Barre evening enterprise. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-1898, 1898-04-15
ABOUT TIE SOCIALISTS.

At the meeting of the Barre section
of the socialist labor party held on
Wednesday evening in the hall over
Scamtani'> store letter entitled COB
iections to Socialism, from the pen of
Robert Blatchford, author of "Merrie
England" was read. The writer, in
answer to an assertion by one, Sir wv.
Maclurc, NJ. p, that there is nothing to
prevent the son of a crossing sweeper
from rising to be Lord Chancellor of
England, pointed out that the present
struggle for existence might be fifty
compared to fire panic in u big hall.
To quote from the writer: "Ihe hall is
full of people and there is only one
door. \ rush is made for that door.
Some of that crowd get out, some are
trampled to death, some are injured,
some are burned. Now that crowd of
people, who are most likely to escape?
Those nearest the door have better
chance than those furlhcSt, the strong
have Il better chance than the weak and
the men haye better chance than the
women. and the children the worst
chance of all. Then again, which is the
more likely to be saved. Tie selfish man
who fights and lrags others down, who
stands upon the fallen bodies of women
and children, and wins his way by
force; or the brave and gentle man
who tries to help the women and chill
dren, and will not trample on the
wounded? Those who get through are
checred and rewarded, and few ques-
lions are asked as to how they got
through. Further, suppose the hall to
be divided into three parts; first, the
stalls, then the pit stalls, then the pit.
Suppose the only door is the door in the
stalls; suppose the people in the pit
stalls have to climb Il high barrier to
get to the stalls; suppose those in the
pit have to climb a high barrier TO get
to the pit stalls, and then high barrier
that parts the pit stalls from the stalls i;
suppose there is, right at the back part
of the pit, IL small weak boy. Now |
ask YOU ns sensible men, is there
.snofhing to prevent that boy from
gcttin. through that door?' You know
the boy has only the smallest of chances
of getting out OF that hall But he has
thousand times better chance of get
ting safely out of that door than tn" son
of crossing sweeper has of becoming
Lord Chancellor of England"
The above may appear to some to ap-
ply only to Monarchial Britain. Very
much the same economic conditions,
however, exist in Republican America.
There, also, the erroneous idea is to be
encountered that any one of the workn"
class, who constitute 52 per cent of the
populations, and who own but four and
a half per cent of the wealth of the
country, may, if they so will it, become
mll:onairrs, or, at least, become poses
sors of property to the extent of thous'
ands of dollars value. 1t is an cstab
lished economic fact that the riches o1
one man is based on the necessary pov
ertv Of hundreds of his fellowmcn. Ant
if the present capitalist system continues
for another fifty years, the working
class will find themsclvc, Gnstcad O
being better off than they are to-day
the slaves of Il few hundred bllion;'ircs
who will practically own the country
and all that is in it, including the lives
of the workers; for, as Shakespeare
says, 'Nou take my life when you taxi
the means whereby live f.. l..