Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-07-07
ANOTHER VIEW OF PREPARED
NESS.
(By Dante Barton. of the Committee
On Industrial ReiatiOns.)

VIE We
NESS.
(By Dante Barton. of the Committee
On Industrial Relations.)
Democratic preparedness involves
protection from enemies within the
country as well as those without.
Financial and economic forces are
at work within every one Of the great
powers that will inevitably lead to war
and conflicts with other powers
The activities of ammunition max
ers lead to war scares and the plung-
ing of nations into colossal expendi-
lures for ornaments.
parliamentary disclosures in Eng
land and Germany have alike demon
strated that war scares have been pro-
NOTED through the subsidized press
for the purpose of inducing the gov
ernments of those nations to spend
Iavishly for battleships and NUM-
tions.
Financial imperialism is seeking
to exploit weaker nations through
loans, concessions, spheres of inf1u-
ence and the closed door. They use
diplomacy to back up their shady
claims that in countless cases have
demanded the support of the army and
the navy in the interest Of dollar
diplomacy
Modern wars are the product of
these new financial, munition making
and economic forces. They are born
of surplus wealth seeking colossal
profits in foreign lands"
These are sentences from an ad-
dress on Insurance against War" by
Frederic c. Howe, member of the
committee on industrial relations,
author and commissioner of immigra-
tion at the port of New York in the
Wilson administration, delivered be-
fore the conference on real prepared
ness held in Washington, June % and
20.
The conference was called under
the leadership OF Benjamin C. Marsh,
executive secretary of the League for
Municipal Ownership and Operation in
New York City. 1t was a splendid
demonstration of the getting together
of all other real democrats with the
real democrats of the organized labor
movement whose demand is for in
dustrial preparedness of justice and
sanity and, as Lincoln Steffens says,
of joyousness.
1T i'll becomes us to set ourselves up
as monitors and teachers of other ma
lions till we have set our own house in
order and justice rules in all parts of
our own land" said John J. Hopper,
president of the association for an
equitable federal income tax.
We can hardly claim to have
reached this standard when 1000 900
children between 10 and Is years of
age are working their young lives out
in factories, mines and on farms, in
stead of attending school; when near
ly 1,650,0 900 citizens are killed or
manned by our railroads and factories
every year.
I'VE have granted to railroads by
federal and state governments, land
equivalent to four times the New Eng
land states, almost equal in size to the
state of Texas and one-fifth greater
than Germany or France-think of it
.one-twelfth of the continental area
of the United States given away.
Natural monopolies have fallen in
to and remains in the hands of the
few to the great injury of the many.
Real preparedness means the elimi-
nation of waste by the specialization of
all natural resources and their utiliza-
ton for the benefit of all and not for
private speculation
Private ownership Of natural re-
sources enables the few to levy trib-
ute on the many as effectively as a
cOnquering nation does upon a sub
jugated one and with no more sanction
of justice.
"Such monopoly is fatal to industrial
peace, as well as preparedness in
war.
AT least half of the value of most
public utilities is land values, and
large proportion of them have virtu-
ally perpetual franchises" declared
Benjamin c. Marsh.
Public utilities in all cities and
towns should be acquired at once by
the local authorities for the value
given them by the owners plus the
present value of improvements, they
have made therein and thereon That
would be considerably less than half
of their present selling price
These public utilities should be |
operated by the local authorities at
cost, or less. This would save the !
users of the public utilities at least |
half the profits or sos 10000 plus |
taxes 1885,, 900, 000-a total of $780,
100000
Nearly every so called public serv-
ice commission In the country is either /!
controlled by cntrenched privilege o :
by them-the results be- |
i,g identical for the public; while |
the courts often back privilege against |
the people"
Among the measures essential 10 |
real AmeriCaniSm. Sc to real prepared |