Phoenix tribune., 1918-11-09
WHY We SHOULD HAVE
SOCIALISM AFTER WAR

BY w. p. Metcalf, Albuquerque, NJ. NJ.
After the war-what? With social
ism, of course. What else will pre-
serve US from another world war? l
know there are good placid comforta-
bic folks who assure you that another
world war is impossible but they are
only repeating what they have heard
somebody else say, like parrots, and
have never understood that parrots
were eligible to illumination. Does
anybody doubt that the war was the
inevitable result Of worldwide fol
lowing of fundamentally wrong ideas
and that the fatal shot at Saraievo
was the spark that kindled the fire
that overlooked the pot and spilled the
beans? Was the kaiser the only man
and did he represent the only nation
that dreamed of world wide markets
and the enforced dependence of large
bodies of human beings on their eco
nomic superiors? To be sure, economic
supremacy must eventually be upheld
by the shining sword and the mailed
fist, and if any human item doubts
that the economic factor has been the
dominant cause of all great wars,
can only say that he has read his his
tory with his eyes closed, and in the
words of George Fox, the Quaker.
pray that he may be turned from
the darkness unto light.
At the beginning of the war, whose
mouths were first closed and their at
tempts to address humanity in terms
of the highest moral and spiritual
teachings, verboten in every warning
country Germany started the pro-
cession by threatening every socialist
with death, actually shooting numbers
of them, imprisoning their leaders and
bullying the great bulk of them into
rapine and plunder which the kaiser
had raised. Repressive measures fol
lowed in every country at war. In
Germany they were accused of being
pro-ally, and in the allied countries
they were charged with being pro-Ger-
man. In truth the socialists are the
only friends humanity mas, but the
great masses of the people not having
the socialist vision, could only see In
fighting and bloodshed the means Of
settling their Quarrels and proceeded
thereto with the greatest unanimity.
But what happened. Having closed
their ears and shut up the socialists.
they found it utterly impossible to
successfully carry on the war except
through the adoption of huge chunks
of the socialist teachings. The law of
supply and demand, that holy corner
stone of political economy, was laid
to rest, prices were fixed by the gov
ernment acting in the interests of the
whole people and contrary to the in
terests of the. profiteers, the railroad
systems were taken over, the tele-
graph and telephone, the entire wool
clip taken at prices fixed by the gov
ernment in the interests of the people
and the grower deprived of any voice
in fixing the price for his wool; houses
and ships were. ordered; built to be
owned and operated in the interests
of the whole people instead of pri-
vate owners and innumerable activi-
ties in the way of sanitation, preven-
tion of unnecessary prohibition, ex-
tinction of prostitution, prevention of
unnecessary productions, were inaugu-
rated, all designed in the interests Of
the whole people and in the main, de-
structive of the personal greed, avar
ice and selfishness which has char
acterized human relations since the
dawn of civilization. Never before in
the history of the world has there
been such an overturning of the old
order and a changing into the new.
Many of these measures have
proved painfully inadequate in pro-
ducing the desired results and social
lists will demand the extension and en-
largement of these functions until the
god of competition is dethroned and
the spirit of cooperation reigns in his
stead. The fear that socialism will
produce the dreadful results that
have been ignorantly prognosticated
seems to be fast disappearing in the
light of those beginnings which have
proved successful. The star objection
to socialism has been the supreme
selfishness of the individual, which, it
has been urged, would continue to
block the way to the common good.
But since the people, especially the
women, responded so cheerfully and
unanimously to Mr.. Hoovers simple
request that they Voluntarily restrict
the use of sugar and deprive them
selves in order that the supply might
be shared with others, this objection
can no longer be urged and is seen to