The Washington socialist. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1914-1915, 1915-04-24
THE SHARE OF LABOR
Carnegie's View.

Carnegie's View.
MIR. Carnegie's attitude on The pro.
per share oftlabor in it's own product
is clearly SIN wn in his remarks anent
the wealth hsed in the founding OF
Cooper Institute. Says he Much
of this sum, II distributed in small
quantities among the people iamong
those who produced it, would have
been wasted in the indulgence Of APP
petite, some of it in excess, and 1t may
we'll be doubted whether even the
part put to the best use, that of adding
to the comforts of home, would have
yielded results to the race, as race,
at all comparable to those which are
following and are to flow from the
Cooper Institute from generation to
generation. Let the advocates of
violent or radical change ponder we'll
this thought
That the Cooper Institute, and
similar institutions, are doing excel,
lent work for the bourgeois in turning
out skilled labor In abundance, and
therefore to be had cheaply, there can
be no doubt. 1t is very likely, how
ever. that those In the sweat of
whose brow these bene:actions"
were produced. would have preferred
few more ''trifling amounts" with
which to secure home, and to add
to Its comforts, especially in view of
the fact that despite the benefits that
are accruing ito the race as a race"
the relative per capita wealth of the
workinoclass has been steadily de-
creasing since 1850, as also the diff
ference between the wages paid the
average worker and the value of his
product
Care of the Race
1t is characteristic of the bourgeois
apologetic that it should abound in
high-sounding phrases, suggestive of
boundless love for ''the race" while
scornino tho welfare Of the average
Individual; though in the next breath
'individualism" will be claimed as the
one thing in civilization worth preserv-
ing: not. of course, the individualism
of the wage-earner, of the mechanic,
poet. or philosopher; but the unre-
strained "individualism of the bust
ness man." the ruthless exploiter of
the useful workers. The factory, mill
and mine operatives" including
seven or eight millions of women and
children. are to be sacrificed for the
larger interests of the race
Mr.. Carnegie. being an agnostic, has
adopted the care of the race as a sub
stitute for the care of individual souls,
once popular and effective method
of fostering the spirit of submission
and pious resignation among the ex-
plotted.
Carneaie's Antidote for Poverty
Mr.. Carnegie contends that if the
multi-millionaire would but admins
ter his superfluous wealth during his
own lifetime on such benefactions as
are represented by the gifts of Peter
Cooper, the Pratts, Senator Stanford,
and others, we would then have 'the
true antidote for the temporary I'M
equal distribution of wealth, the re-
Cancellation of the rich and the poor
a reign Of harmony" etc. Doubtless the
application of Mr.. Carnegie's views,
especially the acceptance of his advice
regarding a high tax ON legacies,
would be a great and much-needed
step in advance. But even if the
larger capitalists Of the country could
be induced to follow the gospel" ac-
cording to Carnegie (Which is,of course
utopian), much of the suffering due
to economy in the matter of wages"
to lack of steady employment at good
wages, would continue; since, as
Professor Charles Booth freely ad-
mits, "our modern system of indus
try will not work without some I'M
employed margin, some reserve of
labor" Unfortunately for the wage
slave, this reserve" is growing con-
stantly larger, and under the present
systemless system, must continue to
increase. The census of 1890 showed
that but Is per cent of the workers
were suffering from enforced idleness
during part of the year; in 1900 % per
cent of the wage-earners were unem-
ployed for part of the year; while
three years later this unemployed
margin" rose to 1913 per cent of the
millions who depended upon the re-
quirements of capitalists for a sub
sistence these statistics indicate"
says, Hon. Carol d. Wright, then
Commissioner Of Labor, that the in
crease in production has been accom-
published very largely through the utili-
cation of new and improved machinery
without a corresponding increase in
the number of wage carriers and
wages paid" The same authority
tells us that of the six to ten millions
who lacked steady employment, per
cent only were idle through fault of
their own.