The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-05-10

uOL tu6 Brightest uOuDL Out that the
majority are pleased with their choice
and that If he had to run for election
this year he would be returned by a
larger majority than he received a
year and half ago. Yet Wheeler has
nothing in common with the work
ers and farmers Of Montana except his
hatred Of the Anaconda Mining Com
pany and it is not hard to understand
how the keen edge of his enmity has
been blunted by political expediency,
association and class interest, for
after all Wheeler is middle class thru
and thru. He has no confidence in the
working class-the typical middle
class attitude.
His Glass interests.
His interests are those of the prop
erty-owning class; he is worth at
least 100000 and probably 100000.
He was raised in poverty but his early
hardships have not made him hate the
capitalist system; they have only
made him fear poverty and created in
him passion for wealth and the
security that wealth gives.
That he is honest-outside of his
profession-I have no reason to doubt
any more than l have reason to doubt
that in struggle where the issue was
capitalism or communism, Wheeler
would be with the capitalists. He
pledged himself to discredit individ-
uals like Palmer and Daugherty who,
by their raids on the halls and homes
of workingmen, violated the constitu-
ton and he has done so to the best
of his ability; he has not brought
forward the class issues which were
and are the basis of all the campaigns
of governmental terrorisation and 10
not believe that he could if he wanted
to; he looks upon such measures as
unconstitutional and is against them
for that reason. He is a Jeffersonian
democrat and sees as the cause for
the evils of which the masses COM
plain the abrogation by INSCRIPTIONS
individuals of the principles embodied
in the declaration of independence.
His rebellion against the big Montana
capitalist interests has no theoretical
foundation beyond those have cited
because Wheeler is not student; if
| remember correctly, ALI Budden and
l introduced him to The Nation and
the New Republic, and he was much
surprised to discover that such rad
ical' journals were published in the
effete east.
WheeIer's Viewpoint.
In talking over Wheeler's qualifica-
tions and limitations with others l
have said many times that his best
asset from the workingclass point of
view was his hatred of the practices
of the Anaconda Mining Company and
reviewing, as write, his activities in
Washington, see no reason to revise
this statement.
Wheeler does not dislike the A. c.
M. because it is capitalist institu-
ton and part of American capitalism.
If it adopted welfare system or al
lowed its employees to organize and
dealt with the committees of the
union-"recognized the union" in labor
parlance-if it discontinued its policy
of freezing out small mining operators
and bribing legislators-in other
words, il it made concessions to the
idea of competitive capitalism that
Wheeler holds in common with other
Jeffersonian democrats and LaFollette
progressives, he would have no quar-
rel with the company any more than
he has quarrel with the Kevin-Camp-
bell oil concern, for which he is
counsel.
In a recent number of the Labor
Age-the official organ of the League
for industrial Wheeler has
set forth his views of workingclass
parliamentary tactics; very frankly he
states his belief that better results
can be obtained by non-partisan po-
litical action-supporting friends of
labor on the two capitalist party
tickets. said he spoke frankly but
l think that this is not quite correct;
actually he prefers that the friends
of labor" should be members of the
democrat party for the very obvious
reason that victory for the democrat
party opens out political vista for
Wheeler that he could never have
visualized when he was being bounded
like a common criminal by the press
Of a section of the most powerful
group of industrial capitalists in the
world. Wheeler is ambitious and from
the pinnacle to which he has been
raised by force of circumstances
circumstances which are the result
Of the clash Of social forces that he
will be one of the last to understand
he has seen the very beautiful world
that belongs to those who enjoy great
political power in the republic. He
will stay with HIS class and with the
party Of his class and he will be
wrecked with that party and that
class by the same forces that, vaguely
understood by the workers and farm
ers NJ Montana In hind revolt against