Montana news. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-191?, 1904-11-23

scious of themselves as the produc-
ing class; unless they understand
that to them, as the producers, be-
long the product and the control
and the privileges of their industry,
they will achieve no kind of econom-
ic freedom. No masters have ever
handed down freedom to their slaves.
Capitalism cannot grant Socialism to
the working class. The workers
must achieve their own efforts, and
out of themselves bring forth their
own organization of LABOR and dis
tribution of privileges; out of their
own struggle and labor bring forth
their own institutions and ethics.
The whole capitalist interest will lie
in the direction of preventing the
working class from taking possession
of its inheritance.
Now, the supreme evil that con-
fronts the people lies in the danger
that they shall be deluded into think
ing that there is some mutual inter
est between the capitalist and labor
er. Ii is not the division of society
into the clearly defined class strug-
gle, but the lack of such a struggle,
that menaces the people. To Great
such a class struggle should be the
supreme task and summons of moral
passion. There can not be, and
there ought not to be, any reconcil-
alton between capital and labor. The
economic and moral liberty of the
people depends upon this clear dis
cernmept-that the interests of
labor and capital" are inherently
antagonistic, and must never be
mutulated OF identified with each
other. To attempt to build civiliza-
ton or social peace upon such NUT
uality is to build upon the funda-
mental lie of history. The labor of
the world must become the owner of
the world before we shall have any
social truth to build on.
But the whole crew of social re-
forms" and reforms" will be in the
nature of capitalist retainer services
supported by capitalism through its
flunkies. If ruling class capitalism
can hide the fact that one class of
people is forcibly appropriating the
labor of another class; If it can hide
from the eyes of the workers the
issue between them and the owners
of their labor power; if it can keep
the people from seeing that the gov
ernments and armies and commerce
of the world exist by sheer brute
economic might, and have no basis
at all in right, then capitalism can
perpetuate itself-perpetuate itself
by so confusing the lines and causes
of battle that workers shall destroy
one another instead of the capitalist
system. II may be that capitalism
will at first succeed, because we have
not the wit or strength of character
to clearly see that social reforms"
are but capitalistic measures for self
preservation.
UP to date the human race has
developed strength through compe-
tition; Socialism comes for the de-
velopment of the race through CO.
operation, Capitalism proceeds
through the brute struggle OF the
survival of fittest; Socialism comes
tor the hitting OF all 10 survive. Zap
italism causes every child to be born
with the world as its enemy; from
the beginning of consciousness the
child must fight pitched battle-a
lifelong and blood-red battle-with
civilization for bread; Socialism
comes to surround every child, from
the moment of its birth, with all the
resources and opportunities, the love
making facts, and will-making for
ces, that the cooperative labor and
good will of the world can produce.
Compromise has alway been the
mother of tragedy, and by the fav-