Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-09-07
Editor Courier

Editor Courier
| After a careful perusal of Mr.. Nc
| Gahey's articles in the Courier on 60
! cialism, / fail to understand how he
! can at the same time condemn the
government and still want to give 1t
more scope and Sower.
He says census report is his auth
GRITTY for the statement that a laborer
gets in wages only one-f1fth of the
value of the finished product but ne
does not tell you that about eighty
per cent of the remaining four-f1fths
is spent for raw material leaving only
the balance for depreciation, expense
and dividends. @
Raising the wages Of the laborers In
one division of labor will benefit them
at the expense of the others unless
they produce more. Raising the
wages of all will benefit none because
they will then have more money to
spend and will bid higher for the pro-
duce they buy, consequently raising
prices so that although they are earn
ing more their money will not buy any
more.
When l made the statement that
socialism will destroy wealth (the
product Of labor did not mean any
one would burn it or destroy 1t, but
I mean they would not produce any
more than was needed at the time,
they, would not provide for the future.
they would not save. Work says,
There is no virtue in saving"
If the capitalists are the cause Of
the high cost of living, tell me why
the meat markets in our country towns
can buy their meat cheaper from the
packers than from the farmers.
T You still put up the wall about hav-
ing to comply with the capitalists
terms If you wish to live. 1t is a GER
tainty that none of the present day
capitalists would have amassed what
they have If they had complied with
some one elses terms. Eugene v.
Debs would not be the orator that he
is nor the leader of the socialist party
had he sat in the round house sucking
his thumb and bewailing his lot
Carnegie, Rockefeller, Hill, all had
their disbursements, failures and
hard times but they did not allow
themselves to be conquered by the
conditions which surrounded them.
None Of our financiers are apt to leave
heirs capable of managing the vast
enterprises which they have accumu-
lated and from where will the men
come with ability to look after our big
business interest? They will be men
of humble beginnings who have ad-
vanced step by step, learned the bust
ness from A to 2 and were ready
when their opportunity came. Lin
coins success was due to the fact that
To-. Il; vry{l1
get ready and maybe my chance will
come"
Mr.. McGahey, what this country
needs more than the installation OF
socialist officials is men, men with
backbone, brain and marrow, men who
can't be conquered, who do not apollo
gize for what they are, but take them
selves as they are, ever striving to
succeed. a...
I sometimes wonder If there were
any persons present at the time the
Almighty fed the Israelites on mama
who were bewailing their lot.
The socialist party is a party OF
, apology It is composed of discour-
aged, disappointed, discontented men
who because they failed to grasp their
opportunities believe the opportunities
failed to exist.
You say have not presented sin.
gle fact that would cause the socialist
party to lose single vote in Novem-
Der. You can keep all you have and
if you gain none am sure your party
will do no harm. l believe in the
American people and am satisfied the
majority will refuse to swallow the
pill that is all sugar coated and
phrased so fine but will investigate for
themselves, define their own princi-
pies, do their own reasoning, mold
their own mind and find the errors in
your socialist doctrine.
Robert j. Shaw.
...-. Hayesville, Ia.