St. Johns review. (Saint Johns, Or.) 1904-current, 1908-09-04

V. Debs, candidate for president, an,
Benjamin Hanford, candidate for vic,
president on the socialist party ticke
will arrive in Portland Monday, Sci
tember IL, and as we we're refused
the armory, the comrades will speal
in the exposition building on Washin
ton street IN the evening. In orde
to help pay expenses, part Of thu
seats have been reserved at 25 centi
Admission to the hall and balance o
the seats free.
AS the matter for these columns hi
10 be In the Review office by Monda,
night, we will have to defer answer
ing the communication entitled: so
cialism in Practice, until next week
when IT will be properly taken care
Of.
For the reason that economies Il
the basis Of all forms Of society
we start at the bottom by calling
your attention to the following lucit
article by Robert Rives La Monte
No matter where you. my working
man reader, may work, the persoi
or corporation or trust for whom ol
which you work gets back more ou
OF your labor than he or II pay'
you In wages. n this is not so,youl
employer In either running char
table institution, or he is In busi
ness for his health. II Is impossible,
TO conceive OF man going on from
day to day. week after week. year
after year. paying you wages. unless
he receives more from the prodnci
OF your labor than he pays you In
wages. Now. this difference between
what you get and what he gets ID
what we call the surplus value.
This surplus value Ia the key to the
whole present economic organization
OF society. The end and the object
OF the bourgeois society In the forma
ton and accumulation Of surplus value
or. In other words. the systematic
robbery OF the producing class. Now
when we say robbery. We do not
mean TO accuse employers OF con
scious dishonesty. They are the
creatures OF system just as the
the workers are. but Il is a sys
tenn which makes their interests di
ametrically opposed 10 the Interests
OF their employees. The only way the
capitalists can increase their relativ,
share OF the product OF their en-
ployesiabor Is by decreasing the rel
ative share OF the latter.
Now. II out OF the total product OF
his labor. the workingman only re.
ceiyes part. then II is true TO say
that he works part OF the day for
himself and part Of the day gratuit
ously for the capitalist. Let us say
for purposes OF illustration that he
works three hours foi himself and
seven hours for HE employer for
nothing. This three hours We call
his necessary labor time. or HIS paid
labor: and the seven hours We call
his surplus labor time or his unpaid
labor. The product OF his three hour
labor Is the equivalent OF his wages,
Or, as we call II. the value, OF his
labor power. The product OF the 9th
er seven hours OF his labor, hts sur,
plus or unpaid labor. In surplus prod
net or surplus value. Starting from
he fact that every workingman know |
% be true. that he don't get all that
he feels he ought 10 get. we have
.hus. think. made the definition OF |
he surplus value and value OF labor
surplus value clear TO every one OF
you. but we have been talking OF
lower and We have not yet defined
Value.
When we speak OF the value OF an
'bject we mean the amount OF hui
nan labor that is embodied or accum
llatedin it-that has been spent In
itting II to satisfy human needs. Ant
We measure the amount OF this human
abor by it's duration. by labor time.
'ou. II you are a skilled, highly paid
'orker. receive. say four dollars
ay. may say that Il is absurd TO
ay that an hour OF your labor pro-
uces no more value than an hour OF
'om's or Dicks or Pete's who get on
! so cents a day apiece. You are
ute right. Your hour does produce
lore value. The labog time that de-
etermines value is the labor time OF
he average unframed worker. Agair
on may waste your time, spending
ALI OF II looking out OF the window
T carrying ON a filtration. This was
ID labor does not count In measuring
alue. The only labor that counts
the labor that is socially necessary
nder normal conditions for the pro .
uction o. the given commodity. {
gain, labor that is spent to pro q
nee a useless article does not pro-
ace value. To produce value the la e
,r must serve to satisfy human q
ants. Now, l think this is quite 4
ear so far. We know what surplus Il
'lue is. We know what value is n
Id how Il is measured. Let us now a
o what is meant by Value OF Labor a
over. O.
To begin with, what is Labor powe d
hen a workingman goes upon the p
arket to sell something for money N
tn which to buy bread and butter Ia