The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1911-07-27
THEY
6The S~ocialist.)

delegate TO the International Stee
, Congress, held in Brussels July S
saying: w are masters of th,
world now. H~enceforth govern
ments must take a back seat. The.
can no longer make war or peace, a.
We are united and control iron ant
steel. And in dealing with the as
ISOLATION they can buy only at one
price"
In saying that governments mus,
take a back seat the speaker showed
complete Ignorance of what govern
ment is. That class which is eco
nomically dominant controls the
government, and there is no doubt in
he United States that a combination
Of the leading trusts comes pretty
near having it's own way in things
OF real Importance. The present
trust busting mania is merely a flu
tile attempt to keep the trusts from
governing too harshly..
Aside from this little misconcep-
ton the statement is a true one.
Steel, which is a necessity in practi-
caliy every line of work, and without
which modern society could not ex-
lst. is in the grasp of a few hun
dred men. The leaders of these
leaders are in turn members of the
great international financial trust,
and as such are in a position to pre-
vent any serious invasion OF the
world of steel. As fnanciers and as
steel makers they are in a position
Where they control the railroads, the
steamship lines, the telephone and
telegraph companies and the build
ing trades.
They are the government and their.
will must be obeyed.
But though they control the steel
and through that control
practically all other business, these
do not have to live in the steel
towns, or go near the steel mills.
They control the industry through
their control of finance, and the DOW
err this gives them must steadily
grow. The money that is made in
steel will be ~reinvested and through
This reinvestment the heads @of the
international Steel Trust will not
only control but will actually own
other great industries.
AS a business of such Importance.
one that can make the government of
the world take a back seat the
business is the one that the
people of this country particularly
should first take into their power.
The people OF this country are not
The government. and they have at
present very little that is effective
to say about the government. But
they desire they can be the
However, merely gain
ing office is not sufficient. That is
first of all, a method of gaining eco
nomic power, and without economic.
power office is of little use.
The ore lands of this country were
part OF the public domain and were
stolen from the public. An inquiry
into the methods whereby the pres
ant corporations got those lands
would. disclose a chapter of crooked
ness worse than any other. The
fact that they were stolen is no rea-
for permitting them to remain
n the hands of the thieves. They
again be placed where they.
belong. as a part of the public do
main. The steel mills, even with all
their splendid equipment. could re-
main in the hands Of the present en-
erset financiers, for it would be
better to build new mills than both
er with the old ones. When that is
lone there will be no further ques-
ton as to who is the government,
or as to. governments taking a back
seat. p
1t is manifestly a thing that will
nave to be done. for the people Of
the whole civilized world cannot be
left to the tender mercfes of a
of hundred steel kings. The
rule of the latter is an absolute des-
Dotism. and the richer they grow the
more despotic they must become.
The economic Nero is as certain to
produced as the political Nero,
and each comes because of the pos
session of too much power.
Personally, some. or even all, of
the men might be estimable. But
the power they exercise was won
through ruthless destruction and can
upheld in no other way. The old
military deSpot. never commanded
their resources. and the military des-
will vet be looked upon as a
kindly parsonage compared with tie
capitalist despot unless the latt.J's
is checked.