. "ito. iwrit. .'rwwirrMBB Owned and con- Jolted by the ■•.ocialist Party of Canada WE STERN CLARION Published itf the nteres} of the Working Claw alone NUMBER 694 3V VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA,, SATURDAY, MABCH 1, 1913. Subscription Price PER YEAR 75<- THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION AND HISTORIC MATERIALISM Lust For Profits and the Necessity of a Market for Capitalists Spells Destruction to the Workers Few countries in the capitalized \ rld haVe hail their names mention- j ed so frequently In the dally press dur- j ,ng the past few years as the Republic '• of Mexico. Hardly a month has psbs- d by in the course of these years, vithotit reading startling reports from I some section of this rich Republic re- * zardtng revolts and rebellions among ilhe various factions who have at different times, secured control of the governmental machinery. But. prob- « ably at no other time during this ! period have those little revolts been [ mentioned so prominently and bo frequently as ihey have in the past few weeks, and there are. we will also notice, good and sufficient reasons for inch being the case. Mexico of today Is not the Mexico of fifty years ago. At that time little] or no outside capital was Invested in j her n:i**es, railways, farms and other. i branches of Industry. This capital was 1 not then Invested, for the simple rea- dero Is proclaimed the nominal ruler, It Is King Capital alone who at all times Is clothed with power. In his report to the American embassy, Provisional President Huerta makes the statement that "he will make safe the Investment of money and render secure the lives and Interests of all the people" (money of course we mention llrst on the list with the lives of the people a secondary consideration). What methods Huerta may have to adopt to accomplish his purpose is, to be sure, another question, but if it comes to a choice between destroying property and sacrificing life so that "law and order" may be maintained, we can depend upon it that human life Is by all means the least important of the two. Hut now that we have reviewed at some length the position occupied by capital In the Mexican Republic, and the reasons why our dear cousins across the line are devoting them selves so earnestly to the cause FOOD FOR POWDER QUESTION8 FOR WISE GUYS. The "Oakland World," after quoting 4* it not true that there ls land the clause from the Dick Militia Bill, eaoa^b to r*l»e aU the looi tnat can ..„. . „ ,„ be eaten? Ia there any lack of boards that renders all males over 18 and ■ ^^ and ,ron an„ g,a8g wlth less than 45 years of age in the U. 8. w^ch -^ make aj* the houses that liable to active service at home or could be lived in? Cannot a suf- abroad, has the following to say about j Accent supply of wool and cotton and the agitation by the capitalist press'linen be produced to make all the for intervention by. the U. 8. govern-' ctythes that can be worn? ment in Mexico:— I Are there not workers enough to So. you see, brothel workingman ,1 Prpauce aU tne8e tb****r , you belong to, what Is virtually the' *™ there ™* *«"*?" of . . Standing^™,-** the United State., ™>men wh0 do not *fve «n°,Ugh ° ,f., 7\,_ „ . ... „ i eat or to wear, or a decent place in and are liable to the call of the Presl-, """■ " /" . * which to live? men and dent at any moment. You may be called upon to go down to Mexico and protect American property, though in your "Own United States" you are not permitted to possess any. The Oakland Tribune, and all that portion of the capitalist press which represents American capital in Mexico are calling loudly for "intervention." Now "intervention" means, in all probability, nothing less than a prolonged and bloody war with Mexico. For the people of Mexico have not forgotten 1846, when tbe United States in its war of conquest ruthlessly robbed the Mexicans of the rich empire now known as New Mexico, Arizona and California; for the working class J of "our sister republic" have learned Are there not millions of unem- * ployed persons who are willing and Site to produce the things that these en and women need? Would they not willingly produce these things if they could get to the raw materials from which they are produced and the machinery with which to work? Are these would-be workers not prevented from getting to the raw material and the machines by the fact that these things are privately owned? If the working class collectively owned the materials and the machines, could they not use them to produce wealth till all wants are satisfied? Do not those who do the work of WHAT CONSTITUTES HUMAN PROGRESS-PROFITS ? The Path from the Cave to the Steel Mill a "Via Dolorosa" for the Workers 0fJ by bitter experience that the Amerl-j the world, combined with those who n capitalists are, If possible, more! are shut out from the opportunity : among Mexican workers. In the large plantations of the Yu- **• -on that there were other and richer | fields in existence, offering to the pos- | Bfluors of capital far greater returns * nn their Investments. It was naturally. , °™ - . , ,. . catan. the "peones, as the laborers I in thos'* richer and safer channels that ■ , ' yz ,, „ . . j minus. ■■-. ..and t ers of the soil are called, are =■ the stream of capital flowed. But, aw- , .. the sawn ui -.*-,- i» , •. d n,-Pl| in most cas:Si from those f ing to the great development that has. peace, 1 intend, before closing, to takejcan c*t a glance at the conditions prevailing ||,rllel and relentless in the exploits | tion of labor than are their own ruth taken place In industry and commerce Who were owned by the landowners on i tn the last quarter of a century those Itn-" MDM Plantations three or four \ older fields, which for many ' yearg' generations ago. In every sense of the i were considered the haven of invest-;w"r<1 the>' are stl" cl,aUel slave8' 5ment, have arrived at that stage of u0UKht and tlwl t0 the soil llke raa" llarge production where outside capital jchines and caU,e* lndor ,he ******* {ll no longer needed. The moneyed in- of makin-- ll a''>-ear that ih^ are free* Iterests. whose one aim and ambition Jthe masler" allow lhem wages amount- iii to secure the largest pog8|bie: lnK'o twenty or thirty cents a day, a Umount of profit, regardless or what' "um b* n0 me*n» *»u«ncient to maln- fcountries or what industries can sup-!,aln ,ht?8e 8,ave8 from one day t0 an* Soly their needB. have found it neces- "ther. eo ,nat lhey are forced ,0 re* i ?«ry to turn their attention to other main in «»e service of their masters I .*ands whose natural resources were un,il ,he debt they have contracted is " fiol yet exploited. In Mexico, then.,who11-' Pald' whlch of cuuree' ,s never' But why does the American govern- less slave-drivers. The invasion of Mexico by the United States for the protection of predatory capitalist interests would serve to unite, temporarily at least, the now warring factions of that unhappy country, and cause the spilling of rivers of working-class blood. Needless to say, neither the capitalists themselves nor any of their favored mouth-pieces who are now shouting for intervention would rush' "to the front" of anything but the office building, just to give the "boys in blue" a good send-off. Sure!" ol yet exploited. In Mexico, I bey have found a market for their Iturplus wealth. Aa one writer has said |'Mexico is a beautiful country with ?an almost perfect climate." and that | tuch is the case we can readily under- I Hand when we know that cereals of all | kinds, and fruits of every variety grow jj there In abundance. Not only are there | agricultural products to be grown and [ exported, but also other industies such i as stock raising, commerce, and mining offer splendid returns to the kings of finance. All this discovered, we need little wonder that, since the beginning of the present century the Influx of capital from the United States, England, France and Germany, has been very great. American financiers In particular have made of Mexico their adopted home. Fifty-eight per cent of all the imports are received from the I'nlted States, and eighty per cent of the exports find a market In the same direction; such being the case, lt Is only reasonable to admit that the commercial bond between the Bister Republics has, on account of these reciprocal relations, become greatly ■strengthened. We have only to read some of the despatches from the Associated Press to know for ourselves that this Is so. In the opening years of industrial development In Mexico, the governing powers of the country were centred in the hands of a modern "Bismarck," who became, by the aid of a largo •standing army, the supreme dictator e? the land over which he was elected to preside. While this condition of affairs prevailed, law and order .were of course most rigidly enforced, and ■"•'hat Is known in bourgeois annals as * "stable government" waB also assur- P{i; but no sooner did the Iron heel of Porflrlo Diaz begin to weaken than revolt and insurrection became the Predominant sights and sounds from the mountains of Chihuahua In the north to Vera Cruz In the south. The large Investments of our captains of industry began to appear as •hough they were placed in a very dangerous position Indeed. If there was nothing to be produced in Mexico but sage brush, and sand-stone; If the wealth of our Morgans, our Hearsts and our Bryans was not located within the confines of this southern Republic, why, no more attention would be paid to those little scraps and revolts among the ambitious natives than was i'ald to the cannibals ln the South Sea Islands when they killed and ate each other. Here, however, conditions are different. There Is an enormous amount of capital that must be safeguarded,