530.
Vancouver, British Columbia. Saturday, June 5, 1909.
subscription Price
Pkk Ybar
31.00
REVOLUTION COMES APACE
A Journey to the Holy Places of Mammon Strengthens the
Belief That His Sway Cannot Much Longer Endure.
Dear Comrade: —
I have just returned from my visit
to the States and the Old Country,
which I have 1011110? very interesting,
chiefly .from the social and economic
point of view. Everything is trending,
as has been pointed out for years by
the despised Socialist, towards a climax which, unless something extraordinary happens, must develop into
a very interesting state of affairs within a very short space of time.
The question which forces itself
upon a man is, how long the people
will stand for the awful misery and
poverty which is now enveloping the
masses and which makes life even for
the so-called middle class, one continual round of anxiety for the future. The
cause of these conditions is not hard
to find if one looks at our economic
system which places the products of
the workers in the hands of a few
not allow of it. There is, consequently, a large surplus of commodities on
the market, which means that the
owners of the factories will close
down until the surplus has in some
way been thinned down and then industry temporarily starts up again, but
only to stop again with ever shortening intervals of activity. If industry
were the only factor I should expect
the revolution peaceably through
chronic unemployment, for the owners of the machinery of production are
being forced into combinations which
can restrict the output of commodities,
thus helping the markets from serious
overflooding at any one time, although
the market will grow beautifully less
as more and more workers have no
wages wherewith to buy. The other
factor is the financial or speculative
which, as money gets cheaper, threatens to upset, the calculations of our
industrial owners and throw society
into panics by the stoppage of all new
development and the calling In of
monies being used Industrially and the
stoppage of credits, following which
we have natural reaction and a fresh
development quite unwarranted by the
consuming powers of the workers.
Commodities being ever produced
more cheaply, that Is for less wages
to the workers, theese changes from
now on must take place ln very rapid
succession, a condition of affairs that
cannot by any means last long.
Tbe outlook as I have seen lt Is
very bright and hopeful for the revolution. I cannot say that out of the
masses of tbe workers we have any
respectable proportion of Socialists,
but we have a sprinkling, and this
seeming handful are the only ones who
know what is going to happen and
what to do when the time comes. We
cannot expect a very large membership yet, the increase In Btrength Is
good, but we must bear in mind the
fact that the harvest is not yet quite
ripe and all we can hope to do is to
educate harvesters, so that when the
masses are forced to make a move we
shall be strong enough to pilot their
movement. I am glad to say this Is
being done all the world over and a
band of revolutionary Socialists Is
slowly but surely permeating the
whole Industrial world with a leaven
that cannot help but work and raise
the masses when the time Is ripe.
That we can educate the majority of
the workers to their economic position and condition, show them the remedy and get them to accept It before
we reach the last Industrial climax,
appears to me to be Impossible, as I
see Industrial conditions to-day. To
me the final stage appears to be approaching at a pace that bids fair to
give us only sufficient time to get a
comparative few into line, but they,
knowing what they want and making
for the only road out, will be able to
put the crowd on the right track.
To-day I am a revolutionary Socialist of the worst type, The sight of
millions of men, women and children
in the lowest depths of misery and
destitution on the one hand, and the
arrogant display of wealth and vice by
the robber owners of humanity, makes
me wish for the time when those millions will stir themselves. The dis-
jgustlsg charities and charity bazaars,
concerts, etc., where a few upstarts
air their fine dresses and pose as philanthropists, when they get tired of
their ceaseless rounds of pleasure,
make me angry. It Is a new plaything and a change, a new sensation
which costs them practically and comparatively nothing, and makes a man
get his back up and wish he could
prick the bubble on which they arc
floating and displaying themselves.
What a howl they make when thei.-
motoring Is taxed a trifle, when incomes of £2,000 and upwards are
taxed, when land they hold is laved
and death duties are levied I Say,
Comrade Editor, won't there be some
fun when we get a shot at them?
Just fancy making them do a little
work as well as grabbing the land,
natural resources and machinery!
Won't they squeal, then? It does me
good and gives me a joyous feeling to
think of it. How many of them ever
give a moment's serious thought to the
conditions under which their fellows
are compelled to exist and become,
prostitutes and criminals? Not many,
I know. Then how much consideration will there be coming to them? If
thes' escape with whole skins they will
be doing extremely well. Did someone
ask about compensation? Yes, I'd
compensate them, but it would not be
compensation in the ardinary sense of
the word, 1 would spell it re-payment,
and I would guarantee they would not
apply twice.
A few days before leaving England
I went to hear Comrade Grayson speak
at an Independent Labor Party meeting where, taking Bellamy's Water
Tank parable, he gave the crowd as
good a dose of economics as even a
western revolutionist could wish, and
gave the Labor Party M. P.'s a very
rough handling. The only thing that
we would not quite agree with him on
was a suggestion he made to legislate
land back to the common property of
the people by means of taxation, which
he stated could be done In three years.
I rather fancy that we would do it in
somewhat shorter order.
Yours in revolt,
W, W. LEFEAUX.
BRITISH "CHRISTIAN" AND CIVILIZING INFLUENCES IN
INDIA.
(From "The Harp," New York, May,
1909.)
In "The Flame" or March «th, I find
the following testimony to the holy,
"civilizing" influences of the British
in India which will perhaps serve to
make my readers share my feelings
towards that "abomination of desolation," the British Empire:
The British army in India recruits
women for the purpose of harlotry
with an almost brutal disregard for
even the God of Appearance. On
June 17th, 1886, Sir F. (now Lord)
Roberts issued his "circular memorandum" addressed to general officers
commanding divisions and districts.
In it he says:
"In the regimental bazaars it Is
necessary to have a sufficient number
of women; to take care that they are
sufficiently attractive, and to provide
them proper houses."
In furtherance of these instructions,
the officer commanding the Connaught
Rangers at Jullunder wrote to the assistant quartermaster as follows:
'The cantonment magistrate has already on more than one occasion been
requested to obtain a number of younger and more attractive women, but
with little or no success. He will be
again appealed to. The Major-General commanding should invoke the
aid of the local government by instructing the cantonment magistrates,
whom they appoint, that they give all
possible aid to commanding officers In
procuring a sufficient number of
young, attractive, and healthy women."
Just Imagine a magistrate acting as
a procurer, at the instigation of commanders of our glorious "harmy"!
Let the readers of "The Harp" remember that 'he women who are thus
demanded for the purpose of gratify
ing the lusts of the English soldiers
are procured by seizing any decent,
attractive native women the cantonment magistrate thinks suited for the
purpose; and carrying them by force
to the bazaar where they are kept until they grow old or diseased. Then
they are thrown out to rot in the
jungle.
When the British were introducing
the opium trade Into India they sent
commissioners Into the territory they
thought suited for the cultivation of
the poppy, and summoning all the
ryots (peasant farmers) before them,
these said commissioners compelled
each to set aside as much of his land
as the commissioners wanted for the
culture of this accursed drug.
When the natives would not buy
nor use the opium, the government
spent a vast sum of money In giving
it away free in order to cultivate
among them a liking for it. The drug
has ruined millions, body and soul,
but it has brought a great revenue to
the British Government, therefore
"Rule Britannia."
The universe is about tired of this
British Empire, and I for one hope
that the natives of India will, ere
long, drive it from their shores into
the sea.
THE NECESSITY OF CHANGE.
"Civilization must of necessity develop into some other form of society,
the tendencies of which we can see,
but not the deails; and it Is now becoming clear that this new state of
society can only be reached through
the great economic, moral and political change which we call Socialism;
and the essential foundation of this
is the raising of the working classes
to a point that gives them a control
over their own labor and its product."—Delfort Bax, p. 18, "Socialism,
Its Growlh and Outcome."
NEWS FROM THE MARITIME
Organizer Finds That the Soil Is Ready for the Seed, and
That Willing Hands Are Not Wanting.
LOCAL VANCOUVER'S PICNIC.
The committee in charge have made
arrangements with the owners of the
steamer Strathcona for an excursion
and picnic on Sunday, June 27th. Tbe
excursion will start from Johnson's
Wharf at 9:45 a.m., and will go to
the head of the North Arm. On the
return trip all hands will land at
Strathcona Park, wh»re the picnic
will be held.
Bring your baskets, your friends
and your families.
Round-trip tickets, 50 cents. Children under twelve, 25 cents; under
five, free.
Tickets obtainable at propaganda
and business meetings from the literature agent, and at all times at tbe
Headquarters, at the Clarion office or
at 108 Hastings street east.
THE MODERN FACTORY.
Marx describes the modern factory
as being more than a mere assemblage of machines under the one roof,
for It Is rather a huge machine Itself.
He says: "The modern factory is an
organized system of machines to
which motion is communicated by the
transmitting mechanism from a central automaton Is the most developed
form of production by machinery.
Here we have ln place of the isolated
machine a mechanical monster, whose
body fills whole factories, and whose
demon power, at first veiled under the
slow and measured motion of Its
giant llmbB, at last breaks out into the
fast and furious whirl of his countless working organs."
THE LESTORS' TOUR
Interior B. C. Locals that have not
already applied for dates for Com.
LeBtor and wife had better get busy
quick. Write Chas. LeBtor, Box 647,
Calgary, Alta. They will come by
way of the Crow's Nest Pass. Coast
Locals wiBhlng dates, write this offlce.
CAPITAL AND COUNTRY
It is but seldom that capitalist periodicals depart from the usual apologetic order of business—that of supplying the "better" classes with virtues and other distinguishing features
—and allow matters of vital import
to society a place on their pages.
In perusing "Colliers" Of May 22nd,
one Is startled by the unexpected light
of a great economic truth, clearly and
convincingly presented- Speaking of
capital, Colliers says:
"In the hard cold lexicon of capital,
there is no such word as patriotism.
It knows no country, obeys no king,
save ItB own whims, and goes wherever money, a breed of barren metal,
takes. . . . Capital does not recognize political boundaries. It recognizes only Its own interest."
The capitalists, being of course the
sole beneficiaries of capital, are here
shown quite conclusively to be entirely exempt from any participation In
that effusive demonstration so significant of intellectual stagnation, commonly known as patriotism.
Having gone thus far, one might almost have expected Colliers to carry
the argument to its logical conclusion
and show that, Inasmuch as all wealth
emanates from labor, capital being the
condition under which labor is despoiled of Its product, labor is then
as International In Its interests as capital. Why, then, should labor be the
only part of the social division to
"recognize political boundaries," "obey
a king" and look after anything but
"its own whims?"
Surely, lt will not take labor much
longer to waken to the fact that all
patriotic guff, all national lines, and
all political parties who stand for the
Bacred" rights of employers are but
Bubtle Instruments In the hands of
the capitalist class used to divide the
working class against itself and render Its memberB the more submissive
and the more willing to be robbed of
the wealth they create.
It is high time the wage workers
of all degrees broadened their vision
and came to realize the potential possibilities contained in those inspired
words of the immortal Marx: "Workers of the world unite," and following the advice thus offered, rose to
that position which Is bo justly theirs.
SPES.
BRITISH WORKMEN'S BALLOT.
By George R. Sims.
I walked in a precesshin' with a banner and a band,
And they said I was a nooBence In
'Igh Olborn and the Strand;
I spouted at a meeting which was ln
Trafalgar Square.
But they sent the cops to charge me
and to clear me out of there.
fife, *.
Oh, it's "Demmygog" and "Soshullst,"
and "Damn the lazy lout,"
But It's "Bless the British workman,"
with the ballot box about.
The ballot box about, my lads, the ballot box about,
Ob, It's "Bless the British workman,"
with the ballot box ubout.
I struck for higher wages, and they
said I was a fool,
And the crafty hagitator merely used
me as a tool,
And when the kids were starving and
we hadn't sup nor bite,
They only shrugged their shoulders,
and they said It served me right.
For It's "Ruin to the country,' 'and it's
wickedness and crime,
But it'B "sacred rights 0' labor," just
about election time.
JuBt about election time, my lads,
about election time,
Oh, it'B "sacred rights o' labor," just
about election time.
I'm lazy and I'm 'ulklng and a nooBence and a cuss,
And 1 Bits on trade and commerce
like a blessed Inkybus,
I'm u-draggin' down the Itempire and
a swellln' of the ra'es,
And a 'orny 'anded 'umbug what the
upper classes 'ates.
For It's "Workingmen are iluffers" and
"They're never worth a groat";
But It's "British bone and sinew" when
they want your blooming vote.
They wants your blooming vote, my
lads, they wani your blooming
vote.
Oh, It's "British bone and sinew" when
they want your blooming vote.
Being unable to hold a meeting tonight, owing to very stormy weather,
I am going to treat myself to a good
long talk to the comrades who take
the Clarion, being some time since
I Indulged in that way.
I will start, not wishing to keep
them in suspense, by telling them that
things right east are better than I
expected to find, except in one way,
namely, not many subs for the Clarion yet. Have had good meetings
right along, at Brockville, Montreal,
Newcastle, Albert, Harvey, Springhill,
and now at New Glasgow, where I
have been speaking night after night
to increasing audiences. Here the
crowds are such as delight a speaker
by coming up close to him and so
sparing his poor throat.
New Locals are formed at Newcastle
and Springhill, the latter an exceptionally large one. Things seem to be
brightening all the time. "Free
Speech," a radical paper published at
Moncton, N. B., has come out flat-
footed for Socialism, and only a week
ago there seemed to be no prospect
of getting any help in that town.
Your help is welcome, Comrade ,Mac-
Dougall.
There seemed little hope at Fred-
erickton, the members of that Local
being scattered, but I had word this
morning that Comrade Butler, proprietor of Butler's Journal, undertakes
to provide a hall, and he and Comrade Stuart's brother will see to advertising. Look out, you Western fellows, these Eastern comrades are getting into their stride. St. John and
Halifax still to hear from, hut my
faith is growing strong. Only thing
is, every place wants me ■ to come
there right away, and, of course, it
can't be done, though there is not one
of them at which I am not impatient
to be, but, woe Is me, the age of
miracles is past. For this job the demand exceeds the supply, and the
wages are naturally high—INTENSE
SATISFACTION. Take notice, Kingston!
Say, but it is good to be a Socialist,
especially a Socialist agitator on the
go like this. Had the chance to be a
parson or missionary, or something of
the kind once; glad I didn't take it.
Oh, yes; It would have been quite respectable, of course, and there would
be no loss of "Boclal standing"; no
one would ever treat one as a social
pariah; a couple half-hours twice a
week would be all the talking expected
of one, of a sort not requiring much
brain power, being careful to give
what "pleased." other qualifications being a pleasant manner, a ready smile
and constant care never to let anyone HEAR you drop even the mildest
kind of cubs word. And how the dear
girls of the church dote on the young
parson, missionary or evangelist, as
the case may he. "Isn't he NICE!"
Always had an eye for a pretty girl.
Oh, what I missed! And it is SO respectable.
But I don't WANT to be respectable—one can't be u Socialist and be
respectable, according to capitalisi
ideas. I want to be free to tread on
any capitalist corns, to jar any prejudices, free to tell the workers in Ihe
plainest way what Is the matter, free
to tell them about Socialism, the only
thing worth telling them just now;
free to tell them ALL I know about it,
no matter who It offends, and that the
party leaves me free to do, and so 1
say with Comrade Drake, "Hurrah for
Socialism; we don't care whether you I
like it or not."
Now I have got that off my chest,
let's see If I can tell you some more
news." I.et me make you better acquainted with Comrade Stuart of Newcastle; you'll like to become so, I
know. As far as I know, Comrade
Stuart Is the veteran of the East. He
Is of tireless energy and ceaseless
watchfulness for anything he can
turn to Ihe good of the movement. I
doubt if any of us will ever fully realize how much the present success Is
due to the years of hard work put In
by Comrade Stuart. 1 can only say
that I realize that, what 1 have done
and will be able to do en this tour
will be but a trifle compared to what
Stuart has done.
Official organizers have a necessary
function to perform and are mora
heard of than those who have been
doing the quiet work—they cannot
help that—but it is that quiet work
that makes their success possible:
(don't forget that they have done their
bit in the spade work, however). This
organizing is hard work, anyhow, but
is lightened and inspired by such men
as Stuart, and so we organizers are
enabled to treat with contempt the
cheap, mean, unmanly sneers of Kingston.
You've heard of Filmore, probably,
Well, you'll hear more yet, as well as
of Tingley, both of Albert, N. B. These
are young comrades, but Filmore Is by
way of being a veteran, having started
at sixteen years old, six years ago.
Three desperate fighters ln Albert
(the other's name I forget, except that
his first is "Claude"). There are some
good ones coming on, too—don't feet
a bit nervous about the future ot Albert Local.
Springhill is simply grand. Jules
Levenne is the star fighter here, but
don't you think for a moment he Is the
only one, as they are too many to
mention. I think Springhill must have
broken the record In number 61
names on charter application. ThU
is a mining camp and is seething with
revolt, the prevalent Idea being,
"We'll have to go In for Socialism
like the Western men"—and they're
going in. Not one miner had a word
to say against Socialism to me.
When I was a boy, my favorite
hero was—-Garabaldi, the sailor who
always took the side of the under dog,
and after a life of fighting came to
the conclusion that "Socialism is the
rising sun." Our veteran comrade,
McKay of New Glasgow, is just hla
type, having a passion for taking the
side of the oppressed, as he saw It,
fighting to free the slaves tn the
American civil war, getting badly
wounded; later a pro-Boer and now a
revolutionist.
Comrade Frye you Bhould also
know. He Is of the quietly steadfast,
persistent kind that do much work and
get little credit; but real Socialists
are not out for credit on the one hand,
and on the other hand, neither are
they vexed when they see others getting some.
Oh! I was nearly forgetting to men*
tion our young comrade of seventy
years of age. Comrade Smith of Hills-
bro, whom I saw at Albert. By all
appearance, "his eye Is not dim, nor
his naturnl force abated." A recruit
of smart h, he first saw the light about
two veins ago, and It is a bright one
to him. Proudly wearing the Socialist button, and with his eyes shining
Willi hope, he said, "I can't expect to
II \e very many years, but I hope to
gee the co-operative commonwealth,
and 1 will be ready then, like Simeon,
to depart In peace, when my eyes
have seen the salvation of the working class."
A little bird has told me there are
one or two of the boys in Toronto getting listless. Let the example of this
old comrade shame tlfem, for he is
working hard, and he Is nearing tho
shadows, while the sun of their lives
is still In the ascendant. Let us "quit
ourselves like men and fight," for we
not only want to see what. Comrade
Smiih does, but we want him to see
it, too, and some of us have got old
fathers and mothers who want, and
who we want, to see It. Docs your
Socialism make life brighter for you
now; if so, It makes you work now.
If It is not that sort, it's spurious, and
you had better look into the matter
and see what's wrong.
WILFRID GRIBBLE.
COMOX, ATTENTION!
It is proposed to send Organizer
Harrington Into the Comox district.
Comrades willing to assist In arrange
lng meetings for him are requested
to communicate with this office ati4 to
forward such information as to ro '.,
etc., as may be useful. THE WESTERN CLARION, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA.
8ATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1909.
Its Western Clarion
VaMlahaa cvary Saturday by tha
PoclalUt Fuity of Canada, nt ttit Oflloa
•f tl» WL'iiturn Clarion, riack Block
ImwhhI, luo kmi.ui.ki sticut. Vaucou-
tar, B o.
BVDSCBIFTIORl
■1.00 r«r Ytar, SO ctuti lor Sla Muiitln,
85 ocnta for Tlir«* Muntlia.
Strictly In Ailvniier
iiuniii,':, ur o or mora ooplMi for ,
Erloil ur not Ii'mh ihuii Uirtl month,,, m
a rate of oni oint par oopy par laaua.
AdvvrtlMliia rutua uit ippliOatiOII,
It you rtoilvl Hilt* papvr, It In puhl
tor.
ln mukiiiK rimlttanii by phfaut, ox-
•toaiiKi' must l>u HiMoil. AiMi'iihh nil
•omniunli'UlloiiH uinl tiiako all uioiioy
•rdarH payahli to
TBE WUBTEBB CLABIOK.
Boa eae. Vaneonvar, B. o.
531
Watch the label on your paper. If this number la on it,
your subscription eapirea the
next issue.
SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1909.
LO, THE POOR INDIAN.
Some years ago, having, as wc subsequently discovered, absolutely no
occasion to venture Into the "far
northern wilds, naturally that is
where we went.
There, while engaged in the pleasant and profitable pastime of exchanging an abundance of expectations for
a morsel of experience, we encountered the aboriginal in a more or less
aboriginal state, modified, of course,
by the fact of several generations of
exploitation by benevolent fur-trading
capitalists. Though this had considerably reduced the Indians In number
and impoverished their hunting
grounds, armed them with modern
weapons and clothed them In shoddy,
enhanced their thirst and prohibited
Its indulgence, innocuiated them with
loathsome diseases and endowed them
with an admixture of alien blood, and
even brought them, nominally at least,
within the fold of Christianity, yet
there clung to them some tattered remains of the virtues and vices, the
modes and manners of their former
state.
Of law and Its majesty and of
property and Its sacredness they knew
hut what their white benefactors had
been compelled to teach them in the
interests of the fur trade. Hence we
may Infer that of both law and property and of such other necessities to
human happiness and welfare their,
primitive forbears could have known
nothing. Personal possessions, such
as weapons, tools and clothing, they
had, but true property, that which one
can have to the exclusion of all others,
was non-existent, among them. The
hunting ground being free to all was
the property of none, not even of the
tribe in reality, for beyond the hunting ground frequented by a tribe lay
a no-man's land, across which few
ever ventured, not for fear of trespassing, but lest they fall victims to
the prowess of hostile braves, and.
further, because hunting was less difficult in the more familiar territory.
With the products of the chase, a
hospitality, virtually amounting to
i communism, was the practice, yet
none, unless very hard pressed, would
touch the "cache" left by another.
One old Indian, being questioned as
to the penalty attached to the theft
of a "cache," failed to grasp the idea
of having a law or even a custom to
deal with such a case, for such a case
couldn't occur. Why should an Indian take another's "cache," of meal,
(or instance, unless he was very hungry, in which cast he was welcome to
what he needed of it? Having, however, been persuaded to mppose such
a theft to have occurred, he naively
ventured the opinion thai the thief
wonld get himself very much disliked.
Yet theSd people are not abnormally
moral or Intelligent. In facti so inferior to ourselves are they In these
respects that it has been considered
advisable to send missionaries
amongst them to lead them into better
ways, such as our own presumably.
So here we have In simplest form
an illustration of the purely material
Basis of ethics. The economic conditions prevailing in a society at that
stage not only taught a certain ethical code, but compelled its practice.
The hardest-hearted Indian, on making a successful hunt, would Invite
Ws hungry neighbors to feast themselves, not because he loved them, but
because he, too, might soon be looking for an Invitation. He must entertain the "Btranger at the gato" tie-
cause he, too, might have occasion to
wander. He must respect another's
cache, as, In his turn, he would be
leaving belongings of his hung up in
a tree. It was the most comfortable
way for the tribe to get along together, and with habit, it becomes an
unwritten moral code, to violate which
Is to get oneself "very much disliked."
The primal impulse Is for the individual to preserve himself. For the
continuance of the species it is also
necessary that the progeny be also
preserved. Those individuals exercising the greater care of their young
lUMMd Iii perpetuating their kind in
uii'iili'i' ituniliei'H than iliono not bo Inclined, iiini tiniH perpetuate dint char-
totirliile ovor which sentimentalists
lime lovi 'I i" KUahi "taaterHal In-
IllllOt,"
Among, species Him live together In
tlrovti, hoiilea or trlbH, ihoi* practicing the necessary principles of mutual Bid IlIVI Hie holler cluiliee of Hill-
ylvlngi timl in pcrpctualo thill "In-
kIIiu'Ih" mill la) Hie fiiuniliitiiinH tot
tho "dlvlno liwi" uf our propheti, the
•KMllinl moral lyititni uf our phii-
Olophiri mill Hie lunnllloH tin "tin-
lllfllbnill" iiinl oilier VlrtUd uf our
liiiller-lliiin Hiimih,
Ah human Moiety tvolvu from ihi
Hllnple III the OOmpllIi tile workllIKH
of iilMutorm Inoriiii tlu In complexity llll lliey tnlie on aipiotl up
pitrenily al < plltl variance wllh
their orlglnii nuil undent olhleiil code!
are the more veiietnled the more venerable I hey blOOme, mill lire iiIho less
observed an iconomtc conditions Ion
and lens permit lltelr observance.
Of material Interoiti thai which
aoncorna us chiefly is Hint, ub the
breach bel ween cIuhb and claBH, between mast era and workers, widens,
clearer and Clearer become I heir respective class Interest8 and more and
more do they dominate the merely Immediate Interest! ol' the individuals,
lt is actuated by this class interest
and not by any hlgh-souled striving
alter justice or democracy, that the
workers of nil countries are organizing, slowly and painfully, it is true,
but with n steadiness that bodes no
good lo the master-class. Organizing
to conquer for themselves Ihe means
of life in order lo preserve themselves
as a class, as Individual self-preservation becomes more and more difficult
otherwise.
OBJECTIONS TO SOCIALISM.
Quite frequently this office is favored with a clipping containing a more
or less complete refutation of Socialist
principles, real or supposed, and we
are asked to "take a fall out of" the
authors of the same. To tell the honest truth, we have never studied these
"objections to Socialism" with any
care, for the simple reason that they
are generally too trivial lo merit It.
To attempt to refute these arguments
has always seemed to us a waste of
time, for, on the very face of them,
they are so puerile that they could
convince none but those who are already so firmly convinced that the
most closely reasoned refutation would
not alter their opinions, or those
whose reasoning powers are so conspicuous by their absence that they
would be the very reverse of acquisitions to our movement.
Even allowing the very worst thai
they can say of us to be true. Even
if the future society Is destined to be
afflicted with all the ills-of which they
so humanely warn us. What about it?
They say the lazy would prey upon
the Industrious. Ye gods! is there
room on our backs for any more parasites than prey upon us now? Would
"free love" be any more vile than love
bought? If every one were denied
the free choice of an occupation,
would that be worse than having
neither choice nor, frequently, occupation? If we were robbed of incentive,
would the results be more degrading
than to have an incentive to rob?
Even were Socialism destructive of
religion, had not religion better be
destroyed than prostituted. And bo
on through all the counts of their In-
dictement.
After all Is said and done, the defenders of capitalism, for all their pretended solicitude, are little concerned
lest all these evils befall society. The
one and only real objection they have
to Socialism i» that It would destroy
capitalism, the form of society of
which I hey are Ihe beneficiaries.
Socialism Ib not on the defensive,
any way, nnd lt Is high time we realized II. It is capitalism that Is on
trial and we are the prosecution, and
we do not have to rustle very hard to
procure evidence enough to have It
hanged, drawn and quartered. We
are and should be on the offensive all
the time. We don't have to offer any
excuses for our existence or to palliate our contemplated crime, for
crime it is from the viewpoint of the
bourgeois. We are bent on destroying
capitalism, we have reason to believe,
for our own good, but, for good or for
evil, it must be destroyed. We have
no right to expect that the parasites
upon tho present order will like being
robbed of their prey. We would be
foolish to no represent our doctrines as
to make them like them. And it
would, be suicidal for us to seek to enlist them ln our ranks by rendering
our propaganda palatable to them.
Our message Is to the workers.
Our purpose, to arouse them against
their conditions of servitude. We are
not content with bettering the terms
of their enslavement. We are bent
upon our own emancipation. The only
argument the capitalists and their
hangers-on can advance to which we
need pay the slightest attention is the
stern logic of superior force. To that
we must boWj until the day when that
superiority in-in our hands. Then It
will be their turn to bow to our will,
and without question.
THE DEMf
iC JUDGET.
In Britain the loud-mouthed votaries
of the war scar" bave 1 ■ tha lime
been quite thrust out of the spol light
by the great .idget scare.
The Conservatives denount e It as
a SoelallBt budget, but maki to bun-
geitloni ns to how the wli d Is 10 be
railed otherwise. Why .imi id moy?
II Isn't up to them to ra so It.
The Liberals swear iy ii nnd lo
hIbI Hint It Ib the only i t'lgl til democratic budget,
The Independent I. I i> ! agree!
wlih the Cbniervuth Hi > i is a Fo-
iliillsi budget and u piithttllu-Uc l»
ItH iiipport, Bnowdui goltu no fur n»
to say that even a H i Ullt Chun
cellor of Ihe DxcllOQUei crtnldn't do
ninth better i ul i first uttempl.
The k . "Ii mo, i itn pi'UHe In
their dinuncli Hon ' the "ilnlitor <iu-
HlgiiB of Pruislu upi our country"
lit used to be "of Ku.-- >") 'o deny
that It is even i Soei.il iiumotratlc
budget.
The Socialist Labor Pan will no
doubt draw from It argumtn s to further prove the "ncies ty tn; launching the iduRtrial Union' une more.
The Sot alis. 1 arty's i 1 .ion Is not
yet to hand, b"t ve can safely bel
that lt will be, In effect "Damn the
budget! It's noi of the wage-slave's
business."
In point of fac is uie great
demagogic budgtt. ti s the great
landlords, which i I i > ar and perfectly Bate, as they nre mostly Tories
anyhow. It soaks the liquor interests
and so secures mote securely the
Non-Conformist vole, conscience and
all. It hewt, generous slices off the
large Incomes In the infinite joy of
the I ir more nu' terous tribe with the
big tot' arid little income. And gen-
erally piuys the demagogue with a
st itciently plausible assumption of
democrpfv to win tbe support of
"Labor ' . the persons of our very
"modern Socialists." ,!ore novrer lu
Lloyd Oeofg >
Our gooc r ana,'inn capitalist papers
were recently pie, cing that the tide
of Immigration fin a the United States
was pouring wt lib. by the million
over "our" borierB, but it would seem
by the following fro... the New York
World that their hopes are to be
blasted, as there appears to be a leak
in the barrel bigger than the intake:
"in spite of the conslt! able mo- «
ment of American farnn-.'b nun, western States into Canada, ihe balance
of Immigration Ftill sets the other
way, according to C. B. Schmidt, Commissioner of Immigration of the Rock
Island Railroad system. From official
figures Mr. Schmidt reckons that during the fiscal year ending Juno 30th,
1H0S—a light one in comparison with
the preceding twelvet lOuth.—56,860
persons left homes in the United
States for Canada, while 58,268 reversed the process, a b.,lance of 1,066
In favor of the United States."
GRIBBLE PROTESTS.
Dear Comrade Editor,—
"I rise to protest" against the inaccurate report of May Day | roceed-
Ings, reproduced from the M" Ureal
Star in the Clarion of the 151 May,
in which I am credited, among other
ihings, as saying that the Socii.' -
"had a strong and efficient repress. ,..-
tlon in the Parliament of Great Britain," I did not do so and have \ ?r
done so, but have often point out
that the opposite is the fac'.. TI 'ic.t
is there Is not one elected to th: ody
on the straight Socialist ticket, not
even Victor Grayson, though ho has
proved himself a fighter.
As evidence that the report is inaccurate, I may say that Comrade
Plgg, who is mentloi' 1 as ehi innan,
took no part in the open-air teeting
that though I was a witnet- if the
scrimmage that took place a the door
of the hall, I saw no poli' "man use
his baton, but I did see oue of tr> n
attempt to seize the red fliig nght at
the entrance to the hall which the
article said they did not do.
The tone of the article is fair, but
it is Inaccurate nevertheless. How
the mistake was made I don't know—
I am quite ready to believe it was a
mistake—but lt puts me in the position of saying in one place what I
have often denied ln other places, and
is likely to discredit me as a straight
propagandist and through me the
party.
Yours in revolt,
WILFRID GRIBBLE.
Said report was from the Montreal
"Sf.ar" and could hardly be expected
to be correct. If Locals would nd
in their own report on time we would
not have to be beholden to the capitalist press.—Ed. Clarion.
"FREE" AND FORCED LABOR.
Chinese In South Africa.
recording to thl "Hoard uf Trade
and Labor Qailttl" for February there
mi. a deereiiHo during IIUis uf 84, ni.il
In ho number ur CIiIiioho employed
In t be Triii IVagJ, Hut It iiiiikI mil
be though! thai lltere Iiiih I u u corresponding Inoi'iaii in tin- number of
Vi ill I SI, al W'iih uutltipntoil by Ilium1
whu clamored m> loudly fur Hie "aboil'
Hun uf (illlli'Ke hIiivoi) anil II in
pluyineiit uf while liibor lu Ihe Triune
vital." Thi Bium- authority igyi than
lias been iiii IliereiiBO of III,17(1 colored
laborer! and an IturtgM of only 1,5111)
Wllltail Hut wit were tnbl Hint the
withdrawal of thi QhinoM from loutb
Allien would spell ruin to the country,
and that It would bu ImposHlblc to
profitably work the mines. However,
what lire the fuels'? The Cosmopolitan Fliiuniier for Junuury snya "Soulh
African ibarsi hro just ready for an
all round rllO, The Industry la now
in a sound condition us regards labor,
economic working, capital and profit!."
Again, "Mr. Leopold Albu, in his Van
Byn speech, said he was 'looking forward wllh absolute confidence to a
continuous Increase In the production
of gold nnd lu the profltB from the
mines, and would be greatly disappointed if, within tho next five yenrs,
the production of the Rand hud not
reached ,C50,000,000 per annum, and
the average working costs had not
been reduced by a further 5s. to 12s.
6d. per ton.' . . The reduction of
cost is chiefly due to the labor-saving
appliances and also to the supply of
native labor." The saving, snya another writer in the same journul, will
be about U 1,000,000 per annum. No
wonder there Ib a rapid diminution ln
the number of Chinese employed,
It Is well known that free labor Is
often far more profitable to employers than slave labor. Mr. Hrnssey ln
"Work and Wages" cites some Interesting cases, and informs us on authority that prior (o the emancipation of
the slaves ln Jamaica, 18 cwt. ot sugar
per acre was thought excellent, while
under free labor It averaged one ton.
He further attributes to the British
consul at Pernambuco a detailed statement of the comparative cost of work
done by slave and free labor, which
Shows that sugar coaling .C.4,251 to
pn duce by slaves, would have cost
e-ly £1,080 by free labor. To fu-ther
emphasize the point that free laborers, or slaves with the opportunity of
earning their freedom, are more profitable than ordinary slaves, ht says of
some coffee-carriers in the Urn. lis,
carrying bags of coffee weighing 2 to
3 cwt., that they worked with in, ease
vigor in order to earn a sufficient sum
to purchase their freedom, and generally succeeded in accumulating the
amount in three or four years—an effort which too often broke their
health. It was the knowledge of
such facts as these that caused the
abolition of chattel slavery, and not
the sentimentalism of moralists and
alleged Christians.—H. A. Young, In
the "Socialist Standard."
L
Socialist Directory
fgBTlvnv Local of Ihe SncUllit Parly ol
I mm...In ilimild run a rard under tlili head
II.ml tier in.mill. Secretariei iiIcam n.itr.
DOMIMION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE,
Hlllillllnl I'mly uf t'llllllilU. Meets
ivii-v iiiteinni,. Monday. l> tl Mu-
Kanllli Heel elm >, Hex III, Vulieiiin el,
■BITIM COLUMBIA FBOVUTCIAI.
Kxfcullvn t'oiuuilllro, Hoiiallnl l'urty
of I'llllU.Ill Meets eieiy ItltelllUte
Monday, II. II M. Ken/le. Heeri'tury,
Hot tilt), Vim.snivel, II. O,
lunn rmoTxnoiAL executive
I'oiiiiiiiilee, rJuclllilHt l'urty uf I'uti-
llllll. Meets every ..It. I u.ile Monday in
l.nli.ir Hull, KIkIiIIi Ave. Kiist, op-
posit l' posliilllee. Heerelury will fie
ple-ised to answer uny comniunlcatlunH
itKurdlni tbe movement la the province.
A. J. Drowning-, Hec, Box 64 Cal-
(titry, Aim.
MAiriTOEA raovnroiAL exeou-
tlve- Committee. Meeta first and third
Mon.luys of every month, Jubilee Hull,
corner of King und Alexander. The
rieeretnry will bo pleased to furnish
any information nnd answer any correspondence relative to the movement.
Seert-tnry. II. w. Jnmes, 326 Hargrave St.
Winnipeg, Man.
ONTARIO PBOVIirOXAX, EXECUTIVE
Con .1,litre. Meete In Finnish Hall, 214
Adelaide St., Toronto, on 2nd and 4th
Wednesday. organizer,, W. Grlbble
134 Hogartb Ave., Toronto:
P. C. Young, Secretary, 139 Vi Bleecker
street, Toronto.
LOCAL VANCOUVEB, NO. 1, I. T. OT
Cunada. Ituslness meetings every
Tuesday evening at headquarters, over
Kdgett'e Btor^, 151 Hastings St. West.
F. Perry, Secretary, Box 836.
LOCAL VICTORIA, WO. I, 8. P. OT O.
Headquarters nnd Reading Room,
Room I, llngle Building, 1319 Government St. Business meeting every
Tuesday evening, 8 p.m. Propogandn
meetirgs every Sunday at Grand
Theatre.
W. G. McCluskey, Secretary, Box 770.
LOCAL KANAIMO. HO. 3, S. T. Of C,
meets every alternate Sunday evening
In Foresters Hall. Business meeting
at 7:00 o'clock sharp. Propaganda
meeting commences ut 8:00 o'clockl
Jack Place, Rec. Secy., Box 826.
LOCAL rEBNXX, S. P. ot O, HOLDS
educational meetings ln the Miners'
Union Hall, Victoria Ave., Fernle,
every Sunday evening at 7:45. Business meeting first Sunday in each
month, same place at 2:30 p tn. J.
Lancaster, Sec, Box 164.
LOCAL 0BEENWOOD HO. 9, S. P. OP
C, meets every Sunday in Miners'
Union Hall nt 7:30 p.m. Business
meetings, 1st and 3rd Sundays of each
month. T. Y. McKay, Secretarp Pro
Tem.
LOCAL VEBHOH, B. C, HO. 38, S. P. OT
C„ meets every Friday night at 7:30
ln Ttmmlns' Hall, cor. of Seventh and
Tronson Sts. Business und propaganda combined. Geo. W. Paterson, Secretary, Vernon, B. C.
FOR SUB HUSTLERS.
The most fruitful field for those
who solicit subscriptions to Socialist
papers is propaganda and business
meetings. Those who attend these
meetings are already deeply Interested
ir He Socialist movement, and, unless
t y haven't got the price or already
subscribe- for a number of Socialist
papers, they will usually dig down
into their jeans for the money to pay
for a year's, six months' or three
months' subscription to the paper you
are hustling for, if approached In the
proper way.
Comrades desiring to boost the
Western Clarion should arrive at these
meetings early, and as Ihe audience
begins to come in, tackle them Individually after they are seated, letting them look through the sample
copy you carry with you, telling (hem
about the struggles of the paper and
then asking them to subscribe for lt.
Locals would do well to appoint one
or more comrades for the purpose of
exploiting propaganda meetings in
this way.
W. R. S.
SLIGHTLY MIXED.
THE INTELLECTUAL PROLETARIAT.
"The intellectual proletariat Is one
of the most disruptive elements of
modern society, as lt Is largely In
syninathy with the wage-earners, and
is quick to catch up with new ideas,
while the position of most of Its members is worse than that of an average
skilled workman."—William Morris, p.
208, Socialism, Its Growth and Outcome." ' 1
For those who are anxious for it.
we append the following solution of
the mysterious mlxup in Comrade
Scott's and Perclval's letters: Com-
rad Scott's letter on page four jumps
fi im column 1, paragraph 5, line 26,
io column 2, sixth line from the foot.
Perclval's letter jumps from page 3,
column 2, paragraph 5, line 10, to page
4, column 1, paragraph 5, line 27, and
from the seventh line from the foot
of olinun 2, page 4, back to page 3,
column 2.
Such Is Me ln a print shop.
THE 8. P. OF C. BUTTON.
Price, each - 50c
To Locals five for $2.00. Apply to your
Provincial Secretary.
LOCAL LADTSMITH HO. 10, S. P. Or
C. Business meetings every Saturday
7 p.m. In headquarters on First Ave.
T. I. Briggi. Secretary, Ladysmlth, II. C
LOCAL BOSSLAHO, Ho. IS, 8. P. OP C,
meets ln Miners' Hall every Sunday at
7:30 p. m. A. McLeod, Secy., P. O.
Box 674. Rossland' Finnish Branch
meets in Finlnnders' Hall. Sundays at
7:30 p. m. A. Sebble, Secy., P. O. Box
766 Rossland, B. C.
LOCAL POST MOODY, B. O., HO. 41,
8. P. ot O.—Business meetings first
Sunday In each month. J. V, Hull,
Secretary, Port Moody, B. C.
LOCAL BEVEL8TOXE, B. C, HO. 7, 8.
P. of C. Propaganda and business
milting) at 8 p, m., tho fourth Thursday of each month In lodge room over
old post offloe, near opera house. Everybody welcome. B. F, (layman,
Secretary: W. W. Lefeaux, Organizer.
LOCAL HELIOH, 8. P. OP C, MEET8
every Frlduy evening at 8 p.m., ln
Miners' Hull, Nelson, B. C. Frank
Phillips, Organizer; I. A. Austin, Secy.
LOCAL PXOBHXX, HO. 8, 8. P. OP O,
meets every Sunday at 8:30 p.m., la
Miners' Hall. James Carson, Organizer; John Appleby, Secy.
LOCAL CALOABT, ALTA., HO. 4, 8. P.
of C. Meetings every Sunday at 8
p.m. In the Labor Hall, Barber Block,
Eighth Ave. E. (near postofnee). Club
and Reading Room, McTavlsh Block*
11817 Second St. E. Opposite Imperial Ho.el.
M. Hyatt, Secy.; K Hyatt, Organ-
zer, Box 647, Calgary. Alto.
LOCAL BELLEVUE, ALTA., HO. II, 8.
P of C, meets every llrst and third
Sunday evenings, Bellevue Town HalL
C. Stubbs, Secy.
LOCAL COLEMAH, ALTA., HO. I.
Meets every Sunday night in trie
Miners' Hall and Opera House at 8
p.m. Everybody welcome. Socialist
speakers are Invited to call. H. J.
Smith, Secy.
LOCAL EDMONTON, ALTA., HO. 1, 8.
P. of C. Meets every Thursday at 8
p.m., in Trades and Labor Hall,
Fourth St. Busness and propaganda
meetings combined. J. R. Huntbach,
Secy., 161 First St. S.; R. MacQuarrio,
Organizer, 623 Second St.
LOCAL XXLLCBEST, ALTA., HO. IS, 8.
P. of C, meets every Sunday after
Union meeting in Union Hall, Hillcrest
Mines, Alta.; Alex. Whyte Literature
Agt.; Carl Johnson, Secretary.
LOCAL WIHHIPEO. 8. P. OP C. HEAD-
quarters Klomlyke block, curlier of I'ueitic
and King Business meeting every
Sunday morning 11 a. m. Propaganda
meeting Sunday evening 8 p.m. Everybody welcome. W. Cummlngs, Organizer.
Jas. W. Amer, Secretary. 748 Victor
street.
LOCAL TOBOHTO, 8. P. OP C—EHO-
llsh Branch. Business meetings
first and third Wednesdays ot
each month, Finnish Hall, 214 Adelaide
St. W. Speakers' class meets alternate
Mondays and Tuesdays at 134 Hogarth
Ave. Economic classes meet every
Friday night at 314 Wollesley St.
Speakers supplied or shortest notice to
Ontario Locals. Corresponding Sec, A.
I.yoti, 134 Hogarth Ave.
LOCAL OTTAWA HO. 8, 8. P. OP C,
BUSIHESB MEETING.—1st Sunday la
month at 7:30 p.m. at Roberts-Allan
Hall, 78 Rldean St. Propaganda meetings following Sundays at 3:15 p.m.
Economic class, Monday night, 8 p.m.
Historical class, Friday night, 8 p.m.,
at 379 Wellington St. Charles Lestor,
Organizer.
E. S. Oldham, Cor. Secy., 1030 Bron-
son Ave.
LOCAL COBALT, HO. I, 8. P. OP O.
Propaganda and business meetings
every Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Miners'
Hall. Everybody invited to attend.
Arthur L. Botley, Secy., Box. 446.
LOCAL MONTREAL, QUE., HO. 1, fj.
P. of C—Meets in Labor Hall, St.
Dominique street, Sundays at 3 p. m.
Heaeqiiarters No. 1 St. I'harlea Horroniee st
otto jalm Secretaay, 528 Chnusse
Directory of Western Federation of Miners in British
Columbia
Executive Board Member
Wm. Davidson, Sandon
DISTRICT ASSOCIATION NO. 6.
President
Vice-President
Secretary-Treasurer
Jno. A. McKinnon, Rossland
Thos. J. McKay, Greenwood
A. Shilland, Sandon
No. Name
Meeting
Night
Sec'y.
P.O.
Box
Add.
71
'Atlln
Camborne
Grand Forks..
Greenwood ...
Hedley
Kaslo
Kimberly
Lardeau
Marysvllle
M. & S. U.
.Moyie
IXelson
8|Phoenix
3SI Rossland ....
"* Sandon
Sllverton
Slocan
Tcxudn
Trail M & M..
86lYmlr
Wed
Wed
Sat
Wed
Sat
Sat
Sat
Sat
Sat
Sat
Wed
Sat
Sat
Sat
Sat
Man
|Wed
C. Gairns
Wm. Winslow James Tobln
"'atrick O'Connor W. IC. Iladden
Charles Blrce Geo. Heatherton.,
C. Bennett T. H. Rotherham,
Mike McAndrews.. H. T. Rainbow
Jjoe Armstrong A. E. Carter
IFred Mellette Chas, Short
B. Lundin
Malcolm McNeill.
Paul Phillips
R. Stlverthorn
J. A. McKinnon...
L. R. Mclnnls
Robert Malroy....
Blair Carter
G. B. Mcintosh...
Will. Ilesketh
|A. Burgess —
j J. Hays
James Roberta
F. Phillips
W. A. Plckard....
Geo. faaey
A. Shilland
Fred Llebscher..
D. B. O'Nealll...
T. T. Rutherford.
F. D. Hardy....
W. B. Mclsaac.
12
121
42
391
O
12]
Discovery
JCamborne
MIGrand Forka
' 'IGreenwood
Hedley
Kaslo
Kimberly
Ferguson
Marysvllle
Moyie
Nelson
Phoenix
Rossland
Sandon
Sllverton
Slocan City
Van Anda
Trail
Ymir
3fi
106
294
421
K
85
90
88S1
377
600
TYOLAISET CANADASSA
Jos tahdotte jotakin tietaa
tyovaen puolueesta ja aosial-
ismin edistyksesta Canadassa,
niin tilatkaa kohta,
"Tyokauisa"
Bix 197, Port Arthur, Oit.
Se on Canadassa ainoa Suo-
men kielinen sanomalehti, jo-
ka taistelee sinunkin puolesta.
Edistat tyovaen luokkaa tila-
amalia Tyokansan.
Makiu ainooitun, $1.50 vralkirta
"Vakileiika" Makiaa, $1.25
ATENTS
Wc solid, the business of Manufacturers,
Engineers nnd others who realize the advisability of having their Patent business transacted
by Exoerts. Preliminary advice free. Charge*
moderate. Our Inventor's Adviser sent upon
request. Marion & Marion, New York Life llldg.
Montreal: "iid Washington, D.O, U.SJU
C. PETERS SSS
Hand-Made Boots and Shoes to order in
all styles. Repairing promptly and neatly
ly done. Stock of staple ready-made
Shoes always on hand.
1456 WestmiMter Ave.
Subscribe for the Clarion
Propaganda Meeting
Sunday Evening, 8 o'Clock
9
Cameraphone Theatre
58 HASTINGS ST. W. VANCOUVER, B. C SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1909.
THE WESTERN CLARION, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA.
THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF CANADA
This Page Is Devoted to Reports of Executive Committees, Locals
and General Party Matters—Address All Communications to
D. G. McKenzie, Sec, Box 836, Vancouver, B. C.
PRICE LIST OF SUPPLIES.
Locals may obtain supplies from
their Provincial Executives at the following prices:
-Charters, each $5.00
•Constitutions, each 20
Dues stamps, each 10
Membership cards, each 01
Platform and application blanks,
per 100 25
Platform and application blanks,
(Finnish) per 100 .60
Platform and application blanks
(Ukrainian) per 100 60
Constitution In Finnish, per doz.. .50
Receipt books, each $0.25
Warrant books, each 25
DOMINION EXECUTIVE.
at-
Meeting Held May 31st, 1909.
Minutes of previous meeting
firmed.
Present—Comrades Mengel (chairman), English, Karme, Lambert, Morgan, Peterson, Stebblngs and the secretary.
Charter granted Local Windsor, Ontario.
Correspondence dealt with from Ontario, Manitoba and Alberta Executives; Locals Montreal, Que.; Port Arthur, Ont., Lettish; North Battleford,
Sask.; Calgary, and Edmonton, Alta.
From Organizers Gribble, O'Brien
and Susnar.
From U. S. National Executive, International Bureau, Brussels, and from
the Marxist Fraction, Holland.
Communication from Port Arthur
Finnish Local referred to.Ontario Executive.
Receipts,
Ontario Executive (per Local
Windsor) $11.50
Manitoba Executive, stamps 10.00
B. C. Executive, supplies 50.00
North Battleford 2.00
Otto Jahn, buttons 1.00
Clarion Maintenance Fund 7.50
VANCOUVER CAMPAIGN FUND.
(Per Local Vancouver Finnish.)
A. Rouhiainen $2.00
A. Anttila 1.00
A. Rablna 2.00
H. Niemela 50
Matt Kaupplla 26
Oskar Horkka 3.75
Otto Leino 3.00
Total $12.50
CLARION FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
MAY.
Expenditures.
Printing four issues $180.00
Mailing 8.55
Total expenditures $188.55
Receipts.
Subs : $82.75
Cards and advertisements 20.00
Total receipts $102.75
Deficit 85.80
$188.55
CLARION MAINTENANCE FUND.
As the deficits for April and May
more than wipe* out the balance of
this fund, and as subscriptions generally fall off during the summer, lt has
been decided to issue a call for further donations.
Previously acknowledged $100.65
G. Gunderson ..
J. S
R. G. Grey
Hugh Mitchell
2.00
2.00
2.50
1.00
Total $82.00
Warrants authorized to C. M.
O'Brien, organizing, $50.00; Clarion,
May deficit, $85.80; secretary, May
salary, $15.00.
B. C. PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE.
Meeting held May 31st, 1909.
Minutes of previous meeting approved.
Correspondence dealt with from
Locals Hosmer, Ladysmlth and Nanalmo Finnish, Nanaimo, Kamloops,
Rossland, Sandon, Salt Spring, Vernon
and Victoria, and from Comrade Johnson, Silver Creek, re formation ot
Local, and Fred Ogle and from Organizer Harrington, reporting.
Receipts.
Local Nanaimo Finnish, buttons
and assessment $ 8.25
Local Ladysmlth Finnish, stamps
and assessment 16.00
Local Hosmer Ukainlan, stamps 2.00
Local Victoria, stamps 10.00
Local Vernon, stamps and buttons 9-00
Local Salt Spring, stamps and
assessment <00
Local Sandon, stamps 5.00
Local Nanaimo, stamps 10.00
Local Kamloops, assessment 3.00
Local Rossland, stamps and buttons 9-00
Local Vancouver, stamps and
supplies, 10.25
R. Thomas, buttoa 50
Total $108.15
CALGARY DONATES.
$87.00
Warrants authorized: For postage,
$3.00; secretary's May salary, $15.00;
Dominion Executive, for supplies,
$50.00.
NEW SOCIALISTCAME
Tll6 LI3SS 0H|]£gl8 TliBwliolotftij|llTc»iii)lajlt!
Mitil.,1 fn, BAe In .tn'iip.: neont, v nul.-.l.
OHAKLEa H. KERR 4 00.. 153 Klndi Stmt, Oalcago, nl
READ
COTTON'S WEEKLY
60c per year
Two for a dollar
SPECIALLY FINE FOR PROPAGANDA WORK.
Six months 25c.
Published at Cowansville, P.Q.
Local Calgary has donated the sum
of five dollars towards helping the
comrades In the Maritime Provinces
to keep an organizer In the field. If
all the comrades and Locals would
help, we should soon have to form an
executive committee In that vicinity.
Seeing that the Socialist Party Intend holding a Dominion convention
sometime next year, it Is up to us to
plant our organization all over the
Dominion, so that as many places as
possible will be represented. We have
now about three years to complete our
organization before the Dominion elections come around again, and I would
urge all comrades that now is the time
for the spade work to be done. We
cannot expect to make Socialists on
the eve of an election, and if we are
to be represented in the next Dominion
Parliament, we will have to get
move on.
F. HYATT.
LEWIS IN TORONTO.
60 YEARS'
EXPERIENCE
Trade Marks
Designs
Copyrights *c.
Anyone sending n sketch and description may
Ittlakly ascertnin our opinion free whether an
Intention IB probably natentabli
lions strictly confidential. HANDr
" ». Oli"— *
Communlca-
" on Patent!
sent free. Oldest agency for securing patents.
Patents taken through Munn A Co. receive
sjwclal nollci, without charge, lathe
Scientific American.
iV budiomely HUiMrati
JuUtlon of any identic
year: four montbi, $L
A budiotnely Uluttn.t«d weekly. Liu-Beit circulation of any aoientlflo journal. Tenni, $8 a
year: {our montbi, $L Sold by nil newidealen.
rst.W.a'Tlngton.B.i
Dear Comrade,—
On Monday evening we had in the
Labor Temple one of the finest debates on Socialism I ever heard. Mr.
H. Barnard of New York took the
negative side of the question and Mr.
A. M. Lewis of Chicago took the affirmative.
Mr. Barnard, while he does not
grasp the significance of the materialistic conception of history, Is no jingo;
he is intensely desirous of a change
and is all Impatience with the stupidity and snail-like progress of the workers.
Our friend, for he Is a friend, and
an honest opponent faces the music.
He does not erect a superstructure
with his own imagination for a foundation and then proceed to dissect it;
he Is better Informed than that, for
he knows and does attack the fundamental principles of Marxian Socialism.
Of Comrade Lewis I need say nothing. His scientific attitude and abilities are well and widely known.
I might mention before going further that Barnard Is ln agreement with
the Socialist as to the source of
wealth, namely, labor; as to Socialism
being a science he cannot see that it is
complete enough for him, and then he
says that it does not hang together
from a logical point of view and that
some of those Heaven-sent leaders of
ours are not agreed on the fundamentals and their tactics are different.
The Revisionist movement in Germany was cited and shown to be contrary to the Marxian philosophy; also
Blatchford's statement to the effect
that a few aristocrats were needed In
Parliament to Insure success. This
he argued was contrary to the Socialist idea of a proletarian movement.
Comrade Lewis showed that this
tide of Revisionism had since receded
and its inBtlgator, whose name I just
forget, has again taken his place
amongst the Marxians. With regard
to Blatchford's idea, Lewis remarked
that we had been trying those aristocrats for some time, with very poor
results.
Science was defined by Lewis at the
outset, but I cannot give you his defin
itions, as I am writing from memory,
wherein things scientific do not locate
readily. Socialism, said Lewis, is the
youngest of sciences, consequently the
least developed; it had been elaborated in the teeth of the opposition of
the capitalist class and, therefore, was
hot so highly developed as some of
the other sciences.
The theory of the class struggle was
attacked and contested hotly. Barnard maintained that the workers
were not becoming class-conscious to
the extent that Marx predicted. The
workers, he said, are living more
luxuriously than they did twenty-
five years ago; they were more fastidious about their dress and appearance; a. larger number of working
class homes had pianos, and they
dined ln swell restaurants. This Btate
of affairs tended to cause slumber and
did not awaken the class-consciousness that was anticipated. The vote
was fluctuating, he said, taking Chicago as an Instance. But say, comrades,
he has not been west to the coast
lately.
Then again he contended that the
workers were buying more stocks and
bonds, that they held more mortgages
and had the ability to pay them off.
This, he said, had the effect of lifting
ihem from the ranks of mere wage
slaves and made them middle class.
The tendency appears to him to be for
the working mechanics and laboreni
lo approximate the middle class.
He asserted that capital was not
being concentrated and that in spite
of the departmental stores, the small
ones were on the Increase, said he;
the tendency appeared to him for the
nations to manufacture and supply
their own wants more and more; that
the peoples were becoming more and
more solidified and were likely to
move solidly towards the brotherhood
of man.
Comrade Lewis contended that the
class struggle was a factor in social
evoution and was becoming more Intensified by reason of the development
of the machine and the capitalist system; that the middle class as it
evolves with its environment is getting farther away from its present
and previous formation and is developing into a class of wage slaves
whose interests are becoming similar
to those of the men who earn their
bread by the sweat of the brows.
Lewis did not agree about the swell
restaurants; he thought that pork and
beans at 15c was about the worker's
average as far as restaurant life is
concerned. With regards to the
stocks and bonds, comparatively
speaking, he did not think that the
workers owned enough to fill a thimble. Then as to mortgages, our comrade did not in the light of his experience amongst farmers glean any
signs of prosperity; he thought the
mortgage was a form of slavery.
Mr. Barnard had shown the farmers in Kansas had been able to pay
off their mortgages because of the
good crops they had had, but they
could not pay off the railroads, and
every little while the harvester trust
had to be attended to.
Mr. Barnard's attitude is a peculiar
one. He said at the outset that he
who would understand sociology must
have a knowledge of all the sciences,
yet for all his apparent knowledge he
does not recognize that materialism is
at the bottom of it.
He argued hat Christ acted as he
did because he was of a peculiar type
of mind. Lewis agreed with him as
far as he went, but pointed out that,
minus the economic condition of the
.Tews under the Roman Empire, that
peculiar type of mind would not have
anything to act upon, and therefore
he would never have been known in
the connection that he is known in.
Our Christian Socialist friends might
put this in their pipes and smoke lt.
Economic determinism was assailed
from the point of view that the Jowa
occupied the position in the human
family they do because of religious
and racial hatred. It was shown that
a religion grew and developed to suit
its environment, and that the conflict which ended ln the Jews being
dispersed was the resultant of their
distaste of the economic conditions
imposed on them by the Romtms.
They took their religion with them
when they went amongst the Christians, and the fact that their theological opinions differed with their neighbors was the cause of strife. They
were denied the same conditions as
those who love their enemies, and
thereby driven into the money business, and bo were doubly hated on account of their religion and the power
they obtained through money. From
this we can see that the reason of
their position as a people Is doubly
economic.
This Is as far as my memory serves
me. I might say In dosing that Lewis
delivered a lecture on Thursday evening, May 13th, his subject being
"Criminology and Socialism," which
he delivered In good style.
Yours in revolt,
G. H. ANDERSON.
LOCAL CALGARY
It is imperative that a Dominion
convention should be called next year
to put the organization on a good
basis, to inspire enthusiasm amongst
the comrades from all parts of the Dominion and to prepare ways and
means to make Socialists all over the
country so that we can elect members to the Federal House at Ottawa
at the next election.
11 y reason for writing is to call the
attention of all members to the fact
that the convention at Fernle passed
a resolution that fifty cents per year
should be assessed against each member In two half-yearly Instalments, for
the purpose of raising funds for conventions. This was submitted to a
referendum vote and upheld by the
Locals, therefore it is up to the members to make good. Up to the present lime the members have not taken
this matter seriously as the first Instalment is overdue and receipts are coming in very slow.
Now, comrades, pay up your assessment and keep your cards clear and
thus help your Local and the Executive Committees.
Once again I ask all unattached Socialists where there is no Local to
take out a card as a member-at-large
and help to bear the burdens of the
Party and thus help the various Executive Committees to accumulate
funds to pay the expenses of organization.
Yours for the expansion of knowledge concerning the aims and Ideals
of the Socialist Party in Canada,
F. HYATT, Organizer,
Calgary.
WANTS MORE.
Dear Comrade,—Harrington of Fer-
nie was here on May 6th. Had a
small crowd out to hear him. It
rained so hard that none of the boys
at the mine came down. His remarks
were well received and he made a
good impression. One of the boys
told me after hearing him that lt was
just the stuff, but we wanted more
stuff. That is, I mean, he says, we
want more men like Harrington, and
we want them to come and speak to
us a little oftener. Harrington also
spoke at Salmo and was well liked.
Please give us the same dope as
often as you can.
W. B. MclSAAC.
BRANDON LABOR TEMPLE.
Editor Clarion:—
Dear Comrade,—We have received
our charter from the Provincial Government and have started to sell
shares, and I wish to make an appeal
through the Clarion to all Socialists
In the Dominion. We are not asking
any of the comrades to give us anything, as we will give value for money
received... Our hall will pay a good
dividend, as there is no opposition
whatever, there being no good lodge
hall In the city. If we choose, we
could sell all our stock in a week to
business men of the city, but this we
do not wish to do, as we wish the
stock to be held by Socialists and
unionists (Socialist preferred).
This is a very vital matter to Local
No. 7, we not having a meeting place
at all, much less a suitable place for
propaganda. We have been stopped
from speaking on the street, so you
will see, comrades, we are right up
against it. If any of the Locals In
the West will ask Comrade Lestor, he
will be able lo tell them what we are
up against, as it cost our Local fifty
dollars to get a hall for him.
There Is a little hard feeling on the
part of the trades unionists against
the Socialists,, as the Trades Council
allowed our Local to have the use of
the Trades Hall every Sunday night,
rent free. By doing so, the wrath of
the liberty loving capitalist that owned the hall was raised, and he refused
to renew the lease, thereby turning
the unionists out of a home. You will
see that It is up to us to help the
unionists as much as possible (there
are not a great number in this city)
and by doing so wc shall help ourselves. Trusting that every Socialist
will be sufficiently interested In helping the cause along to write for a
prospectus,
I am yours for the revolution,
EDMUND PULCHER.
Organizer Local No. 7.
simplicity, but the capitalist of today
In many cases uses nearly as many
millions, and confines his energies to
drawing dividends and gambling on
the stock exchange, where the capitalists despoil one another of their
plunder, whilst all the social functions
of the capitalist are being performed
by wage workers, rightly called wage
slaves. Before the capitalist can
draw his profits, they must first be
created. Are they created by buying
cheap and selling dear? No, they are
created by labor and labor alone. Let
us see how they are produced.
Now, suppose it takes three hours
of socially necessary labor to produce
the food, clothing and shelter necessary to maintain a laborer one day,
and again suppose lt takes three hours
of socially necessary labor, that Is the
same time, to produce a quantity of
gold equal to $2, then (2 would be
the price, which Is the monetary expression of value, of that man's labor-
power for one day, or in other words,
that would be his dally cost ot production. Then, It he worked dally for
three hours, he would produce his own
maintenance. But our man is a wage
worker, therefore he has to sell his
power to work, his labor-power, as a
commodity to a capitalist, who buys It
at its value. If he worked daily for
three hours, he would produce his
own value, i.e., $2, and In that case
no profit or surplus value would be
produced.
We have seen that the daily value
of the laborer is determined by the
amount of socially necessary labor required to maintain him or reproduce
him day by day, but the daily use of
the laborer is only determined by the
physical strength or capabilities of
the laborer. There, is as much difference ln the value and the use-value of
the laborer as there Is in the cost of
the food a horse needs and the value
of the work It can perform. The capitalist having bought the labor-power
as a commodity has the right to its
use-value, for a whole day, or a whole
week, as the case may be, and he extracts that from the laborer by making him work. Suppose he makes him
work nine hours a day, in the first
three hours he would produce his
No better emblem of the labor
movement can be had than the party
button. You will say so, too, when
you get one. By rustling $5.00 worth
of subs, you will be given one free.
By showing it to your friends and
telling them how you obtained lt, will
stimulate others to do something for
the cause. The first one to land the
button Is Com. W. Davenport, of Brantford, Ont.
• • •
Only those whose names are on the
voters' list can vote. It costs you
nothing to put it there. It will cost
you your life If you don't.
• » •
Comrade Gribble says it's a tough
proposition getting subs, ln the Maritime Provinces and feels quite depressed at having only five subs, to
send. in.
• • ■
Comrade C. M. Smith, formerly of
Local Vancouver, thinks that his present slave pen, New York, needs Clar-
ionizing, so he sends for a bundle ot
ten weekly.
* * * .
The Luddites smashed the machine
when it was first introduced. But
the machine survived. In Scotland a
movement against the Standard Oil
has been started. These modern Luddites should not waste their energies
fighting the Inevitable, There Is nothing wrong with the trust or machine
as such. It is the OWNERSHIP that
is at fault. Vote to own the- trust and
you won't need to fight It. Get tu-
slde. «j
• • • ii
Comrade Norman of Vancouver
finds time to rustle up a couple, and
Comrade Karme of the Finnish Local
makes it four, and Comrade Grundy,
six.
Comrade Hugh Mitchell renews and
finds another to go with it to Cumberland, B. C, and also has a dollar to
wages, $2, but he would not be allowed I spare, which the maintenance tund
THE FALLACY OF COMPENSATION
From what can be gathered along
the line, those B. C. Locals which
don't arrange for a visit from the
■.estors' will miss a treat.
The fallacy of compensation in this
case means the false argument of returning value to the capitalists for the
means of production, of which we are
going to deprive them at the Inauguration of the co-operative commonwealth.
Why Bhould we compensate the capitalist, when, without any effort on
his part, his capital Is returned to him
In the form of dividends, rents, Interest, profit, surplus value or whatever
you may prefer to cull It? For ex-
to stop then; he would have to work
another three hours, in which he
would produce another $2, and then
go on for three hours more, and produce another $2, making a total of
nine hours worked, and $6 produced.
As he sold his labor-power at Its
value, $2, and has produced wealth
equal to $6, you see that the capitalist
by advancing $2 has received In return $6, or that the first three hours
worked were paid labor, and the last
six unpaid labor.
It is on this mode of exchange between the capitalist and the laborer
that the capitalist system is based, and
lt must result in reproducing the capitalist as a capitalist and Ihe laborer
as a laborer. Therefore we see that
labor-power is sold on the market as
a commodity, the same as bread, sugar
and tea at its value, but has a peculiarity not found in any other commodity, of producing more than its
value, and that which it produces over
its value is appropriated by the capitalist and called profits, and that is
the only way profits are made.
Summing this up, we see that profits are not made by buying cheap and
selling dear, but only by the unpaid
labor that Is embodied in an article.
All wealth la produced by labor, and
money does not make money, unless
it is used to employ and exploit a
class of laborers who, owning nothing
but their labor-power, are compelled,
in order to live, to sell It at Its value
and give in return its use-value. Even
then It Is not the money that has produced more wealth, but the real
property of the capitalists, the wage
slave.
Our orthodox friends get quite
shocked when we preach the gospel of
no compensation, and yet they have
no scruples about cutting off forty
hotels here In Toronto without compensating the owners. Tho hotel-
keepers and the brewers are a part
of the capitalist class, and it they nre
cut off because they are considered
detrimental to the people, why should
not all the capitalist class be abolished? Are they not detrimental? Is
it to the benefit of the people to be
starved Into working in dangerous, unhealthy and unwholesome conditions,
and many underpaid girls practically
forced to make up their wages at the
expense of their virtue, and, as we
recently had here, a woman stealing
milk to nourish her baby, the husband
being unable to find u master? Is this
beneficial? This Is how capitalism
compensates the workers, and denies
the producers of all wealth a right
even to live unless they can extract
still more profit out of their hides.
In conclusion, If we were willing to
comiiensato them, what could we compensate them wilh. As we have pro
duced, so they have appropriated; they
gets.
• * ,»
Elections are due next tall probably. It would be well for those Locals who Intend taking a fall out ot
King Capital to get their ammunition
ready. This being a free country, a
fine of a hundred dollars must be paid
for each candidate you wish to nominate. The workers make the law, so
they should get ready to obey their
laws by digging up the necessary cash.
The cost of voting for yourself in
Vancouver is $500.00.
...
Also a renewal and a new one from
Comrade MeBeath of Vancouver.
...
Comrade Frank Phillips of Nelson
has a sub. and a solicitude for the
Poor Scotchman's" health. "It's no
sae bad, Frank. Thank ye tor
spelrln'."
...
I am going to ask all the comrades
who sent In one subscriber during the
month of May to go and do likewise
this month. Also I want aB many as
possible to join the rustlers' squad
and boost the circulation with a new
sub. each this month.
...
To be dumb and unable to express
your wishes iB a sad calamity. But
to be without a vote on election day
is a crime.
...
One apiece fall to the credit of
Comrades F. Perry, Vancouver; J. H.
Robertson, Bellevuo, and a comrade
on SuqiiaBh Creek.
...
Did you see that deficit? Who's to
Wane? Has your Loral a card in the
directory and does lt take a bundle?
Ii not, why not? If so, how much does
it owe? Are all your fellow members
subscribers? No? Then, why don't
YOU put it up to them? Get busy!
CALLED OFF.
ample, suppose a man has $100 which
he Invests in a limited company, and nwn a11 ,he wea"11' wo on,y °ur labo1r
power, and after our experiences In
the struggle for existence during the
past, should we mortgage that labor-
power, our only possession?
No! The next order of society
must be based on freedom.
G. STEWART.
at the end of the year they declare a
dividend of 10 per cent, and continue
to do so; well, In ten years he would
receive back an equivalent to his
capital, but the capital would still remain Invested, producing, more dividends. I use $100 as an example for
The Vancouver police got over their
difficulty in finding out Comrade English's name, it not having been published in more than four local papers,
by christening him "John Doe."
The case of John Doe was then
called ln the police court. John Doe
was apparently absent, but the police
Prosecutor stated that he would withdraw the case as the Socialists had
agreed to so conduct their meetings
as not to block the traffic.
As the Socialists hail agreed to
nothing of the kind, though they do
make a practice or conducting their
meetings with a little decency, It may
be presumed that this Is n graceful
method for the police to climb down.
What io Read on Socialism
RyOharleeH.Kerr, Kdltorof tho International
Socialist Rerlew, Klglitr beanUfnUy printed
pages, with many portraits ol socialist write™.
Includes a simple, concise statement of the principles of socialism. On. copylrejon request.
10 mailed for 10c: WO for 11.00: 1.000 for 110.00.
CHARLES H. KERR A. CO.
163 KlnilB Street, Chloago, III. THE WESTERN CLARION, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA.
LONDON LETTER
A SWEATED INDUSTRY.
The report of '.Mr. ,1. J. Mallon, secretary of the National Anti-Sweating
League, in regard to the misery in Ihe
Nottingham lace industry, like Upton Sinclair's exposure of Ihe Chicago
stock yards, has crealetl an immense
sensation. True to their interests, the
Nottingham lace manufacturers and
their henchmen vomit forth all sorts
of abuse and ridicule on Mr. Mallon
and his report, and the Nottingham
Chamber of Commerce is even going
to start an investigation to disprove
the report, in all of which Mr. Mallon remains cool and says, "Go see
for yourself." The report reads as
follows:
"The lace home workers of Nottingham who are scheduled for treatment
In the Government's Trade Board Bill,
number about 8,000 women, but it is
a little difficult to be exact. In quiet
times only the lucky ones and ^ some
of the insistent ones get employment.
But in a swell of work, lace is shaken out lavishly over a great area,
hardly a room in Swinton or Poplar or
the Bottoms is free of it. If the sun
shines it comes into the streets, too,
and is spilled over door steps and
pavements, where the women squat,
passing the lace through their swift
unresting fingers. It is easy work,
given good sight and flexibility of finger, your 'clipper,' 'drawer' or 'scollo-
per' needs only practice for proficiency. The 'mender' of plain net must
be more deft, for the faults and holes
left by the machine must be surely
spied out, and a very skillful needle
must correct them. But the mending
Is for the few. The many clip away
threads that do not belong to the pattern, cut out superfluous material
from between the scallops on the
margin, or remove the connecting
threads that hold breadths of lace
together.
"If there Is to be any work done in
homes, this of lace seems open to
least objection. Its disadvantages,
which do not arise from the nature of
the work, are suggested by the anaemic faces of the women, and a strange
listlessness and passivity that is their
characteristic. Some of them have
■wrought at lace since babyhood. In
their infancy they 'clipped,' and
through their teens and courtship.
Marriage was but a momentary interruption, for at the best, men's
wages are low. So work recommences, and anon Is shared in by new
baby fingers.
"There is the customary inexactness about earnings. What a worker
earned last week, or is likely to earn
this one, she may know. What she
earns per hour is forever hidden from
her. There is similar vagueness
about hours. You hear of 'all night
work' and work on Sundays in times
of rush—the women regret it Is not
always bo. But they have no heads
for average, and do not keep records.
After much questioning, you are left
with a general Impression of earnings Of ONE PENNY PER HOUR,
which, however, especially quick
workers can exceed. One woman
'scalloping' at one-half pence per dozen yards said she sometimes got
more. Near to her other workers
were receiving three-quarter pence for
Identical work. At these prices the
workers agreed it would be HARD TO
EARN A SHILLING A DAY.
"In such variations as exist, and
generally where the Interests of the
home workers are concerned, the
middle women, of whom there are
700, are a factor. The middle-women
bargain with the factory, distribute
the work, and receive It back when
finished, and they are responsible for
damage to It. The middle-woman is
paid for it, and In turn pays the operative. These services are important,
and the deduction of one-thlnl from
the warehouse price which tbe middle-
woman Is supposed to ctact Is not
necessarily unreasonable. There Is
evidence that sometimes she takes
more than the usual proportion, but
on the whole, she cannot, be accused
of unjust exaction. This is more
noteworthy, as, being the capitalist
from whom momentary advances are
secured, and sometimes the tenant of
houses in which the worker takes a
room, she is ln a position to practice
oppression on a large scale. The
middle-woman, as anyone who visits
Swinton may know, does not exercise a nice discrimination ln her
choice of workers. Lace goes easily
Jnto rooms of incredible filth and Into
hands of workers suffering from illness, sometimes Infectious, and in a
few cases of a loathsome character.
The present arrangement allows the
wholesale houses no control over the
distribution of their work, If the
middle-women were their direct employers the least desirable homes and
workers could be easily eliminated.
"Whether under a trade board anything more than the adjustment of
varying rates will be possible the
event will show. It is certain that to
a throng of workers tho tiniest betterment will mean invaluable relief. One
sickens at least of these bleak and
Btrlcken streets, the pallor and hopelessness of the women and the cramped rooms with their meagre chatties,
'You cannot live on lace' is Ihe general verdict. 'You can get bread and
tea out of it and some are glad to get
that.'
"Nottingham trade is depressed just
now, and the shadow of unemployment darkens .MANY A THOUSAND
HOMES IN THE LACE QUARTER.
Into a room containing five pieces of
wretched furniture a husband comes
weary from search of employment.
His wife, busy with a table full of
lace, mutely questions him, and receives in answer a woeful shake of
the head. A sick child sprawls on
the broken sofa and sobs. There is
no sign of food. Questioned as to her
earnings, the woman says the lace on
which she is engaged is the only work
she has had for three days. She will
work on it for five hours and get 6
pence.
Out of that, at any rate, they can
eat. There are, of course, some cheerful homes, and a widow woman pointed with just and touching pride to her
cosy room shining with cleanliness.
Lace kept her going, she said, and she
thought she would earn an average
wage of 7 to 8 shilling per week.
When work was scarce she had to go
short, but she had never begged. But
there were not many souls so brave
and undaunted as this one.
"A strong word of criticism must be
passed on the housing conditions in
the lace districts. THERE ARE
SCORES OF HOUSES ENTIRELY
UNFIT FOR HUMAN HABITATION
THAT OUGHT TO BE RUTHLESSLY
DESTROYED. These pestilent, dark
and stinking places are not paralleled
by anything in adjacent large towns.
Some of the worst of them are built
over pail closets, whence sickening
odors arise. Others are encrusted
with the dirt of generations. In the
Poplar district are great tenements,
the spiral stairs so dark that you may
not mount them without the aid of a
match. These and countless others
are back to back and are utterly filthy and neglected. In these places
an entirely vicious system of letting
furnished rooms has grown up, and
the proprietor, throwing in 10 shillings' worth of rubbish, exacts for a
room three times its fit price. The
highest rent is charged for a bottom
floor, and the rent diminishes 6 pence
per floor as you ascend. Thus the
ground floor is 4 shillings and the
fourth floor is 2 shillings 6 pence.
In these places the children fare
badly. A GREAT MANY, EVEN OF
THE YOUNGEST, HELP TO AIAKE
LACE. Many seem hungry and most
are ragged. Like other submerged
and unhappy districts, the lace quarter is prolific in children. As I stand
at the street corner a pregnant woman comes out of a small shop, carrying a loaf and a baby. Two other
children cling to her skirts, the eldest
barely four years old. In one house
a very small child is fastened into a
chair and seems to be dying. It is
emaciated and quite Indifferent to the
movement around about it. It does
not laugh, or cry, or move Its hands,
and a noticeable glaze is on its eyes.
Other children have sores on their
faces, and a great many are pale and
ill. Here and there aa entirely
healthy babe glows like a flower amid
general dlnginess. BUT THERE ARE
FEW FLOWERS.
The plight of the lace workers
raises the whole issue of home Industry In an acute form. In given cases
and taking the short view It seems
beneficent ln Its operation, an Invaluable prop to independence and self-
respect, an eker out of Insufficient
means. A longer view fills one with
doubt. The thought occurs that the
work of these women has not benefited their households. There la evidence that it has made the husband
worse In morale and economic position, that lt has hindered and not helped the children, that in a hundred
subtle ways economic forces have
acted upon it, allowed for It, and set
it off, and made the last state of these
households worse than their first."
ROBT. E. SCOTT,
SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1909.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
Comrades: Can you see the system
going?
There have been bread riots in England!
Charity organizations In the United
States are flooded with applications
for relief!
The unemployed problem is acute
the world over!
Crime is on the increase!
Suicides are of daily occurrence!
The industrial outlook Is black!
Business is falling off!
The workers everywhere are looking
with dread to the future!
Old party politicians are admittedly
at fault and can do nothing!
What does it mean? It means that
the capitalist system is on its last legs
and cannot last much longer! Comrades, get ready!
Can you read the "omens," brothers?
The Socialists are gaining strength
everywhere!
Union men and unions are becoming class conscious!
The revolution is ready to break out
again in Russia!
Labor is showing its teeth and
is striking back at capital! '
Workers will no longer join military
forces except under compulsion!
Strikes and labor troubles are fought
out more bitterly than ever!
The proletarian rebels everywhere
are learning to help and support each
other!
Reform movements no longer attract the masses!
What does lt mean? It means that
the working class are uniting and pre-i
paring against the crash of the system. It means that the prolitariat realizes and is ready to fulfil its mission in human evolution and will soon
take the machines of production and
use them collectively and for the good
of all! It means the coming of Socialism!
Comrades, are you ready?
The master class are uniting!
The torture chamber is at work in
Russia!
Attempts have been made to railroad Socialist labor leaders to the gallows and destroy class conscious unions!
A Socialist member has been expelled from the British House of Commons for daring to demand work for
the starving!
The rights of a free press and of
free speech have been attacked in
America!
England practically establishes military law ln India!
Dick military bill passes ln U. S. A.,
giving President power to enroll troops
to be used against the people!
American officers and Russian spies
unite in attempt to deport refugees
and destroy right of asylum for political offenders!
Absolutely shameless and open stealing of votes!
Courts of Europe unite to fight Socialism!
Taft, notorious enemy of workers,
elected President ln U. S. A.!
American military engineers map Industrial districts!
Capitalist ministry In France prosecutes Socialist school teachers.
Comrades, what does it mean? It
means that the capitalist class and the
tyrants of each and every race are
united to uphold the system. It means
that they are preparing to fight for
their ill-gotten gains to the last ditch.
It means they will stop at nothing!
It means that capitalism will not abdicate, but must be deposed. It means
Revolution, with the master class taking the offensive. It means this and
nothing else. Comrades, are you
ready?
GERALD O'CONEL DESMOND.
COMPULSORY MILITIA
FOR A JOB.
SERVICE
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
Owing to pressure of other work in
this office, It. has been found necessary to publish the Clarion In future
one day earlier In the week. Correspondence of Immediate interest
should be sent ln as early ln the week
as possible.
••••••o«oa«e«ft«99e«*«3w<»e«*e*.>«
Editor Western Clarion.—
Fellow workers, efforts are being
made by Col. Hall and Col. Prior and
the Victoria board of trade to employ
only militia men, or those willing to
become such ln al! Industries, also
using their Influence on the mayor and
council of Victoria to compel city employes to join the militia to get or
hold a job.
These men of the boards of trade
of Victoria and Vancouver have got
bad memories or shameless faces of
brass, in ignoring their part In bringing into British Columbia 40,000
Asiatics and setting them to work all
over the Province, instead of white
men, because they were CHEAP and
throwing our white men Idle on the
streets. These board of trade men
during 190G and 1907 were uttering lying pleas of "shortage of labor," while
we were walking the streets In idleness, while Hindoos by the shipload
were landed and dumped on the
streets without food, clothing or shelter or work, In the cold and rain, many
wearing "British army medalB" on
their breasts, brought here by these
covetous snobs that are called capitalists, acting like thieving slave raiders and brutal highwaymen and
brigands, who even then took upon
themselves to hold a labor Inquiry,
when they recommended the government to take off the bead tax from
the Chinese and admit all Asiatics
Into the country, the wives of these
traders and professional classes petitioning for the same.
These people (the better' (?) class)
carefully put their "patriotism" and
the moral, social and industrial and
political safety of our people in the
pigeon holes of their offices or threw
it away by bringing (hose 40,000 Asiatics nnd employing them, instead of
our own people, because the Asiatics
were cheap, so that large numbers of
while men had to leave British Columbia, others being hindered from
coming into British Columbia by reason of Ihe Asiatics. Others were
thrown on our streets in poverty and
beggary, and as vagrants were and
are driven from place to place and
Into jail; our white women into prostitution, some into filthy Chinese deus
of infamy; our people into race suicide and our children taken from
school and sent with newspapers and
messenger jobs on Ihe streets, into
infamous liquor dens and filthy red
light districts.
Then these gentlemen (?) lift up
their hands in amazement like hypocrites at the appalling juvenile degradation ln British Columbia. The Victoria papers of Monday, April 12th,
1909, told us that 700 children had
been helped in the children's home in
Vancouver, and that there were 219
now in that home. Mr. Bowser, on
the floor of the legislature, said that
there were 100 children in the industrial institution, this largely through
these "patriotic" people bringing these
40,000 Asiatics into British Columbia,
and the present thievish capitalistic
system.
The children should be kept at
school and have a chance to become
honorable citizens, which is impossible
under the present industrial system
and the enormously brutal competition
and craze for cheap labor, and the tremendous productive power of machinery, which is all owned by boards of
trade, professional men and politicians, who are traitors to God, men
and country, and "these are the men
we idiot fool workers have voted to
represent us In Parliaments;" these
are the men that caused the riots in
Vancouver; and then they demanded
the "militia" to be called out to put
down the rioters.
Several years ago these men put
Asiatics to work on the Fraser river
fisheries, in place of the white men,
when they called out the militia, who
guarded the Asiatics against the
white men and stood ready to bayonet
or shoot the white fishermen, their
own friends, showing that capitalism
regards no human tie or feeling when
profit is threatened.
Militiamen are sworn to obey orders; they are drilled Into unquestioned obedience; they may not exercise
reason, intelligence or sense of right
or humanity; they are told the first
duty of a soldier is to obey orders,
which the most ferocious butcher in
command may give! This is what
they are doing in Russia and Mexico.
Just Imagine, my fellow workers, having a father, son or brother or friend
in the militia standing ready with his
gun and bayonet to shoot you down
or run his bayonet through you! An
account of this sort can be seen ln
the April, 1909, Issue of "Fortnightly
Review," In an article, entitled "Law
of Force and Law of Love," by Tolstoi.
The militia was called out lately in
the Crow's Nest Pass in British Columbia (i.e., N. W. M. P.), to protect
strikebreakers. See Victoria Times,
April 13th, 1909.
The Minister of Militia, on the floor
of the Dominion House a few days
ago, said the money spent on tbe militia had paid for itself ten times over
by
Preventing Strikes.
•lust think of this, fellow workers!
That is why these (better (?) claSB)
men want us in the militia, that we
may be the human butchers of our
own relatives and friends, while they
employ a horde of 40,000 Asiatics co
do the work, and who live In tuberculosis breeding dens, scarcely fit for
hogs, on a handful of rice and a drink
of water. McBride and Bowser, Laur-
ier and Dunsmulr turn their blind eyes
to this kind of thing; then they want
to force us into the militia. In the
face of such brutality it is time for
the whole of us to shut down on this
militia work.
Since the militia is only needed to
make war on strikers who are struggling to get a living wage and to protect scabs who are contemptible |
enough to cover up a loathsome sore
on our industrial body, it behooves us
to shut down everywhere on the
militia.
JOHN STAPLES.
Victoria, B. C.
PLATFORM
Socialist Party of Canada
We, the Socialist Party of Canada, In convention assembled,
affirm our allegiance to, and support of the principles and programme of the revolutionary working class.
Labor produces all wealth, and to the producers It should belong. The present economic system Is based upon capitalist ownership of the means of production, consequently all the products ot
labor belong to the capitalist class. The capitalist is therefore
master; the worker a slave.
So long as the capitalist class remains ln possession of tha
reins of government all the powerB of the State will be used to
protect and defend their property rights ln the means of wealth
production and their control of the product of labor.
The capitalist system gives to the capitalist an ever-swelling
stream of profits, and to the worker an ever Increasing measure
ot misery and degradation.
The Interest of the working class lies In the direction of setting
Itself free from capitalist exploitation by the abolition of the wage
system, under which Is cloaked the robbery of the working-class
at the point of production. To accomplish this necessitates the
transformation of capitalist property in the means of wealth production into collective or working-class property.
The Irrepressible conflict of interests between the capitalist
and the worker Is rapidly culminating in a struggle for possession
of the power of government—the capitalist to hold, the worker to
secure It by political action. This is the class struggle.
Therefore, we call upon all workers to organize under the
banner of the Socialist Party of Canada with the object of conquering the public powers for the purpose of setting up and enforcing the economic programme of the working class, as follows:
1. The transformation, as rapidly as possible, of capitalist
property in the.means of wealth production (natural resources,
factories, mills, railroads etc.,) Into the collective property of the
working class.
2. The democratic organization and management of industry
by the workers.
8. The establishment, as speedily as possible, of production for
use instead of production for profit.
The Socialist Party, when in office, shall always and everywhere until the present system is abolished, make the answer to
this question its guiding rule of conduct: Will this legislation advance the Interests of the working class and aid the workers ia
their class struggle against capitalism? If It will the Socialist
Party Is for lt; If it will not, the Socialist Party is absolutely
opposed to lt.
In accordance with this principle the Socialist Party pledgee
Itself to conduct all the public affairs placed in its hands in such
a manner as to promote the Interests of the working class alone.
DON'T BE A SOCIALIST
unless you know WHY you are one. The cause of Socialism has been,
tremendously injured and retarded by the ignorance of those who
talk and write about it without a proper understanding of its principles. The foolish notion of "dividing up" and the story of the
"Irishman's two pigs" come from this source. The capitalist writer!
and the speakers deliberately misrepresent our principles, but if every
comrade thoroughly understands Socialism, it will hasten the coming
of liberty for all.
"The Library Of Original Sources"
(In the Original Documents-Translated)
sweeps away the bigotry and snperstition that has accumulated around
Religion, Government, Law, Social Science, etc.—brings to light the
naked truth and shows why Socialism is coining. The "Documents"
cover as well the entire field of thought.
Prominent Socialists Say:
A. M. SIMONS: "Will be read
when novels are forgotten—easy
to grow enthusiastic over, difficult to find fault with."
VICTOR L. BERGER: "Of greatest value to Socialist students—
a treasure mine of information."
ERNE8T UNTERMANN (Lecturer Scientific Socialism):
"Your kindness Is most appreciated and I enclose check.
The Documents will be my most
valued companions this winter."
TOM CLIFFORD (Socialist Lecturer): "That which I have
longingly desired for years, and
which I must confess I despaired
of ever enjoying—'The Library
of Original Sources'—a service
to civilization."
APPEAL TO REA80N: "Active
Locals of the Socialist Party
could not make a better investment than a set of these books."
A. R. LIVINGSTON (Sec. Local,
Hackberry, Kas.): "I owe yort
my thanks—greatest addition 1
ever made to my library."
WALTER LOHRENTZ (See.
Longshoreman's Union, Seattle;
Wash.: "A boom to the working
class who bave neither time nor
money to secure a university
education."
ARTHUR MORROW LEWIS
(Lecturer Scientific Socialism):
"I regard lt aa the most valuable
part of my library."
SEYMOUR 8TEOMAN: "II
stands like a pyramid ln m
desert."
Not for "Scholars" but for Thinkers
Tta toilen, thi "producer*" who in beiiulig to bi diitalhrallid am) Ihlah Ur thiniilvsa.
MAIL THIS TODAY
University Research Extension. Milwaukee, Wis.
GENTLEMEN:—Please send review articles by Simons and Berirer and
Ka%.T^
Nam, ..
A ddresa .
ROBUTCHYJ NAROD.
Our Ukrainian comrades, undaunted by the fate of the "Red Flag," are
now making another attempt to have
a Socialist paper of their own. Comrades resident among Ukrainians
(Gnliclans) can help the paper and
the movement along by sending for a
bundle and distributing them. Address Robutchyj Narod, 135 Stephen
St., Winnipeg, Man. Price, 50 cents
per year.
TO HOUSEKEEPERS
♦Jfllf you would like to spend less time in your kitchen
and woodshed, and have much more time for outdoor
life, recreation and pleasure, look into the question of
doing your cooking with a Gas Range.
Telephone your address to our office and we will send a man
to measure your premises and give you an estimate of cost, of
installing the gae pipes,
Vancouver Gas Company, Limited.
Featured Collection
BC Historical Newspapers
Western Clarion Jun 6, 1909
Item Metadata
Download
- Media
- wclarion-1.0318870.pdf
- Metadata
- JSON: wclarion-1.0318870.json
- JSON-LD: wclarion-1.0318870-ld.json
- RDF/XML (Pretty): wclarion-1.0318870-rdf.xml
- RDF/JSON: wclarion-1.0318870-rdf.json
- Turtle: wclarion-1.0318870-turtle.txt
- N-Triples: wclarion-1.0318870-rdf-ntriples.txt
- Original Record: wclarion-1.0318870-source.json
- Full Text
- wclarion-1.0318870-fulltext.txt
- Citation
- wclarion-1.0318870.ris
Full Text
Cite
Citation Scheme:
Usage Statistics
Share
Embed
Customize your widget with the following options, then copy and paste the code below into the HTML
of your page to embed this item in your website.
<div id="ubcOpenCollectionsWidgetDisplay">
<script id="ubcOpenCollectionsWidget"
src="{[{embed.src}]}"
data-item="{[{embed.item}]}"
data-collection="{[{embed.collection}]}"
data-metadata="{[{embed.showMetadata}]}"
data-width="{[{embed.width}]}"
async >
</script>
</div>
Our image viewer uses the IIIF 2.0 standard.
To load this item in other compatible viewers, use this url: https://iiif.library.ubc.ca/presentation/cdm.wclarion.1-0318870/manifest