The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-24

I1dyCl 10 AuASA W EAASAAS~ eAONPo'
enced by sending warships and machin
bankers the president. In Cuba, thu
general strike was broken by demon.
strations of force made by the United
States.
These are not incidents Of war, but
the ordinary events Of peace time
Comrade Gomez dwelt at length on
the rise Of American Imperialism as
one phase Of the whole historical age
of imperialist development thruout
the world. The United States has az
empire in and around the Caribbean
as sort of "Mittel-Europa" like the
kaiser had before the war with
Mexico as its center.
The speaker outlined the pre-im.
perialist stage of capitalism, citing the
farewell address of Washington about
mo entangling alliances" as one proc,
Of the 100-year period of national de.
velopment during which the policy OF
I'll countries was generally "no ag.
gressive expansion" This was the age
OF national consolidation of Germany
italy and other nations. Comrade
Gomez cited Pavlovitch's work on i'm
perialism which shows that Bismarck
was not an imperialist in the strict
sense Of the word. but the unifier o.
the German nation. And SO with
other statesmen of that day, who con
sidered colonies as expensive nuts
ances.
Beginning Of Conquest Period.
But from about 1880 the capitalist
system had entered into a period o.
limperialist expansion, and in rs years
the great powers seized over 10000,
600 square miles of territory from
weaker peoples. The period wher
free competition accompanied by
free speech" and stable pralia.
ments" was over. classification and
combination became the dominant fac
tor and completely altered the politi
cal superstructure. Political power
steadily became centralized and this
AFFECTS every phase of life.
Imperialism is not something far
away, in far Cathay," but is a part Of
economic life, just as threatening 10
the worker in the shops, mines and
mills of the United States as to the
workers and the poor poems of Latin.
America.
Comrade Gomez traced the rise OF
trusts, the Standard Oil, the Have.
meyer trust, the copper and wooden
trusts, but above all the steel trust
the first billion dollar combine formed
by fusion of Morgan and Rockefeller
interests. This was the first instance
OF outstanding Importance of the
penetration Of finance capital into in.
dustry. Now, the bankers, once a
mere auxiliary to industry, dictate
all major industries. Monopoly ruled
monopoly princes came to be usual.
Government and Imperialism,
This centralized power of finance
and industry had been reflected in a
monopoly power in government. The
foreign policy Of the United States
once diffused to respond to the needs
OF the whole bourgeoisie. became the
policy of Wall Street, the crownine
monopoly Of the age. Trustified indus
try looked beyond the borders of tn.
nation for raw materials. while
trustified finance sought an outlet 70,
accumulated surplus of capital, a mar
ket for the export Of capital.
The contradictions within capital
ism, chiefly the capital accumulation
tended to choke further developmen,
II export of capital was not attained
Even now the banks in some cases
are refunding large deposits. A New
York bank had refused to take 8
s2,O00.o0O deposit as It could moi
place It out and would only lose by
paying interest to the depositor.
imperialism 6ulwark Of Capitalism
The way out in general, however
is temporarily provided by the ex
ploitation Of weaker peoples. Capita
can be exported, and with the chea,
labor enforced, super-proflt is re-
turned. The United States has he
come the imperialist power par ok
cellence.
The United States has three maio,
imperialist maneuvers. The DAVE,
plan to conquer Europe; the oper
door in China to conquer Asia, an(
the closed door-the Monroe doc
trine, to pillage Latin-America.
Comrade Gomez, briefly gava a h,s