, 1881-07-17
TIE USES OF WEALTH

Superficial and croakine Communists art
not merely "s;artling" in their statements
but wildly illogical i'll the conclusions tile,
draw from their false premises. The follow:
ing paragraph from the rambling remarks oil
one of these brawlers Is ali instance in point
Every ablc-bod'ed min who labors is o-day
the slave ol capital. Sume may think they have
hcura thut expression before, and nrc dlsguated
with IT. But let disgust strikc where 1t may
truth in this matter soncr nr later must find
colne without labor is, eny. $40, ,Uu II year. prnc-
tical!y owns twenty nbie- bodied Iaburcrs. Five
hundred du!ars Z year is Xood average wages,
tho entire proceeds of twenty nlcn, und nc Ut no
labor or expense Of keeping them. People have
not given sufficient Thought 70 this subjevt. We
have supposed that VIC were tightening the bur-
dens 0f tho people by diminishing lno public
dcbt. when privn1c debt Is part and parcel OF
The sumo H disease The aeots Of the country now
run nbt,vt twenty billions, all nf which is lien
upon labor, The principal will never bc paid,
but the animal interest is all that is wanted. and
ia|or puys ;, # ali We % are inst approaching ttv
about it2 Tnat is the coming QUESTION.
The average earnings of wo1ktngmen are
recklesly understa1cd. The class which re-
ceivcs $500 per annum for euch able-bodied
mechanics and artisans, tile greater portion
Of clerks and bookkecpcrs, the mass of mell
engaged in the different professions, anu. i'll
deed, Is limited to those who ito manual
labor Of the lowest grade, without the help
Of any capital, any skill, or any brains. 1t is
about equally ridiculous aud unjust 10 set up
suci, class rs the representative of Amcri-
can farmers and artisans. The estimate of
AL average Of $1,000 earnings per annuln for
the laboringnen Of America would be none
too high, including the farmers and skilled
worklnen. We don't mean that the average
farmer sells $1,000 Of products every year,
because he only sells his surplus after feed
ing himself and family; the gross products
Of the average American farm, livestock i'll
cluded, are worth more than that sum.
Aside from palpable misrepresentation,
however, the inference which the Socialists
draw rs to the employment Of wealth Is al
together unwarranted. They treat capital
lists uniformly us the natural enemies IF
labor, and ignore the function which capital
always discharges when it Is actively ell
gagged III productive enterprise. The man
with an income Of $4,000 year, ''owning
twenty able-bodied lnborers," contributes to
the support Of that number in the great ma
jority Of cases. II he merely spends Ills ill
come. he distributes 1t among the iaborlng
people who build his handsome residence,
who are engaged in making the good clothes
bis family wears, who supply his household
with their various wants, who serve him and
his family directly and Indirectly 1t he enl-
ploys the surplus of his income in business,
Is Is usually tie case, the distribution goes
III with some variation, and he continues to
share his resources with others, drawing out
:or himself only the subsistence during his
natural life which the laborer obtains.
Let US take the extreme case Of such man
Is Jay Gould, who is probably more obnox-
GUS to the Socialist class than any other indi-
'idual In the country. Yet the fact is Mr.
iould Is the organizer, and to a certain ex-
cut the mere agent, Of the $1,000 men whom
'e employs in the operation and extension of |
lis various enterprises. lie takes all the
ISL and guarantees employment at the mar
;et rate OF wages to his vast number Of peo-
'l9 They are in practical effect his partners
n business, during faithful service and good |