The Northwest worker. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1915-1917, 1917-04-26
OPEN FORUM
REPLY TO BILL
r-i'f-i-Il'It-l.t.l..i.l..I.4 .i..l.E,.t.l.....l.

In closing my discussion will
prolctaria Bill, ! wish 10 SAW VI
what have been able 10 draw on
of him. TO show the confused stat,
of Bills thinking quote from his
latest letter in the Worker:
eve would suggest little orig9na
thinking along natural and socia
laws. Get in touch with these law,
and leave dogma alone
More confusion could not b,
squeezed into smaller space. A
man doe@tr think ~A.along" natural
laws until he turns savage, and he
is then looked upon as lunatic. Man
is a social being, subject to his en-
vlronment, which is artificial He is
all education. Somebody is training
him, up or down, all the time. Meth
er is there any really original think
ing along" natural laws, nor other
laws, nor anything else, ms may be
observed by all persons of discern
ment Thought is social, each of us
taking little from the general store,
some persons being conceitcd enough
to claim the general supply as their
own. Bill's thinking along" natural
laws, as see, has taught him one
thing: that it is easier and more nat
ural to write with the fingers than
with the head.
Sorry | cannot follow Bill's advice.
All original thinking has been done,
probably by ancestors unknown to
us. However, | can study Socialism.
Karl Marx was great thinker,
though not wholly original, nor did
he claim to be. Charles st. Simon,
fifty years prior to Marx, said:
"The end of social organization is
production; therefore political sci
ence must be reduced to economies.
the art of governing men must give
way to the art of administering
things"
There is no dogma about that. In
single sentence is compressed the
evolution of social and political or
CARNATIONS, and though uttered more
than century ago, it describes ac-
curately what is taking place today
IN all countries. St. Simon is quoted
approvingly by Marx and Engels. To
get the central idea of the Socialist
program into brief statement, par
aphrasing Marx and others, | should
put it thus:
The wealth of nations will be con
centrated in the hands of govern
ment, the proletariat will get con
troll of the wealth by Selling the poll.
teal power of the state, politics will
be absorbed by economies, and in
stead of government of persons we
shall have an administration of in
dustry.
All essential points in my pub
lished letters are in accord with the
foregoing program. 1t is the pro-
gram now being carried out in all
countries, as any person may know
who has observed the rapidty with
which private industries are passing
into public control. With this, how
ever, Bill does not agree, repudiating
political action and sneering at the
American Socialist movement, as
may be seen in his published letter
of April 10 in the Northwest Worker.
If my statement of the Socialist
program is erroneous | desire that it
be corrected by any Socialist. Sheer
ing at the national movement and
railing at me signify nothing, unless
it means that the person sneering
and railing is not a Socialist.
What is Proletaria Bill doing in
the Socialist organization | do not
know. Perhaps he is lonesome and
wants company. Then, perhaps, he
is there for another reason. Absurd,
motiveless and senseless as an anar-
chist organization would be, many
anarchists nevertheless think it log
ical to enter Socialist organizations
to propagate their ideas there.
w. II. WAYNICK.