Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1914-10-08
Communicated.
Bolivar, w. Va, October 5, 1871.

Bolivar, w. Va, October 5, 1914.
Editor Shepherdstown Register-Dear
Sir am going 10 ask you for a small
space in your valuable paper for the ben
ent of your readers. knowing thai you
are fair man and believe that all public
questions should be publicly read ana
fairly treated, am going TO ask you 10
give the Socialist movement fair near.
ing; and if you and your readers 90 no,
like if, cast it aside. But II II is gooo
thing, get behind il and help push IL
along. We know our remedy VIII cure
WAR, let the people be the only power
who can declare WAR, and the ones VINO
vote for war be the ones who DO Inc
fighting. ...
erty. we do no. believe poverty could
exist under the Socialist system. we
are producing all the neceSSarleS OF lie
under this system for proflt, instead OF
forcomfort. Any fair-minded man knows
we produce plenty for all in this great
United States but Jew get too much
and the rest do not get enough. The
man who does the producing is the one
who does not get a sufficient amount to
keep poverty from his door, not even
while he is in the act OF producing; and
should he lose his job OF producing, want
has got him before thirty days rolls around.
But on the other hand, the man who
does not produce anything, and does
practically no useful work, lives IN lux
ury all his life, and want or poverty never
visits the mansion where he lives. Our
cities and towns are crowded full OF just
such people. | wonder If you are moi
one of the men who are striving TO pro-
duce enough to feed yourself, and also
producing enough TO feed a Runio1r OF
those idlerS.
Now for the remedy. About thirty live
wears ago, in a western town, ten shoe
makers formed a partnership and built a
shop to manufacture shoes by hand. II
required their services ten hours each
day to make fair wages and supply Inc
demand, and those ten men col along
very nicely, until ore day gentlemen
dropped into the little shop. And here
is his story: He said, IL have machine
here that will manufacture as many or
even more shoes in ten hours than all
ten Of YOU can make; and more, II only
requires one man 10 operate II. | wish
10 sell YOU ten men this machine" but
no." they said, eve must 90 on making
shoes by hand, as that is the only way
for us TO make shoes, that was the way
we were learned" SO the machine man
went out, and he found man in this lit
tie town who manufactured shoes alone,
and he was quite different from the ten
partners. He was not glued to the OLD
system or way OF making shoes. so ne
bought the machine, and started II 10
going, and as there was only hlmself
working, and now making more than ten
times as many shoes as he himself coulu
make without the machine, he decided TO
cut the price on shoes, so there would
be a demand for his shoes instead OF the
handmade shoes. And then what was
the result? The ten partners went out
of business. Why Because the ma
chine took their job.
And the machine has in tfis way taken
practically all of our jobs. Now IN the
above case the man who owns the ma
chine also operates it. But things have
changed these days. The man or men
who own the machines do not aperate
them, but hire laboring men to run them,
and they themselves do nothing but own
them. Well, that is quite snap tor the
owner. But how about the man who
runs il? Well, will leave that 10 you.
Now under a social system the man
who invented the machine would not
have to peddle his machine over the
country, but would have sold It to the
government, which is the people under
a social system, and thereby il would be
used for the whole people instead OF
few.
Now LET US look at this little story in
another way just for fun Suppose those
ten men would have bought this machine
collectively. II would only require one
hour each day TO produce the required
amount OF shoes for each man; and you
can readily see that'each man would re-
ceive the same amount in one hour with
the machine as it required ten hours by
hand. Now what we want is to own the
machines, that is, all the machines, and
we will have better goods of all kinds,
and all we need of them. And the price
will always be in reach OF us.
Say, wonder why the government mas
not raised the price on postage? You
know there is a war in Europe, and
everything else has gone Skyward. Why
does postage remain the same? 1t re-
mains the same, tariff or no tariff, cur
rency or no currency, war or no war.
wonder why they don't put toll back on
our public roads, or something like IT..
There is a war in Europe, and everything
is going up. o yes, | know they are
owned by the whole people that live IN
this United States. Nuff Sed.
Yours for Socialism,