The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-06-05
THE MAKING OF SOCIALISTS.
Fraudulent Practices Of The Sugar
trust One Excuse For Public Feel
ing Against Corporate Wealth.
(From the New York Times.)

(FrOm the New York Times.)
The professed aim of the Socialists
or the one as to which most of them
are, sc far as We can make out, most
nearly agreed, is the abolition of cer-
tain kinds of private ownership and
of competition. The reason for the
adoption of this aim that most Of
them advance is that private proper
ty, in the hands of its actual owners
Is made the source of infinite wrong
to the people generally; that it stim-
ulates greed and injustice and cruel
ty and dishonesty; that it makes men
needless of the right of others and
OF the law which is intended to pro-
tect those rights, and that it gives
rise to system of organized plunder
under the form Of law, by which the
rich grow richer and the poor be-
come poorer. They--the Socialists
insist that under the demoralizing
and perverting influence of absolute
O"-ANAS'AAP thO wealthy constantly
cvade their obligations to their fell
lows, and especially that they resort
to every means acute and highly
paid brains can devise to shift their
share Of the burdens of the cost of
government to the shoulders of the
helpless poor. Competition the So
cialists regard as q system that aids
In the attainment Of these ends. arm
ing the rich, disarming the poor, re-
inforcing the strong, tending to make
the weak helpless.
Has it ever occurred to the officers
OF the American Sugar Refining Com
pany how completely the history Of
the plot by which that company has,
in the last dozen years, stolen from
the United States government some.
thing like 100000 sustains the ar.
gument Of the Socialists? Is it not
striking example Of the actual work.
ing of the influences which the So.
cialists attribute to the possession of
large masses of private property
Are not the greed, the recklessnegs
OF right and of law, the ruthless cum
ming. the dull. sordid indifference to
wrongs inflicted on others-and the
most nearly helpless-all displayed in
this series Of persistent and vulgar
<ho 20, ,rspc
pany enjoys great and valuable priv
ilges at the expense Of the whole peo-
pie. It's enormous and profitable
business is protected BY practically
prohibitory duties from foreign COM
petition The duties it is called on to
pay are revenue duties-a contribu-
tion toward its share Of the cost of
the federal government. And these
duties, to the amount Of a couple of
millions, the company deliberately
mean!y. by petty and despicable
modes of cheating, steals from the
government. Some one had to make
up the difference. In considerable
part it came from the poor, who are
already heavily burdened to fatten
the bank accounts of the sugar COM
pany.
Now, as a remedy for these shock
ing evils, the abolition Of private
property is puerile and hopeless. AS
an argument for the heed of a rem
ody the history of this miserable
fraud is very strong. There are not in
all America today such convincing
propagandists Of the most dangerous
form of Socialism as the men in the
sugar company who executed. PLAN
ned, authorized, or tolerated these
frauds.