The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-12-08
TRADE UNION POLICY
AND SOCIALIST Plan !
Institution Of Collective Owner.
ship Would Involve Violent
Rupture.
Trade Union Policy of Gradual
Improvement Proves to Be
Most Practical.
(By J. S. kirchmer in ciaarmakers
Journal,) t:3

To institute the collective owner
ship and operation of all the means
Of production and distribution in these
United States, would involve the
violent rupture of our organic law,
the "Constitution, and which guaran-
tees to every one the inviolability Of
contract" and the free enjoyment Of
life, liberty and property. In the fifth
amendment it is expressly stated,
Nor shall private property be taken
for public use without just compens-
alton" This is the basis upon which \
our whole superstructure of govern /
ment rests; to tear out that base and I
insert a new foundation by constitu-
tional, lawful methods we would have /
to proceed according to Article V. Of
the Constitution, which requires a.!
two-thirds majority of both houses of !
Congress, followed by ratification Of
.three-fourths of the several states, in {
other words, before any change in :.
the constitution can become effective {
1t would first have to receive the ap- |
proval of thirty-four states. That is /
the reason why it is so difficult to .
ment, and which consist of but fifteen
articles, twelve of which were adopted |!
prior to 1904, since then "a period Of |
102 years )the constitution has been ;
amended only three times, as the re-
suit of the Civil war, the first being +
a confirma ton Of Article XIII of Pre- !
sident Lincoln's proclamation eman- /
cipating the slaves in 1865. The Sec
ond was Article XIV, whereby the
negroes were made citizens, adopted |
in 1868, and the third was Article |
XIV, giving the negroes the right to T
vote, adopted in 1870. In the article /
on socialism, published in the October {
Journal is contained the assertion !.
that the Socialist creed will never get /
a sufficient majority to attempt to |
designs. 1t is the purpose of this
article to back up that assertion with I
logical reasonable deductions, drawn .
from American practical politics. In
treating with American politics, we
must approach the subject from the
viewpoint OF an =: American citizen.
rather than from the views Of an em-i
igrant from Sunmerania or tire~,Nilds I
OF the Caucasus It IS respectfully
submitted here that subjects Of |
countries where the system Of govern /
ment still rests upon the effete an-
tique theory of the lords anointed'
the divine right of kings to rule j,
will not be accepted as political pre- i
ed and has enjoyed a triumphant
1nv q~
We may therefore be justly pardoned i
If we prefer our won political tutelage ]
to that of those who have not yet gonai
as far as we, but to come back to
the real subject, American politics and
Socialist collectivism. a
The American republic is a govern
ment by parties" and since the days
of Washington, the father Of our
country, it has been governed by the
two great political forces known re-
spectively as the Republican and DEM
ocratic parties; the Federal and Whig
parties were the prototypes of the
present Republican, and are practically
identical, its basic principle consisted
of strong centralized powers in the
nation, with every possible enlarge,
11lcul VI SOVOIlAlIlSIlIdl 1unCl1OnS,
volving an ever narrowing sphere for
the states or the individual. This was
the idea of Washington and Hamil-
ton, it's founders. 1 .
The Republican party and founded 4
by Jefferson, was the beginning Of
the present Democratic, and stood for
the opposite principle, namely de-
Capitalization, based upon federation
rather than concentration, with lim-
tied functions, and an ever widening
scope to the states or the individual,
Jefferson and Jackson idea was.
'less government, more liberty (some
Of the more intelligent anarchists Of )
today are very fond of quoting Thomas
Jefferson), the result of the conflict
between these two conflicting ideas
has been compromise. namely a
of certain rights and reserv-
ations to the several states and the
individual guaranteed by a Federal
constitution, and enforced by lin
tied federal or national republic, and
Continued on Page 6.) 8