The daily Nome industrial worker., 1917-08-10

AnG so il is hen the costs O.. living go up, the merchant is ac- cused of making too much profit, the wholesaler of exacting too much of his unearned increment, the banker of usury and the govern ment of being too strenuous in it's taxation.
 Labor is not robbed at the point of consumption. He gets enough to live upon. That's his value under capitalism; enough that he can feed and clotne himself and his fa- mily and make more laborers to take his place. It is quite true that the standard of living may vary and what will be all right for creating and reproducing further laborers in one land may be wholly insufficient in another, but in one and the other wages will be paid accordingly. If not labor can't live: labor dies out and there are no more proftmakers to take their place.
 Because men who consider them selves radical and socialists and mazes of economic bewilderment and accuse every factor of the plunderng, advocate government ownership, elimination of the middleman and goodness knows what all, they consequently mislead the others into the maZes of some vain political propaganda which leads into nowhere.
 It is in national crisis that the governments manifest instinctive knowledge that this economic theo- " of Marx is correct. They, for example in many European belli- gerent ccul tries, took control of manufacture and of food, because less pursuit of profits would result in general social disorders: labor would not get enough to live upon and production would be very seriously affected.
 The main reason of the present time epidemic of strikes in America is not due 10 any robbery at the point of consumption, but to the fact that the workers are not being paid suftciency to live upon even under the small standards admitted unter capitalism.
 Furthermore the more the work CTS realize that they are the wealth producers; that when they read of that concern has made since war be- gan. they know that those profits came from their labor and the labor of others. It is extremely significant too, that notwithstand- ing these immense profits in indus try the workers wages were subject ed to no proportionate increase. And it is the difference between the two that will reach an approximation of the difference between the purchas- ing power of wages paid and the prices of commodities.
 Another thing that good many are puzzled over is the simple fact that the prices of certain commo- dities finally reach consumers out of all proportion to the prices paid the producing owners. Take wheat for example.
 Now all labor has a social value and Is necessary to a definite ex- tent in the various industries. If production is diverted to an industry beyond that certain extent and is defected from industries wherein it is more socially necessary, the values produced in the latter by labor will rise in proportion to the social necessity of that labor. Thus when to non-productive industries like powder manufacture, munitions, war making, etc, much labor is uselessly diverted, from social point of view, they are so diverted De- cause of the profits to be derived therefrom. But this leaves an in- sufficient production, say in agricu- ture, and in agriculture, the values also increased in due proportion to the values received for shells, armor plate, explosives and the like. It is in the final consumption nf these however that these values. each to each in it's proper