Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1910-07-14
SOCIALIS M
OR POVERTY

!
thing, ask you to see Standard Die
tionary, which says, THE motto OF
Socialism is everyone according to his
deeds. - Encyclopedias Britannica says:
'sEthics of Socialism and Christianity
are identical" Johnson's Universal
Cyclopedia says, st is the vices OF
mankind and the miseries resulting
from these vices, to which Socialism
wishes to put an end, and it seeks its
means in a new social organization
and not in new religion. See Am
erican Year Book: The Socialist
does not propose to destroy the family,
abolish religion or divide up property.
In short, Socialism means public own
ership of the means of production and
working class control of the govern
ment, a chance to work for all who
will, and to each worker the full pro-
duct or value of his labor.
These definitions all look good to me
and I can furnish fifteen Others as
strong and stronger. These are from
authorities accepted by democrats and
republicans for any and all other defin-
itions, and would be on the subject OF
Socialism but for party slavery.
Party slavery is the meanest, basest
and most degrading teaching that has
ever cursed the lives and institutions
of our people and country. Party sla-
very is founded on ignorance, Of
which we may boast as its fruit, per-
petuated by selfishness and moral cow
ardice, "because pap was" We have
stuck to our parties until one of every
hundred own tifty-five dollars of every
one hundred dollars of wealth in
"our' country. This one per cent.
of the families represent 125, 900 men
owning more than twelve million
families. In this twelve million fam
lilies there are six million families
classed as "poor" who have no proper
ty, not even place to lay their heads.
Millions of these today are out of work
and must always be to perpetuate the
capitslistic system.
The fruit of this system is million
airs and paupers. By paupers we
mean men forced to either beg, starve
or steal. Then we might apply it
broader to those whose lives are de-
pendant on some captain of industry
who CONTROLS the jobs at which they
must work and for which they must
beg in order to live.
Poverty, the fruit of system built
upon party prejudice, encouraged by
the money gods of this country and
England, has many phases and shad-
ings. One writer has said. "It is hell
become visible to the eye" It stands
for the superlative of shame and agony
possible to man on earth. To avoid it.
some men stand ready to trample on
every law of God or man. You may
threaten them with punishment after
death, and they tell you that may be
so, but you are only guessing at it.,
and we know nothing about it, for we
see nothing, but we do know that pow
erty is hell on this earth before our
eyes, and we desire to keep out of it,
and will trust to luck to beat the hell
in the next world.
There are democrats and republicans
all over this country, millionaires in
their minds, who publicly deny that
any story of poverty is true, even when
their own counties will pay three or
four dollars TO bury workingman
who is poor, and who vote for men
who vote $25, 000 90 travelling expenses
to the "Grand Injunction Bill who
held six offices by appointment before
he ever got to where he could play golf
while others write out his orders for
him.
once heard it said of very sue
cessful business man that 'he was the
biggest liar in the country. We
can't even have a president unless he
is ''great business man. The av-
erage business men regard poverty as
the only he'll in sight, and feel like
the only heaven worth working for is
here now, and may be bought with
gold if they can keep the workingmen
men divided and voting for candid
stes named by them. / want to tell
you, boys, that poverty has something
more in it than laying down these old
bodies of ours in death. 1t dwarfs and
shrivels up your immortal soul It
makes tender hearted men cruel and
unjust. 1t robs you of time for men
tai or spiritual culture.
Remember, say, poverty is one of
the fruits of this system for which you
have been voting and are expected to
vote to satisfy your political boss, who
is paid by some captains gold to tell
you just enough to keep you in ignor-
ance and exc out miserable exis-
tence, while you are plucked for 80
cents of every dollar you produce. .
This thing called poverty is capital
ism's fruit-and that's what our
preacher even tells you to vote for, is
the worst curse ever launched on man
by an omnipotent devil or its syno-
nym. Capitalism. Poverty is the ser
pent mother of crime, which must ex-
list, capitalists tell you, as an Gin
centive" to make you work, and keep
at it and then what is strange to me,
every ragged democrat and republican
whose families are starving pbvsical-