The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1901-09-21


his brazen and pretentious assininity.
He Is only one Of the moral idiots whom
we have created by our political in
situations, and If Rockefeller were dead
other Rockefellers would spring up and
flourish upon the soil that nourished
him.
When we SOW injustice We may ex-
pect to reap oppression.
Privilege in Guise Of Wealth.
The millionaire whom we have been
considering is a type of the "capital-
ists'' between whom and organized la
Dor the conflict has been so long rag
ing. And yet, If you will examine the
sources Of his power. you will ind him
to be more of a privilege-monger than
a capitalist. You will find that most
of his socalled capital is not wealth in
the economic and scientific sense. 1t
consists largely Of title deeds to oil and
mineral lands. and of the stocks and
bonds of public service corporations,
and their great value is due to the fact
that they rest upon monopoly fortified
by legalized privilege. They are not
wealth themselves, but they repre-
sent the power to extort wealth from
other men.
Representing a monopoly Of produce
tive opportunities and of public utili-
ties, by virtue of that fact they repre-
sent the power of the holders Of these
monopolies, to utilize, to their own ad-
vantage and upon their own terms,
the labor of other men. This is what
gives to that misnamed thing called
capital" all of it's dealy power. Your
strikes and boycotts will help you to
contend against this power, but in my
humble judgment, if you would pierce
the heart Of the monster you must do
some striking through the ballot box.
the great fortunes" of the present day
you will find that they consist mainly
of the fruits of privilege. They exist
for the most part upon paper, and If
you will annihilate the privileges upon
which they are based you will ind
many of those fortunes as valueless as
the paper upon which they are written.
Bonds and other evidences of indebted
ness are not wealth. If they were, you
could increase the aggregate of coun-
try's wealth by increasing the sum OF
its Indebtedness, which is plainly i'm
possible. Stocks in privilege holding
corporations, whose values depend up
on the values of the privileges upon
which they are based are not wealth.
They are neither more nor less than an
incumbrance upon labor, and to an
enormous degree they operate as a det-
riment to the production of wealth. A
title deed to the Lehigh valley GOA
lands, for instance, is not wealth. II
merely represents the power of the
holder Of that deed to permit the min.
ing of coal in that valley upon terms
| dictated solely by him. None of these
| things can be properly called wealth
They represent the means by which thu
holders of certain legalized privileges
may put shackles upon your hands an6
mine, and thrust their hands into oul
pockets whenever they choose to do 81
for that is the power of privilege.
| When you permit man to monopo
lie productive opportunities you enabl.
| him to shut the doors of natures store
house against all mankind, and wall
away with the key in his pocket; bu
the name of that key is not capital, no
wealth-it is privilege. Too many we'll
meaning men, fear, have merely beer
fighting for the possession of this key
But propose to you to throw away tn
key and batter down the doors. Opel
up to all men free and equal Opportuni
ties to produce wealth, and secure /,
them their right to keep all that the,
may honestly earn. The real trouble
my friends, is not primarily in the un
equal distribution Of wealth, but in tn
cause that leads to unequal distribu
ton; it is in the inequality to produc
wealth and retain it after having pro
ducing it.
And If you were to utterly and for
ever destroy privilege, what would b
the result? Doubtless the first thin
you would notice would be the slump II
the bond and stock market. Many me-
now reputed to be worth millions woul'
be found to be practically penniless
But they would have lost nothing tina
they ever had natural right to cal
their own; nothing but the legal powe
to extort wealth and labor from othe
men, absolutely nothing but the I'm
just power to grind the blood and bone
Of American workmen into dollars a
| tboir own sweet nlea surei RNt the eff