The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-01-17

The attitude Ot the Miners feQe- ration and the Railway Workers Union in Great Britain with regard to the conscr;ption which is proro- scd by the government, will prot ably not give rise to any very ser ious upheaval just now, mcinly be- cause all the strength is with the class that will enforce the conscrip- tion law, and while passive resist : ance may be indulged in which would seriously affect the 3ituati IF temporarily, it is improbable that it will do so to any prolonged and thus critical extent
 Of the social units which comprise Great Britain as nation. the min- CTS federation and the railroad workers form very small part. They form an essential part may be of society, but they have none of those reins of power in their hands whereby they can enforce their de cisiona The others have.
 Yet they raise a mighty important issue for the first time. They raise an issue in war which will throw q whole lot of cold water upon the ardor of the militarist5 not only in Great Britain but elewhcre. For there is no way in which their alter native can be argued against.
 By resolution, they say in effect let conscription be adopted, but call it by it's proper name. Confiscation of the person for the benefit of tho state in the successful prosecution of this war is what this conscription means.
 Wherefore they say why not gen eral confiscation? Men are making millions out of the war; why not seize those millions for it's successful advancement?
 The labor of the land accumulated wealth for many of the ruling clas- ses. They have something to fight for. but the man who sells his labor power has nothing to amount to anything His job? Yes, such as it is. an existence.
 Moreover unless property is more important than the person, this pro position of the workers is fair and square and unanswerable. Unless property is not made for man, but 'man is made for property, there is no reason why the state should nor Confiscate it as it confiescates tn, person to fight better, more effec- lively the war to a finish.
 It's all very well to have been calling upon men to give up their lives for the war. Your king ana country needs you" were the words of the placards. But when these men have nothing but their lives, why should they surrender it to pro tect another person treasure which is immune from a confscation that is applied only to tho person?
 And that's about the size of it. They are getting down to brass tacks in this war without any high flown patriotic phrases to obscure the issue. There is no reason, for a workingman, why a workingman should be drafted to fight and the people who profit. by the war should have their treasure immune. The blood of human being is beyond price. Why should it be shed and sthe miserly avaricious hold back their treasure which is not price less. And it's the same way with all their militarism. Men must have something to fight for. Ths intuition makers and the rest of of the contractors have their profits. The manufacturers and financiers nave theirs, But where do the workers come in if the former are not to surrender in a war to finish the last of their money and property just as the workers who have none, are to be called upon to surrender their lives for, victory?
 Unless, therefore property and money which is its equivalent, is in- finitcly more valuable than human life, a general conscription of all Is the only equitable means whereby the state can treat all equally,
 The fact is that that nothing Is
 .MstH farther from the thoughts of the / privileged class, the propertied clas- ses, than looking at things from the stand point of tho worker. To the .,riuilaead classes the workers are