The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1911-04-06
What Human Life Depends ON.

u
clothing and shelter. Only with
these assured are freedom. culture
and higher human development pos
sible. To produce, food, clothing
or shelter, land and machinery are
needed Land alone does not salts
fy human needs. Human labor
creates machinery and applies it 10
the land for the production of raw
material and food. Whoever has CON
troll of land and machinery controls
human labor, and with 1t human
life and liberty.
The Cause, Of Glass Rule.
Today IN" machinery and the
land used for industrial purposes are
owned by rapidly decreasing
minority. So long as machinery Is
simple and easily handled by one
man, its owner cannot dominate the
sources of life of others. But when
machinery becomes more complex
and expensive, and requires for its
operation the organized effort Of
many workers, it's influence reaches
over wide circles OIL The owners
of such machinery become the DON'T
nant class.
Men Arc Made Slaves.
In proportion as the plumber Of
such machine owners compared to all
other classes decreases, their power
in the nation and in the world in
creases. They Bring ever large mas
SEES OF working people under their
control. reducing them to the point
where muscle and brain are their
only productive property. Millions
OF formerly self-euployinS workers
thus become the helpless wage slaves
of industrial masters
Ruling Glass asII'arasitcs
'hs' the economic power of the rul-
Ing clas. grows it. becomes less use
ful in the life OF the nation. All
the nsefnl work of tho nation falls
upon the shoulders OF the class
whose only property Is its manual
and mental labor powcr--tho wage
worker-or of the class who have
hut little land and little effective
machinery outside of their labor
power--the small traders and small
farmers. The ruling minority is
steadily becoming useless and para
site
The Glass Struggle
"A bitter struggle over the division
OF the products of labor is wagcd be-
tween the exploiting propcrtiod
Glasses on the one hand and the OK
plotting Dropertyless class on tho
other. In this struggle the wage
working class cannot expect adcuuatn
relief from any reform OF the present
order Mt the hand of the dominant
class.
The wage workers are, therefore
The most antagonists of tie ruling
class. They suffer most from the
curse of class rule. The fact that
few capitalists are permitted to
al
resources and social tools for their
individual profit. and 10 make the
production of the necessarieS Of life
the object of competitive private en-
terprlse and speculation is at the
bottom OF all the social evils OF our
time.
oVc'-production and IdIcncSs.
In spite of the organization Of
trusts. pools and combinations, the
capitalists are powcrlcss to regulate
production for social ends Indus
tries are largely conducted in a
painless manner. Through periods;
of fevcriSh activity the strength and
health OF the workers are mercflcss-
ly used UP. and during periods Of en-
forced idlencss the workers ar" freq
nontly reduced to starvation.
The climaXes OF this system Of pro
'''N'i'ii IL U me reg uIdllf fptliiElng.
'ndustrials depressipns and crises
winch paralyzc the nation every III
teen or twenty years
Lah"r's Explorations
The capitalist class. in it's rlsd
race. for profits. is bound to exploit
the workers to the very limit OF
their endurance and to sacrifice Their
physical. moral and mental welfare
10 Its own Unsuitable greed. CAPITAL
ISM keeps the masses of worlliugifrcIi
IN poverty. dcStitution physical ,.X-
HauSllon and ignorance. 1t d;.,"s
ihcIr wives from their homes to the.
mil and factory. 1t snatchcs their
chiidfeh from the Fairgrounds ana
schools and grinds their sicn.icri
bodles and uniformed minds; in, cold
uoilarS. 1t diSfg urcs. mains a,I
Kills hundreds of thousands Of ,yo,f,-
lngmen annually in mines, on rail
roads and in factories It I.lyo-
millions of workers into rha ranks
or the unemployed and ro~co. iarp.
numbers OF them into he.,a..lt-
FasrancY and all forms of GRIM. .n,:
vice.
Power of CoIruntion
10 maintain their ruln over .l,n;,
Fellow men, the capitalists must keal