Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1909-09-17
LABOR 81 pG M cHllgERY !.
Only soeiajisns Can Make ii \ nlsss M
iis ina to the r oiler.

~ ing 70 = 1no II on
Invention has filed the world With
the ornpetitors not only of laborers,
but of mechani cs mech anics Of the /
highest skill To-day the ord inar5 Ia.
bcrer Is for the most part a cog In
wheel 4 He works with the tireless; he
feeds the Unsuitable. w hen the mon
ister stops, the man rs out of employ
ment out of bread no has not saved
anything, The machine that he fed
was not feeding him, was not working
for him The Invention was not foss
his benefit. The other day a man was
heard to say that 1t was almost impos-
ssible for thousands of good mechanics
to get employment and that, Id his
Judgment, the government ought I'd
furnish work for the people. A few
minutes after another said that he was
selling a patent for cutting out cl othes.
that one OF his mac hines could do the
work of twenty tailors, and that only
the week before he had sold two to u
great house in New York and that over
for..J cutters had been discharged
On every side men are being dis
charged and machines are being In
$veItru 10 take their places. w hen the j
great factory shuts down, the workers
who inha bited 1t and gave life to It, as
thoughts do the brain. go away, and 1t
stands there like an empty skull.
few E;orkmen by force of habit gather
about the closed door and broken vim
dows and talk about distress, the price
Of food and the coming winter. They
are convinced that they have not had
their share Of what their lab Dor created.
They feel that the machines inside
were not their friends. They look ut
the mansion Of the employer and think
of the places where they live. They,
have saved nothing nothing but them
selves The employer seems to have
enough. Even when employers fall,
when they become bankrupt, they are
far b-tter OFF than the laborers ever
were Their worst Is better than the
toilers best.
The capitalist comes forward with
his specific. He tells the workingman3
that he must be economical, and yet
under the present system economy
would only lessen wages. Under the
great law Of supply and demand every
saving, frugal, self denying working
man is unconsciously doing what little
he can to reduce the compensation of
himself and his fellows The slave
who did not wish e run away helped
to fasten the chains upon those who
did. So the saving mechanic is Ger.
tificate that wages are high enough.
Does the great law demand that
worker live on the least possible amount
of bread2 Is it his fate to work one
day that he may be able to get food
enough to be able to work another7 Is
II:;tshat to be his only honathat and
death?
Capital has always claimed and still
claims the right to combine. Manufac.
turers meet and determine upon prices
even In spite Of the great law Of sup
ply and demand. HIVE the laborers
the same right to consult and com.
bine? The rich men meet In the bank,
the clubhouse or parlor. Workingmen
when they combine gather In the
4 street All the organized forces Of 80
ciety are against them. Capital has
\ the army and the navy, the Legislative,
the Judicial and the executive depart
4 ments. When the rich combine II Is
for the purpose Of Exchanging IDEAS
When the poor combine It Is ''conspir.
acy.n II they act In concert, if they
really do something, 1t is mob. II
Il <1aFa lrnc {c1t
How Is 1t that the rich control the de
i partments Of government II thii
country the political power ID equally
i divided among the men. There arr
4 certainly more poor than there arr
rich. Why should the Rich control
Why should not the! workers Combine
for the purpose Of controlling the ex
ecutive, legislative and judicial de
partments7 VIII they ever learn HOY
q powerful they are n
4 In every country there ID Rats
4 fed class-too satisfied to care. It 4
4 too happy to be generous. This salts
fed class asks no questions and an
swers none. II believes the worlt
is as 1t should be, All reformers ar
6lmply MISUNDERSTANDING E1t<1SS. 54s fFgi1eA
they talk low they should not be lis
tened to. When they talk loud the,
should be suppressed.
The truth is today what 1t Away
has been, what 1t always Will be
Those who feel are the only ones VIII
think. A cry comes from the hungry
from the oppressed, from the down
trodden. from the unfortunate, fror
men who despair and from women VIII
weep. There are times when mend
cants become revolutionists. when
rag becomes a banner under which th
noblest and the bravest battle for th
right.
How are we to settle the unequs
contest between men and machines
VIII the machine finally 60 into par
nership with the laborer? Can thes
+ forces Of nature be controlled for tb
"a ~ vrya