St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-11-22

OUT IN NEBRASKA.
John Lamb of NIinneapOlis Shows
UP an Editors Foolishness.
To the Editor Of the Globe:
Free speech is one of the first maxims Of
liberty. An American insists on the right
of saying what he thinks, or at any rate,
what he pretends to think. This unlimited
right of speech has many advantages
coupled with some disadvantages. No man
can be muzzled, if he wants to talk, and
thus every shade of opinion finds express
sion. Good, bad and Indifferent, crude and
mature are thrown out together, and the
public may Judge for itself. The difficulty
with this system is that people in general
do not take the trouble to winnow the
truth from the absurdity, and mass of UNI
formed, half-formed and wrOngly-formed
opinions is the result. have before me an
editorial from one of the leading Republic
can papers of Nebraska. The opinions eX-
pressed may be honest; l do not question
that; but they show surprising lack of
right thinking, or deal of wrong thinking
on the part of the writer. Waving the SUI
perficial character of the editorial as a
whole let us take a few points which Illus
trate the quality of mental food supplied to
the readers of the paper in question and the
process of serving it, which may best be de-
scribed as cheating the devil around the
stump
First he tells us how much better off the
European labOrer is in this country than he
was across the water. We fail to recog-
nize any great improvement in the condition
of men who work for 80 cents to 81 day.
But suppose their condition is slightly i'm
proved. Does it follow that they or the
American workmen receive the full fruits
of their labor? T or this is the point which
these defenders of capitalism chase around
the stump. 1t is not whether from the rob
berries of monopoly slightly increased pit
lance is cOntemptuously tossed to the slaves.
but it is whether these slaves, considered as
men, receive a just share OF the Increased
production which modern methods OF labor
enable them to turn out. We claim that
they do not. Then he goes on to prove
that millionaires are the greatest benefac-
tors of humanity, because, in shelling out
their cash to carry on great enterprises,
they furnish people the opportunity to
make what they want. By the way, did it
ever occur to him that the workers, in coin
ing their blood and brains into these same
enterprises, furnish the millionaire the OPP
portunity to make-oh, nO.-to have what
he wants?
But during this whole pro cess does the
millionaire actually make, create or pro-
duce anything? Absolutely nothing. unless
he performs labor other than the mere
act OF
SMELLING OUT THE CASH.
Does the money create anything? Abso-
t,1r ,otb two or
ductive factor in the whole business then is
labor.
Again, could the millionaire, as an indi-
vidual, have built the railroad? Oh no.
Could million dollars. with no help from
any one but the millionaire. have built the
road? Certainly not. But could the labor
ers do it without any help from the million
aire or his money? Evidently they could.
Why then do they wait ON the millionaire
and his cash? Simply because the million
aire, by possessing the medium of exchange,
controls the means by which the laborers,
during the progress of the work, may eX.
change their toll for the means WhereWith
to live.
To show beyond any question that the
millionaire and his money do not build the
road, let us suppose that the workmen
make an agreement with other producers
throughout the country to keep them sup
piled with such articles of consumption as
they require while working the road. Sup
ply depotS are established along the line of
the road and all articles of consumption re-
quired by the workers are forwarded to these
dapots. 1t is evident that the road could
thus be built without the intervention of the
millionaire or his money. When the road
was completed all who contributed either
labor or supplies, would have an interest,
and the total interest would represent its
total value-there would be no watered
stock.
But in civilized communities the machin-
cry of production and exchange has be-
come so complex that money is a necessity
in order to effect exchanges with the re-
quired speed and facility. What the mill
ionaire does in building road or carrying
out any enterprise, is to corner the medium
of circulation and demand full ownership
and control of the road as condition OF
letting the producers exchange commodities
as the work goes on.
So much for the statement that the mill
iOnare gives the workers the opportunity to
make what they want. This remarkable
editorial concludes by quoting the case of
some gentleman in Omaha who recently
SOiu LOT 9oU, UUU d nall DOCK OF pare SiOuIO
which he had bought few years since for
$1,000. The writer thought the gentleman
had made the 500, coo without any one los
ing it.
Let me state general principle by which
all such loose reasoning may be tested.
A man may by law, custom or accident
possess many things for which he has not
given an equivalent. but he cannot claim
possession of such things as natural right.
JOHN LAMB.