The Alaska citizen., 1911-09-25
The House being Committee of the Whole House the State of
 the Union and Having Under Consideration the Bill ( R. lO19 to Reduce the Duties Wool and Manufactures of Wool--

Tennessee .......... 63.1ll l2,6'l Alabama ........... AO."S9 il.bbi Mississippi ......... 63.So6 "i,lo" Louisiana ......... 39,62o 2li21 Arkansas .......... 49,ii1 13.321
 Nor are conditions in most of the Northern states much better.
 With a system like this, it is only natural that the rich should become richer and the poor poorer
 Free competition imposes no re- straint upon the powerful. They are al liberty to exploit the poor werk man to their hearts content.
 Another thing: The strength on the capitalist side is so great. and the capacity for resistance on the side of the workmen is so insigniti- cant, that there is actually no free dom of contract. The monopoly of the tools has made the employers d class of autocrats. and the labOrers a class of dependents of hir elngs. The laborer is simply a hired appen- dage to the machine.
 The machine has come to be the main thing, the costly thing The
 
 gotten without much trouble or cost. Nowadays, if an owner of tools does not want to let a workingman work, the latter has no means of SuhSist- ence unless he finds some other lord of production who will permit him to produce something.
 And so this system now creates the dependence of the thousands up on the few.
 It is paltry evasion of our cap italiSts to say that the workers are free to oacCept or to refuse the terms of their employers. The laborerS have to consent If they refuse the terms. there are plenty of others. hungry. starved and desperate. ready to take their places But suppose il were possible that the employer could not get other men to take the terms offered - and. pray do not for moment think that this could act ually be the case the employer could stand it; he would merely stop business for the time being. And do not imagine for one instant that he would suffer privation by so doing His home would be just as radiant with luXuries as ever, and he would probably try to endure life by trip to some foreign country.
 Cause of Frequent Recurrence of
 Panics.
 Now. another important Considera- tiOn:
 Since the working people do not receive the full value of their pro ducts-because a considerable profit is made by the employing class on everything the workers produce can they be expected to buy back these products? Their numerical strength makes them the chief con sumers of the country. and those on whom production mainly de bends.
 In this way by the laboring peo- pie not being able to consume enough. and by the planlesS way in which production is carried on in general, the so-called overproduction is ere ated.
 Of course. no matter how much or how little the tOilerS of ma ton create. they always create more than they are able to buy with their wages, because they have never re- ceived the full value of that produc- tiOn.
 In this way the so-called industrial crises originate. They have come upon us about once in every 20 years. roughly speaking, since cap italist production began it's sway. At such times the trade and the manufacturing of the nation come to standstill. because there is too much on hand"
 And the working people have to stop work and go ragged and hungry because there is too much on hand
 Statesmen. newspapers, lawyers, and so-called reformers on such oc- casiCns claim that il is either too much silver or too little silver. or lack of confidence. or what not, that is the cause of the industrial crises or panic, as it is sometimes called.
 But hard times are really hard only on those whose subsistence de bends on their having work to do.
 For the poor people the times are always hard.
 During hard times" the wives and daughters of the capitalists. how ever, do not leave off attending balls, parties and operas. in their silks and diamonds.
 On the contrary, if the times are very hard, the wealthy and charit- able people simply arrange one more amusement and call it charity ball"
 As far as security of work is con cerned. the workman of the pres ent time is worse off than any of his predecessors in history. In fact, the irregularity of his employment. the frequency with which he is out of work. is the most alarming feature of the workingman's cOndi- ton. The toler of today cannot work when he wants to, or when he ought to, in order to support himself and family He can work only when it is to the profit of the employer that he should do so.
 Evolution of Capitalism.
 How all this came about-well, it is simply a matter of industrial evO- lutiOn.
 In the Middle Ages. before capital ist production had come upon the stage of events. system of small industries prevailed. and, in some few cases, has continued to the present day.
 This system rested on the private ownership by the workman himself Of the means of production The in struments of labor were then paltry,