The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-10-29
Remnants o Leather Goods.

IN a tep-hour day. which retail at $3.50 per
pair Allow them 50 per day and the
twenty men can buy in, say. twenty
seven pair of shoes. or a twenty-secona
and one-half part Of the shoes made; or
allowing 25 cents as cost Of material III
these COMMUNICABLE shoes, they Wouil
only get about i-2 per cent. of the wealth.
created by their own labor. But II we
generously allow the laborlng class wages
sufficient 20 buy in p per cent. OF VIZ
thew produce inasmuch az they anc tneF
dependents number 50 PER cont. ~ u'e
populatlon 1854. 7s6 families, Il w.h leave
the other 70 per cent. OF the wealth. c''a,
ed by labor 10 be consumed by the hllU
die and capitalist classes-h per cent OIL
the people. and as the middle class. con-
slsting OF 80 per cont. Of our population
I'm 1890. are rapidly dropping INTO inc
ranks Of labor through failures IN nn7i-
ness. 10 rs fair 20 presume they cannot CON
sumo more than 80 per cent. OF me Wealtn,
or they would not fail so fast. This leaves
AS per cent Of the wealth produced 10 be
consumed by per cent. of our people.
They cannot consume u. live as they
may. IN riotousness and luxury. and con-
sequently periodical overproduction Is
hound 20 follow. closing mills. etc, ana
the intervals between them must get
shorter lust I'm proportion as labor-saVine
machinery displaces men and wages are
lowered. Both operate 20 destroy the con-
sumlng power Of labor, and that IN turn
destroys the middle-class dealers and
their failure acts on the manufacturer,
and so the endless chain goes on, the sys-
tenn undermining itself all the while-or,
I'm other words. swallows itself
II cannot DE denied that wealth Is CEN
trailing more rapidly now than ever
before. and. as the average wealth Is less
than 81 600 per capita. IL stands 10 reason
that the creation Of a millionaire means
the creation of a thousand paupers.
Therefore / ask you 20 show me wherein
Socialism would act as n blight upon the
masses from either a political or ecOnO-
mic standpoint. Furthermore. you know
poverty breeds crime and degradation,
and I ask you 10 suggest remedy FOR
existing evils II you can suggest sys-
tenn OF finance. commerce. and politics
that will stop the Capitalization Of wealth
I'm the hands ~ the few and give employ
ment 10 the idle. you might enable us TO
stem the torrent Of corruption, crime.
and poverty that Is rapidly engulhng and
landing ms into monarchy. as 10 has done
every other republic before us. Switzer-
land alone excepted
If You can give MS better remedy than
Socialism. we will gladly accept t. But
tell MS how you propose 20 give the UNI
employed work at wages that will leave
no surplus.
You repeat the statement that any one
elected 10 Office under Socialism would
have the power 10 dole out property 70
pay for votes DO you suppose that a
hundred men would stand dumhly by and
see an official give away the result OF
their hard labor when they could. by q
recall. deprive him Of al power and reduce
him 10 ranks. or send him 10 prlson2 And
do you suppose that one man is going 20
do his share Of the labor 10 provide the
nccossarles for a community. and fan 10
report the laggard NJ his side who shlrks
duty? Each man would be az much In
torestcd In another's labor rs I'm his own.
and therefore Sinking would not be toll
Grated by any. But what remedy have
y0u for this system. which makes men
loaf against their will2 That IS much
worse than making men work against
their will. ]. J. QUANTZ.