Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1900-05-09
SOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM
While the One Demands Common Owner.
ship Of All Property the Other Does
Not Do Any Such Thing.

In the course of recent article
written to demonstrate the folly of
the middle-of-the-roaders indorsing
the ticket and platform of the social
democracy, the Missouri World says:
"Under socialism no money would
be needed; there would be no debts
and no private property to buy or sell.
and therefore no medium of exchange
would be required. Hence socialists
ignore the money question, do not
give the question of paying the great
debts, public and private, even pass
ing consideration
Without entering into any discus
sion as to the advisability of the Gin
cinnati convention taking the action
in question, L desire to criticise the
Worlds assertions.
In the first place, system of prac-
tical state socialism such as is con-
templated by the social democracy
would in no wise destroy the rights
OF private property, nor bring about
a state of society in which there would
Le mo private property to buy or
SELL" Socialism demands the public
ownership and operation of only the
sources of crude. or raw. wealth and
the machinery and tools of production
of finished products. On the other
hand, communism involves the abroga-
tion of all property rights and the
common ownership of all things. The
World must have confounded the one
| with the other and have had COM
munism in mind when writing of
socialism.
Under socialistic regime. money
would be required and used just as
| now, but debts, in the last analysis,
are not paid with money, but with
the products of labor, and legal ten
der money is simply an order upon
the people, severally and collectively,
for such products of labor. Under a
| just and reasonable socialistic system,
the individual would have available
for the payment of debts all the
wealth product of his labors now
| absorbed, or stolen, from him by rent,
profit and interest. But, aside from
| the question of interest rates. the
money question is of but little conse-
quence in its relationship to other
economic questions. If rent, profit
| and interest remain undisturbed in
the spOliatiOn of the masses, it mat
ters but little of what material money
| is made. There is more money
| per capita in circulation now than
there has been at any time since 1870
and yet there is discomfort and agita-
tion and the rich grow richer while
the poor grow poorer and few are
monopolizing all the natural re-
sources of the earth.
| 1t is not likely, however, that land
would be socialized to any greater ex-
tent than would result from the in
auguration of the single tax system
which, as Henry George himself said
was the Essence of socialism applied
to the land question" Socialism
would certainly provide for govern
ment banks and absolute, legal ten
der paper money, but would probably
use some certain period of time spent
| in labor as the unit of account or
| standard of value. But because the
people. as a government, became the
manufacturers of the nation, selling
the product to retail dealers at the
| labor cost of production, it would by
| no means follow that there would no
longer be any property privately
owned or bought and sold and it is
not easy to see why anyone should
| imagine that any such result would
follow.
| But, after all, the best way to ar
| rive at an understanding of just what
| IL o1 ~, - -
to examine their platform and see
what they demand therein. Here it
| is:
The social democratic party of America
| declares that life. liberty and happiness
| depend upon equal political and economic
| rights.
| In our economic development an indus
| trial revolution has taken place, the in
| dividual tool of former years having be-
| come the social tool of the present. The
| individual tool was owned by the worker
| who employed himself and was master OF
| his product The social tool. the ma
| chine, is owned by the capitalist and the
| worker is dependent upon him for EN-.
| ployment. The capitalist thus becomes
| the master of the worker and is able to
| appropriate to himself large share OF
| the product of his labor
Capitalism, the private ownership OF
the means of production, is responsible
| for the insecurity of subsistence, the pow
erty, misery and degradation of the
| ever-growing majority of our people; bu,
| the same economic forces which have
produced and now intensity the capital
| ist system will necessitate the adoption OF
socialism, the collective ownership OF
the means of production for the common
| good and welfare
The present system of social production
and private ownership is rapidly con.
verting society into two antagonistiC
classes-i e., the capitalist class and the
propertyless class. The middle class, once
the most powerful of this great nation
is disappearing in the mill of competi.
ton. The issue is now between the two
classes first named. Our political lib
| erty is now of little value to the masses
unless used to acquire economic liberty
Independent political action and the
trade union movement are the chief eman.
cipating factors of the working class. the
one representing it's political, the other
its economic wing. and both must CO.
operate to abolish the capitalist system.
Therefore the social democratic party
of America declares its object to be:
II First-The organization of the working
class into a political party to conquer the
| public powers now controlled by capital
lists.
Second-The abolition of wage slavery
by the establishment of a national sys-
tenn of cooperative industry, based upon
the social or common ownership of the
means of production and distribution
to be administered by society in the com
mon interest of all its members, and the
complete emancipation OF the socially use
l full from no domination, of "a n