The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1912-11-04
CONFISCATION VS.. RESTORATION

Old Thomas Carlisle said some
where, the poor may not have any
right to the property Of the rich, but
neither have the rich any right to the
property of the poorn Mr.. Editor,
please tell us where the property OF
the rich originally came from and how
was il acquired? Shall we anticipate
your answer by saying simply, that
the property of the rich was acquired
by confiscating the property of the
poor, by means Of rent, interest and
profit. I might add taxes.
Yes. little cooperation has been in
practice during all the ages and was
always a success.
Just look a the splendid examples
and unparalleled success of coopera-
ton in the Standard Oil Co, the steel
trust, the meat. sugar, theater, -four
and three to four hundred other trusts
and you can form an idea what
genuine cooperative commonwealth
will do for the IS to 80 per cent of the
workers, who have made for their
bosses such a glorious success by their
cooperation and scientific division OF
labor, the only trouble is, this howl
ing success and monumental result of
cooperation all went to fill the Golfers
of the few magnates who somehow got
hold of the paper titles to the machin-
cry of production and distribution
while those millions Of poor, ignorant
dupes, who did all the work of pro-
ducing. all this wonderful wealth re-
manned and are as poor as the pro-
verbal church mouse That sort of
cooperation, Mr.. Editor, needs just the
one socialist pill to make it we'll. This
n * nt har
cathartic, that eliminates from our
system all the poisonous, useless and
parasitic trash that cannot and will
not aid in building up a sound and
healthy body. We socialists call this
pill simply industrial democracy. And
We can assure you, Mr.. Editor, II will
be entirely effectual and will cure the
80 per cent of the people of all the ills
that affict them and the greatest Of
these is poverty. So you see Mr.. Edi-
tor, a fair turn about at this confisca-
ton business is not such a terrible
thing you seem to fear, and we don't
even call it by that ugly name; we
claim that restoration sounds better
and is quite as effectual
We are in no wise squeamish about
the matter. We have had all the ex-
perience any one needs, having for a
hundred OF more generations been the
victims of plain. unadulterated confis-
cation, we yet cannot quite understand
why the real confscators should set up
such a virtuous howl about being ask
ed to restore their loot TO its rightful
owners. the producers of IL.
But the cry of stop Thief" is as
old as thievery: it is no longer eff
fectual, does not deceive the victim a
little bit: he sees the true thief and
is right after him, too. The pursuers
are far more than IS to l and who can
doubt that they will get their game
sooner or later. Then comes the dis
gorgement, then the punishment which
consists in a place in the ranks with
fullest opportunity Of earning a living
like everybody else in the sweat OF his
own brow at the rate Of no less than
$500 per year and a 5-hour day. This
IS somewhat more lenient and gen.
erous punishment, than he has been in
the habit Of handing out TO the poor
devils whom he plundered during ALI
the ages
Restoration not confiscation, social
and industrial democracy, cooperation
that cooperates. If you please. Mr.. Edi-
tor. C F. s.