The daily worker., 1934-05-17
1t All Depends On Who
KidnabS Whom


1t has its roots deep in society whose
dominating force is the accumulation of
profit, of grabbing money. In a society
like this, capitalist society where the
success of a man, where the course and
purpose of his life are determined by the
amount of cash he can accumulate, crime for profit
is as inevitable as malaria in an infested tropc
swamp
In the last few weeks there a kidnapping
Of which the capitalist press was wholly silent,
the case of Frank Norman, International Labor De-
fense organizer in Florida
Norman was seized by deputies, flung into
car, and sped toward the terrible Florida swamps.
A shot was heard, Since then the fate of Norman
has been shrouded in darkness.
Here was no circulation building thrill on the
fate of millionaire. Here no profitable, jour-
nalistic sensation" just plain everyday, ruling
class murder of working class organizer fighting
the hunger lash of the Florida plantation masters.
In such brutal crimes, the capitalist press shows
interest indignation 1t keeps its well-trained
mouth shout.
THE crime Of kidnapping is not confined to the
criminal scum that nfest the capitalist cities
In the capitalist State in the police, in the Red
Squads, in the patriotic" vigante gangs the kid
mapping criminal have their best teachers.
What of the age-long horror of that favorte
kidnapping sport of the Southern landlords the
lynch gang?
What of the kidnapping of strike leaders, the
flogging Of farm organizers in the Northwest?
The capitalist class seizes Tom Mooney or Sacco
and Vanzetti and tortures murders them. That
is Justice"
A gang of criminals, stupidity trying to collect
some money in order to vie with their more respec
table and richer capitalist neighbors kdnap mil
lionaire for ransom. That is horrible crime"
But is there any fundamental moral difference
between the daily marauding the daily plunder
and robbery, the merciless exploitation Of the
capitalist class and the crime of crooks also try
ing in their way to cash in?
Is there any moral difference for example, be-
tween Wall Street monopoly like Borden's Milk
Company, which every day literally dooms thou
sands of working class children to death by starva
6ton for lack of milk in order to maintain profits,
and the kidnappers who seized the child Robles
for ransom?
The little crooks the petty criminals seize single
victims for pin-money. The big crooks the Wall
Street vultures, the respectable" capitalists rob
and doom whole society to misery, to hunger,
to degradation, all for profit, for the huge billions
of monopoly profit Which is the greater menace
to humanity?
Capitalism is a swamp out of which grows such
characteristic weeds as criminal kdnappers Capt.
talism is a moral cancer that infects and poisons
with its filth everything that it touches Gangster
ism, corruption, racketeerng, degeneracy-sl these
the sores that reveal the rotenness of the whole
body of capitalism.
In country like the Soviet Union where the
profit system of exploitation has been extermnated
in the fires of proetaran revolution kidnapping for
ransom in unthnkabe.
Marx somewhere spoke Of the moral necessity"
of revolution. The filth of kidnapping crime only
confirms his words
The capitalist press strikes the poses of in
dignation at the crooks who try to get rich at the
expense of some successful capitalist exploiter.
But are they not all reeking with the same filth,
the kidnappers the kidnapped millionaire, and
the capitalist press the filth of mercenary rapac-
ity, of prostitution, of money grabbing, of lies,
crookedness, and servility to the idol of wealth?