The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1922-09-02
bR00kHART MADE HARD FIGHT ON
INVERTED PYRAMID OF PROFITS"
Extracts From Campaign Spe eches Indicate That He Under
stands the Cause Of the Pre- sent Order Of Privilege Rule.

The Republican party of Iowa
must swallow a candidate for
United States senator. of the La
Toilette type. That is, the reac-
tionary element of that party
must stand for him. because the
rank and file of the Republican
voters put him over in he pri-
mary election. Smith Brookhart,
the MAN of the Hour" in the
Hawkeye state thinks clearly,
talks strongly and hits hard.
He made his campaign for the
senate, declaring against most of the
things the Harding administration
had espoused. He was against ship
subsidy, the Esch- Cummins' law, the
pyramiding Of profits and for a SOL
diers bonus to be paid from a tax
on war profiteers.
Does Brookhart understand the
philosophy Of the present liberal
movement in American politics?
Printed below are extracts from
some Of his speeches delivered dur
ing the campaign. They answer our
question:
There is much in good fellow
ship, more in fraternal kindness and
everything in the Golden Rule, but
there is nothing in a pretense of
these things when the hard facts Of
a so-called competitive system deny
them. therefore propose to analyze
and dissect this system before you
with the keen criticism of the farm
er who produces his bread and yours
in the sweat of his brow; Of the
laborer who produces clothing, shell
ter and equipment for himself and
for you in the work of his hands;
Of the brain worker who trains the
child mind, guards the health and
keeps the record IF all business and
all civilization; Of the soldier who
volunteers his life in a $40 per
month draft for his country and for
humanity while wealth reaps billions
in profits out Of the blood money Of
war. Since the farmer produces the
food Of civilization, since labor pro-
duces it's clothing, shelter and COM
forts, and since the soldier protects
and preserves it. the three have the
primary and basic call upon civil
ization for it's reward. Has this call
been needed by the economic sys-
tenn of our country?
II shall not take tn , time to trace
the details Of our economic structure,
but will designate the parts in the
familiar terms known to all. It
should be built like the pyramids
with the broad volume of net profits
at the bottom for agriculture, then
for labor. then for the reward of
the soldier and tapering to tn apex
with the net profits of distribution.
In fact it is an inverted pyramid.
Agriculture is at the bottom, but
it's net profits are an apex and not
a foundation.
Labor Is next with unemployment
and diminished earnings.
1.-The soldier is next with broken
platform pledges.
Little business is next, crumbling
and falling in failure and dissolution
because it is tied to big business
above and has no adequate support
in the stability of abr and farmers
below. Spreading out over all this is
the transportation trust with its ST.
000,0O0,OOO Of watered capital sup
ported by a legislative guaranty
which is worse than a, mortgage
upon the farm and labor earnings of
the country.
"Closely allied is the telephone
trust which is unable to live upon
per cent in these hard times and ac-
cordingly raised it's dividend rate to
9 per cent the first, Of last July, an
other mortgage upon the common
people Of the United States.
This inverted pyramid Of profits
is completed by the beef trust which
debated itself by substituting war
profits secreted in it's book accounts
for it's paper losses, by the steel
trust which discharged its men and