St. Paul daily globe., 1885-02-14
rALK WJTH WoRKTyeuEy.

1t would be an insult to the workingmen
OF this country to intimate that as a class
they will commit themselves to the doctrines
of the few rash leaders vino ar ing TO
foment discomfort and arr - enil om-
munistic nprisin~. As rule cur W
men are conservative, law lbId ng and gifted
with goodly amount Of that valuable but
not plentiful commodity common sense.
They have no sympathy with The agitators of
extreme Views; ~ uos.te At --..y ..-,~f
the order OF existing thinSs, not tue
slightest idea of procuring any change or
amelioration in their condition by anything
else than by proper and peaceful methods
through the ballot box and by influence in
the halls of legislation.
Before listening to the pernicious doctrines
of such men as MARX, MosT and ScHwAB,
who preach red-handsd communism. honest
workin gmen should count the cost of putting
the theories of such agitators into practice
There are two arguments against the meth
DDS proposed by the advocates of comInun-
ism which must convince workingmen of
their utter futiity. First, the sacrifice of life
which must follow any attempt to put COM
munistic ideas into practice. Force will be
met by forcr, for any resort TO violence on
The part of any class of society will be met
with like violent resistance BY other branches.
All the resources Of municipal, state,
and federal government will be called upon
to quell disturbances, and against such or
ganized opposition no uprising of the frac-
ton of people can avail.
The second point of the argument appeals
more strongly to the sober, cool-headed
worhingmen who have families to support,
and who are not so blinded by fanaticism as TO
refuse to see the force Of reason. The destruc-
tion of property brings no benefit to them, nor
does that other fallacious idea of the redis-
trbution of property. If the property is all
to be destroyed by dynamite there will be
nothing to distribute. Anybody can see that
the commodities necessary for life and COM
fort are cheap or dear according as the sup
ply is bountiful or limited. Every destruc-
ton OF plant decreases the amount of in
vested capital, and proportionally the yearly
output Of wages. 1t also lessons the product
of the article manufactured in the establish
ment, and tends to increase the price. 1t is,
therefore, very plain that the destruction of
the manufacturers plant can in no possible
way benefit the workiugmen, but on the
contrary causes them to suffer in two
directions-it decreases the demand
for labor, and compels a reduction
Of wages as well as increases the cost of liv-
ing. If the theory of the dynamiters is put
into practice, whatever might be the result
to capital the wOrkingman would be ground
between the upper milestone of his own folly
ana the neither milestone of the depression
of trade which must inevitably follow.
The greatest financial advantage that
could come TO the wOrkingInen by a redstri-
button Of the wealth of this country would be
to give each person Of the $4,000 people
of the country cash capital of S400. To
get this amount, barely sufficient to main
tain a man for one year. would necessitate
the destruction of every Industry in the land,
and the distribution of every dollar of ac-
cumuated wealth in land or personality.
When the S4U0 was spent the workingmen
would find themselves in country which Of
fered no means of livelihood, and the
natural result w0nld be state of anarchy
and starvation, without a single hope of re-
| turning peace and prosperity.
Such being the case, it is the duty Of
worEinginen to promptly suppress the agita-
ton of communism, for it only brings ruin
to all save those who expect to profit by
plunder if they bring about the consumma-
ton they desire.