The people's voice., 1939-12-13
By J. B. BENTLEY

J
black a Millionaire" If your parents
weren't wealthy-nor your grandpar-
ents-nor your great-grandparents-
obviously it's just because they were
MT a HIT They evidently didn't avail
themselves of all the free land and all
the free opportunities when this free
country of ours was young. But let's
wash the sugar-coating from the
''wishful thinking" and taste in all its
vileness the bitter pill the American
people have been forced to swallow
for the last 800 years
There has never been a time when
there were free lands for the people
to take-they have always been po-
litical gifts and grants (if they were
worth anything) to the rich. every
| human was born equal - therefore
they all had the same opportunity to
collect and hold their share of the
riches Mother Nature meant for ALL
But let's go back in the United States
history ways and see what the op-
portunity for the masses was.
"The London Company" says Gus
tavus Myers, thrice chartered to take
over to itself the land and resources
of Virginia and populate its zone of
rule, was endowed with sweeping
rights and privileges which made it
an absolute monopoly =. i. In its in
tense aim to settle New Netherlands
and to make use of its resources,
Holland, through the States General,
offered extraordinary inducements to
promoters of colonization Any
man who should succeed in planting
a colony of so souls each of whom
was to be more than Is years old,
was to become at once a patron with
all the rights of lordship. He was
permitted to own 16 miles along shore
OF on one side of navigable river"
(Gustavus Myers: History of the
Great American Fortunes, VOL l, pp
11-14).
The settlement of New York was
carried on by the Dutch West India
Company. Like so many petty mon
archs each had his distinct flag and
insignia; each fortified his domain
with fortresses, armed with cannon
and manned by his paid soldiery. The
colonists were but humble depend
ents they were his immediate sub
jects and were forced to take oath
Ol ltdlly anu dllCSidlNC W hliil.
Qbid, p. 21.
"The 'adventurers' who founded
Virginia. never saw the American
coast They remained in England |
and invested their money in the ven
ture while others known as planters |
went as colonists The history of the |
corporation is one of swindle and |
plunder After 1910, one COVER
nor established military system by |
which workmen were driven in squads |
to their daily tasks, and severely pun
ished for disobedience. A persistent /
neglect of labor was to be punished
by galley service from one to three
years. Penal servitude was also in
for petty offences they
worked as slaves in irons for term
Of years The victims claimed that
there were whippings, hangings,
shootings, and breaking on the Wheel"
(O'Neal: Loc. cit, p. 25).
Since we have seen how the prob
lem of getting land was solved by
the monied interests of several of the
old countries, let's see how they went
about getting labor to cultivate and
harvest their crops and do the other
work that must be done to build a
'When the prisons of Europe were
empty, elaborate plans for enticing y
he people to go to America were in {
rented. The shipping companies and
governments who were interested in
he colonization of the new continent
,leverly hid from the Europeans the
errible conditions of the slaves on
his side. They printed and widely
distributed all sorts of information
bout the earthly paradise in Amer
ca They bribed American workers !;
o write letters to their relatives and
riends in Europe, telling of the won
erful conditions in the new world" | !
Documentary History of American
Industrial Society, Vol. I, p. 342). 2
"The London Company of adventur- \
rs who settled Virginia was eager
o employ child labor in developing
he resources of the colony. In 1919
IS records acknowledge the arrival of
90 children, save such as dyed on 0
be waie, and another 100, IL years
Id or over, is asked for. In 1927 =
lany ships arrived, bringing 1,400 II
nd 1,5OO children kidnapped by d
pirits' in European ports, and few
ears later they sent a request to g
ondon for another supply of friend s
ss boyes and girles'" (O'Neal: Loc. h
t.. DID. $3.50: see Solomon: Domes- W
C Service, p. 22). L.
Zone step above the slaves were b
lie convict bond-servants, or men and a.
omen in state of temporary IN D
servitude. These people m
ere either political offenders or fel-
! conyicts p;
"The felons formed the great source IL
supply, and had been sent over in te
cry considerable numbers from the NJ
lrliest days of colonization
"But the indentured servant and re- i.
,mptioner did not cease to come -
hen the colonies became the United u +
ates. Speaking generally, the in ~ -
,ntured servants were men, women, ~
i'd even children who, unable to pay "a "a
cir passage signed contract called 90 90
indenture before leaving the old pc PC
orld. This indenture bound the u
yner or master of the ship to trans III
rt them to America, and bound the
Migrant after arrival in America to "a "a
rye the owner, master, or other as
IN, for a certain number of years. q
reaching port the owner or master iia ,ii'
lose servants they then became ~
Id them for their passage to the 10 10
CHEST bidder or for what he could W. W.
t. ~,
'The redemptioner, on the other 80
nd, was an immigrant who signed -
indenture before embarking, but Es
reed with the shipping merchant
it after reaching America he should frc
given a certain time generally or
NTH in which to find somebody to ho