PAQE EIGHT TOE RED FLAG WHAT OF THI WEtt* - The Tnrth About the StrikM: Capitel'i Oa* Canny: The Only Remedy By JOHN JACKS • |Sifa (From the "Labor Leader,'' August 14^ 1919.) ISNT it really time that someone told the truth about strikes? Lota of people think it is. But ' what is the truth t Here is Sir Bobert Hadfield, the great Sheffield ateel magnate, tailing the readers of the Km, News his idea. It is that direct action ia a deliberate effort to challenge the Government. Strikes are damaging to industry; they restrict output; they make the necessaries of life searee, and therefore dear; they shake the stability of industry and they handicap employers in competing for big contracts, and therefore rob the workers of work. The strike is usually an ad- mission that negotiation has failed. Now all that is true, and if nothing remained to be said, I, for one, should not advocate a strike even as the last desperate hope. But more does remain. The Hadfields don't hint at the ease for the have-nots. Sir Bobert Hadfield carefully ignores tite fact, that there is another aide to the strike shield. He does not point out to the Empire News that at the present moment there is more damage being done to industry, more suffer- ing, and more scarcity of necessaries due to the Strike ot Capitalists than there is due to the strikes of the workere. If you total up the numbers of men who were on strike last week in the coalfields, on the Liverpool trams, the police force* and aU the other industries, the result will be found to be less than one hundred thousand. And at the same time there were a mil. Boa or more worken out of work owing to the strike of Capital. For every man who is out of work is so because Capitalism is refusing to perform that duty the performance of whieh is ite sole justification. For every man who for one reason or another refused to work there were at least ten for whom Capitalism refused to "find work.'' • And if H is the duty of the wage-earner to work, no matter how little he may be inclined to do so, no mstter how many grievances he may have, it must be the equal duty of Capital to find him wotck' no matter how Capitalism may distrust ita ability to earn a profit or a satisfactory profit The master, eT*i|i can't have it both ways. They ean't say logically or justly. "The workers moat produce more and more," and at the same time reserve to themselves the right not to produce at all unless they can be sure of a profit. Yet that is exactly what they do say or they act upon the assumpion. They expect the workers to go on working with-, out any guarantee that the more they produce the snore they will enjoy. They expect the workers to go on working to enable the Nation to pay off its 4eats. They expect the workers to perform their fraction, which, they say, is to work Without question; but they deny, in deed if not in word, the right of the nation to insist that they perform their aelf-professed function of finding work unless their remuneration shall be to their satisfaction. The consequence is that at a time when we are on the verge of national bankruptey, and when the lords t s. d. are lament of the workers who are actually at work, the same lords are holding up their capital and declining to rkers to apply themselves to it for whieh, we are told, tim nation witt perfarh. aming the Capitalists. I am blaming the Government.. Why .should a Capitalist risk his money kt industry when he can invest it in Victory Loan or. Funding Loan at a high rate of sure And why should the Government not compete with starving industries for capital? It must compete while it continues to maintain an army on the Rhine, an army in Ireland, and two or three armies in Bussia, The Government ia spending over four millions a day on these enterprises. Ths means the diversion of capital from production; 4t means the withholding of thi'- tabor of several millions of workers from production; it means the employment of ships on the transport of munitions of war. instead of upon the transport'of food and raw material. It, therefore, means such a eondit.on of society that Capital refuses to operate. So Capitalism is on strike, and will remain on strike until, things are more settled. But things will never be more .settled until Capitalism consents to perform its sole [unction of "finding work." This it will not do while it can earn a sure five per cent, by lending to U«e Government, even though the Government wastes. the money on trying to destroy Lenin and Trotsky and keeping Ireland in ve*Uo' How to get Capitalism to perform its function of finding work for the million or more out of work. That is the question upon the successful solution of which the future of the country depends.' There is no answer except this: Either Capitalism (tilt private control and ownership of capital) or the present Government must cease tq exist. But as the present Government has no intention of destroying Capitalism by making capital a communal or national possession, both must cease to crist 'r*** present Government—the" Government '. ott Lloyd George and Bonar Law—must he wiped' out and room made for a Government which will not faWf ate to make capital productive, even if it cannot be made profitable. "Pie needs of the people sre more urgent than the need of profit. Capital, under those who at present control it, will not do its duty. It must be taken out qf their hands and put in the possession of the democracy, and under the control of those who can use it. The tools to the man who can use tiiem! Remember those boys in Stony Mountain. Word} comes through that they are taking it easy. Baft has definitely been refused. An appeal haa. been sent out from Winnipeg for demonstrations in their- behalf Butt whatever is done do not forget tha Defence Fund. No effort should be spared to put the stiffest of fights up at the Assises. This on? general principles aa well as for tim sskemf those on trial. Take up collections at your union meetings, picnics and at tim Send all money and make all cheques payable to A. S. Wells, B. C. Federstionist, Labor Temple, Van- convey *B. future will be made by mail. TOO FILTHY k We were asked to publish some extract* from » ■book on the insideMiistory of Canadian Politics, but we refused. This is a family journal. •: ■■■•' '.' ."■ ,■<—— URGES TRADE WITH, 80VTET RUSSIA Vi, The Capitalists,aw,pot using capital. They are abusing it by lending it for enterprises in Whieh the democracy doea1 pqt believe. Thst capital was produced by the workers. It ia necessary to thelr existence. It is necessary to the solvency of the country. It is necessary to prevent us from degeneration into anarchy, chaos and bloody revqlution. ■The Government mu** break the strike ofCapitalists. It can do so only by taking over capital— the machinery of produetion and exchange—snd using it for the purpose of cresting a better State in Great Britain—and leaving Bussia 'to Lenin. This, of course, the present Government will never do, since it is a Government of men more concerned for the maintenance of the privileges of propertythan for the propagation of tiw happiness of tite people. , .. '^--'"': But how can thk Government he wiped out 1. It will not Obey the mandate of the by-electiona, and get out. It recognises that when it does go, a Government will take its place that will .attempt to nee the capital of the* country for tiw good of the people of tiie country. That wfll inevitably entail th*} transference of espitsl to publie ownership, and the end of luxurious idleness on the one hand, ■ and starvation on the other hand# So the GnVenfient will ding to offiee as long aa it can. and then it will attempt to get hack to power for anothe lease of life on some scare stunt. l are being told for tin purpose of makir uddy-ramded believe that We are ruction hand of t <;d George clique that is making.des- Gsear T. Crosby, President of the Ini Council on War Purchases and Finance a and Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury during the war, fat quoted in an interview is the New York ''World,'' August 3, aa follows: "What we need concerning Bussia is the troth only. Sending two or a dosen men to investigsto Russia is a grotesque proceeding. Thousands should go—thst is, sll who want to go........ Bussia wilt work out her own destiny, and we should permit private business to be resumed. Others will trade with Bussia, and we will have to, or lose our fair share.'' Mn.WAUKEE, Wis., Sept 3.—Cudshy Brothers Company, packers, today pleaded guilty in District Court to twenty-three violations of the cold storage. law and Wan fined the maximum amount of each ' charge, totalling $2800. ' 0wm^Mmmm****mwmmmmm*a*fm*^^ £ -mm*m**-**--~m*-mt'i'm.ii>iMm9m«mmtIHmmmimim Kill Illt^a^^^lliWty^H^in^ll— truction of the present state of society not only '. certain but desirable. Yes, the putting out of the* Scotland YJerd alleged ••discoveries" as. to "Bed Gold"-by tha way, I've not seen any* and don't I deserve somef —and the simultaneous ''determination" te tackle profiteering (which ean't be defined) are probably the preliminaries to an appeal to toe country in the hope thst once sgsin the people can be bamboozled into believing that you can make parsdisal purses out of guinea-pigs' ears. But nothing 2s to be hoped from a'General Election unless tite party which goes into power mean* to make capital "find work," for Capitalism wiB continue ita partial strike until it can see a certain six per cent or more aa a result of ita activity. And don't forget that when Capitalism downs tools, the Government gives it employment at fife per cent interest. When Labor downs tools the Government gives it—what? ft is not the spasmodic strikes of Labor that are causing the unrest They are mere ■jmptoma ef the social disease due to the fact thst Cs by going on strike hss induced a f e of the present unrest ia not Bolshevism hut Bee- selfishness. : HOW BOLSHEVISM IS HADE A BOGEY. (Continual From Page Six.) ******> • ■ •• *^-"""B •— •^■"■*^^^"""""""ff"""S""m ?ma^**qP***mm9 w Mr. Haywood, like Mr. Keeling, is s strangely endowed writer of history, for after a pious declaration that his book is no attack ott the theory of Bolshevism, he writes a 12-page Appendix on "The Theory of Bolshevism" (which he does not at all understand) as a root fallacy, a failure in economic structure and a despising of civil liberty. Further, Mr. Haywood tells us that in all his talks wttfa Mr.-Keeling, he never detected "the sligh.fsl variation in Lis story." This is curious, as ih.re are seversi in the book. Mr. Keeling ssy.i he was srrested "at least six times" (p. 123.) later that he waa arrested twice (p. 175); apparently always for s very short time. More serious is the •"variation" between his savins that the Bolsheviks: -suppressed the Co-operative Societies (n. 137.) a notorious inaccuracy, and his references to Cooperation. Again, he says that the blockade has nothing to do with the famine (p. 130.) while ten pages later that "the opening up of trade wtth Western Europe will esse the (food) situation!" Then there are other statements wildly inaccurate, e.g., that there la no lack of fuel in Bussia (pp 166 and 196.) In fact the parentage of the book seems to be a slipshod and ill-tempered mind supplying material and an inaccurate, prejudiced pen writing the material up. His Charges Against tite Soviets. The aeridus eharges made against the Soviets in these pages can be, faced wtth equanimity. Keeling maintains (what is hard to prove and herd to disprove) that under Bolshevism there is Jess liberty than avtr, and indeed such denial of liberty that Britons would not tolerate it a day. Bolshevism means conscription. Which Britons also-have still to endure, although their country is net invaded nor in any danger of invasion. Bolshevism means suppression of newspapers. That. also. Englishmen have known. Have not printing plants been smashed and works, closed, snd poor men been ruined by £100 fines In this land tor printing what the government did not like f Bolshevism means spying on suspects. But is not the British Government at this moment setting up a new and permanent spying department (flpecial Service) in the Home Office f Bolshevism means that all sorts of permits are needed to travel or trade. It is just the same here; 'only it appears that passports are got with less delay snd less often refused in Russia than in this Wtth Wilson playing, an amiable Alexander I to Clemenceau's Metternieh, tim first act of the drama Of counter-revolution has ended in s brilliant triumph for the Holy Alliance. The history of the pacification of Hungary, now, accomplished, is neither very long nor very difficult to understand; and it illustrates very admirably the manner in which* bread and bullets may influence the self-determination of a free people. In a speech delivered in Paris towards the end of July, Herbert C. Hoover, Food Dictator tor the Allies, remarked that officials of the Relief Commission were maintaining and managing some eighteen separate governments—eighteen well nourished centers of anti- Bolshevism. A lew days later (July 26,) the Allies offered to give Hungary a place in Mr. Hoover's bread line on condition that the Soviet government be overthrown. Unfortunately toe attention of tite communist officials wss centered for the time being upon military operations against the most honest of their enemies—the Roumanians. Meanwhile Captain Gregory, an American now functioning as chief Allied bread baiter for central Europe, dangled before Budapest a most generous offer of food—to be had at a price. The combined attack of Roumanian arms and Allied intrigue, was too much for Bela Kun: on August 31, his government wss overthrown. The Associated Press dispatch that announced tiie debacle at Budapest proudly pointed out Gut Captain Gregory should be ''credited with a large share in the hastening of Bels KunY retirement*'' In the face of a feeble and obviously insincere"protest from the Supreme Council at Paris, the Roumanian army now overran Hungary, occupied the capital, and created conditions that made easy tiie strangulation of the the return pf ig out of tiie counter-revolution. With the Supreme Council still uttering stage thunders against Roumania. Archduke Joseph, "the the Hapsburg family,'' wuvuaivuo aaa*,- *m.mmf*. mmmjj aaaa. ouaagui new bourgeois-Socialist government, tli the femigres, and the complete 'worfcrnji Do you believe that MnUnd would be permitted » make peace wtth the -Bassfan RepublieT" "I am no politician and I esn not give you any definite answer about that Nevertheless. I believe, thai the Entente powers would not approve of sueh . peaee st this time. In regaid to the food which is the only question within my I believe it would not be aa easy to for food relief in case you would start h the present Bussian Government" I understand that this a very delicate point. . . The problem is by no mesns of a purely human- tarian character—the delivery of the Finnish people from starvation. Bather the object ia to make Finland's policies completely dependent on the poliey of the western imperialists, and to eompel the Finnish people to remain in a state of war with the Russisn Soviet Republic. , • • .-• • The war went too far—millions of men and billions of dollars too. far. The Supreme Council acV mite it when it goes about rebuilding what the war pulled down at such a heavy east in Mood and treasure. A monopoly of ruling-class privileges was the reward expected fay tiw victors; actually they have fallen heir toe revolution that threatens tfae destruction of the very system of privilege. It is the fear of this universal cataclysm that seta tfae Supreme Council seeking allies among its bitterest enemies of e year ago. Wttfa the defeat of Germany, tfae fears and animosities tfaat so recently divided Europe into two rival political systems lost most of their significance, since tfaat time the fear of the social revolution has tended more and more to replace the old national and dynastic rivalries. The Treaty is the product of the nationalistic system thst gave the conqueror the right to grind . his defeated rival into the dust. But tfae counter- most popular member of revolutionary' activities of tiie Allied powers are- dumped the ad interim of a different order: they belong net to thc war of cabinet into the discard and became Regent of Hungary. The sincerity of the Allied'promises to the first anti-communist government may be judged from the fact that on the day of the Hapsburg coup d'etat the members of Entente mission conferred wtth the Archduke, reached "a full, agreement" ,\iifa him on vaiioin, matters, and ended by dele- gaving governmental authority to this nev* Die- r*tor. • • • • land. Bolshevism means many'decrees issued, not gathered together Information relative to i by Parliament, but by order and bureaucrats. Is ,*JMwlo1ioliary' options in Finland an*? It not exactly the same here? Has Mr. .Keeling ^ ^ w ^ obtainable,' an interview Counted up the regulations of KJ. G. R. A., or can he say how many hundreds were issued by the Food Ministry alone f Really, the argument, here and elsewhere stated, thst the liberty of Bussia and the souls of her people can only be saved by sweeping •way the Bolsheviks is overdone. Alter s few names snd dates slid transpose a few forms and the on liberty of which the Bolsheviks are rilty. can be shown to have been achieved also he British Government; by the French! by the ans! by the U. S. A. Government! Are they all ■ conclusion, let it be fairly stated that Mr. Keeling does not advise military intervention hi though he does not denounce it: he never is Kolchak; he never praises tile Cadets; he to have'heard of Gorki or Mart o v. the fart ons anti-Bolsheviks now worki The nature of American activities in Hungary is essily understood when published fsets are once wan? Bus- published in the Soumen SostaHdemokrastti, a Finnish newspaper, may therefore be regarded as " a piece of preciosity."The speakers sre. first, s Finnish newspaper reporter; second, Magnus Swenson, sometime of Madison, Wisconsin, wore recently Inter-Allied Food Dictator for Scandinavia and Finland. To quote: "Is it true," I (the reporter) asked, "that our getting foodstuffs depends to some extent on the political system of our country." "Yes nations hut to tim class straggle tfaat divides Europe horizontally and gives the lie to nstionslism at the very moment when tite war haa brought tt to the height of its development. Mannerheim ef Finland. Kolehsk of Rns«a. and Joseph of Austria, have profited in turn fay tiie new diplomacy that joins dollars and dvnasties in tiie defense of privilege. With these alliances of desperation threatened by tite rising tide of revolt how long will it be before the Supreme Council is compelled to se- knowledge tfaat from the point of view of the ruling clsss, the war tiwt started the revolution a mistake? We sincerely hope that J it is not yet too late for leaders of the Jewish eorsmunity hi America to break off their negotiations wtth the Kolchak representatives here, concerning whieh reports have eome to us from reliable sources. It ia, or tt ought to be. well known to those distinguished Jews tfaat the Kolchak regfanc ia tfaorougfaly imprQgne.od wttfa anttSemrtism This is tim chief stock-in-trade ef tfae Kolehsk officers Even tim Halimtfa press tains Jew-batting statements worthy of times. Tfae knout has -returned and tfae is rarely silent tseerals, redfamla em You know, of course, the wish of America' tionaries even of the mildest type are systematically' inst the invaders of Russia and would-be lorn; he advocates the sending of to Russia to show R ork! This is a moderate and sensible pro- me, and may come when war is over and peace But it is a sign of the futile helplessness r. Keeling and his Editor tfaat he can leave so jportant an issue practically untouched. that your country should have a democratic system slid that the composition of the government should answer the party divisions in the newly elected Diet I kttow thst conditions here are net quite satisfactory as yet, but I am sure that everything will be all right very soon. I feel sure that the people of Finland under sll circumstances are able to take ■ themselves. Bui we have another danger before us. America and the regard tfae Bolsheviki of Russia kind. The position of your very difficult, end your relations to tfae Entente countries would perhaps become impossible, if the Bolsheviki should get into power here." hunted down, kidnapped, and killed fay aid Caariat officers. The American troops under General Graves are reported to be completely diagnatcd wttfa Kolchak and km pretensions. How can it help the Jews of Russia f ot American Jews to be currying favor wttfa such a regime? We do not wfa* for a moment to question tim motives of tim Jewish leaders here. :- Bet Is tfarir hatred of tfae Soviet Government—under which no pogroms have been reported to have taken pisee—so blinding that' their only hope is to help tim Black Hundreds into power? What other explanation esn there fae ef tim recent misting ef four Jewish leaders with tike; well-known "posyomefaik.*' Metropolitan *f*TfalMif . . . ■ %.T>' THE RED FLAG ■ - . ■ By M. Phillips Price == e Truth About Soviet Russia ■,. (From the "Soviet Russia." Aug. 2.) All through the summer of 1911, Moscow workmen tried to better their through their own elected factory or ahoj committees. But every step timy took to tfae actions of the employers was met by w«w ■ of sabotage and often of open iBsistsarr fay "white gusrds," hired by the employers-to defend tfae ''sacred rights of property." Heads of tim shop stewards' committees were arrested snd sent off to the army, raw materials hidden and the men locked out on the plea of no work to be done. Tfae workers replied by organizing Red Guards, seizing the factories and trying to run themselves without e staff and without technical knowledge. Chaos increased. One group of workmen often struggled with another group to the attempt to get hold of die much-needed raw materials. Meanwhile, fsminc became worse and worse and the Woikers' Soviets were in danger of turning in'o eonmitteesfor grabbing whatever they cou'd get for their own member, when they came into power jrlato, gare the latter political as well si power, aa aa organized proletarian mass. And so With the peasants. During tim summer of 1M7, the landlords and their agents among tfae wsr-profiteer parvenus orgsnized a resistance to tim peasant land committees. Peasant elders were arrested and thrown into prison, some were even shot The peasants replied by sseking the landlords'mansions. Anarchy was raging in the provinces long before toe Bolsheviks came into power in October. The latter, restraining the righteous indignation of the peasants, declared thrir informal committees, the first fruits in the villages of the waa the time when the ABiee, if they had thc day of their visitation, if they had understood what waa the driving force ef tfae true Russia, would have declared their peaee program and. sustaining Trotsky, would have exposed to the world tfae cynical intrigoes of the Prussian mtti- tsrieta. The Allied governments did not do this timy eould not They did not dare people and tell them that they had plana Tfae moment for uniting tfae moral front of the Allies with that of revolutionary It never came again. LnTaaMftS was thus left alone fai war-lords. Two to it. It could either play, the idealist * anal decline to aeeept any peace whieh did not embody its principles in toto; or it eould pursue Beal- Politik and, estimating all tfae forces whieh Were making for tim internal breakup of their enemies, ret agreement with them as a temporary In tim daya proceeding thc signingof the Brest-Utovak peaee, two very fundamental human impulses Were struggling together inside' thc "The Prussian warlords, not beeause they wanted to, but beeause they had to, gave a breathing space to the Russian Revolution. For they were engaged in playing their last card in a terrific onslaught on France. Revolutionary Bussia ia accused of being responsible for, tfam onslaught, but I submit tfaat ite did more than anything else to hreak tks> of Prnrnfoa mflHsiissn Tfae very foot that the politically imn-consetous elements af the German people got a taste of peaee on tfae Bast front, broke their will to .war. "If we can have wttfa Russia," their "why can we not faave it also wttfa tim Alike." Bet month went by and timy began to see the German srmy must either worid or atea make s aatamiimiiai peace. They they eould not do the former, beeause of America-, their own warlords would not let them do the latter. But the example of the peaee with Russia wm before them, and seeing tt, their spirit af rebellion, against the war rose ever stronger. Tfae German, towns began to fill wttfa deserters, workers struck, discipline collapsed, and with it the army. And the . — Revolution. Thc one was altruistic, ready ,;pr ?wrT1f?».^»^T^, m * ™!l T *"* t-t-ftcaerffiee, Brunnhilda-like, upon the flsming Russian revolutionaries knew how to make mm of •°* pyre of an idea. The other was wise snd eslculst- this new psychology in tfae German people 'a mind, ing. prepared to save whst could fae sired no .v in order to gain the surer in tfae end. The struggle between these two impulses, old ss the human mme itself, wee reflected in the controversy between those smong thc Russian revolutionaries, who would sign tim Brest-Litovsk peace and those wfao would not Tfae left soeialist-revolutionsries and tfae ansr- in Russia, like srtists, lived only for their The peace on the East front wax made use of to flood the Ukraine wtth .iJoishevik agenU vfao spread revolutionary litcature btoadeeet end w bo, within a few month?, had turned the JCefamt's glorious "Heer fan Osica" into a tittle better than a hybrid between a rabble and e revolutionary committee. 51. Joffe. while playing at diplomacy wttfa the Kaiser's'Ministers, waa distributing pamphkto March Bevolution, to be the legal authority, pea- searing the right to take the landloida land and **** •"T*^1^*1-7T2? ^'*? * »™nal worfatt in the interesta of the whole community. 'TT ^\h°*2*f *rikfal* ^^ ^^"^ ideals, wfatefa they would have realized at * ut appanallj fay Mr. E. H. . weed, wfao wr>Tr* tim rVafeee and AnntmtHx. i iplsfm, faeer tito faeem/sasgm fpu HL),; (Continued On Page Seven.) We*. and THE RED FLAG PAGE FIVE bus and Big OH Fklds--~Who Is Hoover': By J. T. Walton Newbold and G. HL Martin ("Labor Leader," London.) THE threatened attack upon the Hungarian Soviet Republic has been successfully made, end, from ell accounts, the Roumanian Army is io occupation of Budapest, more than willing to act ea "hum bailiff" for the idealistic financiers whose executive site snd plans in Paris. Hew far tim Al bed Governments favor the retention of Budapest by their Roumanian mercenaries it would Jm difficult to estimate. However, of one thing we can be certain, viz., that the Rou- manians are preferred to Bela' Kun, Who put himself hopelessly out of court by sorislizing the petroleum industry of Hungary. When Smillie and Smith sre seeking to drive Harwood Banner, the Coalition coalowner, out of the Lancashire snd Yorkshire mineral industry it would have been too much to expect that Harwood Banner, the Coalition oil magnate, would acquiesce in Kun's dastardly behavior on tim very edge of his Roumanian properties. There would have been one less refuge for that capital which he and his felleW coal-owning, oil-sucking exploiters of the Federation of British Industries mean to send abroad when socialization overtakes them. The assault on Hungary, like the support given fay the Allies to the tottering government of Bou- mania and their decision to transfer Galicia from the Ukraine is part of a combined political offensive conducted over a long period by the petroleum syndicates of Britain, France, Holland, .Belgium and the United States. ■ This astounding conspiracy is so staggering in tts cynicism that, since they tell the tale so prettily and so naiVely, we Will let the petroleum newspapers for the most part tell it for themselves. Tom nal du Petrole, February, 1919, in an article by J. Crinan on "The Petrol Age,*" toils us: Tins importance Of petroliferous deposits thst has guided toe armies of the belligerents in certain of their efforts towards Galicia, Roumania and Persis, wfll sppear tomorrow ss remarkable when we come face to face wtth that lad: of coal and labor which threatens us. If it be true, aa a mineral prospector told me, that, upon the accession to power of the Toung Turks, these lax adherents of the Moslem faith disclosed the secret archives of tfae Ottoman Empire, archives kept private, rinee their capture from tiie Byzantine regime, to Western prospectors and coneesrion-huntei-s, the Mesopotamia, Dardanelles end Salonika tragedies have a sinister explanation. We know, because the Mesopotamia Report tells us so, how thst Expedition waa sent to guard the pipelines. Mr. Herbert Allen, addressing the Bibi Eital Company's shareholders, spoke of Roumania • as "rich in priceless petrol." and tfae Petroleum World for Mareh lamented: The news of the Roumanian revolution fa deplorable from the point of view Of those Interested in the oil industry, even should some of the , messages prove to he exaggerated. Its April issue tells us that " Bourn s n*a" wants tile Hungarian state-owned oilfields ef Petroefaaaf and the whole of the Siebenhurgen natural gesfiekl In Transylvania. * The June issue, recording tim Soviet Republic 'a decree of socialization, states that the Vacuum Oil Company, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil' Com-' as lattge interests la Hung Romano-American tfae Prtluteum Times. (S6-7-19) reporte- stmwato fat petroleum as amounting s desirona of shouldering for 'fnt- Amerieas, the organ ef "Standard CUV* Katisuai Ctty Bsnk of New Tarit puWiahes a glowing ar ticle, replete with pirtures and a amp of tim ket possibilities of tite An American worked up to give tim United States the also, tfae Armenia, and tim meat cursory glanee at the map of Asia Minor ahows tfaat region to abut upon the Caue oilfields. " '*'',. rm bedded deep down m s these officers having been sent fay the Interallied Commission in order to investigate tiie ptt- roleum question and especially tfae manner in which the Ukrainian Government has dealt wttfa? it-Petroleum Times, April 26, 1919. we find this mineral periodical, em begin to tions kad keen asked, Mr. Francis "Just one word, gentlemen, before I should like to propose a *"hf rm^Mm.mmA ■BaSSSSUL nv*jTT naiu ''-. we separeti vote of thanks to our. ahaiimou (Leslie Urquhart.) . .'•* I sfaould Hike to add that cam friends. Mr. Hoover and Mr. Leslie Urquhart, ae long ago aa Sept., 1914, began work in connection wtth the scheme wldefa tfae Government is now putting jfotwaid fat its Nam-Ferrous Metals Bill. They themselves represented to the Government the serious position in which tfae spelter industry in general was at tfaat time, and* they have been working on toe scheme ever since. I myself introduced Mr. Hoover to tfae Government and it has token three years fop the Government to bring forward their proposals and to grasp tim idea nnderiying the scheme of Mr. Hoover and , Mr. Urquhart. We congratulate both Mr. Urquhart and Mr. Hoover on what they have accomplished in tins direction. Mr. Hoover. as you all know, is now the Food Controller of the U. S. A—Mining Magazine January, 1918. Mr. Leslie Irquhart speaks of Admiral Kolchak ae ' A good friend of mine . . . a patriot, who thinks only of tfae good of his eountry.—Mining u^TmssMhavuea^a ^TeswaensensuV' ■^BarOn Their relations are notorious. Now we know that Mr. Hoover, wfao fai blockading Lenin's Government and tfae Russian Republi •. and was bloek- sding Huiursry. is another "good friend" of Me. Leslie Urquhart Turning to page 1635 of "Who's Wfao in America" (1918-19.) we read tfaat Herbert Clark Hoover, now Food Administrator in tim U. S. A., was "representative of bondholders in construction of Chihg Wang TOW Harbor. .1900. and between 1906 and 1914 was director of y Zinc Corporation. Ltd.; Kysfatim Corporation, Ltd.; Tsnslyk Corporation Ltd.: Oroya Exploration Co. Ltd.; Russo-Asisti/ Corporation Ltd. His clubs in New York include "Lawyers' "and "Bsnkers.'" So far so bad. Petroleum (Berlin-Vienna) 13th April. 1915 Records: The news is very interesting tfaat at Paris. through the St. Petersburg Tnterutional Bank of Commerce, tim negotiations which tim American petroleum trust (Standard Oil Co.) had already started during the wstfftr i^bming wtth tim four formerly Russian tnaptfae concerns (Russian-General Oil Corporation, Nobel. Shell. NeftV have been, renewed. '. So'the plot thickens the further down we bore. Tfae Boyal Dutch Petroleum Co. controls tfae Shell "Transport and Trading Co„ and tfae Astra Romans Co., as well m tim Mexican Eagle Oil Co.- Ltd., mad the Angl^Bayptiatt QsTfieM* Ltd. Last year it paid 40 per cent, ami fai ltTT, 48 per cent. Now it has sold a bag block of shares to Standard OS's bankers. Messrs. Kufan. Leefa and Co;, of New Next for the diplomacy of Paris and tite pre- cral assault upon Hungarian perseverance and energy wfatefa Mr- Perkins has shown as chairman of the International Committee stands out weli, for fab has been a steady, uphill work on behalf of the Allied oil interests in Galicia and those of the British shareholders in particular. At one time—and net many months ago—it looked ss if the Ruthenians might hsve hsd some chance of obtaining their objeet. but as we then pointed out, if timy succeeded, a bridge would immediately be created between the Bolsheviks of Russia and Hungary. Fortunately, tim Government realized this in time and have now prevented aR possible source of trouble by creating a United Poland, thus sweeping aside what, without doubt would faave soon been a serious menace to European affaire—Petroleum Times, July This was the policy whieh this paper had stantly sdvocsted" snd it elsims: When we recollect thst there is more £10,000,000 of British capttal invested fat Gslicis's oil industry, we feel that we have been more thsn justified in taking up the attitude that we did -IWd. This Mr. Perkins, the indomitable chairman of the Internstionsl Committee, is a Mr Chsries Perkins. We are not certain, but we suspect that he fa> Mr. Charles Perkins, of J- P. Morgan and Co. Wc do know that J. P. Morgan and Co. are at tfae faced, of tfae International Committee looking after Allied interests in Mexico- snd thst the British, French and American Governments are acting fat Mexico "on behalf of their respective oil companies. Mr. Churchill fans been talking of s cordon across Europe to interpose a military snd political barrier between Bolshevism and the West. It is a barrier of Paris chosen Poles and Paris supported Roumanians. It is to interpose* a barrier between tfae Soviets and Smillie, between the socialisation of petroleum wells and the nationalisation of collieries. The Whole cackle about small nationalities is a device to secure the establishment of smell States under "League of Nations'' auspices and by military mesns. small States that, like Aserimjan, in the Caucasus, exist only to counter-sign tim decrees Of tfae international exploiters, Tfae Balkans faave been cleared of the Ottoman Empire to make room for the Oil Trust. Simultaneously, we imagine, wc shall hear that tfae "cross" has triumphed over the, "crescent" and tim combined choirs wfll render those touching lines from Mrs. Ward Beeeker "s "Bsttle Hymn of the BepuMie;" Wc are trampling out the vintage in the Garden of Urn Lord. As .our God goes marching on! TORONTO 8TA11MMG BY a / 'm.■ »». fl**L - n. leiegram irom o Freneh mission, eonmating of C Lieutenant Simon, has arrived rtobostand ►rofao Cyer, TORONTO. Ontario—Contemplating trouble in tfae future, the executive of the. Trades and Lsbor Council here haa formed a committee for political defense,'tts aim being to resist all aoreiiimeiit action in tfae way of making arrests and to oaBeet funds from Labor orgsnlsstionn throughout Cen- ada so that plenty of money would be on hand to defend any Labor man wfao urigfat be arreated. It is tfae intention of tfae conmtittee to call a mesa meeting on Aug. 29. to protest agslnst tfae^deten- tion of Winnipeg strike leaders in Stony Mountain Pvsmm. owfaBe awaitine trial and also to send s protest to tfae United States authorities sgsinst tfae Hfe sentence pronounced upon Thomas Mooney. for alleged complicity in a bomb outrage in Sen Fran- in!9P THE RED FLAG THE RED FLAG i ■ . 'I. ***■ -** "■ '¥y^**wV"E A Journal of Newa snd Views Devoted to .the Woi*king Clsss. Published When Circumstances ami Finances Permit By The Socislist Party of Canada, *01 Pender Street East. Vsneonver, B. C. Editor '"1 •£ — a fltipliwilB Subseriptjons to "Red Flag" . . . 90 issues $1.00 SATURDAY— SEPTKMBKR, 6. 1919 The Socialist Movement and Mr. Cohan OCR attention has been called to an article on ..*, revolutionsry conspiracies in Canada in Mean's Msgsriim through reading a leader in the Vancouver "Provinee" of Sept. 4^The "Prorinee" article is headed Mr. Cahan's Version, and version is right Mr. Cahan's version, as rehashed in the "Province," originally appeared in McLeans Magazine. Mr.,e*hans version in McLean's Msga- * sine is a rehash of series of hysterical articles he wrote for the Christian Science Monitor during the war, when he wea Director of Public Safety in Canada. By tim way, is this the McLean's Magarine which, during one of the most critical stages of tim war attacked virulently the British War Office, said in fact that tt and its policies were dominated fay skirt and that the English officers and the clsss i they were drawn from were degenerates. We remember : Yellow, neurotic, sensational dope tt wee too. Suen* as it pays our "magazine editors to publish snd upon which they fatten their circulation, fay flirting with the obscene in pothics or in human \ relationships in such fashion as is more obscene than starkanaked lechery iteelf. To return to Mr. Cafaan and faia assertions tfaat hundreds of tooussnds of dollars in German money entered Canada during the war and that Bolshevik money was now coming into tim country. Where ia itf He makes general charges, aanting certain working class organizations, yet fae fails to produce one specific instance although a single ease in it self would not support bis sweeping charges. To us tt appears strange, that tor over fire years awhile the country waa flooded wttfa police spies, with posters calling for amateurs to take up the same service and in spite of what he says sbout tim press- that organ strained tfae facta to absurdity to arouse hostility and suspicion against all radical organizations—in spite of all tins, net asm case, so far aa we know, can be shown as proof that anyone in Canada was being suborned either in behalf of tfae Germans or the Bolsheviki Not among tfae working class anyway. Why was every working class organization, labor or Socialist, instantly suspect? Was tt . a esse of bad conscience on tim part, of ear rulers, in view of the manifold injustices tiw worken. endure.and tfaat they eould not in troth conceive of them ss being loyal It wfll be useless to deny that the »ahnet Party ef Canada or tts members received any of tfae alleged funds, because our enemies would say tfaat we might be expected to deny it fai any ease, We will point out however, tfaat wo faave been under surviellanee by tfae secret service, net to speak of -enthusiastic amateur slueths, for ..five years-. Our meetings have been under observation. Our mail. "both of tim party and of individual members, has . been aerotinixed. For more than three months at of the Party and of its Locals and tim homes ef its members have several times been ranted snd corres- pondeeee and account books attached. Yet it has evidently not been found possible to put us without the Jaw. We are a highly unpopular organisation, even hi the labor muTaUnena, becsuse Ttfco diffeteuee in principles between us wttfa us runs too deep snd sheer to adssit of ing or of compiosshm. This last five years ly. feeling has run high, hate and judiee have run riot. We faave been, as a fame barque on tumultous seas, buffeted from every side. We understand, none better, thst tfae people ate net wttfa us. 'We understand the State, tt ia on* especial study, and we reslize more than amy one its rnthlessness and power, b it reasmnahla to think that we sfaould put ourselves in tts insignificant minority of tfaeorista. fay conspiracies to QMi.Je.ua fay violence tide and this order of society whiefa is supported by s huge majority ef tim people. versstion and scrag ends of i interested persona for ulterior matins, we are no criterion of our settled petiema as a party. These policies are educational and above board. If our theories are wrong let on public platform or in the columns of the For twenty years, while we faave seen the class movement struggle snd develop, lenge has been open. Our opponents faave wesltfa snd can buy brains in their defence. If they faave any case st sll they win resort to that method- If they resort to force and lies instead, then they have no ease but possession, and timy are already They charge us wttfa desiring the downfall of the present socisl order snd the establishment of a new one. Is tfaat a crime? Do timy conceive thst the hellish thing, which is thrusting into the void- will last for evert "which is the eritigue of the present order, cam timy, by suppressing a few individuals or sn organization, suppress it? Tfam t'pmmiiiifcm, which is the ideal of a new social order, can timy by any manner of means kill tt. May! timy must fin* loll tfae human spirit for wfafle tt lives, m lis lima mad eoss- munism issue out of capitalism as a child from its mother's womb, follow eapttafasss as daylight follows the night In tiie Christian Science Monitor of August 30. there is an editorial on "Ideas and Tanks," and whoever esn, should read it It quotes Lord Bobert Cecil as raying, in tfae British House of in his protest sgainst intervention in can not stop, the course of sn ides wttfa a gun." Says the "Monitor." whiefa by tfae way m no friend of the Bolsheviks, in comment: "The religious world- indeed has spent centuries endeavoring to convert aerifies to orthodoxy wttfa tim help of Rons and atones, fires-and racks, nMmmmmmmS' -*-'-1- *m ■■******■ *s-***iTa** ■-l Ia*f—,» t •.. ." *»■ tmns and amamnties . . . Nor, jsnera tt to politics has the effort been so immmmlj similsr. " . . It is possible, indeed, it m enough, to drive Bolsfaerism under surface in Bua- sia, ami communism in Bpdspest ;'bot is tt going to effect the idea? Hero gave tim Christian to tfae lions, the Inqnisifion sent tim Protestant to tite . a , W\mm mm ' . . ., ,m . a . : m*W a -a a. staxc. uu wero exnrpase imranmnny. Borne destroy Protestantism? . "There is Bela Kun, Lenin's other self A or ao ego fae was threstening ta maim tim pfaysfcmt fl|^^^^^Jk#.^^^^^ m-^a ^-mm^mm.' *ffgfia^^^^^^K^^^ mmjm WL ' mmmmmmmmm\ ^^mmmmmm^mmmmm ^^n5a*"kl dHk^M^MBl ironuers oi tne jmsptre ex uenm mason won nose of Switzerland.. Today he is an euliaat, fas am Amv trian prison, and wfayf Not faaeamm tim communal idea has been dfeesfded fay tim. people .aa? even fay tfae mob. but beeaose tite Bsrasnian esjsv slry rode into tfae ssjfanrfas of tim capital, and he- tmM%m^ Immm' w^Mm-mmfil mW TP^ffe'S^S^ta f# tfaat e Communist Government h no recognition- no trade, above em no food. Bet dees .any sane person angpasu, for .a single instant. tfaat -.tim senses] frontiers of Ditlifai i issi faave faeen pushed back a single yard- by soefa taeties- At tim same time, would ■iijuno Bfae to gmuantet tfae ojisuseptifalltty of tim Rumanian troops to tim. communist idea, and to undertake tfaat rsresentiv s — ■■ I II ■ ■- m\mmymwmmmj . . ..- -*^ -a -a- ■ ^^^— a.« -a. m m ^B ■ mm+. . m »^^VV . Ww^m.WMWWmmmmmmmmm^m- mm* Bela Hun will mat Hit Ufa head in Bucharest. Yon can net fight wttfa Romanian cavalry and Paris rescripts. . . ntil sueh time as tim •eeeW frarlrea wsfmaajbiii if ft ever <• hi imah i tt, it will not get tt: wfaer will prevent tt getting if I Tfae official organ of tim Russian Soviet Bureau, "Sevmt Bussia.'' in tbe Aug. 16 issue, announces that: A eonuaunieation just received direct from the Soviet Go-rernmenf in Moscow, authorize* the Russian Soviet Government Bureau in New York to offer upon the American market a greet quantity of raw material* now ready for immediate ■sent from Rnsris. Our eommnnieatioe "We have here ready for shipment 432,000000 of flax, 21S.000.000 pounds of hemp and a ammnt of furs, bristles, hides, platinum snd unlimited amounts of lumber." We have just received a cable from tfae representative of tfae Itossian Soviet Bepublic inStoek- holm advizing us to ship merchandise immediately: Mr. Strem, tfae Soviet Bepresentative in Stockholm, in tfam cable that he is authorized by the Mos- ent to guarantee payment for sucfa fae Petrograd ami to issue the proper permits for importation into Russia Mr. Strem. also states tfaat fae is making arrangements for cstafaiiesdnf credits in Stockholm for the Bureau to Initial orders faave been received fay tint Bureau t weow for purchases amounting to $150,000.- 000 for railway material end equipment; $30,000,- 090 for agrieultural implements end tractors; $10,- nOOOOO for machinery and machine tools: $5,000,- 000 for hardware and metals; $30,000,000 for boots snd shoes: $20,000,000 for textiles; drygoods, etc.; $5,000,000 for paper, rubber, "etc.; $25,000,000 for and $25,000,000 for foodstuffs. MTJJTARIBM OH THE INCREASE Uoyd George's statement that England is facing nan is doubtless but little exaggerated. But who is responsible fop* this terrible situation f Why, primarily those who made the secret treaties and indulged in tfae secret diplomacy with Russians and French, and tfaen Uoyd George himself, who carried on the war long after it eould have been wisely settled to tfae satisfaction of all friends of France snd of Belgium. But these are vain regrets now. The truth is that Europe is on thc verge of ruin and tfaat England herself fears financial collapse— siid the peace treaty not only does not give as- suranees of peaee and good will, but has sowed the seeds of bitter hatred and future wars, and involves tfae nmntt«naime of large armed forces. But the smugly satisfied Lloyd George sees nothing of this. He preaches harder work ami greater savings, lest America carry off England's foreign trade. Tho best thing about ius speech is tim flat assertion that if the great nations sfaould increase their arma- nmnta, "tim League ef Nations would be a mere ahem and a scrap of paper." What nation is fa> ereasmg their armament today? Why, tiie United States. .Our navy, so Washington dispatches report tide week, tt pressing England's Jard for first place. Mr. Newton D. Baker, formerly a charter member ef tfae League to Iamtt Armaments, is urging Osagreas to give him twice as many regular * thc United States ever had before and military service for our* youth. And tim |a tim White Blouse remains discreetly mmnt ready to ■!.,„ ; -—a. To hear our reactionaries bewailing snd threatening, erne would thank tfaat Canada stood atone ia faaving a.1isia,.ea of a new social order, Aaa matter of fact, not Germany or her Allies, not Great Allies, nor way neutral country, nor ' tim wurkl of men began have escaped from tim age-long struggle between, pro- *m ^****m^*^^aPm^j + saimay mmm miv ^eaw*me>*fifffffp ^^ta> tt is to be Imped tfaat timy never will until the end of time Only stagnating peoples eesdd fcsve uniformity of ideas. with congested who can not see thst so We must WW carry ' - . .*>■■ ■ ■'•''>;'•■ "•"';;'; V'"J- i .'.■'»..",*..■ „'" !';' . .""-■'"* i = (From the "Glasgow Socialist. 1MPORTAHCE OF THE WAGES TEVER may be your ■ ith the Workers your wages were, say, that-your real standard of living haa been maintained, even if you hate four pounds today, while you have to put Up wttfa putrid margarine, bully ism, general polities, religion, or definite 'MW. upon sll of timet tidnga there la one subject wfatefa you can not afford to ignore, and tfaat la tim Try as you msy to dodge it turn with tim fasjgfacer ef fiii flight of imagination,, allow your tht out to suburbia, and foe a self in s nice house smidst swsy from the evil smell of tite city, you are brought back to earth with the bitter reflection that you can't do it. Or tt may be a case of neees- **wM wrwmim Mmfm mmm m^wmmw era"""* your hubbub w some of the children to the country to brace them up for the struggle of life, again the answer is "tt *Mt*e?a^i A^k'Si. It may be, aa fa) tfae ease wttfa most seen of character, tfaat tfae wanderlust crosses your mind. Ton have faeen reading tfae adventurous stories ef Bobinson Crusoe, Jack London or some favorite author, snd you would like to "go away." Ton de- t-*msTw fp'*"' o*e»">v un atw •naansanaa'^B enanes* fuv *4raa Saas*o jj"'***e» w* realising your ambition when you get the "saek" aad you are "done" again. Thus your whole life is colored and shaped by the eternal quest for The fallacy do well to would foiling to distinguish between the different forms tfaat wages take. Here, perhaps, the truth of our observation upon things familiar ia best flha^atooV *>* know that what you gut on . Saturday in the form of * a. c% fanya **.• -*»***' ******* more or less of particular articles at different in- The Trick of Another point connected with the nominal wages is the matter of Sirsisw^jsxstrr n? \j hundred per cent. tervals, according to whether prices are high low. In other words, tfae money form of your wages and what they esn buy are two totally different things. Tfans, before the Wsr, you could get a .half. decent suit of clothes for sbout three pounds. To- "55T* ■&.sMk*mfm > mmwms. , ■.- **^ w?: T. pounds a day you have to pay five pounds, ten or six pounds for an inferior cloth. There is. nothing original fai this to you because you are familiar with the circumstances. But in the language of political economy we are working out a particular, form of wages. That form Is called the nominal form of wages. From the foregoing you msy now guess what in economics is meant by talking about nomi- i wages is the Thatisto say the actual £. s. d. or coins tfaat you receive in or-fan egg * question of On t you,would do well to stick a pin. If, for your Wages have risen from two to four pounds a week, your nominal wage hss risen on- Reverse the process and As is the ease with sll things common and familiar, their very fsmiliarity obscures their import- anee, and since we are born ef wage-working parents the tendency b to ignore the significance of tim wages issue and look for tfae explanation of our various grievances elsewhere. In tins direction you are encouraged, of course, by the politicians, professors in economies and other **kept" representatives of tfae employing clsss, since it is to their interest to have you chasing all kinds of wifl-o'-toe-wisps. If, for instance, you ssk for a rise of wages, you ate. immediately told it is bad policy, since tfae "boss*' wifl only tack tt on to prices. If you complain that your wages are too low and that you are unable to get ends to meet you are at once told thatyour difficulty is due to high prices. In all cases you are advised to do anything but interfere wttfa wages. Basts of the Labor Movement Now it is just because of this wages issue that there ia s Lsbor movement fat fact, the Wanes issue is the basis of the Labor movement, with varying opinions ss to how the question fat to be tackled. Some believing, as. for instance, the Conservative Trade Unionist that aU would be well if only we eould get a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. Others, called extrenusts, like tim S.L.P.-ers, believe thst there is no permanent remedy for the many grievances arising out of the wages; system so long aa profit-taking is allowed to exist But,' pending the time when a complete remedy is found, tfaat ia to aay, when our clsss controls all the instru- of wealth production and operates them for and social purposes, tfaere are one or two things concerning wages yon would do well to get acquainted wttfa. You can readily see at a glance how many Workers might very well be deceived in merely fixing their eyes on tite actual coin and not thinking about what these will purchase. A safe method fai reckoning your wages is rather to think always in terms of tim things you are accustomed to procure rather than dwell on the names or number of coins you are getting. . "|^^^^^; '"'.:' If, for instance, before the war you were accustomed to getting butter, beef, milk, eggs, etc., and ual vi each case is two pounds. While such sn illustration may appear simple enWfjlt in tie form given, when it» not so easy to see through the trick, as many piece-workers knew to their cost. Again, y«w would notice all tfae bother at present ever the decision of Bonar Lgw to put six shillings on the ton of coal. This juggling with prices is intended to intimidate those who are inclined to be upset by any proposal to make it more difficult for tile •money-wages to go round. Ton would do well, however, not to be alarmed at such threats, since the. ultimate decision ss to whether coal can stand the extras proposed, is determined by forces much stronger than even a Cabinet Minister can command. Such little tricks in conjunction Wttfa tfae various movements in prices go a long way to aggravate the life Of the wage'worker. That is why it is not worth pottering with the system, rather should we bend our energies towards rooting it out for good. T. B. In Sight of Bankruptcy (From-toe "Common Sense," Aug. 9.) Yon msy have heard some of the old people of our etesa Indeed it ia common argument af tfaeers —when dhsmaufaig wages and prices, to talk of tfaefr young days and how they used to live on very much less than you are getting at present. If you are a tradesman and getting, say four pounds a week, they take a delight in bragging - .s^ j^ aaaji their wages were tiiirty years ago 1 you can depend upon them making it as low aa tfaey can. But, dfatatnattiaej tfaatr somewhat curious kink ef vsntty. end assuming timy got thirty sfaflHngs a week, tfaey eonelude and insist tfaat you are now better off than they were by at least a hundred per cent AMONG "the Immortal services" whiefa Mr. J. L. Garvin declares the Prime Minister to have rendered the country must, of course, be included the economic and financial condition of Great Britain. Mr. Asquith carried on the war for over two years on the principle of sacrificing "the last man and the lest farthing" in Order to gain a crushing victory over the Central Powers snd to carry out the Secret Treaties with Bussia. France, and Italy. Mr. Llloyd George improved upon tins by proclaiming the doctrine of the "Knock-out Blow" and prolonged the war for two years mow at a greatly increased expenditure of British life and tressure. Not content With this, he continued war expenditure on a prodigious scale after the Armistice, and his Government since April has been spending at the average rate of £4,442,000 a day and fat still employing conscription for the purpose of fighting in eoUntless wars ef the moat costly snd indefensible kind. The results sre now visible to the naked eye. No microscope la required to detect tfae mischiefs at home—no telescope to discover tfae ruin abroaaV All hia promises of an Iiidnstrisl Paradise have faded aWay from the horlson en wfatefa timy went painted In sucfa efow- tag enter* at tite last gcnsral election, 1-faoujfatfae taxpayer's money matters not at afl to either Mr. Uoyd George Of Mr. Chnrehill. and every kind of mflitsry and naval and rivil extravagance is in full swing, all our socisl troubles sre being aggravated. Thanks to the inflation Of prices by war Iwrrewtag and trade embargoes, the gran* housing scheme is a glaring fiasco, an* the only result so far has been to make tt impossible for the building trade to supply houses in the ordinary way. The rise of prices and tiie exorbitant cost of tiv- ing have caused continue) and increasing discontent among all elssses of wage-earners. The loss of a great part ef ear foreign trade foHewa naturally on tfae following circumstances: 1. Tbe loss of London's financial supremacy and of the gold standard. 2. The ruin of many of our foreign customers. 3. The loss of shipping1 during the war and the diversion of merchant shipping to feed Mr. Churchill's Russian and Asiatic expeditions. 4. The elaborate system of embargoes and restrictions by which the Board of Trade is strangling our foreign commerce. 5. The reduction of the coal output 6. The employment of hundreds of thousands of 'able-bodied workers in military occupations who should long sgo have returned to productive work. 7. As a consequence of all these, tim higher* cost of production. Let us trace the results. The wealthier elssses, who provide h . large amount of the capital required for trade and employment, are now taxed from six to ton shillings in the pound on their incomes during life, and from one-fifth to two-fifths of their capital at death. The plight of the middle classes is deplorable, and the-Free Churches will soon find that half their ministers can hardly keep body and soul together. The working flames are taxed to the hiK on their comforts and luxuries— sueh ss tea, sugar, beer and tobacco—and all tim things tfaey need are doubled or trebled in price- boot* clothing and food Nevertheless, tfaere ia a yswning defiett between tfae pufatie sxpsndltute and tim public revenue. Meanwhile, the Government gets more and more unpopular, and is already driven to restoring D.O.B.A.* l-Ltmmro or thi socialist putt OF CANADA A statement of the theories and conclusions of Scientitte BoelaHsriv taper 100 \ lOcperOopy ■ ' id. ■ M • , y.-Jt,. .' -■ -J v, t PAGE TWO hi THE RED FLAG m m s***|\HB Vancouver "Province"' ef Saturday. Aug. X 30. contained the first of a aeries of articles entppgm "Unselvefj^JF^ of Social Justice." The suthor of tfae series is Stephen Leacock, Professor of Beonomies in MeGill Univeratty. wiR appear,in eaefa Saturday s issue of +**»-*?* until 'tiu e Unsolved Riddle fae does better when he touches on matters germane to hfa) own field of the science theless anything of conseqm has already teen said by Mai us nothing new, only restating it in his ay. He concludes this first srtiele by saying thst can not agree .wttfa the Socislist soli evils of the prerent^regfaie. This of eoek's contribution to the cfeemnemi of tiTaoeuti ^°^fr'_"!['&&.*&£'^B.ffeS! problem will be well worth tfae attention Of every worker. To Socialists, the series will be Welcome es a new departure for the Canadian press w-uch fans hitherto suppressed any discussion which u mid tend to uncover the connection between: our stein of product faave been abused for using pretation" because it leads to s questioning of tim socisl validity of the very foundation ef tite present social order. Evidently those who sre responsible for Professor Leacock's articles appearing in the press are realizing the futility of abuse- misrepresentation, and the appeal to ignorance and pre- for combatting the scientific education ear- on by the Socialists on tite political field, mid no they are bringing on their intellectual big guns to challenge our educational monopoly of that field. We gladly welcome their change of policy, tardy though it be. We have persistantly pointed out that tim surest mesns to pesceful progress is free and open discussion of mstters upon whieh men find themselves in disagreement and tfaat if there are untruths and anti-social idesls being propagated, then the open forum is the surest place to kill them. Tfae problem -today is not a question of suppressing a minority whose opinions may challenge the present Order. As pointed out Ire Professor cock, It is the conditions of eapftalfatm* wMeh si out of tts own inherent contradictions, that constitute the real dsnger to society. A danger whose magnitude grows more menseing as the days go by. One of these contradictions is tfae poverty which, exists alongside a boundless rapacity to produce wealth. Curtailment of production, "mines, factories, workshops closed down, human, labor power unemployed, wfafle social wants, even the very necessities of multitudes go unsstisficd. The truth, which no militarist government can suppress, is. that considering society ss a unit, the owners of the mesns of production are sabotaging on the rest of society. It is estimated by some expcrtepujtt; tfae productive equipment fat only exercised to the extent of 25 per cent of its possibilities and others aay it fat nearer 10 per cent Why is this! Because profit is the aim of cspttalist production, and proftt entails a curtailment of production in view of the market To flood the market is to send prices down and extiiiguish profit. The capitalist, studies tfae purchasing capacity of tite market, not the consumption ranactty Of the community. Tn this first of hit aeries, Professor Leacock makes a sweeping survey of the prese^£ state affairs end tfae conditions out of which they have arisen, and traces tite development of the modern socisl productive processes from the individual nandicraft stage, In tfais sweeping survey, cramped by lack of space, fae perforce, mimes mucfa thst fai necessary for a proper understanding of tfae problem, but he also, what fa) hardly excusable in a man of science, in one or two instances, sacrifices accuracy to picturesqueness of phraseology. Near the beginning of his article he says, . . "Strike follows strike A world which Jias known five years of fighting has lost its taste for tim honest drudgery of work. Cineinsttns 'will not back to his plow, or at best stands sullenly between his plow handles, arguing sullenly for higher wages." submit that tfaat is a dra the cause for strikes or of unemployment. We also deny thst^fah, otimr flamboyent statement regarding Soviet Russia'la in accord wtth facts. However, more interesting, both as to how he will avoid their conclusions and as to his conception of what the Socialist solution really is In terms too vague for criticism he says it is " a beautiful dream, only fit for sns^''-^ |^ar penple have defined it as one long continued round of materialistic idleness and glrmony at the expence of the State. Both of these definitions look like straw socialisms erected to he knocked! down, i Persdventore the Socialist solution is described by neither. Professor Leacock, however, has' already made one fundamental concession to the Socialists, in that he is using the ' 'eeenomie interpretation**i on his problem. « Wc shall watch with interest when slid where he uses it and when and where he refrains from doing so. Here follows a few comments rn points raised in his article "the persons) employer—owner has virtually dis- ''P^^'M^^-^^^ •** $***M ow fille^^ e Ifaa of corperati|| securities snd a staff of corporation officials and employees.*' . and "the personal note is no longer to be hsd in the wage reJstioiv except tethose backward, obscure |H jBU^iiOdiary industries in which the mreharira. reorganisation of thc new order haa not taken place." Ownership has no function in the processes of production of the machine industry snd large scale Organisation. K is now sbsentee ownership having only an interest in the earnings of the corporation. In short, tite coming of the After passing notice on rising prices and wages, and inferring a connection with that and a world flooded with depreciated paper money, fae ssys, 'tander such circumstances national finance seems turned into a delirium. Billions are voted where machine produced two separate and distinct The thing of significance in which is, not that one is rich and the other poor, but that the members of the capalist class are toe owners of society's means of production, though taking no part in its operation and that the workers, while operating industry itre divorced from ownership snd control over it. Out of this condition arise conflicting interests between the two, classes. One, because of the wage relation which exists between them and another more fundamental one in their conflicting interest to the means* of existence. To, the workers* production is a means of livelihood. To; the capitalists a means of proftt. In order to realise profits, production must He regulated, curtailed fat the interest of price. The market, the purchasing capacity of those in it. sets the pace in quality and quantity, not the social capacity in consumption. Professor Leacock draws attention to a great paradox of the system, in that, though our ability once a few poor millions were thought extravagant., t0 ^^ ^ j, meet ham8n ^ ^ mnlti The war dents, not vet fullv-cornniited will «m -is.'j .i^ «... .. . .. The war debts, not yet fully computed, will run from twenty-five to forty billions apiece. Bet the debts of the governments appear on thc other side of the ledger as the assets of the citizens. What is thc meaning of it",'** ** | Since August 1914,. the world has been expending thc products of lsbor in the wasteful, unproductive expenditure of war from which there are no returns in materials embodying values with which to cancel the debts oh the ledger. Labor products expended productively, as in a weaving loom, reappear -as values in the cloth. The values of labor products, as in munitions of war, disappear for ever. Nevertheless, as those values are on the ledger in money of account as debts, they must be liquidated. They are a mortgage on future values known as surplus values over and above Wages, which the capitalist class will realise from future productive operations. In. reality, the capitalist class owe the debt to themselves. This, however, is not to say that they will not try to impose the payment of some of that debt on tho workers by foreipg their standard of living down. Regarded socially, of course, the war debts represent values which are a total loss. • • • • ' His description of the introduction of the machine-age, lacks at least one essential factor which sfaould have been noted..m a* effect of peculiar historical signif/cance to the student of sociology, That is, that it was the mschine age which produced the modern propertylees. iiidustria) proletariat. Small handicraft production betokened that the producer owned his own tools snd consequently the product. But ss the mechanical production processes developed, the cost >of them became more expensive, required great capitals and* so became vested in fewer* hands. The hand loom weaver found it more and more impossible to compete as time went on, until he finally disappeared. The factory hand took his place. It tt recorded that tim cotton machines Of Lsncsshire tore the means of existance foam tfae hand loom weavers of India in three short Ions of the Hindoos perfohed from sheen tion wfao had formerly made a comfortable living. And to what effect? That the factory workers of Lancashire might have one so-cslled prosperous year in ten. So the process went on all over the world, until now, even plied thirty or forty "times, we yet find the masses of the people suffering from a lack of these goods. The roots of that paradox lay in production* for sale. "Ifae cpnun^ means of life is determined by the purchasing capacity of their wages. To the extent of that purchasing capacity are the goods produced in in- dustry for them. Labop power is a commodity and its price is determined primarily by its cost of production in those things necessary for its reproduction, and secondly, by the effect of supply and demand on the labor market As there is always an over-supply of labor power, this operates effeetoal- ly in preventing a rite in wages beyond that whiefa is necessary for tim bare support of the working class as a whole. That is why if society's productive power wag ten thousand times greater, it wouid hot relieve the poverty of the working class Not so long as labor power is bought and sold. Our forefathers, in the low productive days, perforce received sufficient of the riecessaries of life to live snd work, and propagate their kind to meet thc needs of their masters industries. And so must we of the modern proletariat. ITAXIAH PEASANTB The agricultural populations ere the brake en the forward movement to a new order. But ae- cording to reports trm Italy, in,that country at least they are coming into line with tfae industrial proletariat. The Peasants' Congress at Bologna, representing 400,000 members, has declared for' tim immediate socisliration ol the land—not for the purpose of dividing tt up in the fashion beloved of the peasant but for a system of social ownership and working. In particular esses "t is said the peasants have begun the process of "sodalirfng" already. The Directing Council of the Italian Confederation of Labor and the Executive of the Socialist Party were present at the Bologna Congress, snd a Joint manifesto hassbecn issued. "Avsnti" expects a complete linking up in consetroence, and when that hsppens results msy be looked for. Newsagents handling "Red Flag" in Vane*nrver. W. hart- next to Royal Theatre. Columbia News Agency, cor. Columbia and Hastings.