The Washington socialist. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1914-1915, 1915-02-25
INTERESTING QUESTIONS

n Comraue mas sent III II llbt OF very
interesting questions for editorial
treatment In these columns, and we
shall certainly be glad to take up each
one OF them as fast as our limited
space will permit. A very important
question to the Socialist Ia the follow
ing. "a is u farmer who owns his
farm member of the middle class?
GU II so, why is carpenter who
owns his tools member of the work
ing olass?"
ca Yes. CD A carpenter who
owns his tools Is member of the
working class. proletarian, because
he has nothing but his laborpower to
sell; because he must find an employ
or before he can use his tools In earn
ing living-he cannot realize his
labor with mere ownership of tools;
he must have material, viz. lumber,
nails, wlndow-glass, hardware, etc, be-
fore he can earn his living as car
penter. So he must sell his labor
power to n contractor, or capitalist.
If he has all these things available,
in his own name, besides owning his
tools, and builds houses to sell at a
profit, he ceases to be member of
the working class; he has something
to sell for living besides labor-power;
he becomes a profit-mongcr, hence
member of the middle class. His i'm
mediate interests will become identi-
cal with all who have material to buy
for manufacturing or building pur-
poses; his concern will be profits
not wages. Insofar as he would be
interested in wages at all, 1t would be
in seeing them fall, so that the price
of materials would fall proportionately
Returning to the case of the farm
err: he Is also proflt-monger, having
products of labor to sell for more than
it cost to produce them, /. e., for a
profit. If he employs help, it Is to his
interest to buy labor-power as cheaply
as he can. so that he can meet the
selling prices of competitors in the
open market, and realize a profit on
his products. The cheaper the cost Of
his supplies, machinery, groceries,
fits; so he is interested in low prices,
and low prices can best be obtained
on the basis of low wages for the
working class who produce the things
the farmer must buy. The non-Socialist
farmer wants to bust the trusts" but
it is the trusts and monopolists who
are at present, on the average, paying
| the maximum wage sand establishing
! better conditions for wage earners.
Small competing concerns are forced
to grind down their wage-slaves to the
lowest possible wages and the great
est possible number of hours work per
month.
To sum up: All who are vitality in
terested in gaining higher wages and
shorter and shorter work-day, and
who have nothing but their labor-pow-
er to sell, who must find an employer
before they can eat bread, are men,
bers of the working-class. All others
are members of the middle or pluto
cratic classes, however ardent their
desire for the coming of Socialism
may be.
Note: AS about one billion dollars
Of farm products must each year be
disposed of in foreign markets, it is
to the interest of the farmer that the
average wages in the United States
approximate as closely as possible the
average of wages paid in the countries
where his products must be sold.
However, higher wages paid to wage
workers in the United States would re-
suit in a greater demand for agricul-
tural products at home; hence, higher
prices and larger profits for the farm
er, other things being equal. But
other things are not equal. The ques-
ton is too complex to treat of fully
here.