The Labor enquirer., 1888-01-14
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Examples o. How Ils Pos
sessors Rob ~ Ils
Creators.
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EThe following is 2 continuation
of the very interesting papers BE-
gun in the EsQuIRER Of ! recent
date by William Clarke Marshall.
Ed ,t
For the ENQUIRER.
Capital which consists Of meney
alone may or may not be under
stood as a RIGHT. but money capi-
talized must be understood as .
means, Thus man having in pos
session say one thousand dollars,
and laborers' wages being two
dollars per day,is able to purchase
or at present has a RIGHT to the
labor of FIVE hundred men for one
day.
The same one thousand dollars
capitalized into say one hundred
dollars gives the same
man the means of obtaining the
labor of not less than fifty thou
sand men.
At this point the specious inter-
lection of the capitalists is: See
now, without the capitalization of
that same money. according to-
your own statement. forty-6ve
thousand and FIVE hundred men
would stand idle. Let US see
about this. The man with the
one thousand dollars borrows the
remaining, or rather wanting.
ninety-nine thousand from banks
or from individuals to whom he
issues stock, taking from them
such amounts as he requires to
pay his men who, before receiving
their pay, have created or produc-
ed the full sqMvalsnt of the money
they receive. but at this point We
are forced to relinquish any fur
ther participates IA the results of
their labor.
The laborers have actually plac-
ed in the capitalists hands the
mems of paying them two dollars
per day before he pays them.
Having paid them he now capi-
talizes or sells more stock Of the
concern and proceeds easily to
millionaireism.
A very fair and plain example
of this phase of capitalism was
made evident in the bricklayers
strike in Chicago last summer.
Here were 5000 men, to say noth-
ing about the required attendants,
whose average wages were So per
day. The custom was, and is I.
believe to-day, for the employers
to pay off every fortnight. Now
take the figures: 5000 men twelve
days, equal to 10000 one day; 36.-
900 days work at 50 per day, equal
to SIo8,ooo, which the men loaned
to their employers, before the en-
ployers could pay it back to them.
Now with what you know of cap
italism cannot you see that even
without money to begin with men
may and do become millionaires2
But | am scarcely done with the
matter of capital.
Banks are instituted solely for
the pursose of loanixg money to
capitalists or would-be capitalists.
Take then bank with a paid-in
capital of 100000. 1t is entitled
in some states to charge on its
loans ten per cent and no more.
say $4,000. Now look at its
monthly statement: Loans-ssoo.-
900. Simply as this is done, |
cannot in a newspapers limited
space explain it, but the interest
of the loans of a bank Of $500, 600
at ten per cent is $4,000, or fifty
per cent of the original claim in
money.
AS the borrowers of this SEM
blance of money are forced to
look to the laborer for their means
of payment it will be seen that
every cent of this usurious inter-
est, amounting in the banking sys-
tenn of the country to hundreds Of
millions Of dollars annually, is
taken from the working classes in
the shape of low wages, high rents
and increased price Of food and
clothing.
Capital then adds to the natural
power of money, and consequently
7Ofakens the power Of labor, With
out capital, other than money
money would take its natural plac,
as the servant Of labor. especial,
if divested Of its unnatural com
mercial or international attributes
The evident business Of labor theI
is to destroy capital. other thar