The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-03-05
By lane B. Lee.

On all hands the Communist Is met
with the seemingly purcljGs query;
who will labor, invent, do creative
work of any kind ii the ise>a'irt
to endeavor, namely; pS~oaS' yS'r-
is eliminatedl
The assumption is prevalent ta9'
human effort is brought into play
thru fear of physical discomfort IS
is seen in the case Of vast number
of manual workers, or thar the ar
lists, scientists energies are set IL
motion because Of financial agSrSiiz
ement, prestige, social distinction,
The superficial observer uaa,.a>,
omed to see beneath the su,fate may
he led to entertain su1h view by
virtue of the fact that it holds good
of large majority Of toilerS IN
factories. mills and mines.
A brief analysis, however, will prove
to the most skeptical that this is dive
not to the nature of the workers IN
those industries, but rather to the
nature of the wsrk performed
them.
Decline Of Interest i'll Labor.
Modern large scale production has
done away with the interest, the pride,
the artisan of old took in his hand,
icraft. To call out interest in and lov"
for any given pursuit. coordination IN
such manner that the worker under
stands the connection between the
constituent parts and the whole, Is
absolutely essential.
The worker to-day Is denied this
potent motive power. Capitalist pro
duction carried on on the basis Of
profit instead of use las introduced
such minute division OF labor that
the operative IN a modern plant has
not the slightest conception Of the
relation of his part of the work to
that of tie fellOW-wOrker next to him.
He is confined to the performance of
most monotonous task under the
most unvholrsomc, disagreGble SUI.
roundings. Last but not least there Is
the consideration of compensation, The
SO called incentive translated in terms
of an equivalent for labor power, j e.
wages
1t is common knowledge that the
producer to day receives in wages ono
eighth of the value of the product of
his labor The difference u, value he
tween his wages and product is ap
propriated BY the owners of the plant
IN the form of interest anu profit.
Under these circumstances is it sur
prising that the manual worker today
works out of fear of actual atarvatio!
merely? What other interest is he'll
out to MIN over and above tie pit
tance he receives and which barely suf
fees to maintain his existence and re
produce his kind (the latter a sort o
deferred asset Of the employing class
VITA regard to the artist, scientist
etc the hypothesis of external motiv
power, c. remuneration Of one kin
or another, is even more fallIeious,
No lcs, an opponent Of Communists
than Herbert Spencer contends tina
exercise Of ones faculty Yields tn
greatest amount of pleasure and tha
human conduct responds to hut NV
fundamental instincts, namely: seel
ing of pleasure and avoiding of pai
(the former, in our opinion, being tn
more potent.
The Higher Motivation to Labor.
we see 'IcH lNtt IhIH'I' V'loIt u"
its own intrinsic value, i. c. the pie;
sure and qualification aceruiug to on
in the exercise of ones faculty,
That this is true is demonstrate
daily by examples Of tht most paii
stalking labor in Laboratories, clinic
ctc, carried on not for considerable
of financial gain, but conversely, j
spite of lack of financial gain in tn
interest of science and human we
fare. The biographies Of great mind
of all ages furnish many instances
hardship. beginning with physics
pr"ation, contcmpory hostility an
ending in persecution, jail etc. br
these things instead of checking a
dor, zeal. tend to augment the flow d
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