The herald., 1898-11-24
Socialism the Remedy

Socialism the Remedy
| To the Editor OF the Los Angeles Herald:
| That the trust" is the natural end OF all
| businesses seems now to be pretty gererally
granted by all who have given the matter
! any attention. The old idea of disintegrat-
ing trusts by antitrust laws is quite out
| of date and is only occasionally revived by
some newlyhedged politician seeking po
litical capital. However, the basic cause OF
| the substitution of monopoly for competi-
ton in our industrial affairs and the result
of such substitution, | may venture to state,
have not been given the attention they de-
serve
1t is simple enough to say that the cause
is selfdestroying competition engendered
| by over-production, but why such state
of affairs! Why do men embark in busi-
ness that is already overdone? Let us take
step backward. The laborers are the
great consumers, and their powers of con-
sumption are based upon the rate OF their
wages. Now, wages are in turn determined
by competition between the wage earners
themselves. The rate obviously cannot sink
below the amount required to furnish a liv-
ing. and it is about as obvious it cannot eX-
ceed this amount for any long period owing
to the pressure OF unemployed labor offering
itself at a lower rate. Hence it may be as
sumed that the reward of the wage Garner
is simply his bare living and that wages
cannot increase with increased productiv-
ity.
Now, it is one of the most potent facts Of
today that the productiveness of labor has
increased enormously owing to the applica-
ton OF steam and electricity to constantly
improving laborsaving machinery. Here,
then, is case of increased production and
no increase of consumption on the part of
the laborer, owing TO the competitive wage
system Is it not evident that there is nee
c>sarily over-production? If it had not
been that labor has been largely employed in
improving the tools of production the APP
parent over-production would have been in
tinitcly greater; but, on the other hand, such
employment only tends to make the final
oVer-production greater that ever.
If Robinson Crusoe finds that he can
double his production of flour by using a
steam mill instead Of a windmill. and sets
Friday to work to make the change it is
evident that this may be only temporary
demand for his labor and that, when the
substitution is made, then the demand for
Fridays labor il less than before He may
then set him to work substituting steam bv
electricity, but there is an end to all this
when all things work nearly automatically
with scarcely any labor, then will the Prob
lem to find work for Friday be more diff
cult than ever Let Crusoe personify the
modern capitalist and Friday the working
class and the case may be simpler of con
ception. With each completed invention
the more time has Friday to devote to the
completion Of the next labor-saving device:
but this is an ever-hastening process to-
wards final end.
The formation of a trust in a certain
industry is simply the signal that the ma
chinery i'll that particular industry has
reached completion and that it is time for
labor to turn its attention to the compile
ton in some other line of industry.
The rewards to capital, the rate of inter
est, like water, always tend to assume the
same level, so that if one industry falls
into the trust" state, it is only natural to
suppose that other industries are about
ready for the same transformation. If cap
ital pays better in one industry than an
other, then it flows in that direction until
the rate is equalized. Hence it is that the
surplus capital flowing to the various in
dustries varies in proportion to the needs,
and that if one industry has attracted suf-
ficient capital to complete its demands, 9TH
or businesses are in the same state.
Concretely, if the oil business is so over
done that no more oil refineries are needed.
and trust is formed, we may naturally
suppose that the sugar business is in the
same condition, and that trust" will soon
form in sugar. If this does not prove to be
the case, then there is some particular and
unusual reason for capital flowing into the
making of oil instead of into the making of
sugar. 1t will also be noted that the folma-
ton of the trust" in oil completely stops
the flow of capital to the oil industry, and