The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-07-07
lGToN, VT, WEDNESDAY. JULY z, 1909
SOCIALIST PICNIC
National Committeeman Speaks on
the Principles of the Movement

ment erected in commemoration of
one of the great struggles for human
liberty and with us was one of the
foremost leaders of the present day
struggle for economic liberty. The
day, tne beautiful scenery and the
surroundings which linked the past.
present and future into one grand on
ward movement toward the fulfillment
of an eternal, changeless purpose, uni
ted in making it an occasion long to
be remembered by all present. After
the address bountiful lunch was ser
| we'd
| Mr.. Spargo who is a member of the
national executive and national com
mittees of the Socialist party, and
author of a large number of books on
the subject of Socialism, spoke, in
part, as follows.
| | had not intended to speak at all
today but could not well refuse your
kind invitation. In the first place 1t
has pleased Mrs. Spargo and myself
to have you here with us today but
we are even more gratified when
few days ago we learned that local
organization of the Socialist party
had been formed in Bennington. |
said then to Mr.. Kinlilgbeck that it
was almost a pity that the start had
not been deferred until today when all
the nation is celebrating the declara-
ton of American Independence. We
Socialists have a special right to
make Independence day our own. We
are proclaiming new declaration of
independence, for the real permanent
declaration of American Independence
has not yet been written, except in
the ideals of few Socialists
All through the history of the world
the great urge has been mans pass
ionate search for freedom: the strug-
gle for liberty In his day Lincoln
WITH solemn grandeur the truth that
no man was good enough to own an
other mans body and soul We Amer
lean Socialists have taken up the ban
ner of freedom where the cold hand
of Lincoln laid 1t down, and are carry
ing il on to where we believe he
would carry 1t were he still alive. We
accept the full logic of liberty and de-
clare that no man is good enough to
be master of another mans bread,
master of his labor and opportunities
to earn living. That is our position
and If there be any to call it treason
we say with Patrick Henry Make the
most of IT,"
Having spent good deal more than
half my life in the service of the
movement. and witnessed the marvel
lous progress made in an countries, it
is perhaps we'll for me to urge the To-
4 ,nf 90. -. p..I ~,
disheartened because there are so few
lof you in this conservative section of
Vermont. When first became active
in the London movement there were
only a few of US. If we gathered ten
together we thought the beginning OF
the end was at hand. II was said that
all the Socialists in London could be
put into a four wheeled cab and not
have money between them to pay the
cabman. That was not quite true,
however for one was William Morris,
the famous English poet and artist,
who was a wealthy man. All the
same. those were days when Social
lists had to endure a great deal of
bitter opposition and Ostracism. Now,
however, there is a strong Socialist
representation in the British parlia-
ment. So ii had been in every coun-
try. In America il is very evident
that the Democratic party has lost its
power of appeal TO the people and in
few years the Socialist party will
take its place.
The Socialists have been accused by
Mr.. Roosevelt, among others, of many
evil things, but the great mass of tle
American people are beginning to re-
alize that all such charges are false
and as foolish as they are false. Soc
ialists are not free lovers and have
no designs upon the institution OF the
| family. Nor are they seeking to OPP
pose religion in any manner. As to
the charge that the aim of the Social
lists is to do away VITA private prop
erty and to share out equally the
wealth of the world, that is altogether
misrepresentation. We know very
we'll that If even this select little COM
pany should attempt to put all the
wealth of it's members into one pile
and then divide it in equal shares,
some would have more than others be-
fore we could get out. That is not a
reflection upon the honesty of anyone
acre; it is simply a recognition of a
great fact of human nature. Some
people are endowed with a marvellous
capacity for getting hold of things and
others with an equally marvellous ca
pacity for letting go of things.
We Socialists are not making war !
upon private property. We want to
extend private property so that none |
need be without property and security |
of life. But in order to attain that |
end we must have change in our |
economic system; we must do away |
with that kind of property which en-
ables q few people to own the things
on which all the rest depend for life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The speaker here told story of
farmer in Wales who had a pump on
a mountain side so contrived that
when the thirsty passers-by wanted to
drink ne must pump a gallon into the
farmers tank for every pint he got for
himself. Our Industrial system is like
that pump, he said. For the sake of
earning a mere pittance, the workers
must pump streams of wealth through
the channels of rent interest and pro-
fit into the tanks of the great monopo
lists. The only solution of the social
problem is to make the industrial
pump the common property of all the
citizens, leaving to private individuals
the wealth they can produce and use
for themselves