Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1910-10-28
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
How Is the Worker to Be unburdened

Mr.. Editor: 1 have heard, or read,
somewhere, some time, that when the
blind lead the blind they will both
fall in the ditch
I was forcibly reminded of this say
ing after reading Edward Perkins
Clark's letter in The Bulletin of recent
date. Mr.. Perkins is a candidate for
congress in this district. He tells US
that the Central Labor union of Nor
wich has swallowed Robert Hunter,
the candidate for governor on the So
cialfst ticket. I also read Mr.. Hunt
er's speech in The Olympic, October
Z. Mr.. Hunter tol1R nothing but what
every man of common sense knew
before, or ought to have known at
least. He says the doctrine of So
cialism is fundamental" 1t isn't alb
soautely necessary that a person de-
clare himself a socialist to believe
that labor produces all the wealth,
and is entitled to the fruits produced.
This is nothing new. Any II year
old schoolboy knows it. What the
great majority of wealth producers
want to know and must know, before
they can succeed, is, Why they do not
get what they produce. They have
got TO know by what process that so
large a portion is taken from them.
This process is either natural or
artificial If it is natural process,
then there can be no relief, and the
socialists and trade unionists are
wasting their lives" If it is an ar
tificial process, then there is hope of
relief, and if the socialists and trade
unionists do not understand this pro-
cess, they are wasting their efforts,
just the same. Mr.. Hunter asserts
that there is a ''class struggle" He
also says 1t is a fundamental mat
ter" His definition of class strug-
gle" is the differences between the
working class and the ca pitalist class
mo n GI- 511i
is not the socialists themselves that
are engendering this class struggle?
Let us suppose that the socialist
doctrine succeeded in wiping out cap
italisIn, would there not be capital
lists? Would you not by wiping out
capitalism and capitalists, also wipe
out ca pital" | have before a leaflet
entitled Burdens Borne by Labor is
sued By the Socialist Party of Con-
necticut. Here is one of the things
saiG i'm it: And the greatest burden
borne by labor is the burden of wealth
ITSELF This being true and labor
produces all the wealth, it would look
as though the only way to relieve
labor of this burden. would be for la
Dor to cease producing so much of it,
But that is impossible. for labor in
order to live must produce wealth
l have before me as I write clip
ping from a newspaper, the title of
which is "A High Priced Courtesy
Facts indicating How ConScientiously
the Interested Put Up Prices" Re
Gently the census bureau at Washing
ton issued u set of Official reports
showing that the annual production OF
the wage workers OF the United
States is worth about 81 500 Tor each
worker, while the average annual in
come OF the wage workers is but $500
Previous government statistics give
the figures as the producer getting
only only two hfrhs of what he pro-
duces, in other words. the producer
gets only 40 cents for which the con
sumner pays one dollar In the census
bureau report the producer gets only
20 cents for which the consumer pays
one dollar. IN order for labor to lift