Proletarec. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1906-19??, 1945-09-19
RADICALISM is SWEEPING WORLD
Free Enterprise Can Survive Only 10 Years in u. S.
BY DANIEL J. TOBIN
BY DANIEL J. TOBIN

1t was somewhat of a joke to
those of us who know the situation
to pick up the newspapers, espe-
cially the conservative, Republic
an, big business newspapers, and
read in the editorial columns about
the labor victory in the British
elections.
l read one paper in Boston which
said: There is no need of the
business interests of the United
States being in the least disturbed
over the British elections"
And it went on to say: "The
leaders of the Labor Party are
very conservative men, mild So
cialists, who do not believe in any
such doctrine as is practiced and
prevails in other countries of the
world, such as in Russia"
Well, let us analyze the plat
form on which the Labor Party
won out. First, naturalization, or
the taking over by the government
of public utilities, and especially
coal mining.
Railroads will be taken over by
the government. Also electric light
companies, and 1 think tramways,
or street cars and buses.
But the platform on which they
were elected goes further and says
the Bank of England will be taken
over by the government. Now the
Bank Of England is the oldest priv
ate banking institution in Europe,
much older than any of our banks
in New York. At one time the
Bank or England defied the govern
ment and refused to make loans
that the government had endorsed,
especially around the time of the
purchase of the Suez Canal.
What would our business people
in this country think if all the big,
powerful national banks in the
United States were taken over by
the government? There is no indi-
Vldual or institution as blind as
the individual or institution that
refuses to see the light.
Personally, I do not favor radi-
caliSm, or doctrines that would
destroy honest and legitimate
trade and enterprise. But you can
rest assured that the victory in Eng
land for the Labor Party, which,
by the way, was away beyond the
a~ntIcipations of the leaders of the
Labor Party Il repeat, you can
rest assured it is the first important
step towards the disestablishment
eventually of private enterprise in
all large interests and industries.
What are we going to face in
this country?
Are we going to be the only
large country in the world with
powerful invested interests that
will permit private enterprise to
exist?
France has gone thoroughly
Communistic, as it now appears.
Germany will never be a power
again IN the industrial world, or if
II is, you can rest assured that
private enterprise will not have
much to say in the affairs of Ger
many.
Poland, Czechoslovakia and Italv
all have gone farther and farther
towards the doctrines of extreme
ISM. And remember this: that there
are large investments of American
capital, of big business, in nearly
all the countries of Europe.
What about China?
1t has been claimed = and has
not been satisfactorily disproved
that in a referendum vote of the
so-called Free China they would
favor the disestablishment of free
enterprise.
In other words-let us be plain
with each other-China, especially
northern China, is leaning strong
ly towards Communism.
Spain is not a great, important
nation, and is almost bankrunt
n no n knows what is going
to be the ending in Spanish &c
fairs. This we do know: that Fran
co and his form of government are
ready for the junk pile.
Where do we stand, then, as the