Industrial freedom. [volume] (Edison, Wash.) 1898-1???, 1899-05-20

COMPETITION AND SOCIALISM FROM MORAL POINT OF VIEW
BY 7. T. FRICKsTAD, OF OAKLAND CAL
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

tr1buter or the employer shall be ex-
Guided from any personal profit or in
terest IN the exchange of products.
A manufacturer or employer of la
borers is, as rule, simply merchant
buying labor as cheap as he can and
selling its products for all he can get
trying to get all he can for himself
out OF the exchange without regard
to justice.
1t is mostly through unjust meth
DDS OF exchange, and not by product
ION that existing Inequality in wealth
has been secured. So long as the
merchant, distributor or EMPLOYER
has personal interest in LAYING la
Dor or its products as cheaply as pos
slble and selling to the consumer at
the highest price obtainable, the pres
ent conditions of poverty and riches
will practically remain unchanged,
even II it gave every person free access
to the use of land, or provided work
for all who might desire it. Some
workers have but little time to devote
to the exchange of their products;
Others do not have the natural abil.
ity to obtain just value for their la
Dor, and still Others have nisfortunes
which would prevent them from hold
ing their products until a Just ex-
change could be obtained; and taking
them altogether, it is evident that
just exchange cannot be secured for
all except through some agent that
derives no personal profit from the
exchange. AS such an agent cannot
hn found nvpptNt ,N,,1,l,o
it seems clear that SOCIETY should
be so Organized as to handle the ex-
change of all produtcs. 1t is far
more important to protect the work
er against being robbed in the ex.
change of his products, which is a
daily transaction, than it is to have
the police to protect him against
some one picking his pockets or rob
bing his house, which at the most
is very seldom done Socialism in
production without socialism in eX-
change of products, would perhaps
relieve some of the present suffering
produced by idleness; but beyond
that, it would be of very little benefit
lndividualism, as related to human
conduct, has proved failure where
ever it has been tried, and, with the
exceptions of few anarchists, we
are all agreed that government is nee
essary to secure best result in human
conduct. If we should abandon cx-
listing socialism as related to con-
duct G., abandon all forms Of gov
eminent and turn each one loose to
his own sweet will-what would be
the result on human character and
conduct?
Indiyidualism, as related to human
industries has also proved itself to be
a failure in the matter of providing
work for all! and in securing a just
exchange of products; and it is be-
coming more and more a failure as
the machinery of industries is becom-
ing m ore complex.
In1ivi1ullisn competition or an
archy-call it what you plcase-in it's
relation to industry, has reduced
millions of people to the necessity OF
working for starvation wages, and it
has thrown other millions out ofwork
altogether. 1t has blasted the fair
hopes of an unnumbered multitude of
whom some have become insane 9th
ers have become drunkards. others
have become Respondent and have
sought a suicides grave, still others
have become desperate and given
themselves up to commit crimes of
every kind Known to man, and it has
forced thousands Of our tair sisters
into life of prostitution and shame
that is worse than death
We do not claim individualism or
competition in industry is responsible
for all insanity-tor all drunlness, tor
all crimes, or for all prostitution; but
the multitude that is driven to these
evils by the deadly struggle for IN e.
istenCc through competition in indus
try is so large that the ethical side of
the industrial problem is the most
important side. The physical suffer-
ing caused by the competitive st-ug-
Gle for an existence is bad enough, but
it's destructive influence on human
character is far worse. And social
ism, by providing useful work for all
and a justexchange products, would
reduce insanity, crimes and vices to
minimum, and it would surroundpeo-
pie with conditions which would
make it possible to live true Christ
like life. OF all who ought to be in
terested in promoting socialism, the
minister's of the gospel and church
members ought to be in the lead, if
they are honest in their profession of
working for the building up of a true