The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1911-09-14
What Human Life Depends On.

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 to
the land for the production of raw
material and God Whoever has con-
troll of land and machinery controls
human labor, and with it human
life and liberty.
The Cause of Class Rule.
Today the machinery and the
minority. SO long as machinery Is
land used for Industrial purposes are
owned by a rapidly decreasing
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 it's
operation the organized effort OF
many workers, its influence reaches
over wide circles OF life. The owners
of such machinery become the domi-
nant class.
Men Are Made Slaves.
In proportion as the number of
such machine owners compared to all
other classes decreases. their power
NiAu IL Ile "obll il
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
or formerly self-employing workers
thus become the helpless wage slaves
OF Industrial masters.
Ruling Class as Parasites.
AS the economic, power of the rul-
ing class grows it becomes less use
full in the life of the nation. All
the useful work of the nation falls
upon the shoulders OF the class
whose only property is its manual
and mental labor power-the wage
worker-or of the class who have
but little land and little effective
machinery outside Of their labor
power--the small traders and small
The ruling minority is
steadily becoming useless and para
site.
Tho Glass Struggle.
a bitter struggle over the division
ol.the products of labor Is waged be-
tween the exploiting propertied
classes on the one hand and the ex-
pioltlnE propertyless class on the
other. In this struggle the wage
"oihinS class cannot expect adequate
rellef from any reform of the present
order at the hand of the dominant
class.
The wage workers are, therefore,
the most antagonists of the rulinr
class. They suffer most from the
curse of class rule. The fact that
a few capitalists are permitted to
control all the country's Industrial
and social tools for their
individual profit. and to make the
of the neccssaries of life
the OBJECT of competitive private en-
terprlse II speculation is at the
pottom of all the social evils of our
time.
ovcrproduction and IdIcncss.
IN spite OF the organization of
trusts, pools and combinations. the
capitalists are powcrleSs to regulate
production for social ends. Indus!
tries are largely conducted in n
planiess manner Through periods
or ierer1sh activity the strength and .
health of the workers are merciless-
~ used up, and during periods of en- |
i'rced ldlcness the workers are freq |
nehtly reduced to starvation.
The climaNes of this system of pro. |
duction are the regularly recurriuc
y i'SSlollS ana crises |
winch paralyze the nation every 1r-
teen or twenty years.
Labor Exploitation.
The capitalist class. in its NAL |
race, for profits, is bound to exploit
the workers to the very limit of
lhelr endurance and to sacrifice Their
physical. moral II mental welfare
10 Its own Unsuitable greed. Capital
ism keeps the masses of w~orkinrmcn
IN poverty. destitution, physical ex-
haustion and ignorance. 1t drags
their wives from their homes tn tn, |
mill n factory. 1t snatches their
chlidren from the playgrounis AMI
SCHOOLS and Srinds their slen.lcr
bodles and uniformed minds inr, cold
aoiiars- 1t d~isfigures. mains ana
Kills hundreds OF thousands of work
'hSmen annually in mines. on rail
roads anu in factories. 1t dives |
millions of workers into the ranks
or the unemployed and forces large
umbers of them into ba.3.rv, |
FaSrancy and all forms of crime and
vice.
Power of Corruption.
10 maintain their rule over their
Ie!low men. the capitalists must keep
ID their pay all organs CO thu punlicI
powers, public mind and public con-