Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1913-09-20
Unjust Because 1t Denies the
People Rights of Private
Property.
System Rests on Assertion That
Human Nature Is Same
I'm All.
HAS FAILED WHEREVER TRIED

Thomas B. Hogan, in a lengthy
article in the Holy Name Journal
on '"The Workman's Hope" deals
fairly with capital and labor and
warns both against the evils cloaked
under Socialism. Here are some of
| the strong points he makes:
Do not ask for a scientific detini-
| ton of Socialism. It's friends say it
is too big a thing to starve down to
definable form. But definitions or
the lack of them have little meaning
in the propagation of a large move
ment. And that is what Socialism
Is. 1t is an economic movement
which aims at taking all the means
of production and distribution from
the hands of the individuals that
now own them and turning them
over to the State. y This means that
all our factories, all our mines, all
railroads, all our stores are to be
owned by thel State. And conse-
quently every one will be in the
employ of the State. The State will
produce all the economic goods by
which we satisfy our wants and the
State Will send them around TO
your back door. This is the plan
around which they group all the
other nice things which they promise
10 do for you. In these things they
say you win find the reform for
which you are looking. In the
things of Socialism you will find
your hope Listen to some of them
they sound like a description of
heaven:
You are to have plenty to eat.
plenty TO wear, your children are TO
have good education and you will
have pelnty of time to spend with
them or away from them, just as the
State wishes, for in the long run
you are to do just what the State
wishes.
Above ALL no one is going to be
any better off than you are. This
seems to be the strongest feature of
the Socialistic hope. Even il Il
docs not succeed in elevating the |
condition of the worker, in raising
him up to a higher plane, 1t is going |
to make all men become equal by
pulling the other fellow down-so |
they say. And how are they going |
to accomplish all of this? BY the |
simple operation of turning all the |
means of production and distribu- |
ton over to the State. Is it not a |
beautiful thing? Will we not all |
have a beautiful time under Social |
ism? After all is not Socialism the
hope for which the laboring man
has been looking? 1t is not. Why |
not? Let us pass over Socialism on
the ground of its antagonism to re-
ligion, its opposition to the family, |
its denial of authority; neither let |
us go into the deep economic argu>
ments with which Socialism is shown
to be an impossibility. It is impos-
sible on account of all these reasons,
but there are just one or two more
glaring faults which we must keep |
clearly in mind. Socialism is not |
the hope of the workman or the re-
form for which he has been looking |
because:
First. 1t has failed wherever il
mas been tried. Moreover wherever
II has seemed to.succeed for even
the shortest length of time, 1t has
been because II was based on the
religious life and the religious feel
ing of the people in the colony in
which 1t was tried.
Second. It is unjust because II |
formally or virtually denies the |
right of private property. The right
Of private property is based on the
right to live, on the right OF the
father to provide for his family after
he has passed away. In. seeking to
deprive the owner of his factory they
are depriving him of his natural
right, which either he or his an
cestors have earned in the sweat OF |
heir brows. In this II argues that
labor alone is the whole cause of |
the product and that labor
alone is the whole cause of
capital. This is not true. II you,
go out and shoot a rabbit, which is
the cause of the death of the rabbit,
the bullet or the gun? Both are
necessary, and II is impossible 10
say that one alone is the whole |
cause of the product
Third. II does not understand |
human nature and II promises what |
II can never fulfill. It's whole sys-
tenn rests on the assertion that hui
man nature is the same In all men
ideal. dead sort Of thing that can
easily be bent this way or that.
Furthermore II gives us no assur-
ance that II will be able TO fulfill |
the promises II Is making. The
American workman wants something
more than promises before he is go
ing to throw himself into the
Socialistic current. He is not as
easy" as the man who went 10
Washington recently and bought the
Washington monument. or the
stranger who bought the Brooklyn
bridge. Under Socialism you will
still be workers. You will have
worse boss.