UC-NRLF FHE C(MTm JDClMi BTBUCiOIill WTLM AM EDLIN ;^^wM!•/•;\V^>\: ^ ^y^ * ''a LIBRARY OF THE University of California. ^/t^i^ cyA^mo:* Received (VI W i8g Accession No. SJT^c ^ Class No. ...^^T^. /C "f Iff:.:- i;?# ■^ ,.;<^';j eC^ "\ f^ ■J-T ^m fc* ;^-: /-- <^fei^^ ^%^ g^-.^i.c.Mu^<^ /f a~o The Coming Social Struggle Capitalist Contradictions Exposed; Socihlism Defined. itbhsity] ^ '^ *'« U7LLMyW BDLIN. " The t^oletariat, the lowest stratum of our present society, cannot stir, cannot raise itself up, without the whole super-incumbent strata of official society being sprung in the air." — Karl Marx. " The ladder up which mankind has been climbing toward civilization, the ever more powerful tool of production, is the storm center around which the modern social storm rages. " The capitalist class seeks to keep it for its own exclusive use. " The middle class seeks to break it down, thereby throwing civilization back. " The proleteriat seeks to preserve it and improve it, and open it to a.\V— Daniel DeLeon. PRICE, S Cents. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1897, BY William Edlin, IN T^B office of THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, AT WASHINGTON. JyyW UPTON BROS.. PH'M " Well! food, clothes, and housing— those are the three important items in the material condition of men; and I say flatly that the contrast between those of the non-producers and those of the producers is hor- rible, and that the word is no exaggeration."— PF///?am Morris. " And I too, love Peace, but not the peace of Slavery."— Z?a«/<>«. Society, to-day, is confronted with a great problem — it is the problem of life. It is more deeply human, more socially vital than any other universal question recorded in the history of thought. The problem of to-day, succintly stated, is: How to secure the happiness of the many^ The great Russian scholar, Lfto Tolstoi, says: " Men cannot imagine life without the desire for happiness. To live is for every mai the same thing as to desire and to attain bliss; to desire and to attain bliss is synonymous with living." But the average life of every man, woman and child is at present far from being happy; it is just in a miserable condition diametrically opposed to happiness. Instead of being an enjoyment it is a burden! And why ? Because the path that leads to the attainment of happi- ness, is obstructed by monstrous economic evils, by a dragon called Competition, and by a demon known as Wage-Slavery. We have at present reached a high stage in the development of the human race, a stage in civilization which we may be proud of. ■With our present inventions and discoveries, which enable us to control nature; with our continual progress in science and moral philosophy, the life and happiness of every human being ought to have been assured. But, alas! Instead of utilizing thcs^ unlimited opportunities and uniting in brotherly co-operation reaching every member of society, every individual is ready at any moment to cut his fellow -sufferer's throat in order to assure his meanest possibility of living; thus converting civilization into a state of anarchy and confusion. It is a notable fact that society to-day produces more commod- ities than it can consume ; the genius of man having brought industry and agriculture to such a high state of development, that it takes a single man only a few hours to produce necessaries of life for one day. But the reason why the workingmen have to toil from early morning till late in the evening in order to earn a living is, that only a part of the population work, while another part rob them of their produce and live on it in idleness. Very often, when we reach one of the critical periods in present society when everything comes to a stand-still, we hear men attribute the hard times to "Overproduction." Does not such an assertion seem very curious to the enlightened mind ? How explain the fact in spite of there being a superJfluous abundance'of corn at all times, there are people who have nothing to eat ? How attribute the star- vation, the nakedness, the utmost wretchedness of the Great Many to the fact of there being an overproduction of the good things of this earth ? Such a solution of the problem might be called the most ludicrous if it were not the most pathetic contradiction of the present epoch. And the miserable, destitute Great Many, the suf- fering deluded bulk of humanity is the producer of all wealth — the workingman. Not a Hugo, who with such masterly skill has drawn a Jean Valjean, neither Dickens nor Zola, is able to draw an adequate picture of the sufferings of that class. They who do all the working, are starving for the very things they have produced; they are starv- ing because they are legally robbed of the fruits of their labor by a gang of drones. " There is room for us all on the broad bosom of the earth; it is rich enough to enable us all to live in comfort. It can yield sufficient harvests to provide all with food; it produces enough fibrous plants to supply all with clothing; it contains enough stone and clay for all to have houses. There is a place for each of the brethren at the banquet of life. Such is the simple economic fact. " * But the workingmen of to-day are hungry; they die from want of proper food, clothing and shelter, which are essential to the existence of every human being. They are surrounded by plenty of every- thing, but as all opportunities to get those things are withheld from them, their only alternative is to lay down and die in the midst of a Christian (?!) city, the center of a civilized nation. " Civilization promised the toiling masses of the world the lift- ing of its weary burdens. It has not kept its promise. American civilization promised most of all. Its lips were roses. It promised to all men. There is disappointment. A country, whose products will nourish a billion of men, whose machinery will supply the planet, — scarce sixty million on its soil, a million (five million at present ) of men begging for the privilege to earn their bread. That is civilization with a vengeance! " f Indeed, this is civilization with a vengeance ! But must such an order of things exist always ? Must the Workers sink from day to day, from year to year, till they become a prey to themselves, till they are degraded to a state of beasts ? Is there no hope for a better society ? * " Evolution and Revolution " by IJlisee Reclus. t " The Masses and the Millionaires." A lecture delivered by William J. Armstrong, before the Oakland Nationalist Club, May 26, 18y0. Our journalists, lawyers, politicians and all those who occupy the pulpit — the mental prostitutes of present society — tell us that the poor we must always have with us» But the rational thinker, the calm philosopher, the modern proletariat thinks otherwise. The boundless resources of nature, increased by science and developed by modern machinery, would have provided every human being with the necessaries and pleasures of life, were it not for the dis- organized state of society. Thanks, to the genius of man, the nineteenth century is an ag:e of material progress. More machinery was invented during the latter half of the present century than during the eighteen hundred years that preceded it. The discovery and practical application of electricity stimulated the civihzed world to such a degree, that it must result in the downfall of the existing tottering institutions, and the establishment of a new social order. There are certain wants to which every human being is sub- ject ; wants that everyone must satisfy in order to be happy. Therefore, as these wants act and re-act upon each member of socizty, it is the duty of society as a whole to regulate the production and distribution of the necessaries of life in such systematic order, that fewer hours be spent in producing and more time in enjoying them. We must devote a great part of our time to the development of our intelect, which alone can bring happiness to man. It is after the development of our intellect, that we are able to understand the sublime beauty and grandeur of life; it is then only that we begin to rise above the animal and become moral beings. The proper application of the mechanical powers, at the dispo- sal of present society, could supply all mankind with the necessaries of life at a very small cost of labor. Instead of continually being surrounded by starving and desperate faces, we might only see happy and smiling ones. Instead of a great number of people living in hovels that are neither good for the health nor pleasing to the eye, we might have large marble palaces with all the necessary accommo- dations which should reflect the intelligence and the genius of the human race. Instead of having a great body of discontented workers, threatening violence at any moment, we might have a peaceful and orderly body of citizens. Instead of having a society divided into rich and poor, privileged and oppressed, we might have a society of free and equal men. There is no reason why society could not organize itself in such a way as to best attain this purpose. The rich, the well-to-do, do not trouble themselves with such questions. They are happy at present, and self interest prevents them from taking part in such a re-organization of society. But the poor, the suffering, the miserable, the propertyless, the homeless — where are they? Where are those, whom the present system has stripped of all their possessions and deprived of the means of a livelihood ? Where are the degraded ones, that undesirable ele- ment of present society ? Where are the wronged ones, those forlorn wretches who wander from place to place and can find no rest, no shelter ? Where are those women whom this system has driven to a life of shame and degredation, who were lured by the gold of those who robbed their fathers, brothers, and husbands ? Where are they all, these unfortunates ? Why do they not come together and organize? For when " they have but the will to do it, that very. moment will justice be done; that very instant the tyrants of the earth shall bite the dust." During the last century, many plans and schemes were brought forward, with the intention of curing the evils of society. The men who advanced those schemes were honest in their intentions, in- telligent and philanthropic. But, though honest, they were neverthe- less ignorant of the real cause of the general misery that surround us. Moved by the poverty and degredation of the poor, they under- took the task of curing certain evils by legislating, by charity and by preaching morals; but to their bitter disappointment, they fa'led to accomplish anything. Certain causes produce certain effects, and this simple fact was ignored by all reformers, hence their failure. One cannot do away with certain effects without removing the causes that produce them. Society, as it is to-day, cannot be reformed; it must be trans- formed. To remove the causes of all the evils that surround us, means to remove the root, the foundation upon which present society is organized and upon which the present institutions rest. To ac- complish this great task, is not within the scope of philanthropic reformers. These reformers are, as a rule, sentimentalists, and history proves that no great change was ever accomplished by sentimentalists. We must have men, resolute men, broad-minded men, far-sighted thinkers, who understand the inside and outside of the present system and can discover the fundamental causes that produce the terrible effects. The only way to eradicate the evils of the present social system is to strike deep into the root of its foundation. At all times, in the written history of mankind, society was divided into a number of antagonistic classes. But, at no other time were the class antagonisms so simplified as to-day. The present system splits society into two hostile camps, into two great amies arrayed against each other, — Capitalists and Workingmen. One class ov/ns all the land and tools of production, the other class possesses nothing except its labor power. These are the two principal classes of modern society.* * We must|here make mention of another class, the Middle Class, or Petty Burgeois But it is a class that is slo.vly dying out, as it does not possess sufficient capital to compete with the large capitalists. This class is on the point of bankruptcy, and a great part of it/ will nat- urally join the ranks of the workingmen, while the rest will remain on the side of the capitalists. These two classes of modern society are products of only the modern system of production ; for, we find that under that form of society which w^as based upon a military tenure of land and is known as " Feudalism, " the social classes were different from what they are at present. In Ancient History, we find a still greater distinc- tion between the social classes of those days and the social classes of to-day. Therefore, the question arises here : Whence come the capital- ists and workingmen with their class antagonisms ? To answer this question thoroughly, we must trace up from the beginning the present system of production, where we will dis- cover the birth and development of the social classes of the capitalist regime. The time of the discovery of America dates the beginning of the capitalist regime. The discovery of new lands and markets stimu- lated Europe to such an activity which resulted in the downfall of the Feudal institutions and the organization of modern society. New forces and new influences began to work, and the growth of the cities together with the revival or rather beginning of commercial activity, were signs of a new era, which meant death to the Feudal aristocracy and the emancipation of the Serfs. The Feudal lord, whose function was the protection of his vas- sals, was now no longer useful. The days of barbarian invasions were over; the days of Feudal anarchy were gone, and a new age had already begun — the birth of the capitalistic mode of production and distribution. With the beginning of the capitalistic mode of production there also began to develop a new division of the social classes in society- Capitalists and Workingmen. The capitalist was the enterprising man who furnished the tools with which to produce, while the work- ing man furnished the labor power, without which nothing can be produced. This "unity of action " between the capitalist and workingman was based on freedom (?) of contract. The working- man agreed to work for wages, while the rest of the produce — the excess of production above wages — was usually appropriated by the capitalist. It must be stated here that at the beginning of the present system, the contrast between employers and employees was not very great. Little by little, the bulk of the employer's capital increased steadily ; the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were ages of inven- tions and discoveries, and this gave an opportunity to the richer employers to invest their capital. The process of production on a small scale was continued for a long time; but the time came when the spinning wheel was replaced by the spinning machine, the hand loom by the mechanical loom, the small workshop by the large factory, and at last appeared steam, the greatest revolutionizer of the system of production on a small scale. 8 These inventions meant one thing, — the prosperity of the civi- lized countries and the increase of material wealth. But, by saying the prosperity of the civilized countries, it must not be supposed that it resulted in the prosperity of those who lived in those coun- tries. On the contrary, the great bulk of the people became poorer every time a new invention was introduced, in spite of the fact that every new machine multiplied tenfold the productivity of labor. The ones who derived the whole benefit from the introduction of labor-sav- ing machinery were those who owned the countries and all the tools of production — the capitalists. For those who did not own any capi- tal, the introduction of machinery meant the displacement of more and more of their number by a few machine laborers. And as more and more men began to be displaced by the increase of machinery, sharper became the competition between the workers for employ- ment, which in turn meant lower wages for those who were employed. Competition between the capitalists themselves in the market resulted in the bankurptcy of many smaller capitalists, who in turn became members of those who were toolless, the working class; thus increasing further the number of those who had to depend for a liv- ing on some individual capitalist. The increase of wealth for the few, therefore, meant the increase of poverty, ignorance, degredation and slavery for the many. Prosperity for one class of people, misery for another; and so it went on until the present moment, when all the wealth of the civilized world is concentrated in a few hands, while the great mass of the people are suffering for want of the necessaries of life. We speak here of the civilized world, because commercial activity broke down all boundaries between the civilized nations. The same causes in various countries produced the same effects. One and the same cause made of the French ouvrier, German Arbeiter, Russian rabSnik, English workingman, and American " soverign " slaves, and as a body possessing this single character- istic, they now stand solidly united and threaten to overthrow this system, which is the direct cause of their miser3^ Under all systems, whether it be one of slavery, serfdom or wage-slavery, society reaches a point of development when it be- comes impossible for the old social order to exist any longer. When that stage of development is reached, there is always a tendency toward a new social arrangement of society. We should show great ignorance of historic evolution, if we were only to condemn the capitalist mode of production, for every system has its merits. At first, the capitalist had a great function in production, for which he received everything above the wages that he paid out to the workingman. Then the capitalist was an in- dispensable factor in production. Private enterprise and competition were necessary to develop modern society with its classes and their 9 antagonisms; it was necessary, in order to make great strides in material progress. All this was well and good so long as the capitalist had a certain function in production; but the present mode of production reached a point of development depriving the capitalist of all function. This is at the period when machinery is so developed, as to make it im- possible for individual capitalists to engage in any private enterprise ; the period when those elements as trusts and corporations are called into existence. The birth of trusts and corporations are signs that the present system of production has reached its highest point of development, and that the capitalist has no longer any function in social production, except that of pocketing his profits and spending it on luxuries. ' 'The capitalist class shows itself to be superfluous; all its social functions are filled by hired employees. " The formation of trusts being a necessary consequence of capi- talist production, is also a sign of material progress. But it is the highest development of capitalist production and we cannot make any further progress until the foundation upon which rests capitalist production is changed. We will now quote a great authority on this subject, that brilliant '!k)cialist of the United States, Daniel DeLeon, who says : *' So long as the tool is slight and simple, he who wants it can readily bring it forth by the direct application of his labor to nature, and thereby place himself on a par with whomsoever already is in possession of its equal. But the tool develops. Its de- velopment is not from within, like organic matter. The feature of its development is the need and increasing need of other tools, be- sides increased powers of steam and electricity, to carve it out of nature with, and thus render it more potent by rendering it more fruitful. The tool used in production presently needs two, three, four other tools to bring it forth. Even then its acquisition by in- dividual man, to the end of enabling him to compete with those already in possession of its like, may not be impossible, though the process becomes harder by degrees. When, however, the tool has finally reached that individual perfection of a Northrop loom, a Mergenthaler typesetter, a hydraulic press, a steam plow, reaper and binder, a Westinghouse electric engine, a cotton harvester, etc., and even long before that, none can any longer conjure forth its equal out of nature. When to this individual growth is coupled the collective development or concentration implied in the trust, free competition ceases de facto, whatever it may remain in theory. ' * The trust is the highest form of collective development the tool can reach under the system of private ownership in the machin- ery of production. But the gigantic powers it wields over nature accrue to those only who hold it; to all others it becomes a scourge. As such, the trust blocks the nation's path on its march to civili- zation. " ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ lO One of the chief foundations upon which the capitalistic insti- tutions rest is the wage-system. To the ignorant workers there seems to be nothing wrong in it, inasmuch as they have been assured many a time by the mental prostitutes of present society — econo- mists, journalists, preachers, politicians, etc. — that the wage-system rests on the moral principle of "freedom of contract." But this principle of "freedom of contract" is but another way of robbing the workers of their produce. It is a snare and a delusion. When speaking of freedom of contract we understand by it to mean that' both parties are free, in the full sense of the w^ord, to either sign the contract or refuse. But in its practical application to the present system, we see that only one party — the capitalists who own all the tools necessary for production — is free to sign the contract or refuse, while the other party — the workingmen who are home- less — MUST sign it. They dare not refuse, lest they should suffer starvation and see their little ones die for want of a piece of bread. The workingmen are compelled to work for the wages that their masters choose to give, as it is upon the caprice of the employer that their existence depends. Besides the absurdity of the assertion that wages is based on freedom of contract, a little further investigation will deinonstrate the indisputable fact that the modern wage-system is the chief source -of all the anarchy that reigns supreme in the present system of pro- duction and distribution. According to the latest report (1890) of Carrol D. Wright, Na- tional lyabor Statistician of the United States, the value of the gross product per capita for the number of employees engaged in manu- facturing and mechanical industries was $2,204, and the average annual wages per employee was $445. In plain language, this means that out of the total produce the laborers receive only 20.18 per cent, while the other 79.82 per cent is given away to those who furnish the tools of production. " From the amount produced there is only so much taken and divided among the producers as will tolerably support life (wages) ; all over and above goes to the employer (capital)."* It is self-evident, then, that when labor receives only $445 worth of products out of a total of $2,204, which it has produced, a sur- plus value of $1,759 must remain unsold, as labor cannot buy with its one-fifth of the produce (wagesj the other four-fifths (surplus value). The capitalists must sell the surplus value which they appro- priate, as they are not doing business for the love of the laborers but for what is in it — profit. But, although anxious to dispose of it, the workingmen, who are the majority of the people, cannot buy it from them, for lack of an equivalent in value which must always * "Socialism!" by A. J. Starkweather and S. Robert Wilson. II be paid for that surplus. What must the capitalists do ? They look around for a foreign market, and find it somewhere in Asia or Africa where the inhabitants are still in the stage of Savagery, Barbarism or semi-Civilization. They begin to send out their tools — the mis- sionaries of the cross— who try to Christianize, civilize, and also stimulate the wants of the heathen people to such an extent that they create in time a new market for the capitalists of the country from which they w^ere sent. * If that particular place happens by chance to be a good market for the capitalists to dispose of all their surplus value, then every civil- ized country will make an effort to secure that market for the wel- fare of its own capitalists. If they cannot secure it peacefully, they can always afford to sacrifice several thousands of their unemployed who by constant starvation have been trained by their masters to be able to digest — lead, or serve as a good diet for the modern cannon. Very few workingmen are perhaps aware of the fact that all the wars of the nineteenth century were the result of the capitalistic mode of production and distribution. Prince Pierre Kropotkin, in his able essay on "War," says : " In Russia as in England, in Germany as in France, men fight no longer for the good pleasure of kings : they fight to guarantee the incomes and augment the possessions of Their Financial High- nesses, Messrs. Rothschild, Schneider & Co., and to fatten the lords of the money market and the factory. The rivalries of kings has been supplanted by the rivalries of burgeois cliques." In another part of the same essay he says : "The opening of new markets, the forcing of products, good and bad, upon the stranger, is the principle underlying all the poli- tics of the present day throughout our continent, is the real cause of the wars of the nineteenth century." As we see, all the wars of the present time are undertaken for the reason that the capitalists of every modern developed country have a surplus value for which they seek a market to dispose of. The nations at the present time, no longer fight for more territory, but for more new markets. But these markets are limited in number, while the number of competing capitalists is quite unlimited. Therefore, the result fol- lows, that only a small number of the capitalists can sell their sur- ♦ The following is a good example of the doings of our brave missionaries of the cross in the undeveloped countries. Anagarika H. Dharmapala, representative of the Buddhists at the Parliament of Religions, in speaking recently before a San Francisco audience about the Christians in India, said : "They teach the ignorant people that their sins will be washed away, and, gladly accepting this teaching, these ignorant ones become drunken and given to other evils. " Hearing of the glories of the Western* civilization, the Indian people assume Christian- ity, the garments of the European and the whisky of the European, and believe themselves civilized. The young women impoverish their parents by buying bonnets and gowns such as English women wear. The British merchants import liquor into Burmah and other places where liquor has been unknown, and the missionaries make no protest." 12 plus value, while the same prospect for the rest of them grows smaller every time. Meanwhile millions of laborers are continually producing more and more goods for starving wages, the bulk of the unsold surplus value of the majority of capitalists grows bigger and bigger, until the capitalists begin to doubt their possibility of ever selling their surplus. They determine not to invest any more cap- ital until they will dispose of all their surplus value, and a crisis be- comes inevitable. ''Commerce is blocked ; the markets are overstocked ; the pro- ducts lie there as plentiful as undisposable ; cash becomes invisible ; credit disappears ; the factories stand still ; the working masses are in want of food, because they have produced too much of it ; failure follows upon failure, and sheriff's sale upon sheriff's sale." "^^ This paralyzing of the industries lasts for a long time, and not until the accummulated surplus value runs out at more or less depre- ciated values are the factories, shops, mills, etc., again set in mo- tion. For awhile, it goes on undisturbed till it reaches the next panic, caused by the very same conditions. Ivaurence Grounland, speaking on this subject in his "Co-oper- ative Commonwealth," says : " In former periods, Society was tormented with plagues, caused, as we now know, by ignorance and consequent violation of the laws of health. Our era is cursed with Crises, occurring far more fre- quently than plagues and causing with each 6ccurrence as much misery." Not only are these crises a nuisance and danger to the welfare of any society — it also serves as a protest against the present plan- less system of production and distribution. It exposes the greatest contradiction in our system of production and distribution. What we mean by it, is this : At present the individual capital- ist appropriates surplus value produced — by whom ? Surely, not by the capitalists. Surplus value is produced by laborers— not by any particular individual laborer, but by laborers working together. The development of machinery destroyed the greatest number of small shops and with it the small proprietors, and concentrated them under one roof, as the modern factory, etc. Therefore, everything that is at present produced is a social (collective) production, the result of the exertion of many laborers. But in spite of the fact that we produce everything at present socially (collectively), it is, never- theless, appropriated by the individual capitalist. The individual capitalist appropriates everything that the workers produce collec- tively. Some capitalists cannot see how they can be accused of appro- priating everything, when a portion of the produce is paid out to the laborers in the form of wages. But the wages paid out to the * "The Deirelopment of Socialism from Utopia to Science," by Frederick Engels. ^3 worlcers is an amount barely sufficient to keep their bodies alive, and that much is needed by the laborers in order to be able to work again on the next day. The rest — the joint produce of many labor- ers—is appropriated by the individual capitalist. Hence, the con- tradiction is : Social (collective) production, individual appropria- tion, with crises as a result. The crises deniojistrate the fact that the rapid expansion df prodnctioyi can no longer be well controlled by present society ^ which rests on the foundatioyi of private ozvnership in the means of prodiiction and distribution. The present system has already reached the highest point of development. The ruling class — the capitalists — are making a strong effort to preserve it as a permanent institution, which is contrary to the laws of evolution. It is they who were most instrumental in developing the present system, and it is the present fully developed system that informs us of the uselessness of the capitalist class. The capitalist class has outlived its usefulness, and the crises and all the other contradictions that exist at the present moment are the precur- sory symptoms of decaying institutions. We are witnessing the last days of a dying system ; the present moment is an age of transition, hence the anarchy and confusion that prevail. The narrow-mindedness of a great many people pre- vent them from seeing this, but as the dark clouds gather on the extreme verge of the horizon announcing the storm, they roll them- selves into a mass, and burst with terrific force, sweeping awa^^ with it all those who dare to hinder its natural course. The institutions of the present time must fall to pieces, dragging society with it down into the terrible abyss, unless stronger forces and agencies will timely prevent its destruction and build up a healthy and san- society, by putting it on a stronger foundation than it exists to-day. Undoubtedly this seems to be the inevitable fate of present society. What must we do ? Must we resign ourselves to that appar- ently inevitable fate which means our destruction and the destruc- tion of everything that has taken us ages to build, or must we con- tinue the attempt to cure society of its evils by various reforms ? • Emphatically, we must answer, no ! A thousand times, no ! To allow ourselves to be pulled down into the abyss of destruc- tion would be base cowardice ; to attempt to cure social evils through moral sentiments would show gross ignorance of the laws that gov- ern human progress. How, then, shall we extricate ourselves from the present confu- sion which tends to involve us all in one common ruin ? The only way to iremedy the evils of society and thus save it from destruction, is by tracing out the road by which the two antag- onistic classes of present society — capitalists and workingmen— -came into= existence, and discover in the situation itself, brought on by 14 these two classes, the means whereby to put an end to the conflict ^his course will directly lead us to the solution of the life problem of to-day. / We have already seen how the capitalist class has developed, and how it has outlived its usefulness. The proletarian class* grew side by side with the growth of the present mode of production, and by the time when capitalist piroduction — the present mode of pro- duction — 1 cached its highest point, already the majority of the pop- ulation became members of that hopeless class. The crises and the formation of trusts and corporations are the result of the mature development of these two classes, Capitalists and Workingmen ; and so long as the proletariat continues to re- ceive a starving wage and the rest is appropriated by the capitalist, crises must be of periodical occurrence, followed by more and more anarchy and confusion every time. In order to do away with these crises, we must see that the laborers should receive the full value of their labor. If the laborers were to receive all they produce, then no surplus value would remain to be appropriated by the capitalists. If no surplus value were to be appropriated by the capitalists, then this would prevent an idle class from living on the labor of others, and it would compel them to go to work if they wanted to live. If all men were to work, and those who do work receive the full fruits of their labor, then all the poverty and social anarchy that surround us to-day would vanish from earth. Misery, starvation, and degradation would be things of the past. But it is imp)ossible for the workers to receive the full fruits of their labor, so long as the land and the tools — the essential things for the production of necessaries — are owned by a few private indi- viduals, who are thus enabled to live on the labor of others. If the men who own the implements of production were to give to the workers all they produce, then nothing will be left for themselves. They must live in luxury rnf" idleness out of the surplus value, therefore they would not consent to give the implements of produc- tion if they w2re not to receive the major part of the produce. How shall we solve this problem ? There is a way by which this can be solved, and it is this : That the land and all the implements of production which are owned to-day by private individuals, who run it for their own and selfish benefit (regardless of the injury that accrues to society from it), should be turned over into the hands of the workers, who should own it in their collective capacity and run it for the benefit of all, instead of it being: run for the benefit of a. few. * By proletariat we mean the class of modern wage-workers who, havitig-cro means of productaonjof theinown, are reduccsitOj9elling.thein laboivpctmer infc. in- cludes professional men. We have seen how the crises which are the resuU of our mod- ern wage-system represented one of the greatest contradictions in present society, namely, the social character of our system of pro- duction and the individual character of our system of appropriation. The only way to put an end to the anarchy which is the result of this contradiction between our system of production and distribu- tion, is by harmonizing the two principal branches of Political Econ- omy — Production and Distribution. But these two branches of Po- litical Economy cannot be harmonized, until the land and all the tools of production will be the joint property of all. To do away with our panics, and misery, degradation and starvation which result therefrom, we must see that the laborers receive the full value of their labor. But the laborers cannot receive the full value of their labor, so long as all the tools of production are not the property of the whole of society. That we are nearing the point where society will take hold of the tools of production and make it the common property of all its members, there is not the least doubt. As the proletariat increases in number, as competition between their own class becomes sharper for an opportunity to earn a livelihood, as wages fall below the natural limit, and as the suifering of this class increases more and more, then class distinction between them and the capitalists 1 ecomes more marked. They then begin to understand that their interest lies in the united action of their own class, and become class-con- scious. They discover that private ownership in the means of pro- duction is the cause of all their miseries ; and at last, their class- consciousness, their class interest, together with their wretched con- dition, compel them to rise and overthrow the existing social and political institutions, and establish a system which should be in liarmony with the industrial development of modern times ; a sys- tem of collective ownership in the means of production and distribu- tion, which is SOCIALISM. "To-day," says Karl Kautzky, "there is no longer any ques- tion as to whether or not the system of private ownership in the means of production shall be maintained. Its downfall is certain. The only question to be answered is this : Shall the system of pri- vate ownership in the means of production be allowed to pull sbeiety down into the abyss ; or shall society shake off that baneful burden, ■ place the land and the implements of production in the hands of the people, to be operated collectively, for use and not for profit, and then, free and refreshed, resume the path of progress, which the evo- lutionary law prescribes to it ? "Such is th^e question and' such the alternative. Our genera- tion stands where the roads fork. One path leads, through ruin, back to barbarism ; the other leads onward to the Co-opferative'Gom- ^MjBweakh-'^-Sociaiism. - v^ 1 6 ■ rojr -■ ■ -■-^ ■^.'^?^t> tiiic ) "Ah I this society is false. One day and soon, the true society will come. Then there will be no more lords ; there will be free living men. There will be no more wealth, there will be aboundance for the poor There will be no more maisters, bat there will be brothers. They that toil shall have. This is the future. No more prostration, no more abasement, no more ignorance, no more wealth, no more beasts of burden, no more coustiers, no more kings, but light."— ^ic/or Hui^o. " The great appear great to us, only because we are on our knees — let us rise! "—T/iotoiifne d' Eericou%t. What is Socialism ? A theory of social organization in which the industries will be organized on a national or international basis of collective ov/nership, operated and controlled by all the members of society. ^ The principal aim of Socialism is to replace the present com- i/^ petitive system of production and distribution, by a system of col- lective ownership in the means of production and distribution of the products. As there are so many people who are confused on some of the principles of Socialism, it would be proper to state here that only that part of wealth which is necessary in the production of more wealth and is called " capital," will be made the collective property of societ3\ under socialism ; all things which are for personal use will still remain private propertj^ — the propert}^ of the individual. In order to prove the correctness of our argument on this point, we can do no better than by quoting Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, the two greatest authorities on modern socialism. In the * Manifesto," which was written by these two intellectual giants of the Nineteenth century, in 1848, it says : " We by no means intend to abolish this personal appropriation of labor, an appropriation that is made for the maintenance and re* production of human life, and that leaves no surplus wherewith to command the labor of others. All that we want to do away with, is the miserable character of this appropriation, under which the laborer lives merely to increase capital, and is allowed to live only in so far as the interest of the ruling class requires it." In another part of this historical document, it says : ** Modern Socialism deprives no man of the power to appropriate the products of society ; all that it does is to deprive him of the- power to subjugate the labor of others by means of . such appropri- ation." 17 . The reorganization of the industries on a co-operative basis will dissolve all distinctions between the different classes that constituted society until the present day. For the first time, since written his- tory, society will be composed of free and equal men. The establishment of socialism will inaugurate a system of ma- terial equality, and each man who contributes his share of work will receive afad enjoy the full fruits of his labor in a way to suit him- self. Then, there will be an equal opportunity for all to work and enjoy life as it becomes civilized human beings. As under socialism, all the things with which we produce will be the property of society, therefore, he who will work will employ himself, and all benefits that, to-day, are reaped from civilization by a few idle capitalists, will be then enjoyed by all the members of society. For instance, to-day, when a machine is invented and adopted in a certain branch of manufacturing, then it means that a certain number of the former workers will be replaced by a few machine- laborers, whose wages will also be reduced on account of the sharp competition between the workers the introduction of the machine gave rise to. Under socialism, the invention or the improvement of a certain labor-saving machine will mean the shortening of the hours of labor and the increase of the portion of the produce that each man is to receive. , As under socialism all who want to live will have to work, and as the hours of labor will be reduced in proportion to the progress of machinery, therefore it follows that the average working hour will be then about two hours per day, the rest of the time being spent in the enjoyment of life. *^ Speaking on this subject, Professor Th. Hertzka, of Vienna, Austria, says : *' I have calculated how much labor and time is nec- essary with the aid of the present mechanical appliances to produce what is required to support in ease and comfort the twenty-two mil- lion inhabitants of Austria, viz : food, clothes and shelter, consisting of a five-room house to the family, and including fuel, medicine, fur- niture and utensils. I find that it would require twenty-six million acres of arable land and eight million acres in pasture, or about i ^ acres per capita, and 615,000 workmen, working 11 hours per day, 300 days in the year. "These 615,000 are but 12.3 per cent of the population able to wqrk, excluding the women, children below 16 years of age and men above 50 j^ears. '* If instead of these 615,000 men, the whole five million men able to work were engaged, they would need to work but 37 days in the year, or if they were to work 300 days of the year,.^tliey would need to work only i Hour and 22^ minutes per day. ;v ,v . ; xS "Again, if all the luxuries of life were included, it would re- quire one million workmen, or 20 per cent of the population able to work, 2 hours and 12 minutes per day, 300 days in the year. With this working power the twenty-six million Austrians would be sup- plied with all their heart could possibly desire. " But if, again, the whole five million men were employed 2 hours and 12 minutes per day, they would need to work two months of the year only. Behold what time could be spared for study and pleasures, while the cares of life, in so far as wealth is concerned, would be obliterated altogether." y^^ In this sense the aim of Socialism may be summed up in the xsi»gle sentence : To promote the happiness of the human race. There are many who consider socialism synonymous with an- / archy ; nihilism and civil war. They do not know that socialism y means Order, Law, Peace and Happiness for all. / Under socialism elementary education will be compulsory, while *" the high schools, colleges, universities and other higher branches of - study will be free to all. The state would then feel itself duty bound to support all those who are physically disabled, and they will be as well fed, clothed, sheltered and taken care of as if the^^ were the best citizens of the community, — that will be Justice ! When the poor or the physically disabled are partly taken care of by the state under the present system, it is Charity ! — Stealing wholesale and giv- ing retail. The government under socialism will be a fully democratic one. It will consist of various industrial managing departments, and will be known as the Social Democratic State.* Under socialism, the people will have the right to propose laws and to vote upon all measures of importance, according to the refer- endum principle. By the people we mean males and females, with- out regard to color, creed or sex. Socialism, then, is not Anarchism ; neither is it Communism ; nor is it Municipal Ownership on the Glasgow plan, which is State Capitalism. Socialism is not Populism, which is a reactionary Middle- class movement ; neither is it Single Taxism ; nor does it propose such quack remedies as Prohibitionism. Socialism means the collective ownership in the means of pro- duction and distribution on a national or international basis ; that only, and nothing else ! Economic evolution — the tendency of the present industrial devel- opmejit — points to the establishment of socialism as the next stage oj evolution through which society will have to travel. ♦"Social Democratic State— the concrete realization of Socialism. Its main features are produc- tion for use, community ownership of means of production, distribution and exchange, administered by a democratic state composed of all adult citizens."— Austin Lewis. 19 But we must not imagine that because certain economic forces are at work tending toward the establishment of socialism, it will come of itself. By no means. It is true that economic forces are tending in the direction of socialism, but if we do not organize our- selves in time to become a powerful agency in opposing the suicidal tendencies of the capitalist class, ruin will follow. The ruling class of to-day is trying to withstand and ignore these new economic in- fluences, therefore, destruction to the whole of society must follow, if another class, stronger than the capitalists, does not try to oppose them and organize society in such a way as to fit itself to the progress of industrial development. . Which shall that class be — Capitalists ? It is against their in- terest to establish socialism. Shall it be the Middle-Class ? They have always been a re- actionary class, and are not capable of undertaking such a progres- sive movement. That class which is most fitted for this purpose must be REVO- LUTIONARY, RECRUITED OUT OF THE RANKS OF THE MODERN PROLETARIAT. The proletariat is the only one whose historic mission is to undertake this task. These men were called into existence by the capitalistic mode of production, and they are going to put an end to it. Their class-interest, being in direct opposition to that of the capitalist class, demands the abolishment of the system of private ownership in the means of production and dis- tribution and the establishment of the Co-operative Common- wealth. Although, under socialism, class-distinction will receive its death-blow, nevertheless, the establishment of socialism must come through, the class-struggle — the struggle and final victory of the op- pressed wage-workingmen over the privileged capitalists. The emancipation of the proletariat and that of all mankind MUST and WILL be accomplished by the proletarians themselves ! This, then, is a class-struggle. * " BUT EVERY CLASS- STRUGGLE IS A POLITICAL STRUGGLE." Consequently, the proletarians must fight their enemies with the same weapon that enabled the capitalists to hold their supreme power until no>v ; it must organize itself into a political party, based on the class-con- sciousness of the proletariat. Such a political partv, based on these lines, is in existence to- day ; it is the SOCIALIST LABOR PARTY. * "Therefore, we say once more this is a class war ; we know it ; we are preparing for it; we rejoice at its near approach. We mean to breakdown competition, and to substitute universal organization and co-operation. There lies around us the necessary methods: they need but to be applied."— The Development of Socialism, by H. M. Hyndman and Willianl Morris. 20 The great social revolution — the day when the proletarians will cross swords with their enemies on the political battlefield — will be the pivot, upon which present society will move into the new system, and that day is not far off. . On the European Continent, socialism has progressed with great rapidity. In Germany, France, Belgium, and Italy, the socialists play a prominent part in present politics, and nearly in every country, where capitalism is greatly developed, the oppressed proletarian class already stands, solidly united, in a class-conscious body under the universal banner of the Socialist Labor Party. The number of votes polled by the S. L. P. in the various countries at the last election, will illustrate its strength and influence on the working-classes in general. - ■ In Germany, the socialists polled at the election of 1893, 1,800,- 000, only males above the age of 25 having the right to vote. This number represents 25 per cent of the entire vote in Germany, but as they have not the system of proportional representation there, only about 10 per cent, 48 delegates, were elected to the Reichstag, the German Parliament. The socialists are the best disciplined political party in that country. They continually carry on a systematic propaganda among the working-classes. There are thirty -nine Socialist daily newspa- pers and a great number of weekly papers, monthly magazines, etc. It is estimated by some of the greatest German authorities that by the next general election the Socialist Labor Party will receive about three million votes. The French socialists come next in numbers to the Germans, having polled about 1,400,000 votes, electing 55 representatives to the Chamber of Deputies, the French Parliament. Over 3,000 mu- nicipal bodies are controlled by the socialists. About forty Social- ist newspapers are credited to the party there, nearly all of them being edited by the mos:t distinguished men of Europe. In Belgium, the voting strength of the Socialist Labor Party is 470,000, out of a total of 1,100,000 votes cast. There are 33 social- ists in the Belgian Parliament, and the press of that country con- templates a majority of all votes cast for the socialists at the next election. Cut of a little over a total vote of 2,000,000, the socialists of Italy polled 96,000 votes, electing 18 representatives to the Italian Parliament. The reports from that country are very encouraging for the future. In Switzerland, the Socialists cast 100,000 votes, while in the small country of Denmark the Socialist vote is 26,000, with 8 rep- resentatives in the Danish Parliament. It is expected that at the next general election in England the Socialists will receive 500,000 votes, while in the smaller countries 21 of Europe, as Holland, Spain, Greece, the Socialists are beginning to organize themselves in political parties, as the franchise has been withheld until now from the workingmen. Not until recently were the workingmen enfranchised in Aus- tria. At the elections which were held in that country several weeks ago (March, 1897,) the Socialists polled over 800,000 votes, the city of Vienna alone giving 88,000 votes to the Socialists. Twenty rep- resentatives were elected to the Austrian Parliament, and the social- ists rejoice at this unexpected victory. Not only are the socialists active on the European Continent, but also on the African and American Continents. In the French colony of Algiers there is an active propaganda carried on by social- ists, as well as in the English colonies in Africa. At the last general election in the United States (1896), the Socialist Presidential Ticket polled 36,563 votes, while the number of votes cast for municipal officers was about four times as great. Taking into, consideration the great reactionary free- silver move- ment, which mislead the great mass of the people, the socialist vote in this country represents a solid front of class-conscious work- ingmen. In Canada, a strong Socialist Labor Party is now being formed, and it is hoped that they will not be behind in standing shoulder to shoulder with their fellow-workingmen in this country. The only country in South America which has a Socialist Labor Party organized is Argentine. The city of Buenos Ay res has a membership of about 15,000 socialists. In the United States (thanks to capitalist misrepresentation), the term socialism is yet unpopular with the great mass of the peo- ple. Here, socialism is considered synonymous with anarchy, and this misconception of the true principles of socialism accounts for the prejudiced stand the people often take against the socialists. Nevertheless, the socialists in the United States are gaining ground steadily, and it is a question of a very short time when Socialism in the United States will be in the same position as it is on the European Continent. The day is near, when the American workingmen will rise as a class-conscious body, and vote out of ex- istence a system which makes economic slaves of them. They will do it, because it is their historic mission. In the "Manifesto," issued by the San Francisco section of the S. L. P. (1896), a writer, commenting on the above results of the Socialists' activity in the political field, says : ' * These figures and facts are evidences of that universality and solidarity of which mention has been made. They show that so tar from being a temporary fad. Socialism is a great and growing force welding together great masses of voters, with a distinct policy, and the liability to forward and advance that policy. They show that 22 so far from being composed of a body of irresponsible dreamers and cranks, the representatives of Socialism are proved statesmen and debaters, overthrowing governments, keeping their party organiza- tion intact, and always gaining point after point, impressing their ideas upon the legislation of the country in which they are at work. They show, too, that Socialists are constructive as well as revolu- tionary ; that they understand the art of administering municipali- ties with whose government they are charged ; that they can, without violent disturbances, or the upsetting of the peace of the community, infinitely better the condition of the proletarians and establish a well governed community where formerly was a police- ridden and capitalist-devoured mob." ' The Socialists have chosen the political field as their battle ground, the only place where the workingmen can obtain justice for themselves, their wives, their children, "and their fellow-men. That the Socialists are going to be victorious in the near future, there can not be the least doubt. AH economic forces are tending towards that direction, and all facts are pointing that way. We, who are living to-day, are unconscious of what is going on around us ; we cannot imagine how rapidly we are traveling forwards, continu- ally forwards. But the day will come, and very soon, too, when we will all be made to feel the effects of the causes which are silently working now ; the causes which certain men, in spite of their suffer- ings, are absolutely refusing to investigate. The Socialist Labor Party is a revolutionary party. The mem- bers of this party, being conscious of the real conditions that sur- round them, and thoroughly understanding the aim and object of their party, are, therefore, uncompromising. It is, to-day, the only party in the civilized world that aims at the solidarity of the toilers, therefore, every move of this party is closely watched by the corrupt politicians — the hirelings of capital. The sound principles of the Socialist Labor Party defy its im- potent- enemies, w^ith their whole band of hribed economists and learned men, who, by teaching sophistries, are undermining their own foundation. "Our. war is a war of principle against principle. Our princi- ple is a moral and iriefutable one, while the capitalistic principle is utterly wrong, immoral and ruinous. We are, therefore, fully con- vinced that our principle must be, and must soon be, completely victorious." Workingmen ! what the Socialists demand of you, is simply this : When you go to the polls on election day, you shall cast your votes for the Socialist Labor Party, the only party that with every victory on the political battle-field, strikes terror into the hearts of those who feast on the sweat of labor. 23 It is for your own sake, for the sake of youf wives and children that we ask you to do this. Workingmen ! We are nearing the day of the next great and final social revolution. LET THE CAPITALISTS TREMBLE AT ITS APPROACH. ''The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win." Workingmen, unite! Organize! Rally around the universal banner of the Socialist Labor Party, the only party that will emanci- pate the wage-workers from all forms of slavery throughout the civ- ilized world. Happiness is impossible without freedom. Freedom is impossi- ble without industrial independence. Would you rather be slaves, subject to the caprice of a master, or freemen — which ? If you choose the former, then keep on voting for the old political parties ; if you choose the latter, then strike for Socialism. Wage-slaves of America ! Socialism is your religion ; THE BALLOT IS YOUR WEAPON ! ORGANIZE ! ! ! Orders for this pamphlet may be addressed to William Edlin, The Temple y'* 115 Turk Street, San Francisco. THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $I.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. OCT 18 J932 'M SEP 3 1944 IWNV' 59S1I JULIO 2(03 i LD 21-50m-8,'32 Y; ^ "-4 U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES eyx^e NIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY