Pueblo chieftain., 1921-12-18
Labor and Production


Hamilton, of this city, and very gladly gives place
this page, inviting attention to it criticism Of
editorial that appeared recently in this paper
Mr.. Hamlton's letter is clear tho necessarily con-
densed statement Of the sociastc view of labor and
capital, view that is defensibe only by ignoring esse-
initial points in the situation, and that in no wise
strengthened by quotations from writer's upon political
economies whose opinions not held in respect by SER
.ious and weLbalanced thinkers.
The statements that labor Is prior to capital and
that capital could have existed if labor had not
first existed both and self evident The state
that capital is only the fruit Of labor is partly true
and partly false The statement that labor is ndepend
snt of capital is true to such small degree that the
statement wholly false for the purposes Of practical dis
e,,ssion.
It is not matter Of supreme importance whether
lincoln or Henry George said all the things that Mr.
Hamilton says they said The only important thing IS
whether those statements true
First as to the production Of wealth by labor.
Labor produces wealth only when intelhgenty di-
rected profitable end Intelligent direction is not
essential element in labor itself million men may
labor for Thousand years shoveng sand in tho DESERT
dipping water from the digging holes in the
mountains without producing dollars worth OF wealth
man might work for his whole life without producing
.nvthnr of benefit TO himself to the community in
which he lives
Labor without intelligent direction, and without cap
ita is bare-handed labor wasting physical strength TO
result of value.
The aborer himself may have both the ability to
direct his labor to profitable end and the capital to sup
ply the equipment necessary to make his labor effective
but it is not true that labor necessarily and and
inherently has both the directing ability and the
material resources to make labor productive OF
wealth 1t is not true therefore that labor
produces all wealth. with such meaning as to involve
the conclusion hat labor is entitled to all wealth.
Wealth first came existence when labor produced
something more than was required for the immediate
necessities Of existence and kept possession OF the sur
plus with the purpose Of future Capital in the econ
omc sense existence when wealth used to
increase production in way that could not be followed
by labor alone.
Much argument has been wasted with regard to the
relative prorities Of capital and Of labor in the distr
button Of industrial products The truth is that the en-
tire industrial system exists is the result OF long
continued effort make the human resources OF the
community adequate to its human needs
It has found by practical experience that the
present captalistc SYSTEM bitterly denounced by
SOCIALISTS gets better results for the community as
whole than can be obtained by other system that has
ever been tried
The present industrial system is not the product OF
theory but the result of experience
There theory of the socialists that has not been
tried some where and time, and all of these
theories have been found to be faulty in some re-
spect.
The experiment of governmental control and direc-
t;on of industry with the capital supplied thru
the public treasury from public taxation has been ried
and the plan does not work successfully
The plan of putting upon aborers the full responsi-
hy for the direction of their labor and giving them the
full measure of all they produce and destroying capital
has been tried and always everywhere it has result
ed in disaster.
'.It is n worthy object of any good government to
secure not only each aborer but also to every person
necessarily concerned in production and distribution the
full measure of Just reward according to his worth to
the community This object necessarily involves the
maintenance of such scale of will give to every
human being the opportunity of right living according
to the standards of the and place in which he lives
But it has happened in all ages of the world that
enioyed large proportion of the fruits That rs not
~. much an arrnigumen of capital it is nm arragn-
nnent of human nature. The aborer who gets from tho
community more than he gives to the community is
aras;te not less than is the director the capitalist who
,e more than his fair share based upon the service he
renders Economic justice TO give every man fa pay
Cor his work according 10 the value OF his service fcoh