The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1901-02-14
SOCIALISM AN INDU STRIAL DEMOC-
RACl.

There is not now in any civilized coun-
try one statesman of note would acknOwl-
edge that the laisseZ faire theory could be
applied to existing conditions, nor is there
political economist of note, except Her.
bert Spencer, who now advocates the eco
Monies of the Manchester school,
Given an industrial system under which
the means of production can be privately
appropriated, and it follows, inevitably,
that the disinherited, the prOpertyless class
will be reduced to economic bondage. What
Is the remedy? There is but one. The
worker must again be put in possession Of
the means of production. How is this to
be effected? We cannot go back to the
small system of production, to the hand
tool and individual ownership. No, the
large system is here to stay. 1t is mani
testify impossible for every weaver to own a
cloth factory, but every weaver can be joint
owner in one. This is the only alternative,
Society as a whole must own all the means
for the production and distribution Of
wealth. This would be socialism-an in
dustrial democracy.
We must make it impossible for one man
to live upon the labor of other men. When
all own In common and are the equal benef-
iciaries of the enormous increase in pro-
ductive power made possible by the thou
sands of machines and improved processes,
to which we are all justly co-heirs and in
heritors, involuntary poverty will be made
impossible by scientific system of CO.
operation which we choose to call socialism.
w. H. Stuart.
The foregoing is fair sample of So
cialist literature. Thousands of men
just as sincere in their desire for re-
form as Mr.. Stuart will indorse his
statement that 1--WE must make it i'm
possible for one man to live upon the
labor of other men" The Omaha plat
form declared that Wealth belongs to
him who creates it," These are senti-
ments just and reasonable. All reform
ers are substantially agreed upon this
demand of Mr.. Stuarts. 1t is the goal
sought by seven to ten million American
voters, and a very small per cent of
these voters are Socialists. Why do so
many seek the same end with Mr.. Stuart
but repudiate Socialism? 1t is because
most Socialists exhibit the same ex-
travagance in both their statements of
conditions and their demands.
Mr.. Stuart extravagantly says: I'VE
cannot go back to the small system of
production to the hand tool and in
dividual ownership
Such wild and reckless statements as
this hurt Socialism and retard rather
than promote reform. One would think
that Mr.. Stuart never stepped outside
the four walls of some mammoth fac
tory where improved machines do nearly
all the work once done by the hand of
man.
One would have a right to assume that
Mr.. Stuart was ignorant of the fact
that the tools used by every carpenter
every blacksmith, every bricklayer,
every stone mason, every plasterer,
every plumber, every painter, every
miner, every woodsman and most of the
tools used by the farmers of the nation
are hand tools and are today subjects
OF individual ownership.
Whole groups of states like our New
England states and our Pacific states
are farmed almost entirely with hand
tools and this must always continue
to be the case owing to the rocky and
uneven surface of the country. The
same is true of tools used in mining and
in the builders trades. Has it ever oc-
Cured to Mr.. Stuart that the men en-
gagged in these various industries where
hand tools are used almost exclusively
and must always be used, far out
number the employees of factories and
those whose places in the productive
industries would have been usurped by
the great machine?
Because comparatively few men in
large manufactures have been displac.
ed by improved machinery Mr.. Stuart
would make the ridiculous demand that
Me public at once assume ownership of
all the hand tools in sight.
Mr.. Stuart assumes that all wealth is
produced by some great machine that
displaces labor and does away with
hand tools. Nothing could be greater
error. He assumes that all wealth is
distributed by means of railroad trains
and here again he is reckless in state
ment. He forgets that the noble horse
the patient OK, the ass and the mule,
yes, even the man. with the wheelbar-