New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-02-01
BERGER PREDICTS PANIC
About Due and "Poor Old viii.
son" Will Be Blamed.
RP0RATI0NSGOOD THINGS
Therefore, Says Representative.
Let Us All Get in Them-Legiti.
mate Result of Competition.

victor l.. Berger. Socialist CoHSressn4,
from Milwaukee. told several hupd-al
persons who attended "A meeting of .ba
New York University Forum, al I'm.
Hewitt Memorial Building. IN Washing
ton square. yesterday afternoon. that In,
country was about due for another panic.
one comes along about every twenty
years he sand. and VIC have not had ono
for a long time.
III is coming IN A rev nca-s no 10.
clared. but do not blame the Dc,,ocra.
for II. They seem 10 get in power jnSt AZ
the people grow restless ! am afraid
poor old President Wilson is going %
have n hard time of il. a9d tina; m. :
going to gel the full blame foI somethiLs
he cannot help"
The tariff. he said. mad nothing 10 d.
with il. England is free trade country.
and there they have panics. too. The
panicS were caused. he maintained ~
the overprodIction OF Goods. coupled with
the fact that no employer could afford
10 give the full value for aDor received
TO his employees
In 1909. he went on. the census fig
ures showed that IN 255.o00 establishments
$4,000 workmen added sl.?sJ apiece To
the value of raw materials. The average
wage of the workman was sis. The diff
ference between the wage and the value
Of his work S772. goes az proat TO mem
bers, of the capitalist class. rho pcope
who produce the finished article are also
the backbone of those who consume n.
They pay for what they make. and in
about twenty years there is a Surplus az
goods that cannot be old In the hanGs
OF the manufacturers worth about s. OvJ-
vo.Uc People cannot buy coats becausa
there are too many coats. They cannot
buy shoes for the same reason. Then II
is that banks close aud factories shut
their doors"
The trust, Representative Berger aid.
was the legitimate result of competition
1t was slowly driving the middle class
dealer out OF existence. He told OF hear
ing the head Of trust declare not long
aso that competition no longer paid.
There arc several ways Of dealing with
the trust problem, the speaker SAID.
The first is that Of former Speaker can
non, a brainy and much maligned man.
who admits frankly that he is in favor
Of letting what is well enough alone.
President Tafts attitude of enforcing the
Sherman law resulted in nothing more
than change in bookkeeping for the
Standard OIL Company and the American
Tobacco Company. The Democrats cry.
Jail the trust magnates" but YOU might
as well have them seek 10 destroy a rail
road corporation by carrying away the
railroad ties one at trle. Senator La
Follette's system Of government rcgua-
ton. which is about the same as that
advocated by Theodore Roosevelt, is IT.
terly impossible.
ITO regulate business YOU mus, own
il. and that is the Socialists solution Ot
the problem. We ell admit that a cor
poration is a good thing Ii is the best
way Of doing business devised. II is good
for every one that is IN IT, Then let
us all get in IL. IL is easy TO get hold
of the trusts. Do il the same way the
trusts got their businesses Buy them.
When they took over a business they
usually issued three or four times as
much stock as the business was worth II
the government were 10 take over the big
businesses | believe that they would pay
for themselves I'm ten or twelve years
and no watered stock would be issued.
The Civil War. which made free men
Of the negroes. cost the country N2.rV.-.
10000 and one million lives. Why cannot
the government spend like amount of
money now TO free its white men, vithou.
the cost of single life?
II love my country-that may not sound
like the talk Of Socialst-but ! love IL
and ! would give my life TO see the solu-
ton of the problem that is before il to-
IL.