The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1901-11-06
SOCIALIST
VERSUS
CAPITALIST
The LabOring Glass Are Still
Industrial Slaves.
Equality of Opportunity De-
manded for All Men.

OF the result of my study that am con.
strained to write this letter. wish TO
cay in the first place, Mr.. Editor, that
YOU are unfair and untruthful when You
say that Socialists call CAPITAL the
capitalistic class. Socialists understand,
full we'll, the definition between capital
and the capitalist, and do not make war
on capital. Socialism has no controversy
with capital. Socialists, do, however,
propose to dispense with the capitalist.
[ am sorry thai you feel called upon to
resort TO misstatement Of facts, but
enough of THE. l will now turn my at
tention to this Sensible article" from
the Roseburg Review. In the first sem
tence we find this statement: "Many
who perform labor cannot control cspi-
tai, except through the Implements
they work with" Now everybody knows
or should know that the worker has no
more control Of the tools Of production
than he as of the Capitalist's bank
account.
Every we'll informed person knows
that the tools OF production and distri-
button are owned and controlled by the
capitalists, and the worker has no more
TO do with their control than he has with
the daily revolution OF the sun. The
tools of production are operated by the
laborer but are in no sense controlled by
him. In fact, the worker is the slave
Of the tool and not its master. Any
person who is ignorant of this fact had
better get some "class-c nscious" labor
ing Socialist to give him a few lessons in
social economy. Again he says: "with-
out capital labor would go unemployed. I"
Right here think l can do no better
than no quote from A. Lincoln's message
to congress in 1865, which says: "In my
present position could scarcely be JUS
titled were l to omit raising a warning
voice against this approach Of returning
despotism. 1t is the effort to place CAPT.
tai on an equal footing with, if
not above labor, IN the structure of gov
ment. II is assumed that labor is
available only in connection with capital,
that nobody labors unless somebody
20, owning capital, somehow by the
use of 1t induce him to labor. LABOR
is PRIOR TO AND INDEPENDENT
OF CAPITAL. CAPITAL Is ONLY
THE FRUIT OF LABOR, AND COULD
NEVER HAVE EXISTED III LABOR
HAD NOT FIRST EXISTED. LABOR
IS THE SUPERIOR OF CAPITAL
AND DESERVES MUCH THE HIGH.
EST CONSIDERATION"
without the leading spirits in every
department and vocation OF life, large
position Of the worlds population would
perish" Socialism does not propose to
dispense with "the leading spirited. +"
Socialism proposes to enlarge their
sphere of usefulness. The great captains
OF industry will be in the employ of the
| public, directing a business in which
they are equal owners with all other
members Of the great cooperative
commonwealth" instead OF being en-
ployed by some private party working
for the accumulation OF great colossal
fortune for the agrandizemeut and pol
itical power Of some private individual
Socialists do not "detest others who have
more than themselves" They detest
the system which allows one person to
absorb the products of another's labor.
Socialists do not prstend to be- made of
better mud than others. They want a
system in which it will be impossible to
exploit the toiler. The prtsent system
is as Robert Ingersoll has we'll said "a
canibalisLic systeh in which the strong
aud heartless prey on the weak and fool
ish. True they do not eat their flesh or
drink their blood, but they live on their
labor, on their seli.denial, their weari-
ness and want" II to give the laborer
his full share OF hisearninRs would make
him iHdolent and poor, if a man would
take less interest in an income of $4,000 a
year than no would in an income of $500
year theu to work for good times and
good wages is to work for poverty and
lndolence.
Nice logic this. These fellows who
write sensible articles" in favor of the
present car n balistio system are bright
fellows, but they should have their eals
pruned. ANY policy that would de
priye man OF his individuality would
destroy his usefulness aud take away his
inherent rights" We fully concur in
this statement, and cite the present
competitive system as standing convict
ed OF this very thing. The laborine
class are industrial slaves aud live only
by grace OF the capitalistic class. He is
not slave to any one capitalist, but he
is a slave TO the capitalistio class. Ger
tainly 'all men are not equal" THAT is
mentally aud physically, but all men
should be on an industrial equality
That is, all men should have like oppor-
tunity to earn living (not an existence.
But A LlNlNGl. Socialists do not con.
tend that all can be made mentally or
physically equal. Because of this yery
fact OF inequality We contend for Social
ism. Socialism claims that the veal
are Just as much entitled 10 aFULL
SHARE OF life as are the strong. "Any
man with capital who has no respee,
Tor the nan who labors should no,
0e respected as much as a pauper. 81
Why should the capitalist have any re-