The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1928-02-02
Continued from Page One)

(Comtinated from Page One)
iron pipe, over 10 per cent in foun-
dries and machine shops, IL per cent
in iron and steel, about IL per cent in
lumber, etc.
Particularly hard hit are the work
ers in Massachusetts where factory
employment is 10 per cent below the
average of 1919-1923. In some in
dustries, such as boot and shoe, from
one-third to one-half of the workers
are out of employment.
Miners Starve.
Very critical is the situation among
the miners, in the anthracite as well
as in the bituminous section. Power
ty and starvation are depressing the
lives of tens of thousands of workers.
Why should hundreds of thousands
of working men and women, able and
willing to work, be condemned to walk
the streets in search of jobs in a
country which boasts the largest ac-
emulation of capital, the highest de-
veloped capacity for production and
untold resources of natural riches?
Why should workers whose brain
and muscle have built up this gigantic
economic system be humbled and hui
inflated in this outrageous manner?
The answer is: the capitalist sys-
tenn. Capitalist ownership of the
means of production. Capitalist dom
nation of the government.
Capitalists Prosper.
The American capitalist class, the
same as capitalism generally, is run
ming industry at a tremendously high
rate of profit. To secure these high
profits, in the face Of the ever-sharp
ening competition at home and
abroad, the capitalists are introduc-
ing systems of speed-up, new machin-
cry, and generally more intense meth
DDS of exploitation. The productivity
of labor is increased tremendously.
The introduction of these labor saw
ing devices creates a reserve Of "su-
perfluous" labor, a permanent army
of unemployed. A similar condition
results from the growing poverty and
ruin of the exploited farmers. The
agricultural crisis in America has be-
come chronic. Big capital, with the
aid of the government, is running
business to suit the interests of the
big capitalists, totally disregardlng
the needs and interests of the ma
jority of the farming population. The
result is that large numbers Of bank
rupt farmers are driven to the cities
in search of work, thus swelling high
er the number of unemployed.
Always Unemployment.
Unemployment is normal insti-
tuition under capitalism. 1t has be-
come permanent institution in the
United States involving more than a
million workers even in times of high
production.
The Present Industrial Depression Is
a Menace to the~W orkers.
4 But this normal" unemployment is
periodically developing into large
scale unemployment. Such a situa-
ton prevailed in the United States in
1921 when six million workers were
out on the streets in search of jobs.
: War Menace.
Periodic crisis and large-scale I'M
employment, which undermine and
ruin the conditions of the working
class, are inseparable from the CAPT
talist order of society. AS long as
capitalism exists the working class
will continually be exposed to the
scourge of unemployment as well as
to the menace of imperialist war. To
do away with unemployment is to do
away with the capitalist system and
with capitalist rule.
Capitalists are running industry for
profit and not for the welfare of So
iciety. Under capitalism, production
lis planned by each capitalist or COM
bination of capitalists for their own
enrichment and not for the better
ment of the conditions of the masses.
Consequently, when the market ceases
to offer the capitalist sufficiently
high profits, the capitalist slackens
production. recession sets in.
Workers ern diecta.,-ad Othnrs are