The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-10-31

LnaL OF increasing lLS rate OF prof.
it. 1t pursues this task with greater
persistency and greater expense of
effort than any other aim.
Profit is unpaid labor. Therefore,
the increase of the rate of profit re-
duces itself to the problem of reduc-
ing the paid portion of labor in favor
of the unpaid
Capitalism is doing everything pos
stble to increase the productivity of
labor, that is, to increase the total
amount of labor given by the work
men per work day This fact brings
about a mechanical reduction of the
rate of wages, even tho the wages
remain the same. What really hap
pens is that the portion of paid labor
remains stationary while the total
amount of labor increases, thus in
creasing the portion of UNI aid labor.
If possible capitalism also forces upon
the workers the absolute reduction
of the wages.
But the decrease of wages can also
take an indirect form WI CHI apparent
ly has nothing to do with conditions
of employment. Such an indirect
form of wage reduction is taxation.
TNHE capitalist state is an agency
4 of capitalism. Ordinarily capital
ism must support and maintain its
: agencies thru contributions made
from unpaid labor which is extracted
from the workers in the form of prof
it. But its main agency, the state
government, capitalism makes the
workers support and maintain thru
taxation Thru this method the cap
+ italists get Sback part of the wages
they originally paid to the workers
to support their Institution, capital
ism.
Thus we find, for instance, that
thru system of tariff, capitalism
collects indirect taxes form the work
ers and achieves thereby, first a sup
port of its agency, the state, thru
the workers, and second, subsidy
flowing into their pockets in the form
of artificially maintained high prices
for their own products. In other
words, the tariff is a form of taxa
ton which artifieially extracts part
of the money paid to the worker in
wages, and makes 1t flow back into
the pockets Of the capitalists in the
form of iigh profits This example
shows clearly that taxation is merely
another form of wage reduction, an
addition to the generally accepted
method of exploitation, extracting I'M
paid labor.
This quality is characteristic of all
form of taxation. 1t is for the reason
that taxing the workers is means
of increasing the profits of the cap
italists and their politicians insist
that the main burden Of taxation be
borne by the exploited, that is, the
workers. In all countries, the art of
financing the state is in the last anal
ysis the art of extracting the highest
percentage of contributions to the up
keep of the government from the
workers.. The tendency therefore is
everywhere: Increase the taxes of
the workers, decrease the taxes of
the exploiters, the rich.
THE war with its extraordinary ex-
4 penses made it necessary to let
the capitalist pay portion, even tho
an infinitesimal one, of the financial
burden OF the state. But It was clear
ly understood that this taxing the
capitalists was merely a war meas
ure. Since the passing of the war
period there is going on an energetic
struggle for the discrimination of
this practice. Reduce the tax on the
capitalists" is the slogan.
The efforts of the secretary Of the
treasury OF the United States, the
millionaire banker, Andrew Mellon,
are characteristic in that respect
During several legislative periods
Mellon has carried on a campaign
for the radical reduction of the sur