Workmen's advocate., 1889-12-07

blower would live like that What must the bosses live like?
 The joke is, there rjH be no bosses in He future. You see, the glassworkers some time will abolish the bosses, and take the production of glassware into their own hands.
 And what is the boss going to do2
 --O, well he said with a quaint smile-lf the boss at that time is a good manager he will be employed by the people as such and perhaps receive salary amounting to the average profit he is making now. But, of course, he must have the ability and knowledge; if not, if he is a hlockhead, as most times is the case now, he can work as q knock ing over boy or helper
 If the glass industry was controlled by the workers everybody would rush into the trade, don't you think SO?
 No: all the other industries would then be in the hands of the people. There would be no more private capitaIlstic enterprises. All means of production, distribution and transportation, such as land, factories, machinery, warerooms, stores, railroads, ferries, steamers, would be the common property of the people. CutthrOat competition would be ahOlIsh ed. Every trade or calling would be organized to produce the best article and to suit the demand. All the terrible waste of overproduction, the waste of raw material, the useless brokers or middlemen, the advertisements and a thousand other unnecessary institutions of the present day would be done away with.
 Why don't they commence to estab- fish an industrial government now?
 Well, they are doing it, though it is not their intention. We have quite number of cooperative commonweaIths in-titutions now: the post office, the public schools, the parks, the hospitals etc.
 But these are not industries.
 Even they are gradually growing into the new system. You see, the so- called trusts or syndicates are fast abollshing competition, and all we need to do is to remove the captalistic figure heads by buying the whole concern and working it in the interesl of the people.
 According to your system of society nobody would have property of his own.
 Certainly he would. He could own any amount of property for personal use. such as the house he lives in, horse and buggy, gold watches, clothing, furniture, etc., etc. But, understand me well, no one would be allowed, by investing money in the means of pro- duction, such as land, machinery. etc., to take profits; that is, to rob his fellow men of the greater part of their earned wages.
 This is, must say, marvellous idea. l do not comprehend every thing as yet, but 1 shall make it my duty to study the books you mentioned. One more question. How do you intend to in troduce your system?
 By educating and organizing the working masses. By teaching them to act in solidarity, even an international solidarity which shall extend not only over the United States, but over the whole world, and by using all means to obtain the political power.
 Gould we not make shorter work ot the whole business simply by driving the capitalists out of the country or hanging them to the lamp-pOsts in case they object to the introduction of the cooperative industrial system?
 No; we do Dot advocate such forci- ble arguments. But, supposing the working masses elected a majority of the legislative bodies, and the capitalists, who in fact own these bodies now, at tempted to frustrate the will of the people and to maintain their minority government by force with the aid of the military or Pinkertonian power; what would you do?