, 1922-01-03
A HOPELESS TASK.

Eugene Debs, in all p~ropriety, should exercise .
care in his public announcements his right OF Ire
speech viii be readily granted him; but II 1t asan
yerges on treason to his government and us esao-
it,hed institutions, he will again hnd hnnset II the
tolls. One of the first declarations made was; i am
an enemy Of the capitalist class and IN me Ihey shA
find no comfort as long as here Is oe~
body"
Let us have a look at the people or class against
whom Debs is to wage war?
A eapitalist is one who has capital, who makes ms
living by the employment Of capital. Capital, as
defined by the dictionary, and as generally understood
In ordinary usage, is property owned by an individuai
or corporation as distinct FROM income' or an agsre,
gution Of goods used to promote the proaucuoh OF
. ether goods instead of being valuable solely Tor the
purpose of immediate enjoyment"
Let us look at capitalists from extreme viewpoints.
According to his own story, Henry FORD toured inc
retail markets with his wife seventeen years ago Try,
ing to find a turkey cheap enough so they copid ahord
70 buy it for their Thanksgiving dinner. Mr.. FORD
then had no capital. He was a mechanic, saves some
Of his wages, invested this small capital" made that
capital give employment to other men who did not
save, and last year he is reported to have PAID a gov
eminent income tax of $4,000, 900. Mar. Fora Is one
of the capitalists against whom Mr.. Debs has declared
W. as long as there shall be breath In his body. Mr..
Debs declares war upon the methods and the system
under which Ford built up his huge automobile estaD-
lshment.
That In one extreme. On any street in any city you
will find a humble Greek or italian who worked for
several years as n common, unskllled laborer pu1
with the aid of a frugal wife, saved some OF his earn
1nDA AIl LhN III
psid a months rent in advance. and opened up a shoe
shining establishment. He is also one of the capital
lists upon whom Debs has declared eternal war. This
man has goods which he is using as a means OF IN
come. These goods are his capital small though
that capital may be.
In between these two extremes we have a vast num-
her of capitalists of low and high degree. We have
farmers who toiled many weary years IN order to save
the money with which to buy their farms. We have
merchants ranging all the way from small corner gro
GERS to the heads of huge department stores. We
bsua u vho saved money to erect flour mills, men
who saved money to construct meat packing plants,
men who saved money to build steel mills and car
shops, men who saved money TO build street car lines,
men who saved money to erect office buildings, men
who saved money to establish factories to manufac-
ture cloth and clothing, boots shoes, pianos, sporting
goods, medical supplies, toilet articles, farm machin-
cry, auto supplies, etc Look around and you will see
countless numbers of other classes Of people who have
saved a little capital which they use for production
rather than immediate enjoyment. All these people
are capitalists and Mr.. Debs and his followers will be
their sworn enemies as long as breath shall last.
Mr.. Debs has marked out a large world to conquer
and we fear disappointment awaits the end Of his
campaign.