The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1903-09-17

serve militia" which is the rest of the
people and remains entirely inorganic
ed and unarmed. Only the National
Guard is organized and armed.
What does all this mean? 1t means
the capitalist class is getting ready.
Now am not one of those Socialists
who glory in Revolutionary" phrases.
| have sometimes been accused of being
too much of an evolutionist. And we
all know that revolution can never be
''made;" neither by one man, even if
he were the most powerful genius, nor
by few thousand men, be they ever so
fanatical.
A revolution is always dependent on
the development of conditions Even a
bloody revolution if it is to accomplish
anything lasting can only be the seal
of general change in mems minds on
certain political or economic subjects.
Many revolutions may be part OF one
evolution. 1t may require many 'revo-
buttons" to carry out a thorough reform
successfully.
But it is fact that even the actual
reaization of genuine reform cannot
be expected as long as there is no pos
sibility of martial resistance against the
capitalist class. Should the Socialists
obtain control in one or more states OF
the Union, the capitalists class will never
permit so many branches and depart
ments of the economic world TO be taken
out of their hands and given over to
the commonwealth, simply because the
Socialists have majority of votes. Ii
they should not be able to count us out,
it will be easy enough to get Judge to
declare all our measures 'unconstltu-
tional," which no doubt they must be,
if they are to amount to anything.
And as to change the United States
constitution, that has only been changed
once since it's general adoption, and this
was done by a most terrible internal
war. The legal mode of procedure IS
such that it cannot be done if the capt.
talist class resists.
On the other hand, those who have
studied history closely know also that
talking and voting alone will never solve
and fundamental question. No ruling
class in the history of the world has
ever yielded its power peacefully. Ana
the American capitalist classes already
making martial preparations.
We shall have to fight, not for pro-
claiming the Cooperative Common
wealth, or even for any thorough-going
Socialistic transition measure but in all
probability for keeping the degree OF
political liberties we now posses against
the encroachment of plutocracy. we
NAV have to fight in order to keep the
one man ballot. The disenfranchise-
ment of the negro in the southern states
should serve as a warning.
However, we must not forget that all
nations which have revolutionized eX-
isting conditions or have resisted en-
slavement have been combatantS.
And here is the point: They fought
for liberty because they could DO so:
they were armed.
Such was decidedly the case IN the
time of the reformation and during the
English Revolution.
1t was in a still higher degree the
case when the American colonists
nation of hunters and armed farmers
took up arms against cartridges.
In France indeed the great Revolu-
ton did not begin until the people had
numbered the state arsenal on the night
of the 18th of July, 1883, and took
thence 2s, 900 guns and cartridges.
And we know that the uprising OF the
Commune of Paris in 1871 was only
made possible by the government as
tributing 100000 rifles and the neces-
sary ammunition among the proletar-
ians of Paris in order to defend the city
against the Germans. Once armed, the
French proloterians, emblttered and
having many old scores to settle, were
unwilling to return to the old slavery