Montana news. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-191?, 1905-02-22

morals and ethics moved up to a
higher plane; and the master of mas
ters-the king-lost his divinity.
Militarism lost part of its terrors,
and the people clamored for the right
to govern themselves. only to be met
with the argument of the kings that
the people we're incapable of gov
erning themselves. This argument
was used so much that it was known
as the language of the thrones"
This argument was slight advance
from that of the masters lash. The
error and falsity of both master and
king is-now recognized, in theory at
least, if not in practice, and the scene
of the struggle has changed to a
struggle between the people and the
captains of industry.
The captains assert that the "peo-
pie are not competent to govern our
industries. This is the old familiar
language of the masters and kings,
revised and corrected to suit the oc-
casion. But as the sham cry that
the slave would starve" without
master on his back to spur him on,
and that the people were not COM
petent to govern themselves" had to
give way to the growing intelligence
of the people, SO the sham cry Of the
captains of industry must give way
to the growing intellects of the world.
1t has now become clear to society
that a government of the people is
but sham, and farce, until the
captains are forced to dismount and
remove their spurs, and the people
govern their industries and all means
of life, and in the interest of the peo-
pie; hence the tendency toward pub
lie ownership.
The history of the evolution and
the unfolding of civilization is his
tory of the ever increasing, ever
widening circle of cooperation of
groups of individuals, the lessening
of the number of groups, as the cir
cles became larger and embraced
more industries and more individu-
ais, until at last we come to the all
inclusive circle of public ownership
the circle which is so great, so
complete, so far-reaching that it en-
compasses the hitherto competing
groups of co-operators, merging and
consolidating them into one harmon
ious trust of all trusts.
All the functions of government
were first private. With the growth
of civilization the private govern
ment evolved into public government.
So the various industries, which at
first were private, have grown until
they have one by one become public
in the two-fold capacity of furnish
ing them the necessaries and luxu-
ries of life.
Ownership and operation of our
industries by the people and for the
people" means fuller harmony, a
higher intergration, a union of all
for the benefit of all; in place of
union of one part against the other.
The private corporation itself is
step in the process of crystalization
and consolidation, which will not be
complete until the little corporation
melts and merges into the big one.
Public ownership is simply step
further in the line of evolution of in
dustry, of which the private corpo-
ration is but an undeveloped form.
The Socialist idea is that all our
industries must follow the same line
of development as the postal system,
school system, fire, light, water
works, police, army, navy, street
railway and other industries that
have evolved from private to public
ownership.
The agitation for public ownership