The Northwest worker. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917, 1916-09-21
The Genesis and
Evolution of Slavery
Showing How the ChatteI Slaves of Pagan Times
Have Been Transformed Into the Capt.
talist Property of Today

epoch or revolution That promises to
be more far reaching in its consequent
ces to mankind than any that have
preceded it. 1t will be accompanied
with less of violence and leave less of
misery and sorrow in its wake, if
every man bestirs himself to under
stand the nature of the change that
has been made necessary by the in
dustrial development of the past. The
more widespread the knowledge of the
impending change, and the necessity
for it, the less will be the shock Incl
dental to it.
MAN AS A SAVAGE
Man, then, energies from the ranks
of the lower animals by adapting him
self to the making and using of tools
with which to gain his living and pro-
tect himself against other more saw
age and powerful animals. The fam
lily, the community, the tribe, the ma
ton, government, religion, etc, are
unknown quantities to him. His Ian
guage is, as yet, but the chatter or
screech Of an animal; his code Of NOR
ais and ethics that of a beast. He is
simply savage, very low down in the
scale Of being. By slow and painful
experience he develops and improves
his means of living. He learns how to
make fire and obtain fish for food.
He gathers with his fellows into pri-
mitive communities along the ocean,
stream or lakeside, where fish may be
conveniently obtained A more fixed
abode and the learning of how to store
food for times of scarcity, lays the
foundation of the family, which begins
to take form from out Of the previous
promiscuors sex relations. This is still
further FASTENED by the growth of the
spear, stone axe and club, into the bow
and arrow, thus adding the products
of the chase to his food supply. 1t is
needless to say that this development
must have been painfully slow, pro-
ably covering hundreds of thousands
of years. Brit it is beyond question
that the basis of our boosted present
day industrial power was in this man.
ner laid by our savage ancestors of
remote antiquity.
MAN AS A BARBARIAN
Emerging from savagery, man en-
tered upon his career as barbarian.
The art of making pottery was &C
quired. The domestication of animals
and the cultivation of cereals followed.
He learned how to make garments
from textile fabrics; how to build of
wood and stone; how to smelt ores and
fashion implements of iron and cop
per. The canoe of the savage was i'm
proved upon by adding the sail and
rudder. The insignificant savage COM
munity grew into the powerful tribe,
taking on more and more the character
to develop towards the homogeneous
form.
But the achievements of savagery
and barbarism can only be limited at
in this article. Suffice it to say that
mans power to produce wealth during
these periods hadbeen greatly increas-
these periods had been greatly in
creased. His wants had no doubt, like
wise increased in similar proportion
during same period. 1t remained for
the closing years of barbarism to bring
his power of production up to the point
where human slavery was not only
possible, but inevitable. So long as it
required all of mans time to pro-
vide himself with the necessaries of
! life, the motive to enslave him would
be lacking. Whenever the power of
production had passed that point, to
any appreciate extent, the motives
would be there to prompt the stronger
or more cunning to enslave their weak
er fellows at the first opportunity
That opportunity came at last, and
out of the tribal wars that arose over
possession of territory, as tribe crowd
ed upon tribe, arose the custom OF
the conqueror enslaving the conquered
(To be continued.)