Evening star., 1921-01-23
IS CAPITALISM CRUMBLING?

extraordinary increase of vigor. This
is due to the immediate re-empl0y-
ment of means of production lpulld-
ings, raw materials. plants) at enor-
nous profit. It is also due to the
Joining up of the industries into war
Offices as was the case with coal, Dig
furnaces, mechanical constructions.
But IL the collapse Of capital is SO
far from a reality. how Is It .nae =, tmis ,,ss
idea could have come to SO many OF US
"1st. One of the principal reasons
has been the want of coal. TIE pos
sible stopping of industry from Waht
of combustion would mean not oni!
the collapse of capitalism, but would
nut the question Of revolution in the
front rank. Ought the apparatus OF
nroduction to have been taken In hand
with all the risks OF revolution
ought production. on the contrary. TO
in the capitalist system? These were
the alternatives which suggested
themselves in industrial countries
where the socialists were in power
for example, in Germany. The con-
tinuation of production was demand
ed. however. not by the sociallst ieaa,
ers. but by the German workmen
themselves, a fact which is recog-
nized today by the communists. A
period was given to capitalist pro-
duction. and in Germany it regained
it's pre-war level. In France American
credit and she has also benefited by
the restoration of the German MINES
From this side the collapse is no
longer in sight.
Cd. ON the other hand, the enormous
debt of the belligerents gives the idea
of inevitable bankruptcy. the erect
of which would be not only to reduce
all the leisured classes to state OF
berears, but to discredit the value
of money and deprive commerce and
industry of the means of payment.
"In reality all those who have
studied finance know that the present
distress of the states can be over
come. Total bankruptcy Is incon-
ceivable. AS long as state exists
there is always possibility OF re-
turns. 1t can, therefore, only be
question of deficit in relation to ex-
penditure in which case the state
would put off payment of the debt.
This is, indeed, the worst con-
tingency. The states no longer sus-
pend payment. They reduce incomes
Indirectly by the multiplication OF
bank notes. What happens then? The
real wealth in the hands of the
capitalists, such as landed property.
plants, raw material. increases In
value in proportion to the deprecla-
tion of money and even in greater
proportion.
"3d. Finally there is the incapacity
Of the capitalist to reorganize proauc-
ton to satisfy present needs. II is
quite wrong to suppose that the de-
velopment Of production is function
Of capitalism. It's only function 10 10
maintained in producing, 1t produces;
il not. 1t disappears. To be astonish-
ed that capitalism, after killing mil
lions of men, causes other millions
to die of hunger is absurd
what remains of the assertion that
capitalism is going to collapse? Only
this, that capitalism istinfnitely more
vigorous and better organized than
before the war. The most curious
thing is that Lenin does not deny
this fact, He has insisted on 1t on
several occasions. But he concludes,
all the same. that it's collapse Il I'm
minent. ! recognise there the aame
humor that made Zinovtev say to the
proietariat that the more they we're
divided the stronger they would te".