The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-11-29

give It to upkeep of "grafters-
 Yours.
 THE TEACHINGS OF SOCIALISM.
 Editor of The Farmer, Sir:-
 The subject of Socialism is the
 greatest and most persistent question
 of this age Since first it forced itself
 upon the attention of man 1t has leap
 ed over every geographical barrier and
 gone Into every land under the sun.
 It has, found it's way into palaces and
 huts- It Is discussed. debated and
 preached by fireside and from rostrun. pulpit and soap box It has won for
 itself the right to appear on the pages of books. pamphlets. magazines and
 newspapers Whither can ye flee from it's presence? It stands at the door of every home. att the door of every. heart. at the door of every intellect
 and passionately -aps and cries aoud for admission. We cannot evade it If
 we would. and we should not If we
 could Its origin. growth and destiny; its philosophy. challenge and prophecy
 its teachings. implications and sane
 tions constitute 1t the most serious
 question of modern times and worthy
 our best thought
 A misunderstanding of the meaning of the Socialist symbols-red flag and torch-has led fools and knayes to pronounce it a system of blood. fire and pitch-forks. The fact is. and any
 
 Socialism is not communism. paternal-
 ism. anarchy. profit-shariEg, equal
 division of things. single tax. old age pensions. unison labor. or a host of
 ialisn. It is either diametrically op- posed to them or goes indefinitely be-
 yond their proposals.
 Socialism is a dynamic power. an
 inspiring ideal. moral force. a world conquering movement. system of
 burning truth, and must be experi-
 enced in order to be understood
 Socialism appeals to and demands the heart as well as the head. And once
 it seeps through into the emotional nature of the world. it will grip and sway 1t with the power of a mighty
 living thing. And this generation will
 not pass away before this task is ac- complished.
 Socialism is like a town clock. 1t can
 be viewed from any point of the com
 pass. but 1t is the same thing and tells the same tale. John Spargc has ex-
 pressed this in the following language: '-The man who. because his life Is torn
 by the economic struggle. sees in Soc ialisn economic redemption. is right:
 the man who. because his scul rebels
 st the bondage of the minJ. sees fin Socialism mental and hntefls sctual free dom. is right: and the man who. be- cause his religious faith withers under the blight of capitalism. sees in Soc-
 ialism the force which will make the
 religious life possible. Is right Each
 point of view is legitimate and all are
 necessary to full comprehension Of
 Socialism. And there are still othef
 points of view. The point of view of
 the woman. for example, seeing in
 Socialism the breakdown of the last
 remnants of her servitude and .ne
 triumph of sex-equality: or the artist. seeing the source of ugiiness in the spirit of greed which pervsdes capi- talism, and looking to Socialism as the only hope for the Life Beautiful
 We all believe that man consists of more than animal and we all know that the world has not. up to date. given the average man a chance to develop anything more than the ani- nal The higher map. through no fault of it's own has heen and still Is bound and gagged. It has had little. If any. chance to assert itself.
 But when the stomach is fed. the back clothed and the animal safely housed. then the intellectual. moral. nature will blossom like the rose Then education. fine arts. pure religion. and wholesome pleasure resorts will flour ish- Then the home will be founded. not as now. upon economic need, but upon pure spontaneous love and the offspring. not the expression of animal passion. but of holy union. Then chilli hood will be spent; not in grind ng discipline. Then womanhood will be from the debasing thral- dom and drudge-y of to-day and crowned the equal of man. Then man will be liberated from the soul-sappi1g and mind-destroying slavery of the present wage system and lifted to be the equal of his peers When poverty. crime. intemperance. corruption. servi- | tude. war and tyranny shall have been | abolished or reduced to a minimum. | then the world will lie in the arms of l peace. and glory to God in the highest | and good will to men win gird e the | aT1 &lxfe. and Socialists unwaveringiy believe | that the adoption of Socialism will ac- complish 1t. sold in the market very much as a | horse or a cow is bought and sold. | What labor gets for it's service is call | ed wages, and these wages are paid | of these wages is determined not by the amount of labor performed. the | hours and conditions of labor. and the | products produced. but usually by the . 9reement of employers. And. as- a | rule, seldom varied from. the agree | ment means a mere living wage and l for many a mighty poor living wage. Then. labor is always worth more l than 1t is paid It must be so. or | there would be no surplus, no profit | for the purchaser of labor and no in- centive to buy or hire it. If labor | all it produced. which in jus tice 1t should. then the wage system | must fall and Socialism supersede 1t. Mir. W. F. Ries says: At the St. Louis | Worlds Fair I saw one hundred peo- | pie make twelve hundred pairs of s3.50 shoes every eight hours. The super told me that three pairs out Of each twelve would more than pay for the raw material. interest on the money. wear of machinery. boxing, draying. the foreman's wages and all other expenses" Out of the nine pairs the workers got far less than the price of one pair in wages. For a large number of these workers were boys and girls. who received as low as T5 cents per day. while the