The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-10-13
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Formerly the man who owned the
tools of production did the work Now
the man who owns the machines does not
do the work. Neither do the men who
operate the machines have any interest
in them. The one thing that the laborer
desires now is wagA. He is dependent
upon the owner of the machinery. Thus
there has been brought about a concen-
tration Of wealth with the development
! Of machinery.
Man is a tool working animal. He can
produce nothing with his bare hands.
Hence under our present system we have
deprived the laboring man of any indie
pendent means of support The machin-
cry Of the world is owned and controlled
by very few.
During the past fifty years mans pro-
ductive capacity has been increased from
20 to 10 fold. But while this is so he is
deprived Of the fruits of his labor. Pro
duction is limited by consumption, and
consumption Is limited by wages Hence
the over productions do not come about
by more goods being produced than can
be used, but it comes from the inability
Of the laboring classes to purchase what
they have produced. The child feeds the
machinery but the machinery starves the
child
THE demand has been for cheaper Ia
Dor all the time. It was found that
women could operate the machinery as
well as men. Women can and will work
for less than men. At present there are
over 100000 women in the factories and
various other businesses Of America
About one-half Of these are married
women. Thus the women have been
brought into competition with the men.
But the competitive system has gone fur
ther. 1t has employed children for even
less than the women. There are al pres
ent about 100000 children Iaborers in
America. Thus man has been placed in
competition with the machine, women
have become the competitors of men and
finally children are competing with
women.
Under this system the productive ca
pacity Of the manufacturing world has
been indefinitely increased but the con
sumption of the same products has been
diminished
When man worked with his tools he
provided a market for his products-he
wore them and used them himself. If he
duced clothing he could wear the cloth
ing. All these things are now made by
machines, but the machines do not wear
the products.
THE consumption of the worlds pro-
duction is increased by the wages paid
the laborer The average wages of the
coal miners used to be from 81 to IS per
day. Now the average is less than 81
These conditions have come about under
the administration Of both parties. One
is no better than the other. 1t is not a
question of a change Of parties but a
change Of systems.
"Both Republican and Democratic par
ties condemn the fruits of the SYSTEM
but they are pledged to protect the sys-
TEN. Both parties have declared against
the trusts. Now. what is a trust? AS
I've stated before, it is the modern tool
of production-the result of more than a
hundred years of economic production.
First we had the individual, then the
firm, next the company, and finally the
great corporation. For forty years and
more we have been trying to restrain the
corporal tons by law, but to what extent
have we succeeded? The trust is the
ripened growth of the competitive system
and if today every trust was obliterated
tomorrow they would spring up again.
The trust is a natural result, and more,
it has proved it's right to live.
THE great question is that of owner
ship. It is a question of the collective
ownership versus private ownership Of
this earth. If you are against private
ship. If you are against collective own
ership you are for private monopoly.
There is no middle ground to occupy.
If you are against private monopoly
you are a socialist and there are no two
ways about it.
There is not one here but what would
oppose my complete control of the sun.
It is impossible to live without it. There
is not one here but what would object
to my owning and monopolzing the at
mosphere. 1t is a most vital necessity
OF life.
There was no question of collective
ownership when the tools were in the
hands of the working man The laborer
is slave TO his master, the capitalist,
who owns the industries Of the countries.
Labor can only work when capital
says so. At any moment men may be
thrown out of employment. In the days
when the southern man had slaves he
was under obligations TO feed and cothe
them. But now a man who is really a
slave TO a corporation may get sick and
die and the company is not bound to
have care for him. Then, to have
slaves You had to own the man. but now
you simply have to own the machinery.
The cheapest commidity in all this world
is human flesh and blood.
There is no power on earth that can
stop these things. You might as well
try to dam up the Mississippi river and
force the water back into her hundred
feeding tributaries. The socialists do not
propose to stop It. But they propose to
oen u the way ana let the Nigh Is stream
of concentrated Industry out int o the sea
of ubEc ownership. The process Of devel-
opment has been first the individual, sec
ond, the firm. next the company. then
the corporation and next comes the peo-
pie. When we people as a government
own and control the industries Of this
we shall have the final result OF
the development OF economical produc-
ton. This VIII finally come. There is
no danger Of this country returning TO
king rule. This country has always been
by the people and 1t viii con-
tinue to be
There is great prejudice against So
largely because il is not undsr-
stood
Here Mr.. Debs referred TO the time
when & was very unpopular TO advocate
the abolition OF slavery. He showed
men stood in the face of all opposition |
FOR the right and finally won the VIC