, 1902-05-15
A SCIENTIFIC ANSWER NEEDED

In q o article In the BOOM
erang Mr.. ~Breitenstein makes at least
n clear statement as to the distribu-
tive proposals of socialism. He says:
Socialism Ia q state of society where
all capital is held by all the people. its
consumable wealth subject to the or
der of each person according to their
efforts In production"
Perhaps this can be made a little
palmer by changing its form as fol-
lows: The public will W all proper
ty and individuals will draw from the
public stores in proportion to the
work they do.
Now Mr.. Breitenstein, in an article
In the Cheyenne Tribune last fall, said
that he belonged to that class OF so
cialists known as scientific social
ists." and 1t is certainly at this time
fair to ask him to apply the teachings
Of his school to the subject in hand
and analyxe the proposal he has stat
ed. II each person is to have from the
public store IN amount Of consumable
wealth In proportion to the work he
OF abe performs. 1t follows that there
must be some method devised for
measuring the value Of that work. For
instance, how would the hours work
Of the common laborer be compared
With the visit Of an eminent ply
sician? In the loaf OF bread. what val
ue would be placed upon the labor Of
the farmer, the miller and the baker!
In the bottle of wine. how much would
the labor Of the grower. the picker, the
prssser or the bother be worth?
Under our present system compe
tition regulates the price OF all these
things to . nicely. The community al
large places . value upon the service
Of each Individual and pays according
~. The mllkman receives for his mill
just the value placed upon 1t by the
people he supplies. they being at lib
erty to ~patronize another milkman l
they do mot like his milk or price. Thu
same condition prevails In the case o
the butcher, the hardware man. the
laborer. etc.
Under socialism, II an arbitrary
value were fixed by state ofhcials upor
the various articles Of consumablt
wealth and also upon the value Of the
services rendered by the individual
members Of society, the way would b.
open TO all sorts of favoritism and job
berry. No man would be willing to ad
NIT that his labor was not as valuable
a. that Of his neighbor. The common
iaborer digging bitches would say tina
his toll was more arduous and there
fore 1t least as valuable as that Of thu
doctor or even the oflcial directing
affairs.
Matters Of this nature are question:
of detail that demand the most care
full consideration before we accept tn
doctrines of socialism. and from sucl
men IS Mr.. B~reitenstein the peopl'
desire An nswer They will wish t
know something Of the methods to b.
adopted before taking q leap into tn
dark; before using their best judo
ment and pulling for the shore" TIL
ship-wrecked mariner often finds 1
better to keep to the open e than t
steer upon the rocks. where certain
death awaits him.
There 10 another important quet
ton that has suggested itself to tn
Republican which the people would h
pleased to have scientific enlighten
ment upon, and that is just how the &c
cialists would handle the a quea
ton in the south. Would the 'grea
revolution" bring equality to tn
whites and the blacks? Would Tn,
blacks be given the same rights AM
privileges a. their white neishb.rs
Would the passions Of black men b
satisaed without crime and wcul'
iynching and burning .; the stalk
cease to be modes of punishment?
We fear there are 80 many stun
bling blocks In this vast change con
tsmplated by socialism that ever th'
scientific student cannot point he wa!
to smooth waters