davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14

Just recently the ASS Witnessed the
production of Dante's Inferno by q
moving picture show. There were 5
long reels and ] sat for over two hours
gazing at the concoctinns Of a diseas-
ed imagination. made living By mod
ern art and capitalistic incentive.
Briefly, il you have chance to see
this show, save your money, unless.
like the ASS, you are possessed Of an
inQuisitiVe nature and want to know
Just what the capitalistic schemeTs
are springing on the dear 'pepuP. It's
worth while to keep posted on EN-.
This Inferno of Dante might have
passed muster in his day, though 1t IS
sad reflection on the culture and de-
cency of an age when even its great
est poet had such awful night mares.
Nor is ones opinion Of him bettered
much after Witnessing his moving pic
ture representative srale and rangle',
at the poor unfortunates that his vivid
imagination has consigned to burning
pits, frozen lakes, and all manner OF
dire tOrtures such as an excited brain
could fashion from the cruel, fantas-
tic and inhuman religious beliefs OF
his time. In one instance he even goes
SO far in his wrath as to scratch the
face and literally pull out handfulls OF
the hair from the head of one Of the
poor devils whose form and arms are
bound in an icy lake Nice business
for smoralist'I don't think! But
sad to say, there are religious fanatics
today who would like to repeat the
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14
TIE Splendid Story Of Panama

you ever hear of a race like that be-
tween men in PRIVATE employment
But the canal itself is only a part
OF the story. Uncle Sam has made
that pestilential isthmus more sani-
tary than New York, converting it
from q place where white men can
not i've" to place where white men
can and do live in comfort with their
families.
Uncle Sam is running line of
steamships from Colon to New York
They make the run in ONE DAT
LESS time than competing privat
lines and last year netted profit Of
$3.50, 1000.
Yes, and Uncle Sam is running two
small railroads on the isthmus with
a gross earning of 5000, 1851. Got
his initials on the side Of his big loco
motives"U. S." A sight for sore
lseyes!
But so far we have told you only
Of those things which. in most coun-
tries, are regarded as public works.
though. in the United. States they are
generally treated as means Of
exploitation fore private profit. Can
Uncle Sam run hotels, boarding
houses, bakeries, laundries. machine
shops and department stores? CAN
he? Why, Uncle Sam is the smartest
hotel-keeper, baker, laundryman, ma
chine-shop manager and big merchant
in the business!
4 We haven't room for the whole story
but you mustn't miss the part that
bears on high cost Of living. At the
very time when meat prices were be
ing most steadily boosted elsewhere,
the butcher of Panama, Uncle Sam,
was selling porterhouse steak as fol
lows: Jan. II, 1909, 20 cents pei
pound; Feb. 1, ~ cents; May 30. q
cents; Feb. /, 1910, s21 cents. So with
all merchandise, the people get the
purest and best at constantly decreas
| ing prices. The reason? Uncle Sam
does business on a large scale. He
manages with honesty and efficiency
and HE CHARGES NO PROFIT.
| This is an inspiring story. The
people will learn it by heart And
out OF Panama viii come. in time
4 more than increased commerce ant
social interchange.
| IA NATION THAT CAN DO WHAT
j, WE ARE DOING THERE. IS Toe
| BIG TO BE CRUSHED BY a FEW
/ MEN WHO HAVE NOTHING T6
| THEIR CREDIT SAVE DOLLARS.
Columbus Citizen.
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14
SIGN THE SUFFRAGE PETITION :: ::
fRy Nellie NJ. zeh.)

: a ~ u :
preparing the mind of the working
class man to accept the proposition of
woman Suffrage when it is presented
to him, as it soon will be, by the
capitalist class politicians.
Men, all men, both capitalist class
and working class, will eventually
fall IN with the idea of woman's suf-
frage and vote to grant her the ballot,
but not from any sense of chiValry,
not from any sense of duty, nor yet
from any sense of justice, but because
they must in order to save themselves.
Barring the further progress of the
capitalist class stand out in letters
large and significant words, Trade
Unionism and Socialism. These
mighty weapons Of the working class
can no longer be ignored. So. like
drowning men clutching at stfaws,
the supporters Of the capitalist sys-
tenn are looking in every direction for
some avenue Of escape, something to
stay the irresistible onward sweep of
those two great wings Of the working
class movement. And now they have
discovered something which they be-
lieve will do it. The women! All!
yes, the women. Grant women the
ballot and the trick will be done.
Women represent the most reaction
airy force in society. Conservative,
superstitious, ignorant Of the political
and economic needs of the world. the
women, who number at least one-half
Of the adult population Of the United
States, will be given the vote that
their conservatism may stay the on
ward progress Of the intelligent work
| ing class.
To pit ignorance against intelli-
gence, to meet progress with reaction.
these have ever been the the tactics
Of the rulers when their power was
assailed.
And now what are we Of the Labor
and Socialist movement going to do
I,about it? Shall we oppose woman
suffrage because it will be the next
thing to be used by our enemies
against US? No, indeed. We know
more than that: We have learned
through our scientific training that
| ii is useless to oppose the evolution
airy processes of society. But shall
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14

TO the intelligent Interpreter Of the
signs Of the times. there is no more
doubt that the women Of the United
States will soon be granted unrestrict-
ed and equal suffrage, than that oaks
grow from acorns or that the present
industrial system is the outgrowth Of
the one which preceded it.
Another decade will sweep the very
last and most reactionary state into
line. Every force in society, both
economicSand psychologist, is at work
to bring about this revolution. It is
the inevitable outcome of capitalist
class rule and the wage system.
with the development of machinery
and the wage system has come the
demand for cheap labor. Women and
children supply this demand and have
thus become formidable competitors
Of men in the labor market. Accord
| ing to the census of 1910, 100000
women and 5,OOO,O 900 children are EN-
ployed IN our mills. mines, factories
shops and stores. 100000 men are
all or part of the item idle.
Girls of the upper working class
and middle class remain longer in
school than boys Of the same classes
Of society. This fact together with
i the one that women are entering the
i industries in ever-increasing numbers
makes for greater intelligence Of the
female sex. Because of this intelll-
Egence and that as rule, women
work for less money than men, more
and more will men be supplanted by
women and more and more viii both
men and women Of the working class
see the need Of the ballot in the
/ hands Of women.
The working man win at last
awaken to realization of the posi-
ton in which he has placed himself,
and learn of his sister who works by
L his side, that she is not there from
choice, but because conditions which
he controls through his vote have
forced her there. In reply to his ques-
ton, aWhat would you do with the
ballot if you had it," her answer in
nine cases out of ten would be. 4
would vote to elect men and women
| into office who would make it possible
for me to leave this work for you
en-, and give me q home with babies
to love and a husband to love me.
Such knowledge as this is rapidly
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14
GVILKA TON
Gay Hugh McGee)

- A4o - - - =
Why is it that today in the United
States, when every intelligent person
knows that it is possible for every
man, woman and child to be supplied
With an the things necessary for .
decent life. together with all the so.
called Injuries Of this twentieth cen.
fury civilization, why IS It that one.
tenth Of the people have four-fifths Of
all the things which were made and
produced entirely by the working class
while this same working class. OF
nine-tenths Of the people. have prac.
tically nothing but fresh air and wa
ter-sometimes not even that? Why
is it
Why is 1t that in the United States,
in this great big rich country. where
one state alone. the State Of Texas,
can furnish enough grain. cattle.
fruits and provisions to feed every
man, woman and child ii the United
States. together with making and
manufacturing every single article
that is used OF can be used BY the
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14

man the ballot anyway" Again we
say, more emphatically than ever,
NO, thousand times NO. Such an
altitude is just what the bourgeois
class of society would be glad to see
us assume. They want the glory Oh
giving woman the ballot. They want
her to obtain her rights and inciden,
tally train and educate her for them
selves. Her vote will count just as
much in an election to hold their
puppets in office as that of any man.
They want her to vote and are going
to get it too, unless we wake up and
do our share in helping her to obtain
her rights and incidentally train and
educate her to our ways of thinking.
We also want her vote. Aye, even
more than that, we NEED her vote,
and the only way to get it is to show
ourselves to be in sympathy with her
cause. When we have won the wo-
men, we have won the world!
So friends and comrades, bestir
yourselves. Sign the woman's suf-
frage petition which is now being cir
culated by the women and friends OF
the Socialist party. We can't afford
to be Indifferent now. II woman
votes against us, our beloved cause
would suffer blow from which II
might not recover for twenty years.
perhaps longer. Sign the petition to.
day and send to the National Head
quarters, POS w. Washington St, Chi;
cage. Sign it now. Urge others to
sign. Copies Of this petition can be
had upon application. Go out among
your friends and neighbors for sigma.
lures. Have it presented at all your
meetings. Keep it going. Do not lose
| a day from now until the next ses.
sion Of congress, when it viii be pre-.
scented by Victor L. Berger, Of Mil.
waukee, Socialist congressman and
Labor's only representative in con
gress. IL would be nothing less than
calamity to miss this opportunity.
Sister comrades, this is for you. for
your children, for your homes. Pres
emit this petition everywhere. at your
clubs, union meetings, afternoon teas,
church festivities. W. G. T. U. meet
ings, anywhere and everywhere. We
want thousands of signatures, mil
yions of them. SIGN. SIGN NOW.
SIGN THE WoMAN's EQUAL SUI.
IFRAGE PETITION.
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14

gold bricks" and entered through
gates of pearl, !" while their He'll
well Dante had as good guess at 1t
as anyone.
The Hell of today is made Of stern
er stuff. Along with the physical sun
ering, hunger, cold and disease, there
is depth Of mental and moral an
guish and degradation that makes
Dante's Inferno look like 80 cents.
You don't have to scale any noun
tain tops and plunge into any great
ssyaWning ehasm" or which is noticed
eWho enters here leaves hope be
hind" (tho the motto is mighty appro-
|priate) Five minutes walk will bring
most of you square in the middle OF
Hell-up-to-date. Some OF You can find
it in the adjoining fat-and not a few
under the same roof with yourself,
carry a good-sized Wad of it around
with me all the time in the shape OF
>mental realization of the great
wrongs of the working class. and their
stupid inability, thus far, as a CLASS
to do their own thinking and find the
way out of this modern limbo" the
I've got a brand new can opener and
accumulated customs and wrongs OF
ages has beQueathed them.
very soon I'm going to open up some
Of these Hell-up- todate concerns Of
modern Capitalism and show you some
sights that will make Dante green
with envy.-Bring along your asbestos
shoes. He Haw! He Haw!
The ASS himself did it.
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14
(By 6. II. Lockwood

performance.
Dante's Inferno is q joke and even
the gallery boys took It as such, in
spite OF the deep-toned admonitions Of
!. the pettifoger who explained the pic
lures and tried to point out the oral
and Religious (??2?) lessons con-
tanned therein GaWd help us!
There Is an Inferno, however, that's
no joke. It's the most awful living re-
atty the ASS knows anything about,
and If brother Dante will just slip on
| a flesh body, and take slide down, or
won't need to bring along his "imagin-
shall we say up, to earth again, he
airy machinery with him. All he
| will need to do is to put down in
black and white the ACTUAL FACTS
of Things as they Are"
In other words, If there Is any worse
Hell than moaern Capitalism has
made for the great masses of the peo-
pie We'll, the ASS has not read about
| it and, furthermore, doesn't want to
get into it.
The silly writings of the eancients
crazed by religious fear, even in the
widest stretches of their elastic i'm
agery, are mostly confined to physical
| tortures of some kind. They lived in
a physical age and the highest alti-
tude of their thoughts seldom trans
cended the physical sphere. They
even put their God upon q throne,
such as was occupied by the kings OF
their day, and their heaven" was a
little tWo-by-twice place paved with
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14

as the private property Of Morgans
and other capitalists who say it be-
longs to them. and who require us to
divide up with them in order to get
an opportunity to work for living. I
These conditions can be changed
by political action by voting into
the legislatures and courts Socialist
lawmakers and judges, to make the
industries collective property, and
thus insure equal opportunity to
every man, woman and child living
today, as well as to those who win be
born tomorrow.
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14

The American people are practical
They have little use for theories. but
are glnttons for facts. Well. here are
the facts about what the United States
is doing on the Isthmus Of Panama.
and to miss line Of It u an act Of
injustice to yourself and your coun'
try:
To begin with. two Of the biggest
PRIVATE engineers IN this country
Wallace and Stevens absolutely
failed to make headWay against the
difficulties Of building the canal
They gave It up. We were obliged
to cali on little group Of PUBLIC
engineers Goethals and his asso'
ciates- before we could find MEN
WHO DARED 70 TACKLE the
stupendous undertaking. They were
obscure men. compared with Wallace
and Stevens, just West Pointers, edu.
Gated by the country for the army
corps of engineers. They obeyed or
ders and tackled the biggest engineer
ing job of all the ages.
The frst idea was to do the WORK
by contract, but all bids received
were impossible either ridiculously
high or hopelessly irresponsible. We
simply had to drop the canal or DIG
IT OURSELVES. (Remember that
you people who say that, ifsorganizet
dollars doesn't have what it wants
then organized dollars win quit AMI
calmly allow all the rest Of US T.
starve to death. VI
We proceeded to dig. Mind you
we proceeded to dig in utter defiancs
OF the accepted American dogma tina
able men win not work without thu
incentive Of private profit, and tina
all government work is. in conse
Quence, necessarily wasteful and in
competent. That dogma is toda!
dead and buried in the sands Q
Panama, for the canal has been dul
with an economy and efficiency FAI
SURPRISING PRIVATE ENTER
PRISE. It viii be finished one o
two years ahead Of time. at 2 cos
tens OF millions less than the estimate
Two gangs Of men just common
1aboring men-engagedi on diferen
dams are fercely competing to Sc,
which shall WIN THE HONOR Of dc
ing It's work quickest. best and cheap
est. At last accounts. one gang wa
leading the other In economy bya one
eighth Of q cent per cubic foot Of con
crete laid. and the other gang wa
working its head on to close the gap
Not penny in It for 'em. either! Di
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14

people of the United States, why is il
that there are now ten million people
living in shacks and tenements, fac
ling utter poverty at all times, under
fled, cheaply and poorly clothed, and
nearly always diseased? Why Is It!
Why Is it that in the United States.
| the richest country in the world, with
Ia population Of only about one hum
Iderd million people, why is II that
there are four million public paupers,
men, women and children who exist
Eonly through charity? Why is it?
Why is It that over million little
children are taken away from school
and shut up in factories, mines and
mills, where they work like machines
for less than nifty cents day. when
there are millions Of grower men and
women begging for work? Why is it:
Why IS it that every day in the year
there are three thousand men, women
and children killed and injured while
doing useful and necessary work for
the people Of the United States? Why
is it,
The answer Is easily given and
easily understood.
This earth contains everything
which human beings require for food,
clothing and shelter.
Everything we use, everything We
see. everything ne eat or drink, comes
in It's nrst condition out Of the land
or water.
All We have to do IN order to I've
Is to work s0metlme and somewhere
on the free matter which Is scattered
al over the surface Of the planet and
By our work satisfy our wants.
But the earth and It's contsnts. par
iielIcFlY ~ inl1rikie1 nrs claimed
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14

According to the capltalistic papers
another dreadful catastrophe has be-
fallen the poor city Of Milwaukee =
the Socialists have enormously in
creased the taxes.
From every direction people are
sending US clippings from the capital
istic papers that play up in lurid
headlines the fell calamities and the
dire distress inflicted upon the poor
suffering people of this beautiful city,
by reason OF the terrible increase in
taxes.
All of which is very interesting ii
true.
But what are the facts?
In the first place, the newspaper re-
ports aout the increase in the city ex-
penditures in Milwaukee, are about as
near to the truth as the capitalistic
papers generally get. They report
that the present Socialist administers
ton has spent nearly million dollars
more than the last Rose administra,
ton. And they claim that-this is &C
cording to the official tax levy fled BY
the city clerk.
All of which is another one of their
cheerful capitalistic lies. The fact Is
that the expenditures this year fol
city purposes have been a little ovel
four hundred thousand dollars more
than last year. The capitalist papers
have added six hundred thousand dol
liars to the amount.
But what is still more interesting
and still more to the point, is the fac
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14
CsDfdSte Lies About Taxation in Milwaukee
(By Carl 3. Thompson.l

that the INCREASE OF THE RArp
OF TAXATION IN MILWAUKEE 10
SEVENTEEN CENTS ON TuU
THOUSAND DOLLARS LESS THAN
THE INCREASE IN THE RATE ON
TAXATION UNDER THE Asr
DEMOCRATIC ADMINISTRATOR
OR THE PRECEDING REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION.
Will the Labor and Socialist papera
please copy that single simple State.
emit? The effort OF the capitalls.;c
gess To disoredit the working class
administration in Milwaukee must bo
defeated.
The city of Milwaukee is growing
1t is. growing very rapidly. In fac,
lie last two years have been tn: most
'emarkable years in the commercial
development of the city.
Naturally, as the city grows, the
expenditures for municipal purposes
Increase. The rigid economies of the
present administration have, however
reduced this rate of increase as stated
above.
The tax rate in Milwaukee is lower
today than in almost any city Of its
lsizc in America.
Though increasing slowly. the in.
crease is less than under any of the
former administrations.
And the actual increase in the tai
rate is about eleven cents on the
thousand.
So much for the awful conditions in
Milwaukee, as pictured by the capital
istic press.
Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1911-12-14
HARNEssINc sUN-RAYs FOR
PUMPING WATER
He. he hath failed!

The problem as to what the WoF@
shall do when the supply Of coal Is
exhausted seems to be partially solved
by Frank Shuman, pioneer of the first
solar power plant. The inventors &C
count OF his experiments, in the Scien'
tifc American. sounds Ike tale from
the Arabian Nights. To chain the rays
fof the sun, to fmprison them ike
imps in a bottle. waiting obedlenuy
for the masters bidding. this is wns1
Mr.. Shuman has actually accomplish
ed His power plant, cunningly CEN
structed, has already, he claims, oe-
monstrated its commercial feasibility
Ten per cent Of earth's land surface
We are assured, viii eventually ~
pend upon sun power for all mechsm'
cal operations. Giving inexhaustiOls
power always obtainable, and utilizing
the nitrogen in the air for fertilizer %
the form Of nitrates and such COM
pounds as calcium cyanide, the human
race WIN be enabled to draw directly
on the source Of all life for power aHs
Su1ssnaneo Current Iitsssture