trembled so that -he could hardly lift a glass of water to his -lips. He talked of his business in his sleep, -and he could not go for a walk and forget -it for five minutes. And why? Was it -money? He has so much that his family -could not spend it if they lived a hundred -years; but it was his business, it was his -life. He was caught in the mill and he -could not get out. His is one of those few -industries which have not yet formed a -trust, and he is in the last gasp of the competitive -struggle—he has to plot and plan -day and night to get new orders, and to cut -down expenses, and to keep up the dividends -upon which his <em>reputation</em> rests.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And as it is with him, so it is with the rest -of us. We have to play the game; we have -to cut our neighbour’s throat, knowing that -otherwise our neighbour will cut ours. -And year after year the pressure of the whole -thing grows more tense. Suicide in the -United States has increased from twelve -per one hundred thousand of population -in the year 1890, to sixteen in the year 1896, -and seventeen in the year 1902; in Germany -it rose from twenty to nearly twenty-two in -the three years between 1900 and 1903; -in England it rose from thirty in 1894, to -thirty-five in 1904. According to the <cite><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Civiltà -<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>Cattolica</span></cite> the frequency of this crime in -Europe has increased four hundred per cent. -while population has increased only sixty -per cent.; and there have been over one million -suicides recorded in the last twenty-five -years. There were ninety-two thousand insane -persons in the United States in 1880, one -hundred and six thousand in 1890, and -one hundred and forty-five thousand in 1896. -Per one thousand of population, there were -twenty-nine prisoners in 1850, sixty-one in -1860, eighty-five in 1870, one hundred and -seventeen in 1880, and one hundred and thirty-two -in 1890. In 1876 the population of this -country consumed eight and sixty-one one-hundredths -gallons of liquor per capita; in -1890 they consumed fifteen and fifty-three -one-hundredths, and in 1902 they consumed -nineteen and forty-eight one-hundredths. -The actual consumption at the last date was -a billion and a half of gallons. These figures -take but a few lines to state; and yet no human -imagination can form any conception of the -frightful mass of human anguish which they -imply. They constitute in themselves a -proof of the thesis here advanced, that there -is at work in our society some great and -fundamental evil force.<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c014'><sup>[3]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f3'> -<p class='c007'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. “An experienced magistrate, Recorder John W. Goff of New York, told -me not long since that in his judgment the course of crime in this country -is not only towards more frequency and gravity, but that it is changing -its old hot impulsiveness, openness and directness for cold calculation, -secretiveness and deliberate intention to strike without being discovered. -This progress and difference he attributes mediately and immediately to -extending and deepening poverty.” Henry George: “The Menace of Privilege.”</p> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>Whenever the administrators of our “constantly -increasing mass of capital” find they -are no longer making profits, they either -reduce wages, or raise the price of their -product. One or the other they must do, -because without profits the machine cannot -run. When good times come they sometimes -raise the wages again—because of -the unions; but they never lower the price -of the product—the poor consumer is a nonunion -man. Two years ago Mr. Rockefeller -put up the price of oil one cent, and -the Beef Trust has done the same about -once a year. And of course a general increase -in prices is exactly the same as a -general cut in wages—in either case the -consumer has to work a little harder to -make ends meet, and if he cannot work -harder, he dies. The coal-miners rejoiced -in the award of the Commission, untroubled -by the extra fifty cents the coal companies -put on the product; but when the miner -comes to add up his account with the butcher -and the oil man, he finds he is just where he -was before. He does not know why, you -understand—it is merely that he finds himself -compelled to do without something he -used to consider a necessity. Dun’s Review, -figuring the cost of living in the United States -upon a basis of 100, puts it at 72.455 -in 1897, and 102.208 in 1904—an increase -of forty-one per cent. Bradstreet, reckoning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>in another way, shows an increase from -6.51 in 1897, to 9.05 in 1904, or thirty-nine -per cent. According to the annual report of -the Commissary General, United States -Army, the cost of feeding the soldiers of the -army has increased from eighteen cents in 1898 -to thirty-four and six-tenths cents in 1903. -Statisticians have figured that the average -employee earns ninety dollars a year more -than he did twenty years ago, while it costs -him to live on the same scale, one hundred -and thirty dollars a year more. According -to the last United States census the average -compensation per wage earner was only -three hundred and forty dollars, while the -value of the manufactured product was two -thousand four hundred and fifty dollars -per wage earner. Perhaps no clearer statement -of the intensification of exploitation -can be found than in the fact that whereas -the average profit on the products of all -industries was three hundred and seventy-five -dollars per wage earner in 1880, in 1900 -it had increased to six hundred and twenty-six -dollars.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Another consequence of the increasing -strain is “race suicide”; which is simply -a popular term for that “elimination of the -middle class” which Karl Marx predicted -half a century ago. The homilies of President -Roosevelt may have caused a few more -superfluous bourgeois babies to be born; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>but I rather fancy that in general it has -been a case of “everybody’s business and -nobody’s business”—that the average -middle-class American has no idea of lowering -his standard of living for the purpose -of affecting the census returns. As a result -of a confidential census of “race suicide,” -taken in England and reported in the -<cite>Popular Science Monthly</cite>, Mr. Sidney Webb -found that the offspring had been voluntarily -limited in two hundred and twenty-four -cases out of a total of two hundred and -fifty-two marriages; and out of the one hundred -and twenty-eight cases in which the -causes of limitation were given, economic -causes were specified in seventy-three. Similar -results would certainly follow an inquiry -in this country; in fact Americans of refinement -have come to have an instinctive feeling -of repugnance to a large family; to have -six or seven children is vulgar and -“common,” and suggestive of foreigners. -The reason is simply that conditions now -prevail which make large families impossible, -except to Poles and Hungarians -and Italians and French-Canadians, people -who are too ignorant to limit their offspring, -and whose standards of life are close to -animals—their children earning their own -livings in sweatshops, mines and factories, as -soon as they are able to walk.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And yet, low as our lowest classes have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>been ground, they are not low enough. -Thousands of agents of steamship companies -are gathering the outcasts from the -sewers of Europe and shipping them here. -The rate of immigration into this country -was three hundred and eleven thousand -in 1899, four hundred and eighty-seven -thousand in 1901, six hundred and forty-eight -thousand in 1902, eight hundred and fifty-seven -thousand in 1903, and over a million in -1905—more than one-half of the last shipments -being from Hungary, Russia, and -southern Italy. All this, you must understand, -is managed by the “System” which -rules in our centres of industry. “In that -unhappy anthracite country,” writes Mr. -John Graham Brooks, a person of authority, -“the employers will tell you openly, and -with conscious bravado, that they must get -cheaper and cheaper labour to keep wages -down, else they could make no money.” -And it was recently estimated by George -W. Morgan, State Superintendent of Elections -in New York, that in one past year -over six hundred thousand dollars profit -was made by selling false naturalisation -papers. The Federal authorities who had -been investigating the frauds believed that -over one hundred thousand sets of such -papers had been sold, and that thirty thousand -of these had been issued in New York -City. Fully thirty per cent. of the Italian -<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>citizens in the southern district of New York -were estimated to hold false papers.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Cheaper and cheaper labour! Women’s -labour and children’s labour! Over one -million of women are at present working in -factories alone in this country; and one -million and three-quarters of children -between ten and fifteen years of age are -engaged in gainful occupations. In the cotton -factories of the South, while the number of -men employed increased seventy-nine per -cent. in the past ten years, the number of -women increased one hundred and fifty-eight -per cent. and the number of children -under sixteen increased two hundred and -seventy per cent. The number employed -in Alabama alone was estimated by the -Committee on Child Labour to be fifty -thousand, with thirty-four per cent. of them -under twelve years, and ten per cent. under -<em>ten</em> years. These children work twelve -hours a day, and the oldest get fifty cents -and the youngest get nine cents. Here are -the descriptions of observers:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“A little boy of six years has been working -12 hours a day, from 6:20 <span class='fss'>A. M.</span> to 6:20 <span class='fss'>P. M.</span> -(40 minutes off at noon), for 15 cents per -day.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Three boys aged respectively 9, 8, and -7 years. The boy aged 9 has been working -two years, the boy aged 8 has been working -three years; the boy aged 7 years has been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>working two years. These little fellows -work 13 hours a day, from 5:20 <span class='fss'>A. M.</span> to -6:30 <span class='fss'>P. M.</span>, with twenty minutes for dinner. -In ‘rush’ periods their mill works until -9:30 and 10 <span class='fss'>P. M.</span> They were refused a -holiday for Thanksgiving and they obtained -Christmas Day only by working till 7 <span class='fss'>P. M.</span> -in order to make up the time.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Mrs. Irene Ashby-Macfadden says: “I -have talked with a little boy of seven years, -in Alabama, who worked for forty nights; -and another child not nine years old, who at -six years old had been on the night shift -eleven months.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Miss Jane Addams, of Chicago, says: -“In South Carolina, in a large new mill, I -found a child of five working at night. In -Columbia, S. C., in a mill controlled by -Northern capital, I stood at ten-thirty at -night and saw many children who did not -know their own ages, working from 6 <span class='fss'>P. M.</span> -to 6. <span class='fss'>A. M.</span>”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Here is a description of their surroundings:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“An atmosphere redolent of oil, thick -with lint, the deafening, incessant whir of -machinery, in summer stifling heat, always -the insensate machinery claiming the -strained attention of young eyes and tiny -fingers, broken threads clamorously crying -for adjustment, all requiring not hard work, -but incessant vigilance, springing feet and -nimble fingers. Young eyes watching -<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>anxiously for a fault in these intricately -constructed machines, paying with crushed -or broken members for an error in judgment, -for the crime of carelessness, how must -the responsibility—lightly smiled at by -adults—weigh upon the barely developed -intelligence of a young child? And after -long hours, lagging footsteps, throbbing -heads, wandering attention—what sort of -stone is this, O Brothers, to be placed in -the children’s hands who cry for bread?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Several years ago I saw in the <cite>Independent</cite> -an advertisement setting forth the -advantages of the State of Alabama -as an investing-place for capital. I wish I -had cut it out. The point of it was that -there were no “labour-troubles” in Alabama; -the boycott being prohibited there, -and labour unions being sued for damages -and smashed. The advertisement might -have added that there is no factory-legislation -to amount to anything, and that the -percentage of native white illiteracy is -fourteen and eight-tenths. There <em>is</em> factory-legislation -in Massachusetts, and it is enforced, -and the percentage of native white -illiteracy is only eight-tenths of one per cent., -or one-eighteenth of the proportion of Alabama. -So in the last overproduction crisis -the mills of Alabama were running, while -those of Massachusetts were shut down; -and the special correspondence of the New -York <cite>Evening Post</cite> contained the following -pregnant item:</p> -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_114a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Courtesy of Penna. Child Labor Committee</em></span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_114b.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Courtesy of Penna. Child Labor Committee</em></span><br /><br />CHILD LABOR IN GLASS FACTORIES AND COAL MINES</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>“<span class='sc'>Atlanta</span>, Ga., June 12—‘The sceptre -of commercial supremacy is falling from the -palsied hand of New England industry; -apparently it is to be taken up by the South. -Grasp it firmly. The whole country, torn -by labour disputes, looks to the South to -make the final stand against legislative -encroachments on the liberty of the individual -workman and the individual employer.’</p> - -<p class='c007'>“So Daniel Davenport of Bridgeport, -Conn., spoke to the members of the Georgia -Industrial Association, at their annual convention -at Warm Springs, Ga., last week. -This association was one of the earliest to -recognise the depressing effect of restrictive -labour legislation upon the cotton manufacturing -of New England; its members -fear that similar legislation in the South -would be followed by even more disastrous -consequences, and what has injuriously -affected the more hardy and older establishments -of the North, would, they believe, -stunt the growth of the infant industries of -the South, if it did not actually crush them.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>I made an effort in “The Jungle” to -show what is happening to the wage earner -in our modern highly concentrated industries, -under the régime of a monopoly price and -a competitive wage. I spent seven weeks -in Packingtown studying conditions there, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>and I verified every smallest detail, so that -as a picture of social conditions the book is -as exact as a government report. But the -reader does not have to take my word for it, -there are any number of studies by independent -investigators. Let him go to a library -and consult the American Journal of Sociology -for March, 1901, and read the reports -of a graduate of the University of Chicago, -who investigated the conditions in the -garment-trade in that city. Here were -girls working ten hours a day for forty cents -a week. The average of all the “dressmakers” -was but ninety cents a week, and -they were able to find employment on the -average only forty-two weeks in the year. -The “pants-finishers” received a dollar and -thirty-one cents, and they were employed -only twenty-seven weeks in the year. The -general average in the entire trade was less -than two dollars and a half a week, and the -average number of weeks of work was only -thirty-one, <em>making an average yearly wage -for a whole industry of seventy-six dollars -and seventy-four cents per year</em>. Or let -the reader get Mr. Jacob A. Riis’s pictures -of conditions in the slums of New York. -In his book, “How the Other Half Lives,” -Mr. Riis states that in the block bounded -by Stanton, Houston, Attorney and Ridge -streets, the size of which is two hundred by -three hundred feet, are two thousand two -<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>hundred and forty-four human beings. In -the block bounded by Sixty-first and Sixty-second -streets, Amsterdam and West -End avenues, are over four thousand. -Jack London, in his “War of The Classes,” -quotes the Rev. Dr. Behrends, speaking -of the block bounded by Hester, Canal, -Eldridge and Forsyth Streets: “In a room -twelve feet by eight, and five and a half feet -high, it was found that nine persons slept -and prepared their food. In another room, -located in a dark cellar, without screens or -partitions, were together two men with -their wives and a girl of fourteen, two single -men and a boy of seventeen, two women -and four boys, nine, ten, eleven and fifteen -years old—fourteen persons in all!” Apropos -of this it may be well to add that an -investigation conducted in Berlin established -the fact that with families living in one room -the death rate was one hundred and sixty-three -per thousand, while with families living -in three or four rooms it was twenty. What -it was with three or four families living in -one room does not appear. According to -a recent report of the New York Tenement -House Commission there were four hundred -thousand “dark rooms”—rooms without -any outside opening whatever. Mr. Riis -has been so successful in battling with such -conditions that he has been called by -President Roosevelt “the most useful -<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>American.” Neither the President nor Mr. -Riis understand economics, and so probably -they are both perplexed at the result of his -ten years of effort—which is that rents on -the East Side have gone up about fifty per -cent. in the last two years, and there have -been riots and evictions—and a Socialist all -but elected to Congress!</p> - -<p class='c007'>But Mr. Riis is a business man, and he -can figure the social cost of these evil conditions. -Of the New York tenements he -writes:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“They are the hot beds of epidemics that -carry death to the rich and poor alike; the -nurseries of pauperism and crime that fill -our jails and police courts; that throw off -a scum of forty thousand human wrecks -to the island asylums and workhouses year -by year; that turned out in the last eight -years a round half million beggars to prey -upon our charities; that maintain a standing -army of ten thousand tramps with all -that that implies; because, above all, they -taint the family life with deadly moral -contagion.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>In his newly published discussion of -social problems called “In the Fire of the -Heart,” Mr. Ralph Waldo Trine writes of -the country’s situation as follows:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“And over ten millions of our people are -in a state of chronic poverty at this very -hour—almost one out of every seven, or, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>to make full allowance, one out of every -eight of all our people are in the condition -where they have not sufficient food, and -clothing, and shelter to keep them in a -state of physical and mental efficiency. And -the sad part of it is that large additional -numbers—numbers most appalling for such -a country as this, are each year, and through -no fault of their own, dropping into this -same condition.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“And a still sadder feature of it is, that -each year increasingly large numbers of -this vast army of people, our fellow-beings, -are, unwillingly on their part and in the -face of almost superhuman efforts to keep -out of it till the last moment, dropping into -the pauper class—those who are compelled -to seek or to receive aid from a public, or -from private charity, in order to exist at -all, already in numbers about four million, -while increasing numbers of this class, the -pauper, sink each year, and so naturally, -into the vicious, the criminal, the inebriate -class. In other words, we have gradually -allowed to be built around us a social and -economic system which yearly drives vast -numbers of hitherto fairly well-to-do, strong, -honest, earnest, willing and admirable men -with their families into the condition of -poverty, and under its weary, endeavour-strangling -influences many of these in time, -hoping against hope, struggling to the last -<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>moment in their semi-incapacitated and -pathetic manner to keep out of it, are forced -to seek or to accept public or private charity, -and thus sink into the pauper class.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“It is a well-authenticated fact that -strong men, now weakened by poverty, -will avoid it to the last before they will take -this step. Many after first parting with -every thing they have, break down and cry -like babes when the final moment comes, and -they can avoid it no longer. Numbers at -this time take their own lives rather than -pass through the ordeal, and still larger -numbers desert their families for whom they -have struggled so valiantly—it is almost -invariably the woman who makes her way -to the charity agencies. The public and -private charities cost the country during -the past year as nearly as can be <em>conservatively</em> -arrived at, over two hundred million -dollars.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Moreover, a strange law seems to work -with an accuracy that seems almost marvellous. -It is this. Notwithstanding the -brave and almost superhuman struggles that -are gone through with, on the part of these, -before they can take themselves to the -public or private charity for aid, when the -step is once taken, they gradually sink into -the condition where all initiative and all -sense of self-reliance seems to be stifled or -lost, and it is only in a rare case now and then -<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>that they ever cease to be dependent, but -remain content with the alms that are -doled out to them—practically never do they -rise out of that condition again. Talk -with practically any charity agent or worker, -one with a sufficiently extended experience, -and you will find that there is scarcely more -than one type of testimony concerning this. -And as this condition gradually becomes -chronic, and endeavour and initiative and -self-respect are lost, a certain proportion -then sink into the condition of the criminal, -the diseased, the chronically drunk, the -inebriate, from which reclamation is still -more difficult.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The fullest and most authoritative treatise -upon conditions in America is of course -Mr. Robert Hunter’s “Poverty.” Mr. -Hunter is a settlement worker, and he has -gathered his material in the midst of the -conditions of which he writes. He quotes, -for instance, the following definite facts, -which are obtained from official sources:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“1903: twenty per cent. of the people of -Boston in distress.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“1897: nineteen per cent. of the people of -New York state in distress.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“1899: eighteen per cent. of the people of -New York state in distress.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“1903: fourteen per cent. of the families of -Manhattan evicted.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Every year ten per cent. (about) of those -<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>who die in Manhattan have pauper burials.” -“On the basis of these figures,” Mr. Hunter -continues, “it would seem fair to estimate -that certainly not less than fourteen per cent. -of the people, in prosperous times (1903), -and probably not less than twenty per cent. -in bad times (1897), are in distress. The -estimate is a conservative one, for despite -all the imperfections which may be found -in the data, and there are many, any allowance -for the persons who are given aid by -sources not reporting to the State Board, -or for those persons not aided by the authorities -of Boston, or for those persons who, although -in great distress, are not evicted, -must counterbalance the duplications or -errors which may exist in the figures either -of distress or evictions.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“These figures, furthermore, represent -only the distress which manifests itself. -There is no question but that only a part -of those in poverty, in any community, apply -for charity. I think anyone living in a -Settlement will support me in saying that -many families who are obviously poor—that -is, underfed, underclothed, or badly -housed—never ask for aid or suffer the social -disgrace of eviction. Of course, no one -could estimate the proportion of those who -are evicted or of those who ask assistance -to the total number in poverty; for whatever -opinion one may have formed is based, not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>on actual knowledge, gained by inquiry, -but on impressions, gained through friendly -intercourse. My own opinion is that probably -not over half of those in poverty ever -apply for charity, and certainly not more than -that proportion are evicted from their homes. -However, I should not wish an opinion of -this sort to be used in estimating, from the -figures of distress, etc., the number of those -in poverty. And yet from the facts of distress, -as given, and from opinions formed, -both as a charity agent and as a Settlement -worker, I should not be at all surprised if -the number of those in poverty in New York, -as well as in other large cities and industrial -centres, rarely fell below twenty-five per -cent. of all the people.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Such are the conditions in America to-day; -what they would be in the future, if present -tendencies went on unchecked, the reader -may learn by going to Europe, where industrial -evolution has been slower in coming -to a head, and where the people have been -held down by religious superstition and -military despotism. Let him take Mr. -Richard Whiteing’s “No. 5 John Street”; -or, if he has a particularly strong stomach, -let him try Jack London’s “People of the -Abyss,” or Charles Edward Russell’s terrifying -story of the poverty of India, in his -“Soldiers of the Common Good.” Here -is a scene in a London park, selected, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>by way of example, from the first-named -book:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“We went up the narrow, gravelled walk. -On the benches on either side was arrayed -a mass of miserable and diseased humanity, -the sight of which would have impelled -Doré to more diabolical flights of fancy than -he ever succeeded in achieving. It was a -welter of filth and rags, of all manner of -loathsome skin-diseases, open sores, -bruises, grossness, indecency, leering monstrosities -and bestial faces. A chill, raw -wind was blowing, and these creatures -huddled there in their rags, sleeping for -the most part, or trying to sleep. Here were -a dozen women, ranging in age from twenty -years to seventy. Next a babe, possibly -nine months old, lying asleep, flat on the -hard bench, with neither pillow nor covering, -nor with anyone looking after it. Next, -half a dozen men sleeping bolt upright, and -leaning against one another in their sleep. -In one place a family group, a child asleep -in its sleeping mother’s arms, and the husband -(or male mate) clumsily mending -a dilapidated shoe. On another bench -a woman trimming the frayed strips of her -rags with a knife, and another woman with -thread and needle, sewing up rents. Adjoining, -a man holding a sleeping woman -in his arms. Farther on, a man, his clothing -caked with gutter mud, asleep, with -his head in the lap of a woman, not more -<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>than twenty-five years old, and also asleep. -‘Those women there,’ said our guide, -‘will sell themselves for thru’pence or -tu’pence, or a loaf of stale bread.’ He said -it with a cheerful sneer.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>And then turn back to the preface: “It -must not be forgotten that the time of -which I write was considered ‘good times’ -in England. The starvation and lack of -shelter I encountered constituted a chronic -condition of misery, which is never wiped -out, even in the periods of greatest prosperity. -Following the summer in question -came a hard winter. To such an extent -did the suffering and positive starvation -increase that society was unable to cope -with it. Great numbers of the unemployed -formed into processions, as many as a dozen -at a time, and daily marched through the -streets of London crying for bread. Mr. -Justin McCarthy, writing in the month of -January, 1903, to the New York <cite>Independent</cite>, -briefly epitomises the situation, as -follows: ‘The workhouses have no space -left in which to pack the starving crowds -who are craving every night at their doors -for food and shelter. All the charitable -institutions have exhausted their means in -trying to raise supplies of food for the famishing -residents of the garrets and cellars of -London lanes and alleys.’”</p> - -<p class='c007'>And then consider that in the city where -<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>this was going on, the leading newspaper -(the <cite>Times</cite>) was printing a three-column -article setting forth the fact that competition -had grown so great that it was now no longer -possible for a “gentleman” to maintain -his status with a family in London upon an -income of half a million dollars a year!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Yet if one wishes for social contrasts, -there is really no need of crossing the ocean. -Mr. Schwab’s nine million dollar palace in -New York will answer the purpose; or so -will the St. Regis Hotel. The swinging -doors of the St. Regis, so the visitor is informed, -cost ten thousand dollars apiece; -the panelling of the smoking-room cost -forty-five thousand dollars, and the carriage-entrance -rain-shed cost eighty-five thousand -dollars. The walls of it are covered with -a silk brocade, which cost twenty dollars a -yard, and the ceiling is gilded with material -costing one dollar an ounce. It cost a hundred -thousand dollars to fit up the office, -and four million dollars to build the whole -structure. A two-room apartment in it, -without meals, is valued at nine thousand -six hundred dollars a year; and for your -meals you may try—say, “milk-fed chicken” -at two dollars for each tiny portion.</p> -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_126a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Courtesy of Penna. Child Labor Committee</em></span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_126b.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>From Stereograph, Copyrighted 1906, by Underwood & Underwood</em></span><br /><br />THE SOCIAL CONTRAST IN NEW YORK</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>Perhaps this seems monstrous; but it -really is not—it is a perfectly inevitable consequence -of industrial competition, and -of the “constantly increasing mass of -capital.” Mr. John Jacob Astor, who owns -the hotel, has an income of more than its -value every year, and he is in desperate -straits to find any way of investing it by -which he can make profits. There are -seven thousand millionaires in this country, -who want the best, the only best they know -being what costs the most; and so he knew -that if he built a hotel exceeding in cost any -other hotel in the world, that hotel would -pay him profits. For precisely the same -reason a number of buildings are now being -torn down in Brooklyn to make room for -a graveyard for wealthy people’s pet dogs.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The founder of the Astor fortune came -to New York a century ago and bought land -while it was cheap. Millions of men have -since contributed their labour to the building -up of New York; and no one of them -did anything without adding to the wealth -of the Astors—who merely sat by and -watched. Now the property of the family -is estimated to be worth four hundred and -fifty millions of dollars, according to Mr. -Burton J. Hendricks’s recent account of it -in <cite>McClure’s Magazine</cite>. It includes -half a dozen hotels like the St. Regis; it -includes also innumerable slum-tenements -with “dark rooms.” Its value grows by -leaps and bounds—one corner lot on Fifth -Avenue “made” them seven hundred thousand -dollars in two years. To Mr. William -<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>Waldorf Astor alone the harried and overdriven -population of Manhattan Island -delivers eight or ten millions of tribute -money every year; and Mr. William Waldorf -Astor resides at Clieveden, Taplow, -Bucks, England—giving as his reason the -fact that “America it not a fit place for a -gentleman to live in.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The fundamental characteristic of the -régime under which we live is that it values -a man only in so far as he is capable of -producing wealth. Hence one of the signs -of the increasing difficulty of making profits -will be an increasing recklessness of human -life. Our railroads killed six thousand -people in 1895, seven thousand in 1899, -eight thousand in 1902, nine thousand in -1903, and ten thousand in 1904; they injured -thirty-three thousand in 1895, forty-four -thousand in 1899, sixty-four thousand in 1902, -seventy-six thousand in 1903, and eighty-four -thousand in 1904. According to the -statistics of the Interstate Commerce Commission, -our railways injured one passenger -out of every one hundred and eighty-three -thousand passengers they carried in 1894; -in 1904 they injured one out of every seventy-eight -thousand. If casualties are to continue -increasing at the same rate until 1912, -there are one hundred thousand people -under sentence of sudden death, and a -number doomed to be maimed greater than -<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>the entire population of the District of -Columbia, Delaware, Montana, Arizona, -Nevada, Wyoming, Alaska, Idaho and the -Hawaiian Islands.</p> - -<p class='c007'>In 1890, before the present appalling -slaughter began, we were killing, of a given -number of employees, twice as many as -the State-owned roads of Germany, and -three times as many as Austria. The -street railroads of New York City alone -take one human life every day, or one in -ten thousand of the population every year. -People walk about the streets carelessly, -but tremble when there is a thunderstorm; -yet the street-cars kill ten persons in a year -for every one that the lightning kills in the -lifetime of a man!</p> - -<p class='c007'>These things create indignation in our -pulpits and editorial rooms; but any practical -railroad man could tell you that to -stop them would be to overthrow society. -The reason they occur is that it costs less -to pay the damages than it would to take -proper precautions, and if the railroads -were forced to take the precautions, many -of them would have to shut down at once. -The situation is covered so completely in -the following news item, clipped from the -Minneapolis <cite>Journal</cite> of May 26, 1904, that -I cannot do better than to quote it entire:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Because James J. Hill guaranteed eight -per cent. to the stockholders of the Burlington -<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>when he assumed control of that system, -many of the older employees are undergoing -what they consider real hardship. Ten -days ago the <cite>Journal</cite> voiced the complaints of -Burlington employees on other parts of the -system, mentioning the fact that the runs -to and from the Twin Cities had been combined -in some way, to squeeze more work -out of the train crews. The new schedule -has now been in effect longer and complaints -are correspondingly more emphatic. -No dissatisfaction is openly expressed, as -the Hill guillotine gets nobody more surely -than the man who talks too much.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Trainmen complain that with the long -runs and long hours they are forced to work -to a point almost beyond human endurance. -They are haunted by the fear of accidents -from unpreventable neglect of duty. They -hold that the running of trains in safety -depends upon the vigilance and alertness -of the crews and they cannot do themselves -and their employers justice, when compelled -to work long hours on fast runs.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Crews are now running from Minneapolis -to Chicago, a distance of about 430 -miles, with seventy-two stops. The men start -from Minneapolis at 7:30 <span class='fss'>A. M.</span>, and arrive, -on locals, in Chicago at 9:35 <span class='fss'>P. M.</span> The -men leaving Chicago on No. 50 at 10:50 -<span class='fss'>P. M.</span> arrive in Minneapolis at 1:20 <span class='fss'>P. M.</span> the -next afternoon.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>“Trainmen declare that in making this -schedule the management has broken faith -and virtually abrogates previous working -agreements. Hints of a strike are made. -In discussing the conditions an old Burlington -employee said:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“‘A conductor and his crew feel a sense -of responsibility for the lives of those upon -a train. A man can only be worked so far -when he becomes actually irresponsible. -I hate to feel that I am in any way -responsible for the lives of passengers on a -train when the length of the run and hours -have worked me beyond my limit. There -is no flagman on the train, and the brake-man -has to help load baggage, brake, flag, -and do anything that comes up. He is -certainly not in good condition to be an -alert flagman on the latter end of the run.’”<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c014'><sup>[4]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f4'> -<p class='c007'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. “In the matter of rigging the stock-market the American railroad -manager has no superior. In the matter of providing safe and -expeditious facilities for transportation he has no inferior in any nation -of the first rank. He can manipulate political conventions. He can -debauch legislatures. He can send his paid attorneys to Congress and -sometimes put them on the bench. In these matters he is a master, just -as he is a master in the art of issuing and juggling securities. It is only -in the operation of railroads that he is deficient. The mere detail of -transporting lives and property safely and satisfactorily he seems to -regard as unworthy of his genius. His equipment is usually inadequate. -His road-bed is generally second class or worse. His employees are -undisciplined and his system is archaic. Whatever the causes may be, -the fact remains that, judged by the results of operation, the American -railroad manager is incompetent, and the records of death and disaster -prove it.”—<cite>New York World.</cite></p> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>In the same way it is cheaper for a theatre-manager -to bribe police officials with free -tickets than to comply with the regulations -of the Fire Department; and so it is that -five or six hundred people are burned up in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>five minutes. It is easier to bribe a building -inspector than it is to put steel rivets in a -building, and so you have a Darlington -Hotel collapse, and kill ten or twenty -workingmen. And a few weeks later came -the <em>Slocum</em> disaster, and a helpless steamboat -captain was punished, and the responsible -capitalists not even named. At -the same time, in Trenton, New Jersey, -some other capitalists were arrested for -making life-preservers with iron bars -in them. Of course they were not punished, -for everyone understands that such things -cannot be helped. In 1893 the number of -miners killed in the United States and -Canada was two and fifty-three hundredths -per thousand; in 1902 it was three and -fifty-one hundredths. Better precautions -against accidents were one of the demands -for making which the miners of Colorado -were strung up to telegraph poles, shut in -bull-pens, beaten and “deported.” Their -mortality was thirty-two per thousand in ten -years; the mortality among railroad brake-men -is now thirty-two per thousand in <em>two</em> -years, so it was very unreasonable of the -miners to complain.</p> - -<p class='c007'>There are annually, says <cite>Social Service</cite>, -344,900 accidents among the 7,086,000 -people engaged in this country in manufacturing -and mechanical pursuits. It calculates -that if the percentage of accidents among -<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>the other 23,000,000 employed in other -occupations is only one-tenth as much as -the above, it means that another 100,000 -must be added to the list. “This is perpetual -war on humanity,” the paper goes on to say, -“and more bloody than any civil or international -war known to history. This war -is costing suffering, physical and mental, -which is beyond calculation. It is costing -great economic loss. It is creating a sense -of wrong and a feeling of class-hatred on the -part of those who are its victims.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>In the same category of waste of human -life belong all the facts of over-driving, long -hours, and irregular employment among -workingmen. Under the old Southern system -of slavery the master took care of his servant -the year round; but the wage-slave -is kept only while he is needed, and only -while he remains at his maximum of working -efficiency. Recently in a single month, -I clipped from a New York newspaper, items -to the effect that the Brooklyn street-railroad -combine was discharging all of its superannuated -employees; that the master-pilots -of the Great Lakes had agreed to engage -no man over forty; that the Delaware and -Hudson Railroad Company had just published -a rule barring all over thirty-five; and -that the Carnegie Steel Company had done -the same.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And in this same category of waste of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>human life belong all the facts of woman and -child-labour. For of course the children -die; and the women produce deformed -and idiot and degenerate offspring, to fill -our asylums and prisons. The reader is -referred, for first-hand accounts of the life -of the American woman wage-slave, to -Van Vorst’s “The Woman who Toils,” and -to that fascinating human document, “The -Long Day.” In Mr. John Spargo’s “The -Bitter Cry of the Children,” he will find a -mass of facts about child-labour, the most -hideous of all the evils incidental to the -process of wealth-concentration.</p> - -<p class='c007'>There is, if one had only time to point it -out, no tiniest nook of our society where -human lives are not being ground up for -profit; the capitalists are ground up, as -Mr. Schwab was, and the meanest woman -of the town shares his fate. There was -a time when a prostitute was an independent -person, who could support herself -until she grew old; nowadays, under the -stress of competition, every city has its -prostitution trust. It takes capital to pay -the police, and the business is therefore in -the hands of the proprietors of houses, who -buy young girls out of the slums and immigrant -population by thousands and tens of -thousands, use them up in a year or two, -and then fling them out into the gutters to -die, often when they are not out of their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>teens. In the same way the gambler and -the saloon-keeper are now as much employees -as are the officials of the Standard -Oil Company: the whole profits of these -occupations flowing into the hands of some -“captain of industry” as inevitably as all -the rills on the mountain-side flow into the -river. All of these facts are perfectly -familiar, but for the sake of concreteness, -I will quote a paragraph from Mr. Steffens’s -book, “The Shame of the Cities.” He is -telling of the city of Pittsburg:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“The vice-graft ... is a legitimate -business, conducted, not by the police, but -in an orderly fashion by syndicates, and the -chairman of one of the parties at the last -election, said it was worth two hundred -and fifty thousand dollars a year. I saw -a man who was laughed at for offering -seventeen thousand five hundred dollars -for the slot-machine concession; he was -told that it was let for much more. ‘Speakeasies’ -(unlicensed drinking places) pay -so well that when they earn five hundred -dollars or more in twenty-four hours their -proprietors often make a bare living. Disorderly -houses are managed by ward syndicates. -Permission is had from the syndicate -real-estate agent, who alone can rent -them. The syndicate hires a house from -the owners at, say, thirty-five dollars a -month, and he lets it to a woman at from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>thirty-five to fifty dollars a week. For -furniture, the tenant must go to the ‘official -furniture-man,’ who delivers one thousand -dollars worth of ‘fixings’ for a note for three -thousand dollars, on which high interest -must be paid. For beer the tenant must -go to the ‘official bottler,’ and pay two -dollars for a one-dollar case of beer; for -wines and liquors to the ‘official liquor-commissioner,’ -who charges ten dollars for -five dollars’ worth; for clothes to the ‘official -wrapper-maker.’ These women may not -buy shoes, hats, jewellery, or any other luxury -or necessity except from the official -concessionaries, and then only at the official, -monopoly prices.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>And by way of conclusion, in reference -to this particular aspect of the consequences -of the “increasing mass of capital,” let me -quote the following little incident, which -a friend of mine clipped from one of the -New York newspapers:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“One night a young girl called at the -entrance to the House of the Good Shepherd -in New York City; she asked for food -and a place to sleep. ’Twas a pitiful tale -she told the matron in charge. She told -of her parents having died and left her alone -in the great dark city; she told of jobs she -had secured but was discharged owing to -her physical inability to keep pace with the -machine, and as a last resort she appealed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>to this institution for succour and support. -The matron in attendance, after having -heard this terrible tale of woe and being -thoroughly convinced as to the girl’s honesty -and integrity, as well as to her virtue, informed -her that she could not take her in -there, as that institution was established -for the reclamation of fallen women only. -The poor girl went away, but on the following -night she returned.... ‘You may -take me now,’ she said, ‘you may take me -now, for I am a fallen woman!’”</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER V<br /> <span class='large'>BUSINESS AND POLITICS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>In this discussion of the process of -wealth-concentration, I have so far -purposely omitted all mention of the most -important aspect of the phenomenon—the -seizing by the “constantly increasing mass -of capital” of the powers of the State, and -their use for purpose of intensifying exploitation. -I have avoided that feature, -partly because it is conspicuous enough to -deserve a chapter to itself, but mainly in -order to make clear my view-point, that the -phenomenon, while important, is secondary—an -effect rather than a cause.</p> - -<p class='c007'>This is, of course, contrary to the view -usually taken. In most discussions of the -problems of the time, it is taken for granted -that “government by special interests” is -the source of all the evil. But while recognising -how enormously the process of wealth -concentration has been accelerated by the -political alliance, it is my thesis that exactly -the same conditions would have developed -had economic forces been left to work out -their own results. I maintain that economic -competition is a self-destroying stage in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>social development; and that to regard it -as permanent is simply not to realise what -it is. For competition is a struggle, and -the purpose of every struggle is a victory; -to conceive of a struggle without the intention -to end the struggle, is simply impossible -in the nature of things. In the industrial -combat the end is the victory of a class, and -the reduction of all other classes to servitude—with -the ultimate extinction of all individuals -not needed by the victors.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Again, it is generally the custom to regard -this phenomenon of class-government with -indignation and astonishment, as if it were -something abnormal and monstrous; but -from the point of view of this discussion, it -is a perfectly natural and inevitable incident -of the intensification of competition. You -are to picture Capital, seeking profits; like a -wild beast in a cage, pacing about, watching -for an opening, here and there; like water, -caught behind a dam, creeping up, crowding -forward, feeling for a weak spot. And the -one thing to be determined is: <em>Is there any -way in which profits can be made through -the powers of government?</em> If so, it is quite -certain that there will be an attempt made -by capital to get possession of those powers.</p> - -<p class='c007'>You can see the thing in its germ in any -primitive community; I once amused myself -by studying it in a little village in Canada, -where the trusts had never been heard -<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>of. The storekeeper was a rich man, and -he had a “pull” with the squire and with -the constable and with the game-warden; -he did little favours for them, and they for -him—so that a poor “Frenchman” who -was suspected of stealing a pair of socks -found himself in jail before he knew why. -And then there was a big “lumber man” in -the township; he owned all the jobs, and -he traded with the storekeeper, and the -storekeeper in return ran the political -machine. That was the whole story of the -politics of the district—except that there -were several fellows of independent temperament, -who grumbled, and who constituted -the germ of the Socialist movement.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Political corruption first became epidemic -in our country in 1861, when the government -had to go into business upon an enormous -scale. There were contractors—and competition. -And then, of course, there was -the tariff, a shrewd scheme to compel the -people to pay high prices without knowing it. -Later on someone discovered the brilliant -idea of the franchise, the selling for a -nominal sum of the right to tax the public -without limit. And so capital went into -politics.</p> - -<p class='c007'>At first it did a purely retail business, -buying up the legislators as it needed them; -but soon the thing became systematised, -and Capital got wholesale prices—it financed -<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>the machines, and chose its own candidates. -The process culminated at the beginning of -the present decade, when “big business” -was in practically undisputed possession -of both the majority parties, of Congress -and the Presidency, and of the governments -in every town, city and state in America.</p> - -<p class='c007'>You see, it was as if our society was in -unstable equilibrium. We had a political -democracy, and we were developing an -industrial aristocracy; and it was impossible -for them to exist side by side. Innocent -people had taken it for granted that they -could; but it is no more possible for a democracy -to be aristocratic in any of its aspects -and remain a democracy, than it is for a -virtuous man to be vicious in one particular, -and remain a virtuous man. Democracy -is not a code of laws, nor is it a system of -government—it is an attitude of soul. It -has as its basis a perception of the spiritual -nature of man, from which follows the -corollary that all men either are equal, or -must become so. And so between -aristocracy and democracy, wherever and -under whatever aspects they appear, there -is, and forever must be, eternal and deadly -war. Here is the testimony and the warning -of the greatest of American democrats, -Abraham Lincoln, who if he could rise from -his grave to speak to us in these times of our -country’s trial could speak no more pertinent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>words than these. He had declared that -the Slavery question was one between right -and wrong. “Right and wrong,” he said—“that -is the issue that will continue in this -country when these poor tongues of Judge -Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is -the eternal struggle between these two -principles—right and wrong—throughout -the world. They are the principles which -have stood face to face from the beginning -of time and will ever continue to struggle. -The one is the common right of humanity, -and the other is the divine right of kings. -It is the same principle in whatever shape -it develops itself. It is the same spirit that -says: ‘You work and toil and earn bread, -and I’ll eat it.’ No matter in what shape -it comes, whether from the mouth of a king -who seeks to bestride the people of his own -nation, and live by the fruit of their labour, -or from one race of men as an apology for -enslaving another race, it is the same -tyrannical principle.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is worth while pointing out the utter -hopelessness of the struggle. On the one -hand was the capitalist, with his millions, -alert, aggressive and resourceful; he had -an army of experts to help him—shrewd -attorneys, skilful lobbyists, newspapers and -publicity bureaus, political henchmen -trained all their lifetime to the trade; he -was cold and unscrupulous—as a rule he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>was not a man at all, but a corporation, a -thing without a soul, a monster “clamouring -for dividends.” He had a thousand devices, -a thousand pretences, a thousand -disguises. And opposed to him was the -Public—unorganised, uninformed, and -sound asleep!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Recently, when Mr. H. G. Wells was in -this country, I had a long talk with him, and -he asked me how I accounted for the -saturnalia of corruption in our political life; -he said that our people did not seem to him -degraded or brutal, and he could not understand -why things were so much worse here -than in England. I said that in England -the economic process had been modified by -the existence of an hereditary aristocracy, -holding over from old times and having high -traditions of public service. By nature -this aristocracy sympathised with capital, -and to a certain extent fraternised with it; -but it would not abdicate to it, and occasionally, -to preserve its own power, it made concessions -to the public, and so served as a -check upon the forces of commercialism. -On the other hand the American people -had only themselves to rely upon and until -they had been goaded into revolt, there was -no limit whatever to the power of greed.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I suppose it is unnecessary to offer any -proofs of the existence of “government by -special interests.” If there is anyone who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>has been out of the country for the past -three years and has not read any of the -magazines, it will be sufficient to refer him -to the two books of Mr. Lincoln Steffens—“The -Shame of the Cities” and “The -Struggle for Self Government.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Steffens himself is a proof of the evil -conditions: a man who has spent ten years -studying our politics, who went to the task -with no preconceptions, and only a passion -for honesty and fair dealing—and who has -been made into a thorough-going radical by -the irresistible logic of facts. It was his -particular service to the Republic to trace the -stream of graft to its fountain-head, which is -what he calls “big business”; and the series -of papers in which he proved that thesis to -our people will long be studied as models of -the higher journalism—the journalism which -is to ordinary newspaper writing what -statesmanship is to politics.</p> - -<p class='c007'>As I say, there is no need of proof; but -simply by way of illustration, and to call the -picture to the reader’s mind, let me quote a -few paragraphs from one of these papers—“Pittsburg, -a City Ashamed”:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“The railroads began the corruption of -this city. There always was some dishonesty, -as the oldest public men I talked -with said, but it was occasional and criminal -till the first great corporation made it -business-like and respectable. The Pennsylvania -<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>Railroad was in the system from the -start, and as the other roads came in and -found the city government bought up by -those before them, they purchased their -rights of way by outbribing the older roads, -then joined the ring to acquire more rights -for themselves and to keep belated rivals -out. As corporations multiplied and capital -branched out, corruption increased naturally, -but the notable characteristic of the -‘Pittsburg plan’ of misgovernment was that -it was not a haphazard growth, but a deliberate, -intelligent organisation.... The -Pennsylvania Railroad is a power in Pennsylvania -politics, it is part of the State ring, -and part also of the Pittsburg ring. The -city paid in all sorts of rights and privileges, -streets, bridges, etc., and in certain periods -the business interests of the city were -sacrificed to leave the Pennsylvania road in -exclusive control of a freight traffic it could -not handle alone.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The “bosses” who ruled Pittsburg were -Magee and Flynn, and Mr. Steffens prints -in full the agreement between them and -Senator Quay, by which they divided the -boodle of the state. “Magee and Flynn -were the government and the law. How -could they commit a crime? If they wanted -something from the city they passed an -ordinance granting it, and if some other -ordinance was in conflict it was repealed or -<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>amended. If the laws of the state stood -in the way, so much the worse for the laws -of the state; they were amended. If the -constitution of the state proved a barrier, -as it did to all special legislation, the Legislature -enacted a law for cities of the second -class (which was Pittsburg alone) and the -courts upheld the Legislature. If there -were opposition on the side of public opinion, -there was a use for that also.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“As I have said before, unlawful acts -were exceptional and unnecessary in Pittsburg. -Magee did not steal franchises and -sell them. His councils gave them to him. -He and the busy Flynn took them, and -built railways, which Magee sold and -bought and financed and conducted, like -any other man whose successful career is -held up as an example for young men. His -railways, combined into the Consolidated -Traction Company, were capitalised at -thirty million dollars. There was scandal -in Chicago over the granting of charters for -twenty-eight and fifty years. Magee’s read, -‘for nine hundred and fifty years,’ ‘for nine -hundred and ninety-nine years,’ ‘said -Charter is to exist a thousand years,’ ‘said -Charter is to exist perpetually,’ and the -Councils gave franchises for the ‘life of the -charter.’”</p> - -<p class='c007'>And all this was a regular profession, -a custom of the country, which its devotees -<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>studied. “Two of them told me repeatedly -that they travelled about the country looking -up the business, and that a fellowship had -grown up among boodling aldermen of the -leading cities in the United States. Committees -from Chicago would come to St. -Louis to find out what ‘new games’ the St. -Louis boodlers had, and they gave the St. -Louisans hints as to how they ‘did the -business’ in Chicago. So the Chicago and St. -Louis boodlers used to visit Cleveland and -Pittsburg and all the other cities, or, if the distance -was too great, they got their ideas by -those mysterious channels which run all -through the ‘World of Graft.’ The meeting -place in St. Louis was Decker’s stable, and -ideas unfolded there were developed into -plans which the boodlers say to-day, are -only in abeyance. In Decker’s stable was -born the plan to sell the Union Market; -and though the deal did not go through, the -boodlers, when they saw it failing, made -the market-men pay ten thousand dollars -for killing it. This scheme is laid aside -for the future. Another that failed was to -sell the court-house, and this was well under -way when it was discovered that the ground -on which this public building stands was -given to the city on condition that it was to -be used for a court-house and nothing else.... -The grandest idea of all came from -Philadelphia. In that city the gas-works -<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>were sold out to a private concern, and the -water-works were to be sold next. The St. -Louis fellows have been trying ever since -to find a purchaser for their water-works. -The plant is worth at least forty million -dollars. But the boodlers thought they -could let it go at fifteen million dollars, and -get one million dollars or so themselves for -the bargain. ‘The scheme was to do it -and skip,’ said one of the boodlers who -told me about it, ‘and if you could mix it -all up with some filtering scheme it could -be done. Only some of us thought we could -make more than one million dollars out of -it—a fortune apiece. It will be done some -day.’...</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Such, then, is the boodling system as -we see it in St. Louis. Everything the city -owned was for sale by the officers elected -by the people. The purchasers might be -willing or unwilling takers; they might be -citizens or outsiders; it was all one to the -city government. So long as the members -of the combines got the proceeds they would -sell out the town. Would? They did and -they will. If a city treasurer runs away -with fifty thousand dollars there is a great -halloo about it. In St. Louis the regularly -organised thieves who rule have sold fifty -million dollars’ worth of franchises and other -valuable municipal assets. This is the -estimate made for me by a banker, who -<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>said that the boodlers got not one-tenth of -the value of the things they sold.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Two or three years ago, before I met Mr. -Steffens, I thought that he knew only as -much as he “let on”; and so I wrote him -an “open letter,” to point out the consequences -of this régime of “big business.” -The story of this manuscript is an amusing -one, and worth telling for the light it throws -upon my argument. Mr. Steffens was -so good as to say that it was the best criticism -of himself that he had ever read; and it -was scheduled for publication in one of our -three or four largest magazines. But alas—it -was purchased by the enthusiastic young -editor, and then read by the elderly and -unenthusiastic proprietor. When I rebelled -at the long wait which followed, the -proprietor invited me to dinner, and unbosomed -his soul to me. He was the dearest -old gentleman I ever met, and he put his -arm about me while he explained the situation. -“My boy,” he said, “you are a very -clever chap, and you know a lot; but why -don’t you put it all into a book, where you -can’t hurt anyone but yourself? Why do -you try to get it into my magazine, and -scare away my half million subscribers?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>So the letter was shelved. But the -questions it asked are now the questions -which events are asking of the American -people; and so I shall take the advice of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>the elderly and unenthusiastic proprietor—and -publish some of the letter in a book! -It ran as follows:</p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>This is the question I have wished to ask -you, Mr. Steffens. “A revolution has happened,” -you tell us; we have no longer “a -government of the people, by the people, -for the people,”—we have “a government of -the people, by the rascals, for the rich.” -And if we find that that revolution, which -has overthrown the law, and which defies -the law, cannot be put down and overcome -by the means of the law—what are we going -to do then? Are we going to sit still, and -content ourselves with saying it is too bad? -Are we going to bear it—to bear it forever? -<em>Can</em> we bear it forever? And if we cannot -bear it forever what are we going to do when -we can bear it no longer?</p> - -<p class='c007'>A revolution is a serious thing, Mr. Steffens. -A man should not talk about a -“revolution” except with a thorough realisation -of what the word implies. A revolution -means that the social contract has -been broken, that rights have been violated -and justice defied—that, in a word, the game -of life has not been fairly played, that those -who have lost may possibly have had the -right to win. And the game of life is a -pretty stern game for many of us, Mr. -Steffens.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>You and your friends, I and my friends, -belong to a class whom this “system” -touches only through our ideals. Editors -and authors, clergymen and lawyers, we are -pained to know that corruption is eating out -the heart of our country—but still, if the -problem be not solved to-day, we can put it -off till to-morrow, and not realise what a -difference it makes. But there are some -in our country whom the System touches -far more intimately and directly than this—some -to whom the difference between to-day -and to-morrow is simply a difference between -life and death. I happened only yesterday -to be reading a letter from a man who, I -think, knows that “System,” which is our -new government, in this personal and -intimate way. I will quote a few words -from his letter:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“I have been arrested, put in jail, prosecuted -and persecuted. I have had my -customers driven away; I have been boycotted -to the extent that men who dared to -trade with me have lost their jobs; I have -had my home broken into at night; been -beaten with guns and abused by vile and -foul-mouthed thugs; been torn, partly -dressed and bleeding, from the side of my -wife, who was driven from her bedroom -and roughly handled; and finally I have -been shipped out and told that if I returned -to my home I would be hung. Not satisfied -<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>with this they have twice deported my -brother, who was conducting the business -in which we were both earning our living, -so that it became necessary for an adjuster -to take charge, of our store.” All this was, -needless to say, in Colorado; the writer is -Mr. A. H. Floaten, a storekeeper of Telluride, -but now of Richmond County, Wisconsin, -where he was working in a hayfield -when he wrote. He goes on to add -that the charge upon which he was “deported” -was that of selling goods to members -of the Western Federation of Miners. “As -for my brother and myself,” he states, “I -defy any and all persons to show a single -instance where either of us have ever violated -any law or even been suspected of -crime, or have ever wronged any person.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Here is your “revolution,” Mr. Steffens, -in full swing. One of the questions which -I have for some months found myself longing -to ask you is, how clearly you recognised -in the Colorado civil war the natural and -inevitable consequences of a continuation -of your “government of the people, by the -rascals, for the rich?” Here is an unequivocal -declaration, by a vote of two to -one, by the people in one of the states of this -free country, in favour of a constitutional -amendment permitting an eight-hour law; -and here are representatives of both the -majority parties pledging themselves to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>enact it, and then openly and shamelessly -selling themselves out to the predatory -corporations of the state. The people then -resort to a strike to secure their rights; and -when they are seen to be winning, the militia -is summoned, criminals are hired to commit -a dynamite outrage and afford the necessary -pretext, and then every tradition of American -liberty and every safeguard of free institutions -is overthrown, and the strike crushed -and the striker’s organisation exterminated -with a ruthlessness and a recklessness which -no police official in Russia could have surpassed. -And then the party of “law and -order”—that is the “System”—sat enthroned -in Colorado, and the guileless reader -of newspaper despatches believed that an -“election” took place in that state last -November! The “System” suspended the -<cite><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Habeas Corpus</span></cite> Act, censored newspapers -and telegrams, opened mails, entered houses -without warrant and drove women from -their beds at dead of night, deported men, -defied and threatened judges, shut down -mines in spite of their owners’ will—and -finally haled a score or two of elected -officials before it and put ropes around their -necks and compelled them to resign. And -then the “rebellion,” that is, the agitation -for an eight-hour law, attempted to reassert -itself in the form of ballots; and by -means of a threat of deposition it compelled -<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>the newly elected governor to accede -in everything to its will—and in particular -to retain in office the infamous militia -official who was its agent in these crimes!</p> - -<p class='c007'>But we, as I said before, are touched by -these things only through our ideals. We -are sorry to see American institutions overthrown -in an American state; but we do -not live in Colorado, and we are quite sure -that there is no danger of our being turned -out of our homes. And yet we know that -the system exists in our own city and state, -and sits just as surely intrenched there as -in Colorado. And we know also that it -exists for a purpose—that it exists to rule. -And are we to imagine that it exists to rule -the people of Patagonia, of Greenland and -Afghanistan? Do we not know that it -exists to rule <em>us</em>?</p> - -<p class='c007'>How does it rule us? How does it rule -the people of Colorado? Whatever is it -that is wanted of the people of Colorado? -Why, simply that they should go into the -mines and factories and work, not eight hours -a day, as they wished to, but twelve hours -a day, the time the “System” bade them to. -And what is it that it wants everywhere -else—in California, in Maine and in Texas? -What, save that those who have labour to -sell shall sell it at the price the “System” is -paying, and that those who have goods to -buy shall buy them at the price the “System” -<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>asks? If this be so, is not the only difference -between us and the people of Colorado -that they went on strike against the “System,” -whereas we are not on strike—we -<em>pay</em>?</p> - -<p class='c007'>Let us deal with facts. Here is a corporation -which runs a street-railroad in a -city. It gives an abominable service, its -cars are cold and filthy, its employees are -underpaid wretches who work thirteen and -fifteen hours a day—and the fare is just -double that of the splendid government -service of Berlin. And the public-spirited -men of the city have for ten or twenty years -been trying to do something with that corporation -at the state capital; but the corporation -has its lobby and continues to pay -pig dividends upon its watered stock year -after year. And then do the people of the -city organise and go on strike against that -corporation? No indeed—they pay.</p> - -<p class='c007'>You know of the agitation for a parcels -post; you know that under the parcels-post -system an Englishman can send a package -to California for one-third of what it costs -us to send one from New York. In Germany -a ten-pound package may be sent -anywhere in the Empire for twelve cents; -and our post office pays the railroads more -for its service than all the rest of the civilised -world combined, though the quantity -of mail matter carried is less than that of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>Great Britain, France and Germany alone! -Yet we know that it is a waste of ink setting -these facts forth. Is not the president of -the United States Express Company the -United States senator from your own state? -The railroad systems of this country have, -of course, their lobby in every state capital, -and in Washington as well; and every single -year the railroad systems of this country -slaughter and maim the equivalent of a -Gettysburg campaign—there were as many -people killed in the last three years as the -British lost in the entire Boer war. Yet -there is not the least reason for this; the -railroads could, if they chose, build cars -which will not crumble up like matchboxes—they -have proven it by killing only six -Pullman-car passengers in the same three -years. But of course you have to pay a -large sum extra to ride in a Pullman car. -If you cannot pay with money, you pay -with your bones—in either case, of course, -you pay.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And then there is the tariff. You, Mr. -Steffens, are a man who has both the ability -and the honesty to think, and you know -what the tariff is. You know that it is a -device to keep out foreign competition and -thus enable home manufacturers to charge -higher prices. You know that in the early -days its effect was to make manufacturing -possible by keeping prices at a level where a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>fair profit was paid. Above this level they -could not go, because there was free -domestic competition. The tariff was thus a -tax, self-imposed by every man in the -country, for the purpose of building up the -country’s home industries; exactly as if -the owner of a sugar-plantation should -conclude it would pay him to grind his own -cane, and should set aside his gains for a -few years to buy the machinery. Now I -might stop to argue the socialistic implications -of such a procedure—involving as -it does the doctrine that the manufactures -are the interest and concern of the whole -people, to the advantages of which, when -completed, they all have a right. (No -plantation master, I take it, would expect -to furnish himself with machinery out of -the wages of his hands.) Continuing, however, -to discuss facts and not theories, you -see that these industries which we have -“encouraged” have now become the mightiest -power in the land. It is they who have -accomplished the revolution and set up the -“System”; it is they who use the money -which the people have turned over to them, -to maintain and perpetuate the old arrangement—an -arrangement which now enables -them, since they have become monopolies, -to charge for their products from thirty -to fifty per cent. more than a fair price, -as is proven by what they charge abroad.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>The workingman, you know, Mr. Steffens, -has all this justified to him by the fact that -he gets his share of this “prosperity”; but -of late the workingman has been finding -that he does <em>not</em> get his share. He has -brought the industrial machinery of the -country to such a pitch of perfection that -he produces more than the country needs; -and so when foreign markets fail he is out -of work part of the time; and the mass of -unemployed labour operates by the “iron -law” to beat down wages and to break -strikes, and to make his share less and less. -And all the time, to pay interest on the constantly -increasing capital of the country, -the prices of trust products are being -raised yet higher, and the cost of living is -rising, year by year.</p> - -<p class='c007'>In the cotton mills of Alabama and -Georgia little children six and eight years -of age are working twelve hours for a wage -of nine cents a day. And how do you -think they fare in this fearful race for profits—what -do you think is the effect upon them -of the continued operation of the “System”? -You may remember that I said a little way -back that there were people in this country -to whom the difference between to-day and -to-morrow is simply a difference between -life and death. It was such people as these -I had in mind.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Look, Mr. Steffens; you go from town to -<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>city, and from city to state, and everywhere -you show us hordes of political parasites -battening on corruption; and you tell us -that the fortunes that they make represent -but a small portion of what is made by the -“big business men” who bribe them. Magee -and Quay, you tell us, made thirty millions -out of the street railroads of Pittsburg; and -all over this land, year in and year out, such -sums are being “made.” And soon afterward -came Mr. Lawson’s story of how the -Standard Oil group “made” forty-six million -dollars in a single deal without turning -over their hands. Mr. Lawson expatiates -upon this way of “making” dollars—he -makes reflections which I had often wondered -if you were making. I have wondered -if you realised entirely that these millions -of dollars were <em>real</em> dollars? Dollars that -a man might spend, just the same as any -other dollars—with which he might purchase -food that men had toiled to raise, and -houses that men had toiled to build! I am -writing these words in October, and the -windows of my room look out upon a cornfield. -All the year long I have watched a -farmer and his son at work in this field—first -plowing it, then harrowing it back and -forth and across, then planting the corn, -patiently, row by row. The field is ten -acres in size, and it seemed to me that not -a week passed all summer that the farmer -<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>was not plowing and weeding it; and now -that the fall has come he has cut it stalk by -stalk, and stacked it; and now I can see -him and his son sitting on the bare, bleak -hillside this morning, husking it, ear by ear. -That will take them all of two or three -weeks, and when the whole thing has been -done they will gather up the ears to cart -them to town, and the farmer will have -five hundred bushels of corn and will get -for them two hundred and fifty dollars. -And then I read Mr. Lawson’s account of -how the Rockefellers “made” forty-six -million dollars out of Amalgamated Copper—and -strive to realise that what they made -was the equivalent of the labour of the -farmer and the farmer’s sons and the farmer’s -horses in one hundred and eighty-six -thousand ten-acre cornfields such as -the one I look out upon!</p> - -<p class='c007'>Is it not obvious that if I were to have -the power to call a piece of paper one -dollar and to put it into circulation, exchanging -it for two bushels of corn, I could -only do it by diminishing the value of every -other dollar in the country a certain small -amount? Supposing that the total wealth -of the country was one billion dollars, I -should diminish every single dollar by one-billionth. -Suppose that similarly I “made” -one million dollars—by any sort of “making” -whatever save by producing some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>useful thing and increasing the total wealth -of the country—I should then tax the holder -of every dollar one mill. A man who owned -ten thousand dollars would be robbed by -me of ten dollars—he would be robbed of -it just as literally and as actually as if I had -broken into his house and stolen his watch. -He would not know that he was robbed, -perhaps—all that he would know would be -that when he spent his ten thousand dollars -he would not get quite so much. In Dun’s -and Bradstreet’s the event would be recorded -in the statement that the cost of living had -risen one-tenth of one per cent. since last -week, and that interest rates had similarly -declined. And now here is the young girl -who works in the sweatshops of Chicago -for a wage of forty cents a week, as thousands -of them do. The great Amalgamated Copper -deal is consummated, Mr. Rockefeller -and his fellow-conspirators “make” forty-six -million dollars—and the young girl’s wage -becomes thirty-nine cents and a fraction. -At forty cents she was hanging on for her -life; at thirty-nine cents and a fraction she -enters the nearest brothel. Here is the -little child of eight years toiling from six -at night till six in the morning in the midst -of throbbing cotton-looms for nine cents. -Magee and Quay of Pittsburg “make” -thirty million dollars in street railroads—and -the little child’s wage becomes eight -<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>cents and a fraction. At nine cents he was -starving; at eight and a fraction he faints, -and the machinery seizes him, and his arm -has been torn out of him before anyone can -answer his screams. So it is, Mr. Steffens, -that there are people in this country to whom -the difference between to-day and to-morrow -is simply a difference between life and -death.</p> - -<p class='c007'>That farmer about whose work I spoke -will take his two hundred and fifty dollars -to the bank for deposit; and in the line -before the window will be a young spendthrift -idler with a month’s income from his -father’s estate, and a politician with a bribe -for a street railway franchise; and to the -banker all these deposits will stand upon -equal terms, they will all be equally “good,” -and will claim and get interest at the same -rate. The farmer will have to content -himself with a lower rate, because of the -competition of the others; and next week, -when the activities of some speculator in -Wall Street bring about a failure of the -bank, he will get not a bit more out of -the wreck than the other two. And then he -will go back and toil for another year, to -raise a similar crop—and what will he find -then? Why this: the forty-six millions of -the Standard Oil gang will have survived -all mischances, and having by their enormous -mass attracted profits, will have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>become fifty millions, or even sixty; and the -thirty millions of Magee and Quay will -have become thirty-five. All the untold -millions of the capital of the country will -have increased similarly; and the investment -field will have become more crowded yet, -and the prizes fewer yet, and the chances -more hazardous yet; and the cost of living -will be a little higher yet; and the interest -rate a little lower yet, and wages a little -lower yet; and the whole of human society -will be toiling a little harder yet to pay the -profits upon that heaped-up mass of wealth. -More men will be taking to drink, and more -women will be taking to brothels—more to -suicide, madness, vagabondage and crime. -The race for profits will be a little more -fierce, social ostentation will be a little more -vulgar, political corruption will be a little -more shameless, strikes and riots will be a -little more common, the socialists will be -a little more active—and you, Mr. Lincoln -Steffens, will be a little more saddened at -the sight of your country’s downward career.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I have noticed the very curious fact about -your views, that all your hope of betterment -is in the future—it is always how we can -prevent new stealing, never how we can -punish the past. And so those thirty million -dollars of Magee and Quay, the forty-six -millions of the Amalgamated deal—they -are safe and beyond recall forever? -<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>Mr. Lawson talks about “restitution”; -do you think he will ever bring it about—do -you see any signs of it so far? And yet -those forty-six million dollars, assuming -that they grow at ten per cent., a small -earning for such a sum—year after year -they will be, roughly speaking, as follows: -46, 51, 56, 63, 69, 76, 84, 92, 101, 111, 122, -134, 147, 162, 178, 196, 216, 238, 262, 288, -318, and so on. In other words, the -heirs of the “Amalgamated” financiers will -twenty years from now have multiplied that -sum nearly seven times, and be receiving -nearly seven times as much tribute from -the sewing-girl in the Chicago slums and -the children in the Georgia cotton mill. I, -Mr. Steffens, am one of those who look upon -all profits, rent, interest, and dividends -as a survival of barbarism, the last but not -the least of the devices whereby the strong -enslave the weak and profit by their toil; -but I assume that you are not one of these—that -you are one of the class I heard described -by a speaker the other night, “who -think that the first dollar is a male dollar -and the second a female, and that when you -put them in the bank together they bring -forth dimes and nickels, which in the course -of the years grow up to be dollars as big -as their parents.” Yet even so, you can not -but recognise the distinction between legitimate -and illegitimate children. You can -<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>not—to drop an inconvenient metaphor—claim -that society can by any possibility -whatever be required to go on paying tribute -to that stolen forty-six millions—the three -hundred and eighteen millions of twenty -years from now. It is a maxim of law, Mr. -Steffens, that there is no wrong without its -redress.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And if you grant this and begin to examine -the millions in that light—what -perplexities you come upon! Only take the -tariff, for instance—is there a dollar invested -in the business of this country to-day which -has not profited by that, and which is therefore -not made up out of the tiny contributions -of thousands of persons who not -only do not own that dollar, but do not own -any other dollar? And then consider that -the beginnings of most of our great fortunes -were made in Civil War times, when the -nation in its extremity paid two dollars for -every dollar in value it received! And consider -the chaos of political corruption that -followed, the twenty years of plundering of -every variety that American ingenuity could -invent, from Black Friday to the Western -land grabs and railroad steals! Try to -figure how many crimes are represented by -the Vanderbilt millions, how many by the -Goulds’s; think of the commercial assassinations -represented by the word Standard -Oil—the secret rebates and discriminations, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>the wholesale buyings of legislatures and -elections; think of the whole institution of -corruption of the present day, of the “System,” -intrenched in village and town, city, -and state, and nation, owning both parties, -the executive, the legislative, and the judicial -branches of the Government, the schools, -the colleges, the pulpits, the press, literature, -and art, and public opinion—making it, not -figuratively and hyperbolically, but literally, -simply, and indisputably the fact that there -is not to-day in the land a place where a -man can take a dollar and invest it, and get -back a copper cent that is not tainted with -corruption, polluted by violence, treason, -and crime, and stained with the blood and -tears of uncounted thousands of agonised -women and children!</p> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>So much for the letter. If there is anyone -who, after reading it, is still of the -opinion that the people should pay the -tribute demanded twenty years from now, -there is nothing more that I can say to him—except -to give a few statistics by way of -further elucidation, showing him how many -more millions of dollars there will be to enter -their claim. There will be, for instance, the -four hundred and fifty million dollars of the -Astor family—all invested in New York -City real estate, and at the rate of growth -of the city, certainly destined to be a billion -<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>dollars in twenty years from date. There is -the half billion dollars of Mr. Rockefeller, -increasing by a most conservative estimate at -the rate of ten per cent. per year, and therefore -destined to be over four billions at that -time. And then there are the railroads of the -country. We are now being prepared for -a decision to be some day delivered by the -Supreme Court, to the effect that any rate -regulation which interferes with dividends -is confiscation, and therefore unconstitutional. -And yet we know that railroad -capitalisation is simply a function of earning-power; -that what the financiers have uniformly -done was to charge all the traffic -would bear, and then water their stock -until the rate of dividends came down to -the market average. The capitalisation -of the railroads of the country, fixed upon -this basis, is thirteen billion dollars, whereas -their actual cost was only six or seven -billions. To give one or two samples of -this process, the Western Maryland Railroad -was bought up by the Goulds, and watered -from nine millions up to fifty-one millions. -The Central Railroad of Georgia, which -cost less than seven millions, has now been -watered up to fifty-five millions. Assuming -that the watering were to stop to-day, and -that the railroads simply re-invested their -dividends at the present rate of six -per cent., in twenty years we should be -<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>paying interest upon over forty billion -dollars.</p> - -<p class='c007'>From a brokerage circular which recently -came in my mail, I have clipped a few more -instances of the workings of trust finance. -The argument of the circular is that I need -not be frightened at their offer to make my -money earn more than six per cent.—that -over a hundred per cent. is “being frequently -earned by legitimate business.” Thus the -Diamond Match Company recently paid -ten per cent. on a capitalisation of fifteen -million dollars, when its original capitalisation -had been only six million dollars. -The Western Union Telegraph Company -began in 1858 with only three hundred and -eighty-five thousand dollars, yet in 1874 -it paid one hundred and fourteen per cent. -on seventeen million dollars. Anyone -who had invested one thousand dollars in -this stock in 1858 would by 1890 have -received fifty thousand dollars in stock dividends -and one hundred thousand dollars -in cash dividends. The present capital -is over ninety-seven millions—“and the -greater part of the equipment has been -created out of the earnings of the company!” -In the case of the Prudential Life Insurance -Company (owing, though the circular does -not state it, to a little deal between United -States Senator Dryden and the New Jersey -State Legislature) for every one thousand -<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>dollars originally paid in, the stockholders -now own twenty-two thousand dollars’ worth -of stock and received annual cash dividends -of twenty-two hundred dollars, or two -hundred and twenty per cent. upon their -original investment!</p> - -<p class='c007'>And then, to diversify the subject, let -us consider the tariff, and its variegated -plunderings. In a letter to the New York -<cite>Evening Post</cite> of Oct. 26th, 1904, Mr. J. R. -Dunlap gave some figures showing the -“scandalous taxes imposed by trusts upon -the people”:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Now, to show how the Dingley duty of -eight dollars per ton on steel rails taxes American -railroads and hence reaches deep into the -pockets of shippers and travellers on American -railroads, I need only cite the fact that, -during the year 1903 our American railroads -purchased from the steel pool exactly -three million forty-six thousand eight hundred -and thirty-six tons of new steel rails -(see statistical abstract, Department of -Commerce and Labour). The price to -<em>foreign</em> railroads being, say twenty dollars -per ton—as we <em>now know</em>—and the pool -price to American railroads being twenty-eight -dollars per ton, that means that the -American people, <em>during the single year last -past</em>, contributed a clean net profit of twenty-four -million three hundred and seventy-four -thousand six hundred and eighty-eight dollars -<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>to the rail pool—by reason, presumably, -of their “patriotic” belief in the Dingley -duties! And during the past six years—since -the Dingley Bill was enacted—these -same American railroads have been forced -to contribute to the few members of the -rail pool exactly one hundred and two -million six hundred and twenty-one thousand -two hundred and fifty-six dollars, or -eight dollars per ton on twelve million eight -hundred and twenty-seven thousand six -hundred and fifty-seven tons of rails bought -and used. Dividing that stupendous sum -of protection profit (one hundred and two -million six hundred and twenty-one thousand -two hundred and fifty-six dollars) by -eighty million of population, we see that the -rail pool alone—to say nothing of other -combinations “sheltered” by the Dingley -duties—has collected a tax of exactly one -dollar and twenty-eight and one-quarter -cents ($1.28¼) for every man, woman, and -child in America, white and coloured.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“To further indicate the fabulous profits -which the Dingley duties make possible to -our ‘infant’ iron and steel industries, I -need only cite recent and familiar records. -In the spring of 1899, when the Steel Trust -was in process of formation, and when it -became necessary for the influential men in -the steel industry to <em>prove</em> what enormous -profits the steel manufacturers were making, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>and thus to induce the investing public to -put their money into Steel Trust stocks—then -it was that Mr. Charles M. Schwab, -president, wrote to Mr. Henry C. Frick, -chairman of the Carnegie Steel Company, -the famous letter of May 15, 1899, now -public property, in which Mr. Schwab used -these words:’</p> - -<p class='c007'>“‘What is true of rails <em>is equally true of -other steel products</em>.... <em>You know</em> -we can make rails for less than twelve dollars -per ton, leaving a nice margin on foreign -business.’</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Mark you, that was in 1899, when the -boom was at its zenith, when wages were -highest, and when all the costs of production -were far above all averages of recent -boom years.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“To show how accurate Mr. Schwab -was in these statements, and to show how -trustworthy was his confident forecast of -future profits, I need only cite the following -speaking figures from the two annual statements -which have been made public by the -United States Steel Corporation, namely:</p> - -<p class='c013'>Total number of employees:</p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c015'>1902.</td> - <td class='c016'>1903.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c015'>168,127</td> - <td class='c016'>167,709</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c013'>Total annual salaries and wages paid:</p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c015'>$120,528,343.00</td> - <td class='c016'>$120,763,896.00</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c013'>Net earnings:</p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> - <tr> - <td class='c015'>$133,308,763.72</td> - <td class='c016'>$109,171,152.35</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>“It will be observed that during these -two years the average annual net earnings -of the Steel Trust <em>exceeded the total labour -cost of their entire product</em>!”</p> - -<h3 class='c017'>MEDICINAL PRODUCTS</h3> - -<p class='c018'>“Turning from the iron and steel industry, -we might take quinine, and many -other medicinal products; we might take -chemicals, many of them most essential in -manufacturing industry; we might take -borax, which sells in America at seven and -one-half cents per pound, and in Britain at -two and one-half cents per pound, because -the Dingley duty is exactly five cents per -pound; we might take mica, a mining product -largely used in the electrical, wall-paper -and stove-making industries, and which -enjoys a modest protection ranging from -one hundred and fifty to four thousand per -cent. In short, we might take each and -every staple product now made in America, -and needlessly sheltered by the Dingley -duties, and prove, by comparative prices at -home and abroad, that the fabulous profits -which the gentlemen engaged in these industries -are now making—and which they -have capitalised into watered “industrials”—are -due chiefly and directly to the fostering -care of the Dingley Bill, which was designed -to protect our ‘infant’ industries.”</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>In the same issue, another correspondent, -Mr. W. J. Gibson, shows how the Government -serves as a tool of the trusts in tariff -exactions. He gives several columns of -facts about such outrages as the “Rupee -Cases.” For instance:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“There have been nine or ten decisions -on this one question against the Government, -and still the secretary of the treasury -refuses to refund the money which the -courts have decided so often he has exacted -illegally. The money he has directed to be -wrongfully assessed and collected, and is -retaining in these cases, known as “the -Rupee Cases,” amounts to over a million -dollars. The parties cannot get any interest -for their money so wrongfully withheld, -and the customs officials are still being -directed to assess all merchandise coming -from India on the basis of the rupee at the -value of thirty-two cents in our money. -This has gone on for more than six years, -and against the decision of the United -States Circuit Court since January 7, 1899.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>And now, can we get any broad view of -the results of this long process of wealth-concentration? -In 1850 the wealth of the -United States was estimated at nine billions; -in 1870 it was thirty billions; in 1890 it -was sixty-five billions; and in 1900 it was -ninety-five billions. How is this wealth -distributed? Writing in 1896, Dr. C. B. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>Spahr made his famous calculation, embodied -in the statement that one-eighth of -the population owned seven-eighths of the -wealth, and that one per cent. owned more -than the remaining ninety-nine per cent. -And at that time the machinery of exploitation -had hardly more than got under -way. The best attempt at an estimate since -then is the one by Lucien Sanial, published -by the American Branch of the International -Institute of Social Science. This is the -result of a careful analysis of the census of -1900; it shows that of ninety-five billions -of the country’s present wealth, sixty-seven -billions are owned by a capitalist-class of two -hundred and fifty thousand persons, twenty-four -billions by a middle class of eight -million four hundred thousand persons, -and four billions by a working-class of over -twenty million persons. And now, if the -sixty-seven billions owned by the capitalists -be assumed to earn ten per cent.—which is -surely a reasonable average amount—our -people will be paying interest upon four -hundred and fifty billion dollars at the end -of the twenty year period!</p> - -<p class='c007'>And that represents the centralisation -of the actual ownership of wealth; but one -does not get a real understanding of the -situation until he begins to consider the -centralisation of the <em>control</em> of wealth. In -explaining the struggle over the surplus -<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>of the life-insurance companies, one of -our financial magnates remarked to me: -“I would rather have the power of manipulating -four hundred million dollars, than the -actual ownership of fifty millions.” And -with that crucial fact in mind, let one -consider the figures given by Mr. Sereno -S. Pratt in <cite>The World’s Work</cite> for December, -1903, and summarised in Dr. Strong’s -“Social Progress,” as follows:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“One-twelfth of the estimated wealth of -the United States is represented at the meeting -of the Board of Directors of the United -States Steel Corporation.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“They represent as influential directors -more than two hundred other companies. -These companies operate nearly one-half -of the railroad mileage of the United States. -They are the great miners and carriers of -coal. The leading telegraph system, the -traction lines of New York, of Philadelphia, -of Pittsburg, of Buffalo, of Chicago, and of -Milwaukee, and one of the principal express -companies, are represented in the -board. This group includes also directors -of five insurance companies, two of which -have assets of seven hundred millions of -dollars. In the Steel Board are men who -speak for five banks and ten trust companies -in New York City, including the First -National, the National City, and the Bank -of Commerce, the three greatest banks in -<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>the country, and the heads of important -chains of financial institutions. Telephone, -electric, real estate, cable, and publishing -companies are represented there, and our -greatest merchant sits at the board table.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“What the individual wealth of these -men is, it would be impossible and beside -the point to estimate; but one of them, Mr. -John D. Rockefeller, is generally estimated -to be the richest individual in the world. -But it is not the personal, but the representative, -wealth of those men that makes the -group extraordinary. They control corporations -whose capitalisations aggregate -more than nine billion dollars—an amount -(if the capitalisations are real values) equal -to about the combined public debts of Great -Britain, France, and the United States. -It is this concentration of power which is -significant. There were at the time of the -last statement sixty-nine thousand nine -hundred and fifty-five stockholders in the -Steel Corporation. But the control of this -corporation is vested in twenty-four directors, -and this board of directors is guided -by the executive and finance committees, -which in turn are largely directed by their -chairmen, who are probably selected by -the great banker who organised the corporation -and in a large part sways its policy.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Examinations show that the concentration -of control of these great New York -<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>City banks has gone so far that a comparatively -small group of capitalists -possesses the power to regulate the flow of -credit in this country. In the last analysis -it is found that there are actually only two -main influences, and that these are centred -in Mr. Morgan and Mr. Rockefeller. It -is possible to express in approximate figures -the extent of the Morgan influence”—which -the writer shows in a table to -figure up over six billion two hundred and -sixty-eight million dollars. How very conservative -is Mr. Pratt’s estimate is shown by -the fact that he gives the number of holders -of shares of the railroads of this country as -nine hundred and fifty thousand persons; -with which the reader may contrast the following -editorial paragraph from a recent -issue of the New York <cite>Times</cite>:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“It would appear from evidence collected -by the Interstate Commerce Commission -and communicated to the Senate, that the -ownership of the railroad system of this -country is not as widely diffused as has been -supposed. On the 30th of June, 1904, the -1,220 railroads reporting to the Commission -had only 327,851 stockholders of record. -This total includes many duplications, as -it was impossible to know in how many -instances one capitalist was represented in -the stockholding interest of several railroads. -Assuming the population of the United -<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>States to be, in round figures, eighty millions, -the entire mileage of the railroads -doing an interstate business is owned by -about four-tenths of 1 per cent. of the people -of this country.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>Such is the situation. It completes our -view of the process of Industrial Evolution, -so far as it has progressed up to date. The -condition is like that of an oak tree planted -in a jar, or a chick developing within its -shell; the indefinite continuance of the -process is inconceivable. What form the -collapse will assume, and when it may be -expected to occur, is the problem next to -be taken up.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VI<br /> <span class='large'>THE REVOLUTION</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>One is at a great disadvantage just -at present in picturing an industrial -crisis. We are at the very flood-tide -of prosperity; the railroads are paralysed -by the volume of the country’s business; -the coal mines cannot furnish the coal, -and the farmers are burning their grain because -they cannot get it to market; the steel -trust has orders for two years ahead—and -so on without limit. I have to ask -the reader to picture interest rates going -down to zero, at a time when they are -higher than they have been in a decade; -I have to ask him to picture too much of -everything in the country, at a time when -there is not enough of anything. And yet -all this excess of “prosperity” is an integral -part of the phenomenon we are studying.</p> - -<p class='c007'>If the process of wealth-concentration -and overproduction of capital went on -unmodified by any other factor, we should -witness a gradual rise in the price of commodities, -a gradual increase in the number -of unemployed, and a gradual fall in the -rates of interest. As it happens, however, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>the movement proceeds in rhythmic pulses, -like the swinging of a pendulum, or the -ebbing and flowing of the tide. This is -owing to the factor of credit-expansion, -which we have still to interpret.</p> - -<p class='c007'>We have pictured Capital, ubiquitous, -endlessly resourceful, incessantly alert—“clamouring -for dividends.” Competition -is a forcing-process by which every device -that will increase profits is driven into -general use, and subjected to its maximum -strain. The most obvious of these devices -is that of credit.</p> - -<p class='c007'>A business man has a certain amount -of capital. If he makes his “turn over” -once a year, he gains, say, ten per cent. -profit; if he can make the “turn over” -twice a year, he gains twenty per cent. -He sees the business ahead, and so he -goes into debt. And of course this step -gives an impulse to the business of the -man who manufactures his machinery, -and to the man who raises his raw material, -and to the railroads which handle both. -The effect of that condition, prevailing -throughout a whole community, is to accelerate -enormously the industrial process; under -it the capital of the community becomes, -exactly as in the case of the railroads, not the -actual definite cost of the instruments of production -existing, but an altogether hypothetical -thing, a function of anticipated earnings.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>So it is that you have a “boom”—a -period of furious and fevered activity, in -which everyone sees fortunes springing -up about him; and then comes some disturbing -factor, which suggests to a number -of men the advisability of realising on their -expectations; and a chill settles upon the -community, and there is a wild rush to -collect, and the discovery is made that -most of the anticipated profits are not in -existence.</p> - -<p class='c007'>There is one more consideration which -has to be touched upon before we are prepared -to consider the concrete problem in -America. The process which has been -outlined is an industrial one; events have -been pictured here as they would take -place in a community given altogether to -manufacturing, mining, and transportation. -But as a matter of fact we have not only to -reckon with thirteen billions a year of -manufactured products, but also with four -billions a year of farm products. The -importance of this new element lies in the -fact that the ownership of the farms is still -largely in the hands of the masses; which -means that once every year the process -we have been picturing is stayed while the -American people get rid of four billion -dollars of spending money, which comes -to them outside of and independent of the -wage-fund. Thus, strange as it may seem, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>abundant crops tend to mitigate an “overproduction” -crisis, while a failure of crops -would do more than anything else in the -world to precipitate one.</p> - -<p class='c007'>With these facts in mind we are now in -position to interpret our recent industrial -history. We have generally had our hard -times in America at ten year intervals, -with especially severe crises at twenty -year intervals. We had our last severe -attack in 1893, and we were due to have -one of the lesser sort in 1903. What happened -then was very interesting to watch, -in the light of the views just explained. -In the early winter and spring of 1904, the -avalanche was well under way. Here, -for instance, is an item clipped from the -Chicago <cite>Tribune</cite> in April of that year:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“Organised labour is facing the greatest -wage crisis since the panic of 1893, if the -forecast of its leaders is correct. It is estimated -that before the close of the year the -greatest employing concerns of the country -will have dismissed nearly one million men, -most of them labourers and general-utility -workers. Of this number the railroads are -expected to discharge two hundred thousand -employees; the mine operators, fifty -thousand; the machine shops, iron, steel, -and tin plate plants, two hundred and -fifty thousand; and the building trades, -forty thousand. The railroads and the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>steel mills have already begun the work of -reducing their forces, and the wage liquidation -threatens to become as sensational -as was the recent liquidation in stocks.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>And then on May 25th following, the -New York <cite>Herald</cite> reported that the -railroads of the country had laid off seventy-five -thousand men; and quoted the following -in an interview with James J. Hill:</p> - -<p class='c007'>“The whole question falls back primarily -upon decreasing business and the reason for -it. Why are the railroads carrying less -freight than they were a year or two years -ago? Because the demand for the products -of the United States is not commensurate -with the supply. We manufacture and we -grow and we mine more than we can consume -in the United States. Hence we are -dependent upon foreign markets in order to -sell the surplus.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The reasons why we got over this period -of liquidation with only a severe scare are -two: First, because there came in the fall -a “bumper” crop of unprecedented proportions, -which gave the railroads a new -start; and second, and most important, -because it happened that at the precise -hour of our stress, there broke out one of -the greatest military struggles of all history.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The war, you understand, was a new -world-market. All at once a million or -two of men were set to work at destroying -<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>manufactured articles; and at the same -time several millions more were taken -from their regular tasks to provide and -maintain them while they did it; and the -greater part of the surplus capital of civilisation -was drawn off to pay the bills. It -was not merely that during the first four -months of the conflict Japan and Russia -bought fifty million dollars’ worth of our -spare products, or that they took hundreds -of millions of our spare cash. It made no -real difference where the money was raised, -or where it was spent; the man who got -it spent it again, and sooner or later the -bulk of it came to us, because we had the -things to sell. Under the conditions of -modern Capitalism, all the world is one; -and when a nation goes to war, whoever -has a spare dollar lends it to pay the bills, -and wherever in the world there is an -idle labourer, he is put to work to help -support the fighters of both nations. In -return, the world gets from the warring -governments a paper promise to wring an -equivalent amount of service out of their -people at some future date.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Before going on I ought to mention that -there is another view of the events of 1904. -I have heard Mr. Arthur Brisbane maintain -that we are to have no more overproduction -crises, for the reason that, competition -having been abolished in all our -principal industries, our trust magnates -can so adjust supply to demand as to mitigate -the stress, and give instead periods of -partial idleness in widely scattered industries.</p> -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_184.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Diagram prepared by Wilshire’s Magazine</em></span><br /><br />DIAGRAM SHOWS HOW HIGH PRICES FOLLOW WARS<br /><br />Range of average prices of 25 leading Railway Stocks for the past 22 years</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>If this is true, it is very important, for it -means a long continuance of Trust government; -but I do not believe that it is true. -The trusts have, of course, put an end to -blind production without any assurance -of a market; but even assuming that our -industry were so far systematised and our -management so conservative that we never -manufactured goods except upon a definite -order—how would that be able to hold in -check a community gone mad with prosperity-drunkenness? -For instance, the steel -trust now has orders enough ahead for two -years; and upon the basis of these orders, -its administrators are going ahead building -a new “steel city.” Yet does the steel -trust know what proportion of its orders -for steel rails are intended for the transportation -of purely speculative freight? Does -it know what proportion of its orders for -structural steel is intended for buildings -for imaginary tenants? Does it concern -itself with the problem whether its customers -are going to be able to find any use -for the materials which they have bought?</p> - -<p class='c007'>There might be more plausibility in the -argument, if our trust magnates were men -of conscience and a keen sense of responsibility; -<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>but as a matter of fact their attitude -toward their work is purely predatory. -They are not administrators of production -at all, but parasites upon production, exploiters -and wreckers. Far from striving -to regulate the madness of the public, -they are competing among themselves to -fan it to a flame, so that they may capitalise -the expectations of their own properties.<a id='r5' /><a href='#f5' class='c014'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f5'> -<p class='c007'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. Anyone who wishes to make a scientific study of the true functions -of modern finance is advised to read Professor Veblen’s last book, “The -Theory of Business Enterprise,” a most extraordinary study of the -whole field of present-day economics. In my opinion this book, together -with its author’s other masterpiece, “The Theory of the Leisure Class,” -constitutes the greatest contribution to social science ever made in -America, and perhaps the greatest in the world since Carl Marx. It -might be worth while to add in passing that Professor Veblen was -turned out of Mr. Rockefeller’s University of Chicago for writing it.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>The ebb of the tide is coming; the only -question is, when? According to precedent, -it should come in 1913; but I expect it -much sooner, partly because I do not -believe that we had anything like a thorough -liquidation in 1904, and partly because of -the extreme violence of the present activity. -During the last year the “boom” has -reached real estate, and that always means -that other avenues of investment are clogged.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I anticipate the storm in 1908 or 1909; -but I do not predict it, because it depends -upon uncertain factors. Another great war -might put it off ten years; and on the -other hand, crop failures might precipitate -it this summer. What I do believe that I -can predict—for reasons which I stated in -the introduction to this argument—is the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>course which political events in this country -will take from the hour when the “hard -times” arrive.</p> - -<p class='c007'>As we saw from the Chicago <cite>Tribune</cite> -item, the first sign of trouble is the turning -out of work of a million workingmen; and -what are the consequences—the economic -consequences—of the turning out of work -of a million men? According to the census -the average yearly wage of the factory -employee is four hundred and thirty-seven -dollars. Dr. Peter Roberts says that the -average wage in the anthracite coal district -is less than five hundred dollars. In -the Middle States a third of all the workers -get less than three hundred a year, and in -the South nearly sixty per cent. get less. -It was proven before the Industrial Commission -that the maximum wage of the -hundred and fifty thousand railroad and -track hands and the two hundred thousand -carmen and shopmen, was a hundred and -fifty dollars in the South, and less than -three hundred and seventy-five in the -North. And this to feed and clothe a -family, and provide against sickness, accident, -and old age! The meaning of it is -simply that when a million men are laid -off, in a month or two they and their -families are starving.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And that, you understand, means a loss -of a <em>market</em>—of a market of five million -<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>people—a population equal to that of the -Dominion of Canada. And of course, therefore, -those whose work it has been to supply -these people, will be out of work, and likewise -those who supply the suppliers. And -even this is by far the least of the consequences; -for another part of our domestic -market depends upon the fact that our -workingmen too have been able to form -trusts. And when this period of depression -comes, their trusts will fall to pieces, and -competition will begin again—a process -which they will find all the brickbats and -dynamite in the country cannot check. -The employers will, of course, be straining -every nerve to make ends meet; and so -wages will go down, and when strikes are -declared, the starving workingman will -“scab” and the strikes will fail. We shall -have riots, and perhaps gatling guns in our -streets, but the wages will go down; and -step by step as the wages go down, consumption -goes down, with the loss of another -Dominion of Canada. When the thing is -once started, it will be an avalanche that -no power upon earth can stop; and it will -be the beginning of the Revolution.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The word has an ominous sound. The -reader thinks of street battles and barricades. -By a Revolution I mean the complete -transfer of the economic and political -power of the country from the hands of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>present exploiting class to the hands of -the whole people; and in the accomplishment -of this purpose the people will proceed, -as in everything else they do, along -the line of least resistance. It is very much -less trouble to cast a ballot than it is to go -out in the streets and shoot: and our people -are used to the ballot method. However, -the staid and respectable <cite>Harper’s -Weekly</cite>, which calls itself a “Journal of -Civilisation,” suggested in 1896 that if Mr. -Bryan were elected, it might be necessary -for the propertied classes to keep him out -of office. If anything of that sort is attempted -in this coming crisis, why then -there will be violence—just as there will -be in such countries as Germany and Russia, -which have yet to learn to let the people -have their own way. The worst feature -of the situation with us is that we have gotten -into the habit of letting our elections -be carried by bribery; and that is likely -to play us some ugly tricks in this new -emergency.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The reader perhaps objects to my theory -that this change must come with suddenness. -It is such a tremendous change—and would -it not be better if it were brought about -little by little? Undoubtedly it would have -been a great deal better; but the time to -begin was ten or twenty years ago. Now -the horse is stolen, and we are venting all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>our energies, and cannot even succeed in -getting the stable-door locked afterward.</p> - -<p class='c007'>They are bringing it about gradually in -Australia and New Zealand—the only countries -in the world in which the people are -effectually regulating the progress of the -Juggernaut of Capitalism. That is because -these countries are very young, with -comparatively little capital, no slums, and -an intelligent working-class. I have an -idea—I do not know whether there is anything -in it—that the extraordinary success -of New Zealand may in part be due to the -fact that it was a convict-settlement; the -men whom capitalism makes into criminals -being for the most part a very superior class -of people, active, independent, and impatient -of injustice. Transported to a new -land, and given a fair chance, I should -think that a burglar or a highwayman ought -to make a very excellent Socialist.</p> - -<p class='c007'>You ask, perhaps, if the thing is not also -being accomplished gradually in England -and on the Continent; you point to “Municipal -trading,” to the London County -Council, to the state-owned railroads and -telephones of Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, -etc. You have been accustomed to -hear these things referred to as State -Socialism, and you have accepted the statement—not -understanding that the essence -of Socialism is democracy, and that it is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>fundamentally opposed to paternalism in -every conceivable form. Municipal and -State ownership is not State Socialism at -all, but State Capitalism. Under it, the -government buys certain franchises, pays -for them with bonds, and then runs the -roads to pay the bondholders. Undoubtedly -it is a better system for the people -than private Capitalism, for the reason that -it fixes the exploiters’ tax, instead of letting -stock-watering go on indefinitely. But, unfortunately, -economical administration by -the State is possible at present only in such -countries as have an aristocratic governing-class, -jealous of the power of the capitalist. -In this country the holders of the municipal -bonds, who also own the street-car factories -and the steel mills and the coal mines, -would use the interest they got from the -city to bribe the city’s servants to pay exorbitant -prices for all the street-cars and -steel rails and coal and other supplies -which the city would have to have in order -to operate the roads. You have seen that -perfectly illustrated in the case of our Post -Office. For example, we pay the railroads -in rent for our mail-cars twice as much per -year as it costs to build the cars; and the -cars are so flimsy that the insurance companies, -which own a large share of the railroads -and the cars, refuse to insure the -lives of the mail-clerks who work in them!</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>However, the advisability of Municipal -Ownership under present conditions is a -purely academic question, for the reason -that the capitalist will never give us a chance -to try it. The capitalist is in possession, -and he “stands pat.” When you talk -about “reform,” he will make you as many -fine speeches and deliver you as many moral -discourses as you wish; but when it comes -to giving up any dollars—he has spent all -his lifetime learning to hold on to his dollars.</p> - -<p class='c007'>You are thinking, perhaps, of President -Roosevelt, who is hailed as a successful -reformer. In the first place, it is of importance -to point out that President Roosevelt -is a complete anomaly in our political -life; he was probably the last Republican -in the country who would have been selected -to rule us. He made himself governor -by a shrewd device called “the Rough -Riders;” he was made President for the -first time by the bullet of an assassin, and -the second time by the death of Mark -Hanna. By a series of such blind chances -as these the people have been given a chance -to vote for what they want, and they of -course have seized the chance. But assuredly -it was no part of the “System’s” -plan to ask them what they wanted, nor -even to let them find out what they wanted -themselves.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Under the peculiar circumstances, there -<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>has been nothing for the “System” to do -but make sure that the President accomplishes -nothing; and that it has done as -a matter of course. In saying this, let me -remind the reader once more of my distinction -between moral revolt and economic -remedy. I have no wish to under-estimate -the tremendous importance of President -Roosevelt’s services in awakening the people; -but I say that so far as actual concrete -accomplishment is concerned, he might -just as well never have lifted a finger. In -one case, that of the suit against the Paper -Trust, he did effect a lowering of prices; -but in that case he was simply a pawn in -the struggle between two trusts—of which -the Newspaper Trust proved to be the -stronger. In no case where the people -alone were concerned has he effected any -economic change whatever. The Northern -Securities decision was evaded by another -device; the Beef Trust and the Standard -Oil suits ended with nominal fines. Over -the rate regulation question we had two -years’ agitation—and not one single rate -has been lowered. In the struggle for life-insurance -reform, to which the President -gave all his moral support, a few grafting -officials were hounded to death; but the -real and vital evil, the exploitation of the -surplus for purposes of stock-manipulation, -was scarcely even touched upon. And -<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>then came the Chicago packing-house -scandals—and I can speak with some -knowledge of them. Sometimes, when I -look back upon them, it seems like a dream—I -can hardly believe that I ever played -my part in that cosmic farce. Only think -of it—we had the President and Congress -and all the newspapers of the country discussing -it—we had this entire nation of -eighty million people literally thinking about -nothing else for months—nay, more, we -had the attention of the whole civilised -world riveted upon those filthy meat-factories. -We uncovered crimes for which -the condemnation of every dollar’s worth -of property in Packingtown would have -been a nominal punishment; and then we -settled back with a sigh of contentment, -because we had put a few more inspectors -at work and forced the whitewashing of -some slaughter-house walls. And we left -the monster upas-tree of commercialism -to flourish untouched—to go on year after -year bearing its fruit of corruption and -death!</p> - -<p class='c007'>There is nothing whatever to be got from -the capitalist. I used to think that the -same thing was true of the politician. In -common with most Socialists, I thought -that the Revolution would have to wait until -the people had come to full consciousness -of their purpose, and had elected a Socialist -<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>president and a Socialist congress. But -at the time of the coal-strike, when Dave -Hill came out for government ownership -of the coal mines, I realised that the politician -is the jackal and not the lion. Of -course we have amateur politicians—capitalists -who play at the game—and they will -not give way; but the professional politician -is not a rich man—the competition has -been too keen. He has served the capitalist -because it paid; and when the people get -ready to have their way, it will pay to serve -the people. This is really a very important -matter, for our political machinery is complicated, -and the people have got used to -it. It would be a frightful waste of energy -to create new machinery—in fact, I do not -think that our Constitution could stand -the strain.</p> - -<p class='c007'>We will now assume that the industrial -crisis has come. What will be the political -consequences? It takes two or three years -for industrial conditions to get themselves -translated into political acts in this country; -it means an immense amount of agitating—tens -of thousands of meetings have to be -held and hundreds of thousands of speeches -made; and then there is all the machinery -of conventions and elections. The panic -of 1893, for instance, resulted in the Bryan -movement of 1896. That movement was -a revolt of the debtor class; if it had -<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>succeeded it would have precipitated a panic, -and that would have been a misfortune, -for the reason that both the people and -their leaders were ignorant, and instead of -the Industrial Republic, we should have -had a severe reaction. Mark Hanna was -a cunning man; but if he had been still -more cunning, he would never have raised -six million dollars to buy the presidency -for William McKinley—he would have let -the people have free silver, and then he -would have had the people.</p> - -<p class='c007'>We came to the election of 1900 on the -crest of a prosperity wave; but prosperity -too takes its time to be realised, and so -Hanna took the precaution to raise four -million dollars and buy the election again.<a id='r6' /><a href='#f6' class='c014'><sup>[6]</sup></a> -And then came 1904, which, I think, was -the most interesting election of them all. -With the politicians the prosperity boom -still held sway. Mark Hanna had Roosevelt -all ready for the shelf; and the old-time -“state-rights” Democrats arose and -buried Mr. Bryan in the deepest vault of -their party catacombs. But then came -the people—with the country trembling -on the verge of another “hard times.” -They gave President Roosevelt the most -tremendous majority ever recorded in America; -and incidentally, as if this were not -enough to show how they felt, they gave -<span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>nearly half a million votes to Eugene V. -Debs!</p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f6'> -<p class='c007'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. Figures quoted, evidently upon inside information, by the Washington -<cite>Post</cite>, in 1906.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>This election, according to my schedule, -corresponds with the election of 1852 in -the Civil War crisis. The “safe and sane” -Democracy, which received its death-blow -in 1904, corresponds with the old Whig -party. It will probably make independent -nominations in 1908 and 1912, exactly as -did the Whigs, and will receive the votes of -all those who believe in dealing with new -conditions according to old formulas.</p> - -<p class='c007'>In the meantime, the real contestants -of the coming crisis are forming their lines. -Under ordinary circumstances the Republican -party would have been the party of -disguised but unrelenting conservatism; and -our Presidents in 1904 and 1908 would have -been either figureheads like Fairbanks and -Shaw, or shrewd beguilers of the people -like Cannon and Root. As it is, it looks -now if President Roosevelt were to remain -the master of his party, in which case we -shall have in 1908 a mild reformer like Taft, -or possibly even Governor Hughes. The -one thing certain is that whoever receives -the Republican nomination will be the next -President. If it is a Roosevelt man, the -President’s prestige will elect him; or if -the “System” concludes to have its own -way, he will be put in by bribery. In any -case, he will go in, and it is best that he -<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>should go in. So long as we are to have -Capitalism, it is proper that the capitalist -should have a free hand. Personally I -should consider the election of a radical in -1908 a calamity; for “hard times” will be -just about to break, and I greatly desire to -see Cannon and Aldrich and the rest of -them “caught with the goods on.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>Who will be the Democratic candidate? -Will it be the champion of the Western -farmers, or of the proletariat of our Eastern -cities? I do not know, but I am inclined to -think that it will be Mr. Bryan; and I am -sorry, in a way, because that will put him -out of the race in 1912. I conceived an -intense admiration for Mr. Bryan after his -last speech in New York City.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Never in our history did a public man -face a greater temptation than he did after -his two years of travel; everything in the -country seemed to have turned conservative, -and the money-power, frightened by Roosevelt, -was ready to throw itself into his -arms. What he did was to take his stand -upon the great issue over which the battle -of the next six years will be fought out—the -nationalisation of the railroads; and -in doing it he placed his name upon the -roll of our statesmen.</p> - -<table class='table1' summary=''> - <tr><td class='c019' colspan='3'><span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <th class='c015'><span class='sc'>The Type.</span></th> - <th class='c015'><span class='sc'>Chattel Slavery.</span><br />(1846–1863.)</th> - <th class='c016'><span class='sc'>Wage Slavery</span><br />(1893–1914.)</th> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Conservative Reformer</td> - <td class='c009'>Daniel Webster.</td> - <td class='c020'>Grover Cleveland</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Unwilling Prophet</td> - <td class='c009'>John C. Calhoun</td> - <td class='c020'>Marcus A. Hanna</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Great Compromiser</td> - <td class='c009'>Henry Clay</td> - <td class='c020'>Theodore Roosevelt</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Timid Conservative</td> - <td class='c009'>Edward Everett.</td> - <td class='c020'>Alton B. Parker.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Editor of Radicalism</td> - <td class='c009'>Horace Greeley.</td> - <td class='c020'>Arthur Brisbane</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Statesman of Radicalism</td> - <td class='c009'>Charles Sumner.</td> - <td class='c020'>Wm. J. Bryan.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Politician of Radicalism</td> - <td class='c009'>Wm. H. Seward.</td> - <td class='c020'>Robt. M. LaFollette.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Agitator of the Revolt</td> - <td class='c009'>Wm. Lloyd Garrison.</td> - <td class='c020'>Eugene V. Debs.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Orator of the Revolt</td> - <td class='c009'>Wendell Phillips.</td> - <td class='c020'>Geo. D. Herron.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Martyr of the Revolt</td> - <td class='c009'>John Brown.</td> - <td class='c020'>Charles H. Moyer ( ?).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Voice of the Victim</td> - <td class='c009'>Frederick Douglass.</td> - <td class='c020'>Jack London.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Compromising Reactionist</td> - <td class='c009'>Stephen A. Douglas.</td> - <td class='c020'>John C. Spooner.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Aggressive Reactionist</td> - <td class='c009'>Jefferson Davis.</td> - <td class='c020'>Nelson W. Aldrich.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Organiser of Reaction</td> - <td class='c009'>Wm. Lownds Yancey.</td> - <td class='c020'>David M. Parry.</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Last Figurehead</td> - <td class='c009'>James Buchanan (1856).</td> - <td class='c020'>William H. Taft (1908).</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class='c009'>The Untried Hope</td> - <td class='c009'>Abraham Lincoln (1860).</td> - <td class='c020'>Wm. Randolph Hearst (1912).</td> - </tr> -</table> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>A couple of years ago I was sketching out -my comparison of the Civil War crisis and -our own, in conversation with an English -gentleman, who asked me to make him a -table showing the parallel between the men -of the two periods. This table was afterwards -published in the <cite>Independent</cite>, with -an explanatory letter, (in the course of which -I pointed out that one must not take it too -literally, or look for a resemblance in external -details).<a id='r7' /><a href='#f7' class='c014'><sup>[7]</sup></a></p> - -<div class='footnote' id='f7'> -<p class='c007'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. See table on page <a href='#Page_199'>199</a>.</p> -</div> - -<p class='c007'>In the course of its editorial comment, -the <cite>Independent</cite> suggested another parallel, -that between “The Jungle” and “Uncle -Tom’s Cabin”; and then it went on to -express its perplexity at my venturing to -compare Hearst with Lincoln.</p> - -<p class='c007'>There is no man in our public life to-day -who interests me so much as William -Randolph Hearst. I have been watching -him for ten years, during the last half-dozen -of them weighing and testing him as the man -of the coming hour. I do not say that he -will be the man; all that I can say is that -he stands the best chance of being the candidate -of the Democratic party in 1912; -and that the man who secures that nomination -will, if he does his work (and for him -to fail to do it is almost inconceivable) -write his name in our history beside the -names of Washington and Lincoln.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Mr. Hearst is one of the by-products of -the industrial process—a member of the -“second generation.” You are to picture -<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>many thousands of young men, heirs of the -enormous fortunes of our captains of industry; -they are brought up in luxury, and -in complete idleness—the world gives them -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">carte blanche</span></i>, with the result that at an -early age they are sated with all the ordinary -pleasures of human beings. And at -the same time they have big, healthy bodies, -and they crave excitement.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It would be interesting to compile a -list of some of the things they have done. -Of course, a great many simply follow in -the footsteps of their fathers, and become -commercial buccaneers; some devote themselves -to automobiles and race-horses, some -to society and gossip, some to mere brutal -dissipation—such as the scions of the now -extinct line of Pullman, who used to smash -up the saloons of Chicago, and now and -then amuse themselves by hurling brickbats -through the windows of their father’s -home. Now and then there is one who -goes in for big game, or for monkey-dinners, -or for Sunday-schools, or for Socialism, or -for flying-machines; and there was one who -went in for newspapers!</p> - -<p class='c007'>His father was reluctant to humour the -whim—he thought that a million dollar -racing-stable would cost less in the end than -a forty thousand dollar newspaper: which -of course put the young man upon his -mettle—made him set out to make the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>paper pay, and “show the old man.” To -make it pay he had to get circulation; and to -get circulation he had to get something new—there -was no use doing things like the -old newspapers, which were not paying, -but had to be funded by the political powers -which used them. So once more you see -capital, as I have pictured it—“like a wild -beast in a cage, pacing about, watching -for an opening here and there.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>And where is the opening? Why, the -people! The people, whom the merciless -machinery of exploitation beats down and -tramples upon, and pushes out of the way -and forgets. They are brutalised and ignorant, -they are stupid with toil—but yet they -are human beings, they crave life. They -never read newspapers—but give them -what they want, and they will learn to read. -Give them big head-lines, and a shock on -every page; give them royalty and “high life,” -scandal and spice, battle, murder and sudden -death—and then they will buy your paper.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It was good fun for Mr. Hearst to do this. -Watching his newspapers, what has struck -me most is the sheer audacity of them. -Audacity is his characteristic quality, and -it is a characteristic American quality—it -places him among our national treasures, -along with Mark Twain, and P. T. Barnum, -and Buffalo Bill, and the Mississippi steamboats -with the “nigger on the safety-valve.”</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>I am told by friends of Mr. Hearst that -his instinct from the start was for democracy. -If so, so much the better; but it is not -necessary to my hypothesis. A newspaper -has to have editorial opinions; and they -had best be opinions that please its readers. -If we are to publish a paper for the masses -to read, we must also voice the hopes and -the longings of the masses.</p> - -<p class='c007'>So Mr. Hearst turned traitor to his class. -He seems to have done this instinctively, -and without pangs. I find, what is very -singular and striking, that the members -of his own class hate him, not only publicly, -but personally. It seems to have pleased -him to defy <em>all</em> their conventions. I was -told, for example, that when he first came -to New York, he made himself a scandal in -the “Tenderloin.” I was perplexed about -that, for the members of our “second generation” -are generally well known in the -Tenderloin, and nobody calls it a scandal. -But one young society man who had known -Hearst well gave me the reason—and he -spoke with real gravity: “It wasn’t what he -did—we all do it: but it was the way he -did. He didn’t take the trouble to -hide what he did.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>I have made clear in this book my belief -that the masses are driven to revolt by the -pressure of stern and ruthless economic -force. They were ignorant and helpless, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>and among our men of wealth and power -there was no one to help them—there was -no one among all our intellectual leaders to -voice their wrongs. They were left to -help themselves—so what more natural -than that it should occur to some enterprising -young millionaire to leap into the -breach? There was endless excitement and -notoriety to be won—and at the end, perhaps, -power of a new and quite incredible -sort.</p> - -<p class='c007'>You will observe that I am taking, deliberately, -the lowest possible view. I am -dealing with material conditions and picturing -a material remedy for them. My -point is, that whatever he may be personally, -Mr. Hearst is mortgaged, body and soul, -to the course to which he has given himself; -not only his public reputation, but his entire -fortune, is in his newspapers, and the public -is the master of his newspapers. He has -conjured a storm which he cannot possibly -control—he must play out to the end the -part he has chosen.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is very curious to observe how his rôle -has taken hold of him and changed him. I -am told that when he first came to New -York he wore checked trousers and fancy -ties; and now he wears the traditional soft -hat and frock coat of our statesmen. And -also, I think, the rôle has changed his character. -For this struggle is a real one, it is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>a struggle of the people for life; the cause -is a cause of truth and justice, and the man -does not live who can do battle for it as -Mr. Hearst has done, and not come to take -fire with the passion of it. The man does -not live who can make the enemies Mr. -Hearst has made, and not take a real and -vital interest in the task of bringing them -to their knees. I believe that Mr. Hearst -is to-day as sincere a man as we have in -political life.</p> - -<p class='c006'>It may be, of course, that some one else -will get the Democratic nomination in 1912; -that matters not at all in my thesis—the one -thing certain is that it will be some man who -stands pledged to put an end to class-government. -Following it there will be a campaign -of an intensity of fury such as this country -has never before witnessed in its history.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Let us outline in a few words the situation -as it will then exist.</p> - -<p class='c007'>In the first place there will be two or -three million—perhaps five or ten million—men -out of work. They will have been out -for a year or two, and have had plenty of -time to work up excitement. They may -have forced Congress to provide them some -temporary employment—which will, of -course, be the first taste of blood to the -tiger. They will certainly have been waging -strikes of a violence never before known—they -<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>will have been shot down in great -numbers, and they may have done a great -deal of burning and dynamiting. That -some particularly conspicuous individual -like Mr. Rockefeller or Mr. Baer may have -been assassinated, seems more than likely; -that a “Coxey’s Army” of much larger -size will have marched on Washington, -seems quite certain.</p> - -<p class='c007'>When I was in Chicago, just after the -last “Beef Strike,” I met half a dozen labour -leaders who told me an interesting story. -Chicago has the most thoroughly revolutionary -working-class of any city in the -country, and towards the end of this strike -they were deeply stirred, and there had been -several conferences in which a complete -program had been laid out for an “anti-rent -strike.” On a certain day, all the -working people of Chicago were to refuse -to pay rent until the meat-packers gave in. -The project was nipped by the settlement -of the strike, but it only waits a new occasion -to be put into effect. By the time which -we are picturing here, it will quite certainly -have spread east and west to the two oceans, -so that not half our city population will be -paying any rent for their homes at this time.</p> -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_206a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Copyright, 1894, Leslie’s Weekly</em></span></p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_206b.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Copyright, 1894, Leslie’s Weekly</em></span><br /><br />COXEY’S ARMY ON THE MARCH AND IN WASHINGTON</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>And also, of course, there will have been -processions in the streets, and unemployed -demonstrations every day. There will be -a Socialist meeting round every corner—all through this period of stress, you are to -picture the Socialists working like bees at -swarming time. That is the function of -the Socialist party all through this crisis, -to stir up and organise the proletariat, to -make certain that in the crisis the people -are not ignorant of the way. They will -be heading the hunger-parades, carrying -the banners and making the speeches, circulating -tracts and five-million-copy editions -of the “Appeal to Reason.” They will -be polling unheard of votes—in one or two -cities they will be carrying the elections, -and Socialist mayors will be confiscating -street-railroads, and clapping obstructive -judges into jail. The Socialist party is a -party of agitation rather than administration; -but it is of vital importance that -it should everywhere exist, as a party of -the last resort, a club held over Society. -Everywhere the cry will be: Do this, and -do that, or the Socialists will carry the -country.</p> - -<p class='c007'>So will be ushered in the election campaign -and the death-grapple. You will -try to beat the people back, as you have -done before—but you will not succeed -this time. Before this, the people were -ignorant—but now they will know. They -will have had the whole of the festering -ulcer of commercialism laid open before -their eyes. You will not be able to blame -<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>it on the labour unions, nor on the Rate -Bill, nor on Roosevelt, nor on the Negro, -nor on the Esquimau. You will not be -able to awe the people with any great names, -nor to fool them with respectability. They -will have been taught to regard the leaders -of our business affairs as convicted and -unpunished criminals; and if you were to -propose such a thing as a “business man’s -parade,” you would be greeted with a -scream of fury.</p> - -<p class='c007'>You will be utterly terrified at the state -of affairs. Credit will be failing, and the -business of the country will be holding its -breath. You will subscribe a campaign -fund of ten—fifteen—twenty millions of -dollars—but there will be Mr. Hearst with -his extras in a dozen cities, and his twenty -million free copies a day, and he will tell -how much you are raising and a whole lot -more. So there will be committees of -safety to guard the ballot—and a few more -good campaign cries. There will be frenzied -conferences among our political millionaires, -and a week or two before election -day Mr. Hearst’s opponent—quite probably -ex-President Roosevelt—will come out -favouring nearly all of his radical proposals, -but declaring that they ought not to be -carried into effect by a Socialist like Mr. -Hearst. Mr. Hearst will reply with his ten -thousand and tenth declaration that he is -<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>not a Socialist, and has no sympathy with -Socialism—a statement which the Socialists, -who will not understand in the least -the meaning of events, will cordially substantiate. -Mr. Hearst will declare that he -stands upon a platform of Americanism, -and that he seeks only equal rights for all—and -therefore Federal ownership of all -criminal monopolies.</p> - -<p class='c007'>So election day will come, and Mr. -Hearst will be elected; and within the next -week the business of the country will have -fallen into heaps. Banks will have closed, -mills will be idle—there will be no freight, -and railroads will be failing. The people -of New York will be reminded that if the -railroads stop the city will starve to death -in a couple of weeks; and so, perhaps even -before Mr. Hearst takes office, government -ownership of the railroads will be realised.</p> - -<p class='c007'>How will it be accomplished? It is a -charmingly simple process—I could do -it all myself. Have you ever heard the -inside story of how the last coal strike was -settled? The operators were standing upon -their rights as the persons to whom God -in His infinite wisdom had entrusted the -care of the property interests of the country; -and all winter long the people had been -lacking coal. Then suddenly President -Roosevelt, who is a master of the art of -feeling the public pulse, made the discovery -<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>that government ownership of coal mines -was about to crystallise into an issue of -practical politics. So he sent Secretary -Root to see Morgan, and tell him that the -coal operators must give in. Morgan saw -the operators, and they insisted upon their -rights, and so Root went back to Washington, -and came again to say that, as Mr. -Morgan well knew, the coal roads were -doing business in flat violation of the law; -and that unless within twenty-four hours -they gave their consent to the appointment -by the President of a board of arbitration, -the whole power of the United States -Attorney General’s office would be turned -upon an investigation of their business -methods. And so the strike was settled -in a day.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And in very similar ways will the future -problems be settled. There will be similar -conferences; and then some fine day a -duly-accredited commissioner from the -President will travel, say to Philadelphia, -and enter the offices of the Pennsylvania -Railroad, arch-corrupter of the great Keystone -state. The directors of the company -will receive him with bows and smiles, and -will spread their books before him and his -staff, and place themselves and their office -at his disposal. He will hear a brief account -of the situation, and will then give his orders -to the president and other officials of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>road: to the effect that schedules are to -be continued as previously; that all salaries -will remain unaltered until further -notice; and that passenger and freight rates -are to be dropped to a point where net -profits will be wiped out. Then he will -shake hands with the directors and thank -them for their services in building up the -road, adding that their services are now -at an end. And that, for all practical purposes, -will be the application of Socialism -to the Pennsylvania Railroad.</p> - -<p class='c007'>But, you say, by my hypothesis the road -could not run; how will it be able to run -now? The reason it couldn’t run before -was that there were no profits; but now -it will not be run for profits, but for service, -like the Post Office. To help it over its -momentary embarrassment, of course, the -credit of the government may be needed: -but even that is not likely. For exactly the -same thing which happens to the Pennsylvania -Railroad will be happening to -the Steel Trust and the Oil Trust and the -Coal Trust and the Beef Trust; and all -these industries will be starting into activity, -and so there will be plenty of freight. With -the captains of each of these trusts there -will have been secret Presidential conferences, -at which these gentlemen will -have been told that since they can no longer -run their business, they must allow the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>Government to take possession and run it—the -price to be paid for their stock being -a matter for future negotiation, and a -matter of no great importance to them in -any case, because of the income and inheritance -tax laws just then being rushed -through Congress.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Such will be the Revolution—and the -gateway into the Industrial Republic. Precisely -as in France we saw that the peasant -who was starving because he could not pay -his taxes, began to till the land and grow -rich without any taxes, so in the midst -of universal destitution, it will suddenly -be discovered that the farmer who could -not sell his grain, and therefore had no hat -to wear, may now exchange his grain with -the operative in the hat factory who had -produced so many hats for his master that -he was himself out of a job, and could not -get any bread. And all the cotton mills -which were shut because we could no -longer sell shirts to the Chinamen, will now -start merrily to work making shirts for all -the shirtless wretches the length and breadth -of America. And the shoe operatives of -Massachusetts, who were making shoes -for the Filipinos, which the poor Filipinos -had to be forced at the point of the bayonet -to buy, will begin making shoes for their -own children, and for the unhappy people -of the tenements who were before going -<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>barefooted. And the Steel Trust will suddenly -leap into action, because those misery-smitten -four hundred thousand families -in the “dark rooms” of the New York City -tenements will now earn money to build -themselves decent habitations. And the -tens of thousands of little boys and girls -who are now being ground up in the glass factories -of New Jersey and the cotton mills -of Georgia and the coal mines of -Pennsylvania, will come out into the sunlight -and play, while their parents are building -schools to which they can be sent. -And the young girl who stands shuddering -on the brink of prostitution, working ten -hours a day in an East Side sweatshop -for a wage of forty cents a week, will receive -the full value of her product, and be able -to maintain herself by two hours of work a -day.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I know what is the attitude of the medical -profession towards a “cure-all”; and yet -it is but the sober truth that for nearly every -evil that troubles our age there is one -remedy and only one—the democratisation -of our industry. If you were to take a -growing boy and rivet an iron band about -his chest, there would come sooner or later -a time when the boy would show symptoms -of distress—and for every symptom there -would be but one remedy. Is the boy -cross and complaining? Break the band! -<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>Is he pale and sickly? Break the band! -Does he gasp and cry out? Break the band! -Do you not know that in the monarchy of -France, in the year 1780, a man who set -out to find a remedy for this or that evil -of the hour would have found but one -remedy for all of them—the overthrowing -of the aristocracy? And similarly all the -diseases of this period, which are the despair -of the moralist and the patriot, are -consequences of the fact that our society -is gasping in a last desperate agony of -effort to maintain its system of competitive -industry. We are like a man running on -a railroad track pursued by a train. The -train is increasing its speed, and do what he -will, it gains upon him; he cries out, he -gasps for breath, he is agonised, wild with -terror, making his last leap with the engine -at his very heels—and then suddenly it -occurs to him to leap to one side, and so -the train flashes by, and he sits down and -mops his brow and thinks how very stupid -it was of him!</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VII<br /> <span class='large'>THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>And now let us imagine that society has -abolished exploitation and the competitive -wage-system, and got its breath -and found leisure to examine itself under -the new régime. How will it find things -proceeding?</p> - -<p class='c007'>One of the first objections that you will -run up against, if ever you start out to -agitate Socialism, is your lack of definiteness. -Give us your program, people will -say—we want to know what sort of a world -you expect to make, and how you are going -to make it. And they will grow angry -when they find that you have not a cut-and-dried -scheme of society in your pocket—that -you have stirred them up all to no purpose. -And yet that is just what you have to go on -doing. There used to be Utopian Socialists—Plato -was the first of them and Bellamy -was the last—who knew the coming -world from its presidents to its chimneysweeps; -who could tell you the very colour -of its postage-stamps. But nowadays all -Socialists are scientific. They say that -social changes are the product of the interaction -<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>of innumerable forces, and cannot -be definitely foretold; they say that the -new organism will be the result of the strivings -of millions of men, acted upon by various -motives, ideals, prejudices and fears. And -so they call themselves no longer builders of -systems, but preachers of righteousness; -their answer to objectors is that I once -heard given by Hanford, recent candidate -for vice-president on the Socialist ticket, -to a lawyer with whom he was debating: -“Do you ask for a map of Heaven before -you join the Church?”</p> - -<p class='c007'>This much we may say, however. The -Industrial Republic will be an industrial -government of the people, by the people, -for the people. Exactly as political sovereignty -is the property of the community, -so will it be with industrial sovereignty—that -is, capital. It will be administered -by elected officials and its equal benefits -will be the elemental right of every citizen. -The officials may be our presidents and -governors and legislatures, or they may be -an entirely separate governing body, corresponding -to our present directors and -presidents of corporations. In countries -where the revolution is one of violence they -will probably be trade-union committees. -The governing power may be chosen -separately in each trade and industry, by -those who work in it, just as the officials of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>a party are now chosen by those who vote -in it; or they may be appointed, as our -postmasters and colonial governors are -appointed, by some central authority, perhaps -by the President. All of these things -are for the collective wisdom of the country -to decide when the time comes; meanwhile -it is only safe to say that there will be as -little change as possible in the business -methods of the country—and so little that -the man who should come back and look -at it from the outside, would not even know -that any change had taken place. I have -heard a distinguished Republican orator, -poking fun at Socialism in a public address, -picture women disputing in the public -warehouses as to whether each had had her -fair share of shoes and fish. In the Industrial -Republic the workingman will go -to the factory, will work under the direction -of his superior officer, and will receive his -wages at the end of the week in exactly the -same way as to-day. He will spend his -money exactly as he spends it to-day—he -will go to a store, and if he gets a pair of -shoes he will pay for them. The farmer -will till his land exactly as he does to-day, -and when he takes his grain to market he will -be paid for it in money, and will put it in -the bank and will draw a check upon it to -pay for the suit of clothes he has ordered -by express. The only difference in all -<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>these various operations will be that the -factories will be public property, and the -wages the full value of the product, with no -deductions for dividends on stock; and that -the street cars, the banks and the stores -will be public utilities, managed exactly as -our post office is managed, charging what -the service costs, and making no profits. -In the year 1901 the U. S. Steel Corporation -paid one hundred and twenty-five million -dollars and employed one hundred and -twenty-five thousand men; under Socialism -the wages of each employee of the U. S. -Steel Corporation would therefore be increased -one thousand dollars a year, which -is two or three hundred per cent. In the -same way, the wages of an employee of the -Standard Oil Company would be increased -four thousand dollars, which is from eight -to ten hundred per cent. The fare upon -the government-owned street railroads in -the City of Berlin is two and a half cents, -which would mean that our workingman’s -car-fare bill would be cut by fifty per cent. -The toll of the government-owned telephone -of Sweden is three cents, which would mean -that the workingman’s telephone bill would -be cut seventy per cent. The elimination -of the speculator and the higher piracy of -Wall Street would raise the price of the -farmer’s grain by fifty per cent.; the elimination -of the millers’ trust and the railroad -<span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>trust would lower the price of bread by an -equal sum. The elimination of the tariff -on wool, of the sweater and the jobber, the -department store and the express trust, -would probably lower the price of the farmer’s -suit of clothes sixty per cent; the -elimination of the sweatshop and the slum -might raise it to its original level, while -decreasing the farmer’s doctor’s bills -correspondingly. Of course I do not mean -to say that the gains from the abolition of -exploitation will be distributed in exactly the -ratios outlined above. They will be distributed -so as to equalise the rewards of labour. -The point is that there will be a saving at -every point—because at every point there is -exploitation.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I have sketched in “The Jungle” -(Chapter 36) a few of the social savings -incidental to the abolition of competition. -The reader who cares for a thorough and -scientific study of the subject is referred to -a recently published book, “The Cost of -Competition,” by Sidney A. Reeve. I had -never heard of Professor Reeve until his -publishers sent me his book. They say -that he worked on it for seven years; and -when I read it I counted myself that many -years to the good, for I had meant to try to -do the task myself. Professor Reeve has done -it in a way which leaves not a word to be -said. It is a marvellous analysis of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>whole of our present productive system; -and best of all, it is free from the jargon of -the schools—it is the work of a man who -has kept in touch with actual life, and has -moral feeling as well as scientific training.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Professor Reeve analyses, not merely the -“economic costs” of competition, but also -the “ethical costs,” which after all are the -most important. The difference to the -workingman will be, not merely that his -wages will be several times as great, but that -he himself will no longer be a wage-slave, -obliged to serve another man for his bread, -to cringe and grovel for a a job, to toil all -day for another man’s profit, and save up -his little hoard and live in dread of the next -wage reduction, the next strike, or the next -closing down of the factory. He will be -a free and independent member of a coöperative -State. He will be delivered from the -necessity of getting the better of his neighbour, -because his neighbour will no longer -be able to get the better of him. He will -be certain of permanent employment, without -possibility of loss or failure of payment—certain -that so long as he works he will -receive just what he produces, that in case of -accident or old age he will be maintained, -and that in case of death his children will -be cared for and brought up to become -coöperative partners in the great Industrial -Republic.</p> -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_220a.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>From “The Cost of Competition</em>”</span><br /><br />THE COOPERATIVE DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION<br /><br />The Congressional Library</p> -</div> -</div> - -<div class='figcenter id001'> -<img src='images/i_220b.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>From “The Cost of Competition</em>”</span><br /><br />THE COMPETITIVE DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>How, you ask, could Socialism guarantee -every man permanent employment? Could -there not be overproduction under Socialism? -There could not; the surplus product being -the property of the man who had produced -it, and not, as now, the property of some -other man, in a case of overproduction the -workingman would be, not out of work, -but on a vacation. As a matter of fact, -only a reasonable surplus would be produced, -because the workingman would stop -when he had produced what he wanted—just -as you stop eating when you have -satisfied your hunger.</p> - -<p class='c007'>In the Industrial Republic there will be -an administrative officer, a cabinet official -with a bureau of clerks, whose task it will -be to register the decrees of the law of supply -and demand. It is found, let us assume, -that the amount of coal needed by the -community is represented by the labour of -two million men, five days in the week, -and six hours a day; the number of shoes -is represented by the labour of half a million -men the same time. The wages in -each trade are ten dollars a day, and at this -rate it is found that two million men go to -the shoe factories to work and only half a -million to the coal mines. The wages of -coal mining are therefore made twelve -dollars, and the wages of shoe-making -eight dollars; if the balance still does not -<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>adjust itself, it will at the rate of thirteen to -seven, or fourteen to six. Every week the -government list shows the wages that can -be earned in the various trades; stoking in -a steamship is a painful and dangerous -task—stokers in steamships are receiving -twenty dollars a day, and still few takers, -so that the steamships have to be fitted with -stoking machinery at once. On the other -hand, driving a rural-delivery mail-wagon -is pleasant work, and is paying at present -only five dollars a day, and with prospects -of going still lower. And does all this seem -fantastic to you? But it is exactly the way -our employment problem is solved to-day, -when it is solved at all; it is solved by means -of “Help Wanted” advertisements and -viva voce rumours—imperfectly, blindly and -sluggishly, instead of instantly, intelligently -and consciously by a universal government -information bureau. Out in the country -where I lived two years ago the farmers were -unable to get help for love or money, while -millions were out of work and starving in -the cities; and that is only one of the thousands -of illustrations one could give of -“how much depends, when two men go -out to catch a horse, upon whether they -devote their time to catching him, or to -preventing each other from catching him.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The <cite>Independent</cite> recently published an -article entitled “Poverty: Its Cause and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>Cure,” by Mr. James Mackaye, a Harvard -graduate and technological chemist; in the -course of its editorial comment the paper -hailed his plan for the abolition of poverty -as “nothing less than a very great invention.” -“It adds something that was lacking -in the older schemes of Socialism,” the -<cite>Independent</cite> continued, “but absolutely -necessary to any Socialism that would be -practically workable.” This “something” -is a device to increase the salaries of managers -of the various industrial departments -in proportion as they reduced the “producing -time” of the commodity for which -they were responsible. Mr. Mackaye is -another student who, like Professor Reeve -and Professor Veblen, have come into -Socialism by their own routes. In his -elaborate book, “The Economy of Happiness,” -he shows so thorough a grasp of the -whole subject that I cannot suppose him -to share in the ignorance of the literature -of modern proletarian Socialism, which -leads the <cite>Independent</cite> to hail his plan as -a “great invention.” As a matter of fact, -I could name a score of Socialist books and -pamphlets in which such plans are suggested -and discussed. I personally have -always rejected them as unsound in -theory and unnecessary in practice. I -have already suggested the likelihood of -a continuance of present official salaries -<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>after the revolution; but there will be a -strong tendency to reduce these, and I can -see no ultimate result except equality of -compensation by the State. I can see no -theoretical basis for the State’s paying to -any employee more than it pays to another -in the same industry—hand labour being -equally as necessary to the production of -wealth as is superintendence. To my mind, -the only necessary stimulus to efficiency is -the community of interest of all the workers. -The incentive to the manager is emulation, -and the higher range of activity which goes -with a position of command; and I should -be very jealous of the introduction of any -pecuniary motive into the struggle for -promotion—as likely to continue the old -evils of graft and favouritism to which we -are now subject. I do not think that, -when you have so organised industry that -every man is working for himself, you will -find it necessary to employ any outside -force to impel him to work; and in fact I -should consider it a violation of the rights -of the worker to attempt anything of the -sort. Of course if the workers themselves -chose to offer a bonus to a manager to -invent new methods, that would be another -matter; but that would come under the -head of intellectual production, which I shall -consider later on.</p> - -<p class='c007'>In discussing the question of salaries, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>it is to be pointed out what a vast difference -will be made in the amount of money which -every individual needs, by the socialisation -of all the leading industries. In the Industrial -Republic a thousand dollars a -year will buy more comfort and happiness -than ten thousand in the world as at present -organised. There will come, at the very -outset, the great economic savings already -outlined; and then, the whole power -of the coöperative mind of man being -applied to the elimination of waste and the -making of beauty and joy, we shall have -in a very short time a world in which few -men will care to cumber themselves with -possessions of any sort excepting the clothes -upon their backs and the few tools of their -intellectual trades,—books, music, etc. The -abolition of privilege and class exploitation -will of course wipe out at a stroke all that -competition in ostentation which Professor -Veblen has entitled “conspicuous consumption -of goods.” In the Industrial -Republic there will be no luxury, for there -will be no slavery. There will be no menial -service of any sort under Socialism. I -believe that this gives one a key by which -he can do a great deal of predicting as to -what will be found in the world when the -impending revolution has taken place. In -the Industrial Republic no man will work -for another man—except for love—because -<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>no other man will be able to pay the “prevailing -rate of wages.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is the vision of this that makes the -critics of Socialism cry out that it will -destroy the home. What they mean is -that it will destroy that kind of a home which -exists upon a basis of butlers, cooks and -kitchen maids, banquets and carriages, -jewellery and fine raiment, sweat shops, and -slums, prostitution, child-labour, war and -crime. Unless I am very much mistaken, -those people who now wear diamonds, -and decorate their homes with all sorts of -objects of “art,” would do a great deal less -of it if they had to pay for it with their own -toil—if they were not able to pay for it with -money extracted from the toil of others. -I imagine that those who now, in our restaurants -and banquet halls, gorge themselves -upon the contents of earth, sea, and -sky, would dine very much more simply—and -very much more wholesomely—if they -had to wash the dishes. For this reason, -I expect that in the Industrial Republic -there will be very little of that pseudo-art -which ministers to vanity and sensuality. -Our houses and clothing will become simpler -and more dignified, and the artist will -turn his thoughts to public works—he will -decorate the parks and public buildings, -the theatres, concert halls and libraries, -the great coöperative dining halls and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>apartment houses. In the cities and towns -of the Industrial Republic there will of -course be possibilities of beauty such as we -cannot even dream of at present. Now our -cities grow haphazard, and are typical of -all our blindness, selfishness, and misery. -At every turn in them one comes upon new -and more painful signs of these things—filthy -and horrible slums, blatant and vulgar -advertisements, insolent rich people in -carriages, wan and starving children in the -gutters. In the Industrial Republic a city -will be one thing, and a work of art. It -will not be crowded, for the combination -of poverty and the railroad trust will not -make spreading out impossible. Intelligent, -coöperative effort having become the rule, -nearly all the things that are now done -privately and selfishly will be done socially. -Manual work will not be a disgrace, and -poverty will not keep any man ignorant, -filthy and repulsive. There will be no -classes and no class feeling. There will -be not only public schools and academies—there -will be public playgrounds for all -children, and clubs and places of recreation -for men and women. In the Industrial -Republic you will not mind going to such -places and letting your children go. You -will not be afraid of disease, because there -will be public hospitals for all the sick; and -you will not be afraid of rowdies, because -<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>the rowdy is a product of the slum, and there -will not be any slum.</p> - -<p class='c007'>At present, we are all engaged in a -struggle to beguile as much money out of -each other as we can; and the State has -nothing to do save to stand by and see fair -play—and commonly finds that task too -much for it! As a consequence, we find ourselves -confronted with an infinite variety of -little petty exactions—we have to spend -money every time we turn around. Very -soon after the Revolution, I fancy, men will -begin to realise that these little exactions -are more of a nuisance than a saving. For -instance, I shall be very much surprised, if, -a generation from now, the use of postage-stamps -is not abolished. At present, with -society wasting so immense a portion of -its energy in competitive advertising, every -piece of matter which goes into the mail -has to be made to pay its way; but once do -away with competition, and the only mail -is government documents and personal -letters—and the time it takes to stamp and -cancel them will be many times greater than -the cost of carrying the additional number of -letters that a free mail service would bring -forth. In the same way it will be found not -worth while to employ conductors and -spotters, and print tickets and transfers; -after that we shall ride free on our street-cars, -and perhaps ultimately in our government -<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>railroad trains. Similarly, all our -places of recreation and of artistic expression -would come to be free; and then some one -would realise the waste incidental to our -present system of book buying, and we -should then have a universal national -library, from which at frequent intervals -delivery service would bring you any books -then in existence. I have just witnessed in -New York an exhibition of an invention -which will make music as free as air. Bellamy -was ridiculed for predicting “electric -music” in the year 2000; and it is on sale -in New York City in the year 1907. By -this marvellous machine, the “telharmonium,” -all previously existing musical instruments -are relegated to the junk heap; -and all music composed for them becomes -out of date. At one leap the art of music -is set free from all physical limitations, and -the musician is given command of all possible -tones, and may play to ten thousand -audiences at once. It is worth while pointing -out, that, living under the capitalist -system as we are, the inventor had no recourse -save to use his machine to make -profits, and so the newspapers, which are -also in business for profits, left it to make its -own way. So it came about that the first -public exhibition of an invention which -means more to humanity than any discovery -since the art of printing, received -<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>mention in only one New York paper, and -that to the extent of three or four inches.</p> - -<p class='c006'>But to return to the Revolution, and the -first steps which have to be taken.</p> - -<p class='c007'>There are some industries which anyone -can see are all ready for public ownership; -and when the people have once found out -the way, they will be very impatient with -all remaining forms of rent, interest, profit -and dividends. Also, the exploiters will -soon learn to give way. Just as soon as the -proprietors of department stores find that -the people seriously intend to open a public -store in every city, and to sell goods at cost, -they will be glad to sell out for a few cents -on the dollar; just as soon as the bankers -find out that there is really to be a national -bank, charging no interest, and incapable -of failing, they will do the same with their -buildings and outfits. To quote a paragraph -from “The Jungle” (page 405), -“The coöperative Commonwealth is a universal -automatic insurance company and -savings bank for all its members. Capital -being the property of all, injury to it is -shared by all and made up by all. The -bank is the universal government credit -account, the ledger in which every individual’s -earnings and spendings are balanced. -There is also a universal government bulletin, -in which are listed and precisely -<span class='pageno' id='Page_231'>231</span>described everything which the Commonwealth -has for sale. As no one makes any -profit by the sale, there is no longer any -stimulus to extravagance, and no misrepresentation, -no cheating, no adulteration -or imitation, no bribery, no ‘grafting.’”</p> - -<p class='c007'>There remains only one other great problem -to be mentioned—that of agriculture. -I think no one will want to interfere with -the farmer, any more than with the cobbler, -the small storekeeper, the newsman or any -other petty business. The farmer will stay -on his land, and make money—and study the -situation. He will find in the first place -that coöperation is a success, and has come -to stay. He will find that while he is working -with his hands, the rest of society is -working with steam and electricity, and -leaving him far behind. He will find that he -can no longer hire help—that his hired man -is employed as a coöperative worker, and -receiving several times more than the farmer -himself. He will understand that to -get his share of all the good things of the -new civilisation, he will have to put his land -into the common fund, and work for the -commonwealth and not for his own wealth. -In this case, of course, all the risks and -losses of his trade will be shared by the whole -community—the result of a bad crop in -Maine being made up by a good crop in -California, so that the farmer who works -<span class='pageno' id='Page_232'>232</span>will be as certain of gain and as free from -care as the factory hand.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And now let us consider the effect of this -new system upon certain of the leading -features of our civilisation. What, for instance, -will be the effect of Socialism -upon crime? The man who becomes a -criminal at present finds himself in a -world where he is compelled to work -for some other man’s profit, and to -have flaunted in his face every hour the -wealth which has been exacted from his -toil. But now he will find himself in a -world from which luxury and pauperism -have been banished, and in which coöperation -and mutual fellowship is the law. He -will find that he gets just what he produces, -and that he can produce in a day more than -he can steal in a month. Don’t you think -that the criminal may find these powerful -motives to become a worker? He may -be a degenerate, of course, in which case we -shall put him in a hospital; we should do -that now, if we did not feel dimly that it -would be of no use, because our social system -is making criminals faster than we can -pen them up, and makes the life of the -majority of the working-class so horrible -that men have been known to steal on purpose -to get into jail.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I have tried in “The Jungle” to give a -picture of the process whereby the forces -<span class='pageno' id='Page_233'>233</span>of commercialism turn honest workingmen -into criminals and tramps. There is -also another story to which I would -refer the reader who cares to have more -acquaintance with such conditions—“An Eye -for an Eye,” by Clarence Darrow.—And -also, while we are considering this subject, -let us not forget how the change would -affect the criminals of the future, the -wretched children of the slums and gutters, -who will now be cared for by the State, and -made into decent citizens in public asylums -and hospitals, training schools and playgrounds.</p> - -<p class='c007'>What will be the effect of Socialism upon -prostitution? Any young girl can go to the -public factories or stores, to the coöperative -boarding houses and hotels, the schools -and nursery playgrounds, and secure employment -for the asking, and support herself -by a couple of hours’ work a day in -decent and attractive surroundings. She -will, moreover, be able to marry the man -who loves her, because the problem of a -living will no longer enter into the question -of marriage. She will be able to restrict -her family to as many as she and her husband -care to support, because she will be -as intelligent and sensible as the women of -our present upper classes.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The question of the relationship of the -system of wage-slavery to the lives of women -<span class='pageno' id='Page_234'>234</span>is too vast a one to be even outlined here; -suffice it to say that the Socialist battle is -the battle of woman, even more than it is -the battle of the workingman. I cannot -do better than to refer the reader to another -book in which the whole question of the -effects which age-long conditions of economic -inferiority has wrought in the minds and -bodies of women is discussed in scientific -and yet fascinating form—Mrs. Gilman’s -“Woman and Economics.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>What will be the effect of Socialism upon -drunkenness? Under Socialism the workingman -will have a decent home, and attractive -clubs, reading rooms, and places -of entertainment of all sorts, with -plenty of time to frequent them. He -will have steady employment, wholesome -food, a pleasant place to work in, and—railroad -fares being almost nothing—a trip -to the country when he fancies it. His -wife will not be an overworked, repulsive -drudge, and his children will not be starving -brats. When he wants a drink he will go -to a public drinking-place and get it; what -he gets will be pure, and will be sold him -by a man who has no interest in getting him -drunk. On the contrary, the attendant -may be getting a royalty upon all nonintoxicating -drinks he sells, and the drinker -will quite certainly be paying a big tax upon -all the intoxicating drinks he buys. Do -<span class='pageno' id='Page_235'>235</span>you not think that all this may have some -effect upon the nation’s drink bill, which -now is doubling itself every decade?</p> - -<p class='c007'>Recently I was invited by the <cite>Christian -Herald</cite> to contribute to a symposium upon -the question of prohibition. I wrote as -follows: “In my opinion the drink evil -is primarily an effect, and not a cause; it is -a by-product of wage-slavery. The -working classes are to-day organised as the -bond slaves of capital. The conditions -under which they live are such as to brutalise -and degrade them and drive them to drink. -As I have phrased it in “The Jungle,” if -a man has to live in hell, he would a great -deal rather be drunk than sober. The -solution of the drink evil waits upon the -coming of Socialism.</p> - -<p class='c007'>“As a part of the capitalist system, you -have liquor sold for profit, and the liquor -interests are one of the forces which dominate -the land. Therefore, you are unable -to effect any legislation to correct the evil. -Liquor is sold in order to make money out -of the victim, therefore every inducement and -temptation is laid before him. Under -Socialism, the only barkeeper would be -the community, and the community would -have every object in limiting the traffic. -The children of the masses would be taken -in hand and taught the secret of right living; -and when they grew up they would have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_236'>236</span>enough to eat and the means of keeping -in working condition, and would know -other sources of happiness than drunkenness. -At present, attempts to reform the -evil are attempts to sweep back the tide. -Moreover, it is to be noticed that many of -those who are most active in the work are -themselves busily engaged in exploiting the -working-class in their private business, -and are therefore directly identified with -the cause of the evil they are attempting -to combat.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>What will be the effect of Socialism upon -war? The New York <cite>Sun</cite> recently -expressed the opinion that the end of war -will come only with the Golden Age. If so, -the Golden Age is within sight of all of us. -Socialism will abolish war as inevitably, as -naturally and serenely, as the sunrise abolishes -the night. The cause of war is foreign -markets; and under Socialism the markets -will all be at home. Under Socialism the -existence of the workers of the United States, -of England, Germany, and Japan, will not -be dependent upon the ability of their -masters to sell their surplus products for -profit to Chinamen. Under Socialism an -international Congress will take in hand -the backward nations, will clean out their -sewers and wipe out their plagues and -famines, their kings and their capitalists, -their ignorance, their superstition and their -<span class='pageno' id='Page_237'>237</span>wars. It will do these things because they -need to be done—it will not do them as a -mere pretence to cover greed for gold mines -and markets. Outside of mines and markets -there is no longer any cause of war, -save the old race hatreds which these have -begotten; and race hatreds are not known -among Socialists. In their last International -Congress a Russian and a Japanese -shook hands upon the platform, while their -countrymen were flying at each other’s -throats in Manchuria. The Socialist movement -is a world movement—it has brought -under its banners, working shoulder to -shoulder, men and women of all religions, -races and colours. With their victory, and -only with their victory, will the efforts of -“Peace Congresses” bear fruit.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Finally, what will be the effect of Socialism -upon the “System”? It is important to -distinguish between corruption as a sporadic -event, an accident here and there, and -corruption as a national institution. In -the Industrial Republic a worker might of -course bribe his foreman to let him cheat -the community; but that would be every -man’s loss, and there would be every inducement -to find it out and make it known, and -no hindrance whatever to its punishment. -At present, however, we have corruption -organised in town, county, city, state, and -nation, with every inducement to keep it -<span class='pageno' id='Page_238'>238</span>hidden, and almost no possibility of punishing -it. Everybody understands that we -have corporations, and that the corporations -rule us; all that everybody does not -yet understand is that the continuance of -their rule would mean the ruin of free -institutions in America, and ultimately the -downfall of civilisation itself.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I have outlined the economic and political -conditions which I believe will prevail in -the Industrial Republic; there remains to -consider what influences these will exert -upon the moral and intellectual life of men.</p> - -<p class='c007'>When people criticise the Socialist programme -they always think about government -censors and red tape, and limitations upon -free endeavour; and so they say that Socialism -would lead to a reign of tameness and -mediocrity. They tell us that under the -new régime we should all have to wear the -same kind of coat and eat the same kind of -pie. They argue that if all the means -of production are owned by the Government -there will be no way for you to get your own -kind of pie; failing to perceive that government -control of the means of production no -more implies government control of the -product, than government control of the -post office means government control of -the contents of your letters. Said a good -clergyman friend of mine: “What possible -<span class='pageno' id='Page_239'>239</span>place, for instance, would there be for <em>me</em> -in your Socialist society.” And I answered, -“There would be just exactly the same place -for you that there is at present. How is it -that you get your living and your freedom? -You are maintained by an association of -people who want the work you can do. -Every clergyman in the country is maintained -in that way—and so are thousands -upon thousands of editors, authors, artists, -actors—so are all our clubs, societies, -restaurants, theatres and orchestras. The -Government has absolutely nothing to do -with them at present—and the Government -need have absolutely nothing to do with -them under Socialism. The people who -want them subscribe and pay for them. -Under our present system they pay the cost -to private profit-seekers; under Socialism -they would pay the State.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>In the Industrial Republic a man will be -able to order anything he wishes, from a -flying machine to a seven-legged spider -made of diamonds; and the only question -that anyone will ever dream of asking him -will be: “Have you got the money to pay -for it?” There remains only to add that, -the system of wealth-distribution being -now one of justice, that question will mean: -“Have you performed for society the equivalent -of the labour-time of the article you -desire society to furnish you?”</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_240'>240</span>Nine-tenths of the argument against -Socialism dissolves into mist the moment -one states that single all-important fact, -that Socialism is a science of <em>economics</em>. -For instance, Mr. Bryan has recently published -in the <cite>Century Magazine</cite> an article -entitled “Individualism versus Socialism;” -and here is the way he contrasts the two: -“The individualist believes that competition -is not only a helpful but a necessary force in -society, to be guarded and protected; the -Socialist regards competition as a hurtful -force, to be entirely exterminated.” Now -there are endless varieties of competition -with which Socialism could in no conceivable -way interfere: the competition of love, and -of friendship; the competition of political -life; the competition of ideals, of music -and books, of philosophy and science. It -is the claim of the Socialists that by setting -men free from the money-greed and the -money-terror—from the need of struggling to -deprive other men of the necessities of life -in order to prevent them from depriving -you of these necessities—the mind of the -race would be set free for more vigorous -competition in these other fields, and thus -the development of real individuality would -be for the first time made possible. This -being the desire of the Socialist, it should be -clear how fundamental is the misconception -of Mr. Bryan, indicated by the bare title -<span class='pageno' id='Page_241'>241</span>of his article—“Individualism versus Socialism.” -Socialism is not opposed to Individualism, -and to set the two in opposition is -like the attempt to imagine a fight between -an elephant and a whale.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Socialism is a proposition for an economic -re-organisation; as such, the only thing to -which it can logically and intelligently be -opposed is Capitalism. Mr. Bryan indicates -that he discerns this, in another -portion of his article. He says; “For the -purpose of this discussion Individualism -will be defined as the private ownership of -the means of production and distribution -where competition is possible, leaving to -public ownership those means of production -and distribution in which competition is -practically impossible; and Socialism will -be defined as the collective ownership, -through the State, of all the means of production -and distribution.” For general unfairness -this statement makes me think of -the story of a man who was riding through -the country and stopped to admire a fine -pair of turkeys, and after praising them -with enthusiasm, remarked to the farmer: -“I will match you for them! Heads they -are mine, and tails they stay yours.” Mr. -Bryan has composed a subtly worded definition -of Individualism which takes all the -kernels from the Socialist ear, and leaves -to the Socialist only the husk. “Leaving -<span class='pageno' id='Page_242'>242</span>to public ownership those means of production -and distribution in which competition -is practically impossible!” What a beautiful -field for controversy, and what endless -opportunities for compromise and concession, -for advance or retreat! Ten years -ago Mr. Bryan would not have appreciated -the necessity of inserting this clause; industrial -evolution had not proceeded quite -so far, and all our radicals were bending -their efforts to destroying the trusts. It -was only after the last presidential election, -unless I am mistaken, that Mr. Bryan -definitely committed himself to the public -ownership “of those means of production -and distribution in which competition is -practically impossible.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>If Mr. Bryan would only procure and read -a really authoritative treatise upon modern -scientific Socialism (say Vandervelde’s “Collectivism -and Industrial Evolution”) he -would understand that his programme is -so close to that of the Socialists that the -difference would require a microscope to -discern. In fact, I imagine that the majority -of modern proletarian thinkers would -be willing to subscribe to the programme of -“Individualism” exactly as Mr. Bryan -states it: “the private ownership of the -means of production and distribution where -competition is possible, leaving to public -ownership those means of production and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_243'>243</span>distribution in which competition is practically -impossible.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>The one point to be made absolutely -clear in this matter is that the Industrial -Republic will be an organisation for the -supplying of the <em>material necessities</em> of -human life. With the moral and intellectual -affairs of men it can have very little -to do. What Socialism proposes to organise -and systematise is industry, not thought. -The difference between the products of -industry and those of thought is a fundamental -one. The former are strictly limited -in quantity, and the latter are infinite. No -man can have more than his fair share of -the former without depriving his neighbour; -but to a thought there is no such limit—a -single poem or symphony may do for a -million just as well as for one. With the former -it is possible for one man to gain control -and oppress others; but it is not possible to -monopolise thought. And it is in consequence -of this fact that laws and systems -are necessary with the things of the body, -which would be preposterous with the -things of the mind. The bodily needs of -men are pretty much all alike. Men -need food, clothing, shelter, light, air, and -heat; and they need these of pretty nearly -the same quality and in pretty nearly the -same quantity—so that they can be furnished -methodically year in and year out, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_244'>244</span>according to order. This is being done -by our present industrial masters for profit; -in the Industrial Republic it will be done -by the State, for use.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Quite otherwise is it with things in which -men are not alike—their religions and their -arts and their sciences. The only conditions -under which the State can with any -justice or efficiency have to do with production -in these fields, is after men have -come to agreement—when opinion has given -place to knowledge. For instance, we have, -in certain fields of science, methods which -we can consider as agreed upon; it would -be perfectly possible for the State to endow -astronomical investigators, and seekers of the -North Pole, and inventors of flying machines, -and pioneers in all the technical arts. In -the same way we come to agree, within -certain limits, what is a worth-while play -or book; in so far as we agree, we can have -government theatres and publishing houses, -government newspapers and magazines. If -ever science should discover the rationale -of the phenomenon of genius, so that we -could analyse and judge it with precision, -we should then have the whole problem -solved.</p> - -<p class='c007'>You are a writer, perhaps; and you say -that you would not relish the idea of bringing -your book to a government official to -be judged. Ask yourself, however, if some -<span class='pageno' id='Page_245'>245</span>of your prejudice may not be due to your -conception of a government official as the -representative of a class, and of the interests -of a class. In the Industrial Republic -there will be no classes, and the officers -of the coöperative publishing house will -have no one to serve but the people. If -they are not satisfactory to the people, the -people can get rid of them—something the -people cannot do anywhere in the world -to-day. You think, perhaps, that you -choose your own governors in this country—but -you do not. What you do is -to go to the polls and choose between two -sets of candidates, both of whom have -been selected by your economic rulers as -being satisfactory to them.</p> - -<p class='c007'>While I do not profess to be certain, I -imagine that an author who wanted his -book published by the Government would -have to pay the expenses of the publication. -This would not be any hardship, -for wages in the Industrial Republic -could not be less than ten dollars for a -day of six hours’ work. With the rapid -improvement in machinery and methods -that would follow, they would probably -soon be double that—and of course it -would rest with the people who were doing -the work to see that it was done in an attractive -place, with plenty of fresh air and due -safeguards against accidents. Under these -<span class='pageno' id='Page_246'>246</span>conditions a man of refinement could go -to a factory to work for pleasure and exercise, -instead of pulling at ropes in a gymnasium, -as he commonly does nowadays. And -when a young author had earned the cost -of making his book, he would have done -all that he had to do. He would not have -to enter into a race in vulgar advertising -with exploiting private concerns; nor -would the public form its ideas of his work -from criticisms in reviews which were run -to secure advertisements, and which gave -their space to the books that were advertised -the most. Neither would his -critics be employed by a class, to maintain -the interests of a class, and to keep down -the aspirations of some other class. Also, -the book-reading public would no longer -consist—as our present society so largely -consists—of idle and unfeeling rich, and -ignorant, debased and hunger-driven poor.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And then, as I said, there is a second -method—the method of the churches and -clubs. Out in Chicago there was, four -years ago, a man who thought there ought -to be more Socialist books published than -there were. He had no money; but he -drew up a programme for a coöperative -publishing house, to furnish Socialist literature -at cost to those who wanted it. He -got some ten thousand dollars in ten-dollar -shares, and since then he has been turning -<span class='pageno' id='Page_247'>247</span>out half a million pieces of Socialist literature -every year. That seems to me a -perfect illustration of what would happen -in the new society, the second way in which -books would be published. Such concerns—free -associations, as they are termed in -the Socialist vocabulary—would spring up -literally by the thousands. They would -cover every field that the liberated soul of -man might be interested in, they would care -for every type of thinker and artist, no -matter how eccentric; they would offer -encouragement to every man who showed -the slightest sign of power in any field. -The only reason we do not have many times -as many of these associations as we have -now, is simply that those people who really -care about the higher things of life are -almost invariably poor and helpless.</p> - -<p class='c007'>One of the curious things which I have -observed about those who pick flaws in -the suggestions of the Socialist, is how -seldom it ever occurs to them to apply -their own tests to the present system of -things. How is it with art and literature -production now—are all the conditions -quite free from objection? Is the man of -genius always encouraged and protected, -and set free to develop his powers?</p> - -<p class='c007'>In the <cite>North American Review</cite> a couple -of years ago there appeared an article by -Mrs. Gertrude Atherton, in which she set -<span class='pageno' id='Page_248'>248</span>forth her opinion that “American literature -to-day is the most timid, the most anæmic, -the most lacking in individualities, the most -bourgeois, that any country has ever -known.” This seemed to perplex Mrs. -Atherton very much—she could not comprehend -why such a very great country -should have a “bourgeois” literature. I -replied to her in a paper which was published -in <cite>Collier’s Weekly</cite>, in which I -maintained that “American literature is -the most bourgeois that any country has -ever known, simply because American life -is the most bourgeois that any country has -ever known.” I shall quote a few paragraphs -from the essay, which began with an -attempt to define the word “bourgeois”:</p> - -<p class='c007'>It signifies, in a sentence, that type of -civilisation, of law and convention, which -was made necessary by the economic struggle, -and which is now maintained by the -economic victors for their own comfort and -the perpetuation of their power. The -<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bourgeoisie</span></i>, or middle class, is that class -which, all over the world, takes the sceptre -of power as it falls from the hands of the -political aristocracy; which has the skill -and cunning to survive in the free-for-all -combat which follows upon the political -revolution. Its dominion is based upon -wealth; and hence the determining characteristic -of the bourgeois society is its regard -<span class='pageno' id='Page_249'>249</span>for wealth. To it, wealth is power, it is -the end and goal of things. The aristocrat -knew nothing of the possibility of revolution, -and so he was bold and gay. The -bourgeois <em>does</em> know about the possibility -of revolution, and so it is that Mrs. Atherton -finds that our literature is “timid.” She -finds it “anæmic,” simply because the -bourgeois ideal knows nothing of the spirit, -and tolerates intellectual activity only for -the ends of commerce and material welfare. -She finds also that it “bows before the -fetich of the body,” and she is much perplexed -by the discovery. She does not -seem to understand that the bourgeois -represents an achievement of the body, and -that all that he knows in the world is body. -He is well fed himself, his wife is stout, and -his children are fine and vigorous. He -lives in a big house, and wears the latest -thing in clothes; his civilisation furnishes -these to every one—at least to every one who -amounts to anything; and beyond that he -understands nothing—save only the desire -to be entertained. It is for entertainment -that he buys books, and as entertainment -that he regards them; and hence another -characteristic of the bourgeois literature -is its lack of seriousness. The bourgeois -writer has a certain kind of seriousness, of -course—the seriousness of a hungry man -seeking his dinner; but the seriousness of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_250'>250</span>the artist he does not know. He will roar -you as gently as any sucking dove, he will -also wring tears from your eyes or thrill -you with terror, according as the fashion -of the hour suggests; but he knows exactly -why he does these things, and he can do -them between chats at his club. If you -expected him to act like his heroes, he -would think that you were mad.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The basis of a bourgeois society is cash -payment; it recognises only the accomplished -fact. To be a Milton with a “Paradise -Lost” in your pocket is to be a tramp: -to be a great author in the bourgeois literary -world is to have sold a hundred thousand -copies, and to have sold them within memory—that -is, a year or two. With the -bourgeois, success is success, and there is -no going behind the returns; to discriminate -between different kinds of success would -be to introduce new and dangerous distinctions. -As Mr. John L. Sullivan once -phrased it: “A big man is a big man, it -don’t matter if he’s a prize-fighter or a -president.” Mr. John L. Sullivan is a big -man himself; so is Mr. Frank Munsey, -and so was Mr. Henry Romeike, and so -was Senator Hanna. So are they all, all -honourable men, and when you look up in -“Who’s Who,” you find that they are there.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The bourgeois ideal is a perfectly definite -and concrete one: it has mostly all been -<span class='pageno' id='Page_251'>251</span>attained—there are only a few small details -left to be attended to, such as the -cleaning of the streets and the suppressing -of the labour unions. Thus there is no call -for perplexity, and no use for anything -hard to understand. Originality is superfluous, -and eccentricity is anathema. The -world is as it always has been, and human -nature will always be as it is; the thing to -do is to find out what the public likes. The -public likes pathos and the homely virtues; -and so we give it “Eben Holden” and -“David Harum.” The public likes high -life, and so we give it Richard Harding Davis -and Marie Corelli. The public does <em>not</em> -like passion; it likes sentiment, however—it -even likes heroics, provided they are conventionalised, -and so to amuse it we turn -all history into a sugar-coated romance. -The public’s strong point is love, and we -lay much stress upon the love-element—though -with limitations, needless to say. -The idea of love as a serious problem among -men and women is dismissed, because the -social organisation enables us to satisfy -our passions with the daughters of the poor. -Our own daughters know nothing about -passion, and we ourselves know it only as -an item in our bank accounts. To the -bourgeois young lady—the Gibson girl, as -she is otherwise known—literary love is -a sentiment, ranking with a box of bonbons, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_252'>252</span>and actual love is a class marriage with an -artificially restricted progeny.</p> - -<p class='c007'>These which have been described are -the positive and more genial aspects of the -bourgeois civilisation; the savage and terrible -remain to be mentioned. For it must -be understood that this civilisation of comfort -and respectability furnishes its good -things only to a class, and to an exceedingly -small class. The majority of mankind it -pens up in filthy hovels and tenements, to -feed upon husks and rot in misery. This -was once easy, but now it is growing harder—and -thus little by little the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">bourgeoisie</span></i> is -losing its temper. Just now it is like a fat -poodle by a stove—you think it is asleep -and venture to touch it, when quick as a -flash it has put its fangs in you to the bone.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The bourgeois civilisation is, in one -word, an organised system of repression. -In the physical world it has the police and -the militia, the bludgeon, the bullet, and -the jail; in the world of ideas it has the -political platform, the school, the college, -the press, the church—and literature. The -bourgeois controls these things precisely -as he controls the labour of society, by his -control of the purse-strings. Unless proper -candidates are named by political parties, -there are no campaign funds; unless proper -teachers and college presidents are chosen, -there are no endowments. Thus it happens -<span class='pageno' id='Page_253'>253</span>that our students are taught a political -economy carefully divorced, not merely -from humanity, but also from science, -history, and sense; any other kind of political -economy the student sometimes despises—more -commonly he does not even -know that it exists. And it is just the same -with the churches and with theology. We -have at present established in this land a -religion which exists in the name of the -world’s greatest revolutionist, the founder -of the Socialist movement; this man denounced -the bourgeois and the bourgeois -ideal more vehemently than ever it has since -been denounced—declaring in plain words -that no bourgeois could get into Heaven; -and yet his church is to-day, in all its forms, -and in every civilised land, the main pillar -of bourgeois society!</p> - -<p class='c007'>With the press the bourgeois has a still -more direct method than endowment; the -press he owns. All the daily newspapers -in New York, for instance, are the property -of millionaires, and are run by them in -their own interests, exactly the same as -their stables or their <em>cuisine</em>. That does -not mean, of course, that many of their -journalistic menials are not sincere—it does -not mean that the college presidents and -clergymen may not be sincere. One of -the quaintest things about the bourgeois -editor, the bourgeois college president, the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_254'>254</span>bourgeois clergyman, is the whole-souled -naïveté with which he takes it for granted -that just as all civilisation exists for the -comfort of the bourgeois, so also all truth -must necessarily be such as the bourgeois -would desire it to be.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And then there is literature. The bourgeois -recognises the novelist and the poet -as a means of amusement somewhat above -the prostitute, and about on a level with -the music-hall artist; he recognises the -essayist, the historian, and the publicist as -agents of bourgeois repression equally as -necessary as the clergyman and the editor. -To all of them he grants the good things -of the bourgeois life, a bourgeois home with -servants who know their places, and a -bourgeois club with smiling and obsequious -waiters. They may even, on state occasions, -become acquainted with the bourgeois magnates, -and touch the gracious fingers of -the magnates’ pudgy wives. There is only -one condition, so obvious that it hardly -needs to be mentioned—they must be -bourgeois, they must see life from the bourgeois -point of view. Beyond that there is -not the least restriction; the novelist, for -instance, may roam the whole of space and -time—there is nothing in life that he may -not treat, provided only that he be bourgeois -in his treatment. He may show us -the olden time, with noble dames and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_255'>255</span>gallant gentlemen dallying with graceful -sentiment. He may entertain us with pictures -of the modern world, may dazzle us -with visions of high society in all its splendours, -may awe us with the wonders of -modern civilisation, of steam and electricity, -the flying machine and the automobile. -He may thrill us with battle, murder, and -Sherlock Holmes. He may bring tears -to our eyes at the thought of the old -folks at home, or at his pictures of the -honesty, humility, and sobriety of the common -man; he may even go to the slums -and show us the ways of Mrs. Wiggs, her -patient frugality and beautiful contentment -in that state of life to which it has pleased -God to call her. In any of these fields the -author, if he is worth his salt, may be -“entertaining”—and so the royalties will -come in. If there is any one whom this -does not suit—who is so perverse that the -bourgeois do not please him, or so obstinate -that he will not learn to please the bourgeois—we -send after him our literary policeman, -the bourgeois reviewer, and bludgeon -him into silence; or better yet, we simply -leave him alone, and he moves into a garret. -The bourgeois garrets resemble the bourgeois -excursion steamers. They are never -so crowded that there is not room for as -many more as want to come on board; and -any young author who imagines that he can -<span class='pageno' id='Page_256'>256</span>bear to starve longer than the world can -bear to let him starve, is welcome to try it. -Letting things starve is the specialty of the -bourgeois society—the vast majority of -the creatures in it are starving all the time.</p> - -<p class='c007'>So much for things as they are. The -Revolution will, of course, not change our -present bourgeois people—except that it -will scare them thoroughly, and make them -teachable. But it will bring to the front -an enormous class of people to whom life -is a new and wondrous thing; and their -children also will grow up in a different -world, and with a different ideal; and so -a generation from now there will be a new -art public. The people who compose it -will not have been forced to consider money -the only thing in life, the sole test of excellence -and power; they will not have -been brought up on the motto, “Do others -or they will do you.” They will have been -brought up in a world in which no man is -able to “do” another man, and in which -all men stand as equals as regards money. -They will have been brought up in a world -in which work and a decent life are the right -and duty of every man, and are taken for -granted with every man; in which influence, -reputation, and command are given -for other things than money. If it be true -that faith, hope, and charity are greater -things than wealth, it is perhaps not altogether -<span class='pageno' id='Page_257'>257</span>Utopian to suppose that these -will be the things that the new public will -honour and will contrive to promote. The -best way in which one can be sure about -this is to study the writers who are shaping -the ideals of Socialism—such men as Whitman -and Thoreau, Ruskin and William -Morris, Kropotkin and Carpenter and -Gorky. Above all I wish that I could be -the cause of the reader’s looking into one -book, in which one of the master-spirits -of our time has made an attempt to picture -this beautiful world that is to be. When -I met Mr. H. G. Wells last year, I had not -read any of his books; so he sent me a copy -of his “Modern Utopia,” graciously inscribing -it: “To the most hopeful of Socialists, -from the next most hopeful!” -Afterward, I was asked by <cite>Life</cite> to name -the book which had given me the most -pleasure during the last year, and I named -this one. It is, in my opinion, one of the -great works of our literature; it is worthy -to be placed with the visions of Plato and -Sir Thomas More. It has three great -virtues which are rarely, if ever, found in -combination. In the first place, it is characterised -by a nobility and loftiness of spirit -which makes its reading a religious exercise. -In the second place, it is the work of -an engineer, a man with the modern sense of -reality and acquainted with the whole field -<span class='pageno' id='Page_258'>258</span>of scientific achievement. In the third -place, it is written in a a literary style -which makes the reading of each paragraph -a delight in itself. It is a book to love -and to cherish; one leaves it, refreshed and -strengthened, to wait with patience and -cheerfulness the hour of the Great Change.</p> - -<div class='chapter'> - <span class='pageno' id='Page_259'>259</span> - <h2 class='c005'>CHAPTER VIII<br /> <span class='large'>THE COÖPERATIVE HOME</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c011'>In all that I have outlined concerning -the Industrial Republic, I have -tried to indicate my belief that it will be -the creation of no man’s will, but a product -of evolution—the result of many forces -which are now at work in our society. -These forces we can study and analyse; and -in picturing their final product, we are not -simply indulging in fantastic speculation, -but are making scientific deductions. I -believe that we have now in our present -world the half-developed embryo of everything -which I have pictured in the future; -the Revolution, which comes suddenly, and -in the midst of strain and agony, is precisely -the parallel of a child-birth. In our present -“trusts,” for instance, we have perfect -examples of the centralising and systematising -of production and distribution; absolutely -the only thing needed to fit them into -the world I have pictured is a change of -ownership. Again, in the labour unions, -we see the building up of the machinery of -industrial self-government. And similarly, -in our churches and clubs, our benevolent -<span class='pageno' id='Page_260'>260</span>and artistic and scientific associations, we -have the germs of all the coöperative -activities of the future. In our public -educational system, we have a complete and -perfect piece of practical Socialism, ready -to fit into the structure of our Industrial -Republic. In our Post Office we have -still another, while in the army and navy -we have examples of industrial paternalism -which need only the breath of a new ideal -to make them indispensable for all time. -We saw after the San Francisco earthquake -the real use of standing armies; and for -such purposes they will continue to exist, -long after war shall have become a nightmare -memory.</p> - -<p class='c007'>It has occurred to me that in concluding -my argument, it might be well to tell of -another such seed of the future, in the planting -of which I myself have had the pleasure -of assisting. I refer to the Helicon Home -Colony, at Englewood, New Jersey, where -I have been living while writing this book.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Our industries are organised at present -under the competitive system; and I do not -believe that any coöperative method of -production can drive human beings to the -same pitch of effort as they are driven by -the lash of wage-slavery. So I consider -that any form of coöperation in production -is doomed to failure, under present conditions; -and I should prefer to watch from -<span class='pageno' id='Page_261'>261</span>the outside any attempt to found “colonies” -of the Brook Farm and Ruskin type. The -case is quite otherwise, however, when it -comes to coöperation in <em>distribution</em>, in the -expenditure of one’s income. We are familiar -with hundreds of forms of that sort of -association—coöperative stores, benevolent -fraternities, social clubs and churches. The -practicability of any such enterprise depends -upon two questions: First, are there a sufficient -number of people who want the same -thing, and second, can they get it more -effectively in combination than otherwise.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The idea of coöperation in domestic -industry has been well worked out in theory—notably -in Mrs. Gilman’s book “The -Home.” The first attempt to realise it in -practice, so far as I know, is the Helicon -Home Colony.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The plan was broached in an article -which I published in <cite>The Independent</cite>, in -June of 1906. In the course of the article, -I outlined the situation as follows:</p> - -<p class='c007'>Here am I on my little farm, living as -my ancestors lived—like a cave man or a -feudal baron. I have my little castle and -my retainers and dependants to attend -me, and we practise a hundred different -trades: the trade of serving meals, and -the trade of cleaning dishes, the trade of -washing and ironing clothes, of killing and -dressing meat, of churning butter, of baking -<span class='pageno' id='Page_262'>262</span>bread, of grinding meal, of raising -chickens, of cutting wood, of preserving -fruit, of heating a house, of decorating -rooms, of training children, and of writing -books! And all these crowded into one -establishment, in close proximity, and all -jarring and clashing with each other! And -all carried on in the most primitive and -barbarous fashion, upon a small scale, and -by unskilled hand labour. It takes a -hundred cooks to prepare a hundred meals -badly, while twenty cooks could prepare -one meal for a hundred families, and do it -perfectly. It costs a hundred thousand -dollars to build and equip a hundred -kitchens; it would cost only five thousand -dollars to build one kitchen! But, of course, -if you have large-scale cooking at present, -you can only have it under capitalist -auspices; and so it is associated in your -minds with uncleanness, and bad service, -and high prices. It takes a hundred churns -and a hundred aching backs to make a -thousand pounds of butter; it would take -only one machine and a man to tend it to -make the same thousand pounds, and the -cost of making it would be cut ninety-five -per cent. But of course you cannot have -large-scale butter-making except it is done -for profit—and that means adulteration -and poisoning! It takes a hundred ignorant -nursemaids to take care of the children -<span class='pageno' id='Page_263'>263</span>of a hundred families, and develop every -kind of ugliness and badness in them; it -would take only twenty or thirty trained -nurses and kindergarten teachers to take -care of them coöperatively, and bring them -up according to the teachings of science.</p> - -<p class='c007'>One could show this same thing in a -thousand different forms, if it were necessary; -but it has all been reasoned out -in Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s book, “The -Home,” and anyone to whom the idea -is new may read it there. The purpose -of this paper is not to persuade anyone, -but to move to action those already persuaded. -There must be, in and near New -York, thousands of men and women of -liberal sympathies, who understand this -situation clearly, and are handicapped by -its miseries in their own lives—authors, -artists and musicians, editors and teachers -and professional men, who abhor boarding -houses and apartment hotels and yet shrink -from managing servants, who have lonely -and peevish children like my own, and are -no fonder of eating poisons or of wasting -their time and strength than I am. There -must be a few who, like myself, have realised -that it is a question of dragging through life -a constantly increasing burden of care, or -making an intelligent effort and solving -the problem once for all. To such I offer -my coöperation. I am not a business man, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_264'>264</span>but circumstances have forced me to take -up this problem, and I am not accustomed -to failing in what I undertake. I have -said that “Socialism is not an experiment -in government, but an act of will”; and I -say the same of this plan. Having gotten -the figures from experts and found out -exactly what we can do, the one thing -remaining is to go ahead and do it.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I suppose that the average professional -man invests ten thousand dollars in a -home (or else pays rent equal to interest -upon that sum); and that he pays two -thousand dollars a year living expenses for -his family. Let a hundred such families combine -to found a coöperative home, and there -would be a million dollars for building and -equipment, and two hundred thousand -dollars a year for running expenses; I believe -that for half the outlay five hundred -people could live and enjoy comforts at -present possible only to millionaires. I -have, however, no intention of asking anyone -to risk his money upon such a guess. -I write this to find out if there are people -disposed to consider the project; and if -there are enough, I will have the plan -figured upon by architects, contractors, -stewards, and other qualified experts, and -have prepared a definite business proposition, -and a plan of organisation for a stock -company.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_265'>265</span>The following embodies my own conception -of what such a “home colony” should -be. It would be located within an hour of -New York, and would have one hundred -families, and three or four hundred acres -of land, healthfully located, near some body -of water, and as unspoiled by the hand of -man as possible. It should have an abundant -water supply and a filtering plant; an -electric light and power plant, and a large -garden and farm, raising its own stock, -meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables, and -canning the last for winter use. It should -be administered by a board of directors, -democratically elected. For the management -of its various departments salaried experts -should be employed; machinery should -be installed wherever it could be made to -pay, and the best modern methods should be -applied in every industry. All its purchases -should be in bulk and tested for quality; -and, so far as the preparation and serving -of food is concerned, the processes should -be kept as aseptic as a surgical operation.</p> - -<p class='c007'>We are accustomed to having our buildings -for public purposes endowed by persons -with a great deal of money and few ideals; -and so we consume much space and material -and accomplish little, exactly typifying our -civilisation. The buildings of this home -colony should be of frame at the outset, of -simple and expressive design, each structure -<span class='pageno' id='Page_266'>266</span>exactly adapted to its specific purpose. The -buildings should be conveniently grouped—those -for the children in one place, those -for cooking and eating in another, those for -reading, for music and social intercourse, -for recreation and exercise, in still other -places. The greater part of the land would -of course be given up to farm and woodland, -and to the individual dwellings of the -families. The ground available for this -latter purpose should be divided into lots, -priced according to size and location, and -eased to stockholders for long terms. Each -would erect his own home, according to his -own taste—a home, of course, of a kind -hitherto unknown, with no provision for -the cooking of food, or the training of children, -or other trades and professions. It -would be a place where the family met, -to rest and play and sleep. It might be -large or small, anything that the owner -chose to make it—my own would be a -four- or five-room cottage, of rustic design, -and it would cost from six to eight hundred -dollars. Besides these there should be -apartment buildings, owned by the colony, -and dormitories with rooms for single men -and women.</p> - -<p class='c007'>As to the public buildings, there should -be a large and beautiful dining hall, and -a modern, scientifically constructed kitchen. -There should be separate tables for each -<span class='pageno' id='Page_267'>267</span>family, or for congenial groups of people. -The service should be unexceptionable, -the food simple, but perfect in quality -and preparation; there should be a vegetarian -service for those who prefer this -cheaper mode of life, and the charge for -board should be based upon the cost of the -service. As to what the cost would be, -with a colony raising nearly all its own food -upon the premises, I can only submit three -experiences of my own: First, it cost me -for my family of three to board in New -York City, in one room and in the cheapest -way, a thousand dollars a year. Second, -it cost us, living in a three-room cottage in -the country, doing our own work and buying -our food from a farmer at wholesale prices, -seven hundred dollars a year. Third, it -cost us, living upon a sixty-acre farm, which -represented a total investment of four thousand -dollars, doing no work ourselves but -the managing, paying a man and woman -five hundred and forty dollars a year, -having a horse and carriage, and feeding -five persons instead of three, a total of less -than six hundred dollars a year. Lest this -should be unbelievable, I put it in another -form—the total expenses of the farm, including -labour, were less than twelve hundred -dollars, the income was six hundred -dollars, and the net loss, or the cost to us of -a year’s living, was less than six hundred. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_268'>268</span>And these figures, it should be explained, -included not merely board, but also household -supplies and repairs of all sorts, items -which would appear in other places in the -community’s accounts. I will probably be -laughed at, but I believe that, granting the -land, horses and machinery, buildings, equipment -and capital, the members of such a -colony as I describe could be provided with -perfect service and an abundance of food -of the best quality at a total cost of one -hundred dollars a year per person.</p> - -<p class='c007'>So much for the coöperative preparation -of food. And now for the caring for children. -There should be two separate establishments, -one for infants, who like to sleep, -and one for children, who like to run and -shout. Both should be scientifically constructed -and ventilated and kept as clean -as an up-to-date hospital; the food should -be prepared under the general direction of -a physician. No building for children -should be over two stories high, and the -upper windows should be beyond the reach -of children; no matches or exposed fire -should be permitted, and there should be -a night watchman, fire extinguishers, and an -automatic sprinkling apparatus. These establishments -should be under the supervision -of a board of women directors; and -the actual work of caring for the children, -washing, dressing and feeding them, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_269'>269</span>playing with them and teaching them, should -be done by trained nurses and kindergarten -teachers who live in the colony as the friends -and social equals, of its members. In other -words, it is my idea that the caring for children -should be recognised as a profession, -and that servants should have nothing to do -with it; it is my idea that it should be done -in a place built for the purpose, with floors -for babies to crawl where there is no dirt -for them to eat, with playgrounds for children -where there are no stoves and no boiling -water, no staircases and wells, no cats and -dogs, no workbaskets, lamps, pianos, sewing -machines, jam closets, inkstands, and authors’ -writing tables. Instead, there should -be sleeping rooms and bedrooms, and sun -parlours for nursing mothers; a separate -building for the sick; kindergarten rooms -and indoor playgrounds for bad weather, -and a big all-outdoors romping ground, with -sunny places and shady places, swings, -rocking horses, sand piles, and all other -accessories of a children’s heaven. Of -course, any mother should come and play -with or care for her own children just as -much as she pleased, or take them home, -as she chose; though I think that no one -would care to assist this plan who did -not believe that children should be cared -for in accordance with the principles of -science, and preserved from the corrupting -<span class='pageno' id='Page_270'>270</span>influence of grandmothers and aunts. Of -course, any mother who believed that her -work in the world was caring for children, -and who wished to care for her own and -others, according to the methods of the -commonwealth, would be free to do so, -and to earn her living by doing it.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I have already explained that I should -not regard this as an experiment in Socialism; -but I do think that those who undertook -it would have to be in sympathy with -the spirit of Socialism, which is the spirit -of brotherhood and democracy. Whenever -I have mentioned this plan to friends they -have always said: “The great difficulty -would be to get together a community of -congenial people.” It does not seem to me -that this would be a difficulty at all. Every -member of the community would have his -own home, to which he would invite his -personal friends as he chose; and the other -members of the community he would meet -in the same way that he meets acquaintances -in business and politics, in theatres, restaurants, -and clubs. I myself am the most -unsociable of human beings when I am -busy, and have no idea of giving up my -hermit’s tastes. In a colony of a hundred -families there ought to be persons of every -kind of inclination, and it would not be -in the least necessary for anyone to associate -with those who were not congenial.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_271'>271</span>Of course there are people in the world whom -we should not want near us at all; but such -people, I think, would not care to join our -colony. Vulgar and snobbish people get -along very well in the world as it is, and -do not find it a task to give orders to servants. -Those who would be interested in such a -plan would be men and women who wished -to practise “plain living and high thinking”; -and they would naturally wish to get as far -as possible from every suggestion of ostentation -and conventionality. They would -establish the shirt-waist and the short skirt -as <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">en règle</span></i>, and would, I trust, allow me in -without a dress suit. They would be all -hard-working people themselves, and they -would not look down upon honest labour. -This spirit, if wisely and earnestly cultivated, -would solve the “servant problem” for the -colony, and solve the health problem for -its members as well. I know business and -professional men who, when they need -exercise, have to go down into the basement -and lift weights and pull at rubber straps; -and they envy me my farm, where I can -hoe the garden, or pitch hay, or pick fruit, -and not merely benefit my body, but also -put money in my purse. In this community -every member would be credited for the -time he worked; and it ought to become the -custom for the men to help with the harvests, -and the women with the preserving of fruit, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_272'>272</span>and the children with the berry picking and -the weeding of the gardens. I have no -doubt that there are thousands of young -men and women in New York City, students -of art and music and the professions, -who would be glad of a chance to earn their -way in a community where class feeling -did not make labour degrading. I appreciate -the difficulties in the way of such a -project; the chances at present are against -a coal-heaver’s being a socially possible -person, and I am not insisting that the day -labourers should share in the privileges of -the community. But I do think that this -should certainly be the case with those -whom we select to care for and teach our -children, and also, if possible, with those -whom we permit to prepare and serve our -food; if I am not willing to shake a man’s -hand or sit next to him in a reading-room, -I do not see why I should be willing to eat -what he has cooked. I personally know -a young man who is studying art, and who -earns his living by washing dishes in a -downtown restaurant, because it takes only -two or three hours a day of his time. In -Memorial Hall at Harvard University, in -the sanitarium at Battle Creek, and in -many other places I might name, those who -wait upon the tables are college students; -and anyone who knows the difference which -there is in the atmosphere of such a -<span class='pageno' id='Page_273'>273</span>dining hall knows what I should wish to -attain.</p> - -<p class='c006'>The above article brought me replies from -four or five hundred persons; and committees -were named, which met all through the -summer to work out the details of the plan. -In October of the same year the purchase -of Helicon Hall was made, and the “Colony” -began its career. Six months after the -publication of my first article, I contributed -to <cite>The Independent</cite> an account of how the -experiment was succeeding; I quote from it -the following paragraphs:</p> - -<p class='c007'>We made many mistakes; I shall tell -about some of them in due course, for the -benefit of future pioneers. But there is -one thing to be said here at the start: we -made no mistake in believing in democratic -institutions. It was a point about which -the critics of our plan were all agreed, that -it could not possibly work, because people -could never decide what they wanted. -That dreadful bugaboo called “human -nature” would wreck us in the end. I, for -my part, believed that people in America -were used to the methods of majority government, -and I believed that if we should apply -those same methods in a coöperative home, -a group of intelligent and sincere people -could manage to solve all their problems. -From the beginning our policy was publicity -<span class='pageno' id='Page_274'>274</span>and democracy; and from the beginning -it brought us through. At the committee -meetings everyone had his say. And little -by little you would see a majority opinion -taking shape on the question at issue, until, -finally, when all had been heard, the matter -was put to a vote. There was no case where -the minority did not give way with all -courtesy. And now that the colony really -exists we sit round the fireside and talk out -our questions, and as a rule we do not even -have to take a vote—an informal discussion -is enough to make clear to everyone what is -fair and right.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I am a believer in the materialistic conception -of history; I am accustomed to -interpret the characters of men from this -position—to say that competition has made -them selfish and deceitful, and that coöperation -will make them beautiful and sincere. -I think that I can see it working out in this -colony. We have founded it upon justice -and truth; socially we stand upon terms -of equality, and economically we pay for -exactly what we get. These are the principles -we have built upon, and all take them -for granted, and no other idea ever enters -their thought.</p> -<div class='figcenter id003'> -<img src='images/i_274.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> -<div class='ic001'> -<p><span class='right'><em>Photograph by Jessie Tarbox Beals, N. Y.</em></span><br /><br />HELICON HALL</p> -</div> -</div> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_275'>275</span>“But will this last?” you ask. I do not -see how it can fail to last, and to grow—admitting, -of course, that my analysis of -the cause is correct. We did not start out -with any enthusiasms and religious ecstasies; -we had simply cold common sense; we -employed lawyers and business men to put -us on a sound basis. Our only real peril -was at the beginning, before the colony -spirit was well developed in our members, -and some of us were tired and overworked; -and even then there were no misunderstandings -that a little discussion could not -clear up. Now things are beginning to -run smoothly, and we are realising some of -the benefits.</p> - -<p class='c007'>We are as yet in our infancy, of course; -there is no one of the departments in which -we do not intend to make numerous improvements; -but we have got over the -roughest parts of the road, and we can begin -to look about us a little. We are living in -what I think is the most beautiful suburban -town near New York. We have nine and -a half acres of land, sloping down from the -western brow of the Palisades, and commanding -a view of thirty miles, and we have -only half a mile to walk to come out upon -the Hudson, where there is scenery which -tourists would travel many miles to look at, -if they only knew about it. The hall itself -has nearly six thousand square feet of floor -space on the ground floor alone, devoted to -rooms for social purposes; there is a central -court filled with palms and rubber trees, -which have grown to the very top of the -<span class='pageno' id='Page_276'>276</span>three-story building. We have a large -pipe-organ, a swimming pool and bowling -alley, a theatre, and a billiard room. We -have thirty-five bedrooms, ranged in galleries -about the court, so that we can look -out of our windows in the morning and see -the sun rise, and then look out of our door -and see the tropics. We have the finest -heating system in the world—we pump -fresh air in from outside, heat it in a three-thousand-foot -steam coil, and then distribute -it to all the rooms, with the result -that we feel as well all the time as other -people feel when they take a trip to Arizona -or the Adirondacks. In such a place as -this we have a comfortable bedroom or -study, where we can go and be by ourselves -and never be disturbed, for $3 a week. -And downstairs we have a huge fireplace, -where, if we happen to feel in a sociable -humour, we can sit and talk with our -friends. And also, we have a dining-room, -where a group of cultivated people meet -three times a day to partake of wholesome -and pleasant-tasting food, prepared by other -members of our big family, whose cleanliness -and honesty are matters of common knowledge -to us. This last-named privilege costs -us $5 a week, or $4 if we only eat two meals; -and we do not have to add to this price -any care or worry, because the price includes -the salary of a superintendent and -<span class='pageno' id='Page_277'>277</span>a manager, who work sixteen hours a day -each to straighten out all the kinks and keep -the machine running.</p> - -<p class='c007'>Finally, this magical building contains -a dormitory and a children’s dining-room -and play-room, where ten happy and healthy -children receive their lessons in practical -coöperation at a cost of four dollars a week -for each child. It was over these “institutionalised -infants” of ours that the critics -of our plan were most incensed. Several -dear ladies who had read my books and -conceived a liking for me, sat down and -wrote me tearful letters to point out the -wickedness of “separating the mother from -her children.” As a matter of fact, we have -five mothers in the colony, and the work of -caring for the children is divided among -four of them. (The fifth is studying medicine -in New York.) By the simple process -of combining the care of the ten children we -accomplish the following results: First, the -labour and trouble of caring for each child -is reduced about two-thirds; second, the -child has playmates, and is happy all day -long; third, we can afford to keep the child -in a more hygienic place than the average -nursery—we have a pump driving fresh air -into his play-room all day; and, fourth, we -can dispense with the services of nurse -maids, and go away, leaving the child in -the care of a friend.</p> - -<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_278'>278</span>Of course we cannot have everything -that we should like in the “children’s -department.” We have to wait for more -colonists for that. With only ten children -we have to dispense with a resident -physician; we cannot even afford a kindergarten. -And, of course, we have not the -scientifically constructed dormitory of which -we dream; we have only a converted theatre, -and instead of the uniform cots and the -dustproof walls and all the rest, we have -to make apologies to visitors. However, -our children are all enjoying it meantime; -and our five mothers are holding meetings -and learning to coöperate.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The other big problem which we promised -to tackle is the servant problem. All -the world is waiting to hear about this, so -we are told; even the aristocracy of Englewood -is waiting; the ladies come in and -tell us their troubles and ask if we will feed -them in cases of emergency. They were -even going to invite me to lecture them -about it—until one of them recollected that -I was a Socialist “of a particularly dangerous -type.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>We have been only a few months at it; -and we have still a great deal left to accomplish. -But we think that we have got far -enough to claim to have proven our thesis—that -by means of coöperation, with the -saving which it implies, the introduction of -<span class='pageno' id='Page_279'>279</span>system and of labour-saving machinery, -household labour can be lifted to the rank -of a profession, and people found to do it -who can be admitted to the colony as members. -Those who wish to make fun of the -idea have assumed this to mean that we -insist upon college diplomas from our cooks -and chambermaids. It does not mean that -at all; as a matter of fact, we prefer to employ -people who have always earned their -living by doing the work they do for us. It -means simply that we look for people who -are cleanly and courteous and honest; and -that then, when they come into the colony, -we treat them, simply and as a matter of -course, exactly as we treat everyone else. -So far as I know, there is no one here who -has experienced the least difficulty or unpleasantness -in consequence.</p> - -<p class='c007'>There remains to explain the financial -organisation of the colony. The property -is owned by the Home Colony Company, -a separate corporation, which was formed -to raise the necessary capital. The company -puts the building in thorough repair -and equips it for use as a residence, and -the colony rents it upon a three-year lease, -assuming responsibility for the interest on -the mortgages, the insurance, taxes, and -other charges, and paying eight per cent. -dividends upon the company stock. The -ownership of stock is thus entirely optional. -<span class='pageno' id='Page_280'>280</span>One may live in the colony without contributing -any capital.</p> - -<p class='c007'>The Helicon Home Colony is a membership -corporation. It is governed by a board -of directors, elected every six months by -secret ballot. The only conditions to residence -in the colony are “congeniality” -and freedom from contagious disease; one -may reside in the colony indefinitely without -becoming a member, but only members -have the right to vote. The conditions of -membership are one month’s residence, -election by a four-fifths vote, and the payment -of an initiation fee of $25. The -constitution of the colony provides for -initiative, referendum and recall of members -of the board of directors; also for a complete -statement of the financial affairs of -the colony, to be rendered every three -months.</p> - -<p class='c006'>I have quoted this at length because, as -I said before, I believe that it is the seed -from which mighty forests are destined to -grow. We should never have given the -time and strength which we have given to -this experiment, but for our certainty that -all the world will some day be following in -our footsteps. We are living in a coöperative -home because we wish to do it—but some -day you will be doing it because you <em>have</em> -to. You get along badly enough with your -<span class='pageno' id='Page_281'>281</span>servants, you admit; still you get along -somehow or other. But has it ever occurred -to you what your plight would be if, when -you went to the “intelligence-office,” instead -of getting a bad servant, you got no -servant at all? When that time comes, you -will be grateful to us pioneer “home-colonists.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is a most interesting thing to watch; -it is the Industrial Republic in the making. -We care nothing whatever about the intellectual -opinions of the people who come to -live in the colony; but I have observed -that nearly every non-Socialist who has come -here has been turned into a Socialist in the -course of a month or two. And that is not -because we argue with him, or bother him; -it is simply because facts are facts. What -becomes of the old shop-worn argument -that it would be necessary to change human -nature—when human nature is suddenly -discovered to be so kindly and considerate -as it is in this big home of ours? And what -becomes of the ponderous platitudes about -“Socialism versus Individualism” in a place -where so many different kinds of individuals -are developing their individualities.</p> - -<p class='c007'>I am often moved to use this experiment -of ours as an illustration of what I said in -the previous chapter, concerning the difference -between material and intellectual -production. Here in Helicon Hall we have -<span class='pageno' id='Page_282'>282</span>all the dreadful machinery of paternalism -which frightens our capitalist editors and -college presidents whenever they contemplate -Socialism; we submit ourselves to the -blind rule of majorities—we allow a majority -to decide what we shall pay for our -rooms, and when we shall pay it; to lay out -our <em>menu</em>, and refuse to give us pie for -breakfast; to forbid our giving tips, or -whistling in the halls, or dancing after a -certain hour at night. And we have all the -symbols of oppression—constitution and -by-laws and boards of directors and -managers. And yet somehow, we are freer -than we ever were in the world before; because, -by means of these little concessions, -we have made possible a <em>system</em>—and so -flung from our shoulders all at once the -burden of care which used to wear the life -out of us.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And in consequence of that, for the first -time in our experience we find ourselves -really free with regard to the real things of -life. We have absolutely not a convention -in the place. We do as we please, and we -wear what we please. We are free to come -and go, where we please and whenever we -please. We have each our own rooms or -apartments, to which we retire, and it never -comes into anyone’s mind to ask what we -are doing there. We may work all night and -sleep all day, if we feel like it—so little do -<span class='pageno' id='Page_283'>283</span>we bother with each others’ affairs that I -have known people to be away for a day or -two without being missed.</p> - -<p class='c007'>And on the other hand, if we feel like -company, we can have it; there is always a -group around our wonderful four-sided -fireplace in the evening, and you can always -find someone willing to play billiards or -go for a walk. And as for our intellectual -freedom—you should see the sparks scatter -when our half-score assorted varieties of -“Fabians” and “impossibilists,” “individualists” -and “communist-anarchists,” all -get together after dinner! There are so -many typewriters in Helicon Hall that as -you wander about the galleries in the morning -you can fancy you hear a distant -battle with rapid-firing guns; and the products -of the industry vary from discussions -of Yogi philosophy and modern psychic -research to magazine fiction, woman’s suffrage -debates, and Jungle “muck-raking.” -And yet all these people share amicably -in the ownership of the fireplace and the -swimming-pool and the tennis-court; providing -thereby a most beautiful illustration -of the working out of the formula laid down -by Kautsky for the society of the future: -“Communism in material production, -anarchism in intellectual.”</p> - -<p class='c007'>It is working out so beautifully, that the -spirit of it has got hold of even our children, -<span class='pageno' id='Page_284'>284</span>and they are holding meetings and deciding -things. Of our nine youngsters seven are -under six years of age; and last night I -attended a meeting of the whole nine, at -which a grave question was gravely discussed: -“When a child wakes up early in -the dormitory, is it proper to wake the -other children, or should the child lie still?” -After a long debate, Master David (aged -five) remarked: “All in favour, please say -Aye.” Everybody said “Aye.”</p> - -<p class='c006'>The above was written in the middle of -December, 1906. On March 16, 1907, at -four o’clock in the morning, Helicon Hall -was burned to the ground, and forty-six -adults and fifteen children were turned out -homeless upon the snow. The story of -our ill-fated experiment is left to stand as -it was first printed.</p> - -<div class='pbb'> - <hr class='pb c004' /> -</div> -<div class='tnotes'> - -<div class='section ph2'> - -<div class='nf-center-c0'> -<div class='nf-center c001'> - <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> - </div> -</div> - -</div> - - <ol class='ol_1 c003'> - <li>Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. - - </li> - <li>Archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings retained as printed. - </li> - </ol> - -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE INDUSTRIAL REPUBLIC ***</div> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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