The labor argus. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1906-1915, 1911-08-10
What Human Life Depends On.


and higher human development pos
sible. To produce. food, clothing
or shelter, Ian and machinery are
needed. Land alone does not satis-
fy human leeds Human labor
creates machinery and applies it to
the land for Ia production Of raw
material and food. 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 are
owned by I 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 humble of
such machine owners to all
other classes decreases, their power
In the nation and in the world in
creases. They bring ever large mas
ses OF working people under their
control. reducing them to the point
where muscle and brain are their
only productive property. Millions
of formerly self-employing workers
thus become he helpless wage slaves
of industrial masters.
Ruling Glass AS Parasites.
as the power of the rul-
ing class grows 1t becomes less use
ful in the life of the nation. All
the useful work of the nation falls
upon the shoulders of the class
whose only property is It's manual
and mental labor power-the wage
worker-or of the class who have
but little land and little effective
machinery outside or 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 TIE products of labor is waged be-
'"eeh the exploiting propertied
classes on the one hand and the en-
plotting propertyless class on the
other. In this struggle the wage
tiaiob SNpeSl IlOuudIa
relief from any reform of the present
order at the hand OF the dominant
class.
! The wage orke are. therefore
The most antagonists of the ruling
Class They suffer most from the
curse of class rule. The fact that
n few capitalists are permitted to
control all the country's industrial
resources and social tools for their
individual profit, and to make the
production of the n~ecessaries of life
the object of competitive private en-
terprise and speculation is at the
bottom of all the social evils of our
time.
o'crproduction and Tdlcncss.
In spite of the organization of
trusts, pools and com b%inations. the
capitalists are powerless to regulate
production for social end Indus-
tries are largely conducted in 4
painless II Through Dcriods
OF fever1sh activity the strength and
health of the workers are merciless-
ly Used up. and during periods of en-
forced idleness the workers are freq
uently to starvation.
The climaXes of this system of pro-
auction are the regularly recurring
ihuustrlal3 depressions and crises
which paralyZe the nation every Gf-
teen or twenty years.
Labor's Exploitation.
The capitalist class, in its mad
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 us own Unsuitable greed Capital
ism keeps the masses of w~orkiurrnCn
In poverty. destitution. physical OK
haustlon and ignorance. 1t Drugs
their wives from their homes to the
mill and factory. 1t snatches their
chlidren from the Fairgrounds AMI
SCHOOLS and Srinds their slender
pouleS and uniformed minds inro -old
uoliars- 1t disiigureS. maims arrI
kliiS hundreds os thousands of wo,k-
lhGmen annually in mines. on rail
roads and in factories. 1t dives
mil1lOns of workers into the ranks
or the unemp loyed and forces large
numbers of them into br.y:lv.
'asrancy and all forms OF crime ana
vice.
Power OF Corruption.
&c maintain their rule over thar
Fellow men. the capitalists must Keen
IN their pay all organs e: tho publi.
powers, public mine and public con-