The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1922-01-03

tal-who makes his living by the
aid of capital. Capital" as defined
by the dictionary, and as generally
understood in ordinary usage, is
property owned by an individual
or corporation as distinct from in
come" or IAN aggregation of goods
used to promote the production of
other goods instead of being valu-
able solely for the purpose of i'm
mediate enjoyment"
Let us look at capitalists from
extreme viewpoints. According to
his own story, Henry Ford toured
the retail markets in company with
his wife seventeen years ago trying
to find a turkey cheap enough SO
they could afford to buy it for their
Thanksgiving dinner. Mr.. Ford
then had no capital. He was a
mechanic, saved 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 government income tax of
$76, 100000. Mr.. Ford is one of
the capitalists against whom Mr..
Debs has declared war 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 auto
mobile establishment. But to so
declare war is to declare a determ-
nation to destroy, because were
such things barred in our civiliza-
ton there would be no incentive for
men to strive for better things.
Had not profit constituted incen-
tive for Mr.. Ford would he have
strived and suffered and gone with
out necessities of life to make his
automobile successful? We think
not, and by the same method of
reasoning it seems probable that to-
day, under Socialistic principle, the
people of this country would not be
enjoying the advantages given by
automobiles, because all other auto
mobile manufacturers were first &C.
tuated by the same impulse that
caused Henry Ford to build.
That is one extreme. On any
street in any city you will find a
humble Greek or Italian who
worked for several years as a COM
mon unskilled laborer, but, with the
aid of frugal wife, saved some of
his earnings and invested in chairs,
brushes, polishing cloths, and paid a
months rent in advance, and
opened up shoe-shining establish
ment. He is also one of the capt.
talists upon whom Debs has de-
clared eternal war. This man has
goods which he is using as a means
Of income. These goods are his
Capital" small though that capital
may be.
In between these two extremes
we have a vast number Of capital
lists 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 or finance a homesteading
proposition. We have merchants
ranging all the way from small
corner grocers to the heads of huge
department stores. We have men
who saved 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
erect office buildings, and SO on.
Had there not been men willing to
save there would not have been the
advantages to civilization now ap-
parent and others which will be-
come apparent as time goes on.
To look around is to see countless
numbers of other classes of people
who hive saved a little capital which
they use for production rather than
immediate enjoyment. All these
people are capitalists and the way
is open for all others to follow in
their footsteps, if they have the
nerve to make necessary sacrifice
to start. And it is these that Mr..
Debs and his followers will be
sworn enemies to as long as breath
shall last.
Suppose the wealth of this, the
richest country in the world, should
be divided up, Socialistic like. Each
man, woman and child would have
something less than 500, if mem
DRY serves correctly. But at the
same time industry would become