The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-07-30
OLlACKERY VS.. SCIENCE
By TOM CLIFFORD.

The Harding administration, through
Director General Jones of the U. s.
Employment Service, has handed out
to the ignorant and perplexed public
six causes for the industrial depres-
sion. Here is the dope:
ONE: Unsatisfactory transporta-
ton, with freight rates in many in-
stances prohibitive.
TWO: Lack of normal foreign
market.
THREE: Low prices of farm pro-
duce.
FOUR: Stagnation in iron an steel.
FIVE: High costs of construction.
SIX: General dullness in the retail
trade.
Only one Of the causes mentioned is
fundamental. The others are merely
incidental concomitants that inevitab>
ly results when the basic support of
the capitalist structure is impaired.
The apologists for the profit system
of production are at last compelled
to admit that primarily its function
ing depends absolutely upon the exist
ence of a foreign market in which to
dispose of the surplus product Of the
workers. Five of the causes mentioned
ARE but effects precipitated by the
ILLUMINATION of the one great essen
Itial-Markets.
| Mr.. Jones may have acquired suf-
ficient knowledge of economics to be
aware Of this fact, but it is more
probable that he is simply an ignor.
anus. However, in either case, he is
a fool or a knave. AS loyal servant
of the ruling class, whose job depends
upon the dissemination of misinforma
tion, nothing else should be expected
of him.
My object in writing this article il
not so much to hold Mr.. Jones up tt
criticism (although, as a preliminary
had to get that off my chest), bu
to counteract the influence of hi
pernicious propaganda by enlighteninl
; the workers relative to real cause O.
: our industrial woes, which is essentia
to that unity of action necessary in tn
! solution of our great social problem
Panics in the Past.
The first recorded "panic" was tina
of 1916 in England. In 1918 occure'
the first American panic. The presen
: industrial depression is the seventh II
a series of almost regularly recurrin,
/. periods 1887, 1857, 1873, 1898
1907 and 1920. Note the intervals be
tween these industrial crises-aver
!, aging about IA years-which at leas
gives grounds for the assumption tina
the cause therefore is some inheren
weakness in the capitalist system it
!. self.
S Up to recent years the blame 70
S panics was laid at the door of tn
: spectators in Wall Street. 1t wa
: contended that the captains of financ
S drew too largely upon the bank re
h serves throughout the nation, and tina
c this caused contraction of the Gil
: culating medium, preventing tn
t operators of industries securing TIL
g loans necessary in the conduct 9
e their business, which forced them
close their plants. The absurdity {
this claim should have been clearl
e apparent. The factories were short O
4 orders weeks before the financi,
r stringency began. OF course the mar
@ ufacturers lied about it, as they
v today, but the fact that they laid oi
n men was conclusive proof that order
d were not coming in, and the dearth {
G orders was due to overproduction b.
l. cause of the absence of market fl
the surplus that the workers were III
n able to buy back owing to the limit,
It tion placed upon their consumin
n power.
- How the System Works.
IS Here is the way the crazy prof
d system works: A comparatively fe
j. men own the great industries of 4