The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-03-15
THE SOCIALISM OF WAR
POWER OF GOVERNMENT
ALL INDUSTRIES, FROM FARM TO
FACTORY, coMMANDEERED
BY NATIONS OF EUROPE.

In the tremendous efforts now being
put forth by the nations in the
European conflict America must be
blind indeed if it fails to read the
lesson that war no longer can be made
the business of a single class of the
population. says the Kansas City Star.
Never again, in any country. will war
call to battle only the young or adj
venturons manhood or merely the pro-
fessonal soldier The nations Of
Europe are now fighting en- masse.
That Is true. whether military service
is being given in the trenches at the
lines. where men and women are keep
Ing the armies supplied. or by financial
or other sacrifice Everybody must
do something. If it is only to eat less
food.
War tho Business Of Europe.
War may now be said without
exaggeration to be the business of
Europe. 1t Is the industry Of millions
of people-of whole populations-and
everything else is incidental to it. Be
ing the business of the nations en-
gagged in the great struggle, they
naturally have put their best talents
TENS to make their efforts effective
and have made output" their object
as truly as that standard is aimed at
in any highly organized and efficient
industrial plant.
The effect of this after two and
half years of organization has been
to make England. France and Germany
great workshops. in which all the de-
partments are co ordinated to a degree
probably never before attained In
human industry. and certainly SO far
beyond anything dreamed of in Amer
ica--where not even the machinery
for such organization exists-that the
task of bringing this country to such
Il pitch of teamwork may well seem
colossal. And yet such an organiza-
ton would be as ESSENTIAL to America
AZ to England if this country should
ever grapple with great military
power and would be harder to achieve
because the fear Of strong central
lied government is more general in
America than it has ever been in Eng
land.
No Limit to Government Regulation
There Is hardly any word with which
Americans are familiar that describe
the process of Capitalization now going
on in England Collectivism might
describe it if Americans knew what
that meant Here we have seen some-
thing Of government regulation. but
only a, little. We have seen the rail-
roads taken in hand to some extent.
we have seen that the government
can, in a limited way. regulate child
labor, and we have national food laws
and few things like that. But what
would we say to q proposal that the
government should prescribe what
crops the farmers should plant. what
prices they should receive for them.
what wages they should pay for cul-
tivatng and harvesting them?
Government ownership of railroads
and few great public utilities has
been discussed too much to be greatly
startling. but what if in addition to
taking over the railroads and the tele-
graph and telephone companies. the
government should also commanders
all the factories. machine shops, textile
mills and Industries of all descriptions
and turn them into war plants? These,
indeed, would be but half measures
If the government did not follow them
we should have the whole population
enrolled and told off in groups, some
as munitions makers. some as farm
laborers. some as armOr and gum
makers some as weavers. some as
hoemakers-everybody to his task
and everybody on a food ration suit
able to the nature Of his labor.
Socialism on Large Scale.
This enormous organization con-
trolled by the government Is exactly
what we have been warned against
by all the reputable economists. For
generations they have assured us that
any such organization would be hope
lessly inefficient and that the gentle
men who urged 1t were Missionaries
Now state socialism on colossal scale
has made good. so that every nation
competing on war basis has had to
come to II.
The question Is how much of 1t the
United States can get along without
when It comes to competing with these
highly efficient nations after the war.
Castle Garden.