The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1912-07-12
SOCIALIST CONVENTION.

A county convention of the social
list party of Okanogan county was
held at Pine creek school house on
July 9Th J. l.. Freeman was elected
chairman and W. C. B. Randolph sec
rotary. A general plan of campaign
was discussed at length and ways and
means adopted which bid fair to place
the nominees of the socialist party in
power in this county. The referen-
dun vote just taken on the candidates
resulted as follows: For representa-
tive, John W. O'Keefe; Sheriff, Dan
Moffett; auditor, T. L. Launer; treas
urer. J, l.. Freeman; assessor, B. A.
Freeman clerk, Mrs. Tallie Palmer;
engineer, e. G. Fairbanks; coroner,
Riley Collie; commissioner for second
district. w. l.. Wakefield; third district
F. L. Stansbury. 1t is a rule of the
party that the filing fees be paid by
the party, and in many other ways
the burden of an individual campaign
is lessoned by collective action.
One member of the county executive
committee, w. w. Ulin, resigned on
account of being absent from the
county, and George H. Sogle, of River
side, was chosen to fill the vacancy
and Abel Hallberg. Of Nelson, was
elected to the vacated office of chair
man of the committee.
An itinary for Miss Anna Maley our
nominee for governor of the state was
worked out and plans laid for cover.
ing every precinct with some good
speaker.
A county platform was adopted as
follows:
We, the members of the socialist
ri Of
ton assembled, affirm our allegiance
to and support of the principles and
program of the socialist party of the
state and nation.
We hold that all wealth is created
by labor, and to the laborer it should
belong.
That under the present unscen,iie
system of capitalist production the
private ownership of the means by
which all men must live are wrongly
owned by few men who dictate the
terms by which all others must live
and this unnatural privilege gives an
ever-swelling stream of profit to the
few who live by mere ownership, and
do no useful work, and brings to the
workers an ever increasing measure
OF misery and degradation.
The interest of the producing class
lies in the direction of abolishing the
wage system, under which is .loaked
the robbery of the working class 1T
the point of production. To acconIp-
llSh this necesSitateS the tran sfOrma-
ton of the individual ownership of the
means of life into the collective prop
erty OF the whole people together with
the democratic administration.
The irrepressible conflict between
those who possess and those who are
dispOssessed of the means of life is
gradually eliminating in a class strug-
gle for the reins of government, the
capitalistic class to hold and the pro-
duclng class to possess by political
action. This is the class struggle.
We demand the transformation as
rapidly as possible of capitalist own.
ershlp of the mines, factories, rail
roads, and all great mOnopolies into
public ownership, and managed by the
people themselves by competent SUI
perintendents, who shall be governed
by the initiative referendum and re-
call that production to be for use and
not for profit, and the hours of labor
to be reduced as the powers of pro-
duction are increased.
All political parties are the politi-
cal expression of economic class in
terests. All other parties than the
socialist party represents one or an
other group of the ruling capitalist
class. Their political conflicts reflect
mere superficial rivalry between COM
peting capitalist groups. However
they result, these conflicts have no is
sue of real value to the producers.
Whether the democrats or republicans
win politically it is the capitalist class
that is victorious economically.
The socialist party is the political
expression of the economic interests