Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1906-10-04


enabled few to exploit the many,
and for the additional reason that
such institutions owned by private
individuals and operated for pri-
vate profit were entirely inadequate (
to meet the needs of the people.
For exactly the same reason, and
upon exactly the same principles,
the Socialists urge the extension of
this principle to the collective
ownership of all public utilities.
And the division between private
and public property is to be deter
mined by this principle, viz, that
what the people use in common they
shall own in common, and what
they use privately shall be owned
privately.
THE only property that Social
ism wishes to transform is the
property no longer made use of by
the individual owners thereof
(Deville). Food, clothing, shelter,
homes, books, pictures, carriages,
wheels, autos, and, all things
needful for the personal life would
thus be private property. Rail-
roads, telegraph, telephones, mines,
factories and all great machinery
would be public property.
From this it will appear that
Socialism by no means contem-
plates the government owning
everything. - The whole category
property.
The fundamental principles of
Socialism being democracy, it is
understood that it cannot be forced
upon the people by minority. So
cialism will not come, and does not
seek to come, except by the will of
the people expressed by, a majority
of the voters, lust the same as any
other public measure, or course OF
action, is decided upon. Accord
: ingly, our first task is to convince
= the people that the principles we
) advocate are correct, But to dc
this involves an enormous task.
The next step in the program o.
, Socialism is the organization of Tho
t laboring classes and those in sym
S pathy with them into an independ
ent political party, distinct from
and opposed to all capitalistic par
ties" to capture the powers o
= government in order to transform
b. the present private monopoly O
i land and capital into COLLECTIVE
o.[ Orerot,or,
We are frequently met with tn
:, statement and query: Socialism i
u right, no doubt, but why not try
y get it gradually through one or tn
/ other of the large political partie
o now in the field? The complct
n answer to that question lies in a
IS understanding of certain social fact
e which are entirely overlooked, {
% passed over lightly by non-Sociali:
), writer's and speakers. They mu.
J. now be set forth clearly an
q strongly emphasized They are {
follows:
w First-There are two classes
T society whose interests are antaf
d onistic. On the one hand the cla'
l. owning and operating the gre,
L material means of production
lie whose interests demand priva
Us profit, which can only be sccur,
at by forcing up the cost of living al
l. forcing or keeping down the return
III of labor On the other, the labo
1e ing or producing class, whose il
l..
OF shorter hours and a lower cost
IN living.
ne Second-Thcre is an incvitah
re struggle between these two classe
at The Socialists do not make it. TIL
on simply reckon with it, because
IS is one of the most stubborn fac
of human history. Neither is t
cd struggle a new phenomenon.
ne has existed throughout history. T
y, oppresso- class owning and mono
eel olizing the resources OF life, ha
nd always been opposed by the slave
lie serfs, commons or laborers in an i
an tcrminablc class struggle. T
tn warriors and shepherd kings
ny Egypt, the slave revolt of the H
IA brews under Moses, the patriot
and plebian in Rome, the nobl
ne and commons in Medieval EuroI
he and the modern trades unions, {
Ith phases of this class struggle. T
OF Buffalo and Pullman strikes, I
n recent threatened strike right he
nd at home, the boycott and blackli
Ich the drastic resources of courts,
militia, Pinkertons and police, a
pie the shocking outrages of the bru
md ''bull pen'' in the Occur d'Aler
of and Colorado are recent remind