The toiler. [volume] (Cleveland, Ohio) 1919-1922, 1921-04-30
OUR MAIL BOX.

confrade Leo Fenssen, of Antwerp,
Belgium, and is addressed ITO the
Members of the A. F. Of L. The
letter is inspired, comrade Fenssen
writes, by lecture delivered by
R. De Man, a Belgian socialist who
has spent nearly two years in Amer
lea studying labor conditions here
as a representative of the Ministry
of Labor. The letter deals with a
very poignant condition which OBJ
tains in this country and is well
worthy of consideration by craft
unionists' and others Of like affilia-
tions and sentiment.
Dear Comrades:-
With indignation and disgust l
learned about the terrible conditions
of labor and living among the bulk
of unskilled working people, especial
ly the strangers, in so called De-
mocratic America, the country OF
one of the champions of freedom
and liberty, Abraham Lincoln.
Now after the most terrible war
ever known in history in which so
many of your best countrymen died,
for freedom and liberty and aboli-
ton Of militarism, we now learn
over here with sorrow and indigna-
tion about the most disgraceful con-
Editions in every respect, which are
lreigning especially in your country,
which always we believed to be the
most civilized place in the world,
and where such wonderful things
have been performed by science,
which created such good conditions
I.of working and living for you, skill
led workers and craftmen, who un-
fortunately are still imbued with
that unjust and false autocratic
spirit, viz. that skilled working
man should be considered superior
being to the unskilled, which in part
is true, but by no means justified
the skilled in looking upon them as
being pariahs, because they have not
had the opportunity like we to be-
come skilled men. Therefor: / think
we ought to help those unfortunate
brothers.; only the capitalists can
benefit by such state Of affairs.
| I sincerely hope for the sake Of
suffering humanity that you soon
Twill come to reason and, shake off
that unjust false spirit and realize
that everyone sWhether he is a
laborer, miner, railwayman, tool
maker or whatever one may be-is
a useful member of society neces-
sary to maintain life and therefore
ought to be considered and treated
as such.
Comrades, get rid of that naughty,
selfish idea which breaks the soli-
darity which should reign between
common workmen and you. You bet
ter than anyone else in the world
should know-you, sons of that
country of inventions, possessing the
most perfected system of labor and
the most wonderful means Of pro-
|duetion, with rich soil able to pro-
duce all the necessities Of life-that
owing to the fact that the age of
steam or the time of capitalism has
passed and is being followed by the
new period: the age of electricity
which also means the time of So
cialism or Communism, that the eco
nomical and technical machinery is
prepared to make of this planet a
place worth while living in. We just
have to organize, just to change our
minds and instead of producing for
the profit and dividends of capital
Iists-just work and produce for the
working community, this is a ques-
tion of good sense and good will.
i Internationalism has come to stay,
consequently the question Of abolish
ing capitalism is an international
one.
Thus from this day, in order to
get rid Of all the reigning abuses,
misery, poverty etc. our slogan must
be: workers Of all countries unite
There is plented of room and goods
TO reveryone. Gall power to the
workers" under the most perfect
form of Capitalization indispensable
lfpr the present development of So
ciety.
/ send you this message in my
personal name and initiative but !
can assure you that all the workers
of Belgium and Europe are looking
upon you, and ! sincerely hope that
our expectations will not prove IL
lusions, that you will show yourselves
to be worthy, conscious members Of
the great labor army, and if neces-
sary purify your unions Of those
old fashioned leaders who might pre-
vent you from doing your human
duty.
i Sincerely Yours