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Pritchard, W.A.
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WESTERN CLARION The Official Organ of the Socialist Party of Canada. NO. 786 VANCOUVER,vB.C, NOVEMBER, 1916 MONTHLY, 5C. JAPAN AND The diplomatic AMERICA . foam which attaches itself to the various moves connected with World Politics and International Commerce has already commenced to effervesce with respect to the relations of Japan and the U. S. A., one to the other. ,Count Okuma, who openly resisted a "policy of aggression in China" has been succeeded in the capacity of Premier, by Marshall Teranchi, who will no doubt, proceed immediately to grasp "the opportunity of a thousand years.'' Americav is alarmed and England—de'eply -interested. The American Press wonders what this move portends, 'and is disapointed in that the redundant Foreign Minister of Britain, Grey, who is as silent when necessary as he is at other times loquacious, did not make reference to this when touching upon the problems arising from the surreptitious visit of the U—53 in "Western Atlantic waters. The fact of the matter .is, that Japan like her glorious ally Great Britain, can no longer hold her place in the forefront of the nations, and still maintain that Salisburian policy of majestic isolation. Already the trade which "we" were to appropriate from Germany has, somehow, become possessed by Japan to a great extent, while Japan >and Uncle Sam vie each with the other in a game of diplomatic seesaw, meanwhile carefully watching undeveloped, uncultured, unexplor-^ ed China, in order that possible loot shall not be allowed to slip unnoticed by. America's policy in China is one dictated by the exigencies of American capitalist interests. Therefore hordes of engineers and prospectors periodically cross thie rolling Pacific with their faces toward the setting sun, and Japan's policy is • made to a like order—with the boot on the other foot, of course. The Japanese press, as was to be expected, points out that American inso- m lence (that is, American advance the capitalist sense) can not be Ion er tolerated. The necessary buncombe is already being disseminated for preparing the minds of the common herd for \' The Day" when the question as to the master of the Pacific shall be settled; and "Preparedness" becomes a plank for both old party presidential candidates in the U. S. A., with a "modified" form adopted by the Socialist ( !) party. England has her hands full at present and Uncle Sam has been "good" in the matter of munitions, etc., providing the payments could be discerned, and also has been responsible for financial aid to the Allies. Japan became more than a- decade ago, an ally to Britain, for good and sufficient reason. The choice at this juncture, between the American Codling and the Japanese Short, is pretty difficult. Ergo, the ominus silence of the masterly Grey. Altogether the problem is delicate—for our masters: interesting—for us, if we care to read and learn. W. A. P. THE NATION- We are in re- AL SOCIAL- ceipt of the Sep- IST PARTY OF tember -28th, 1916, ENGLAND. issue of the Lon don "Justice"—"The Organ of the Social Democracy," and, since the secession of the Hyndman-Gorle- Headingley-Irving fraternity from The British Socialist Party, the evident mouthpiece of that clique now> called THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST PARTY of England. In it, the aforementioned party, whose very name should be sufficient to give it a pungent aroma .in proletarian nostrils airs a complaint against certain Socialist and Labour journals in the colonies, which have taken an antiwar stand during the present crisis. Space forbids an extended explanation of points raised in or the making of many quotations from, this open letter, but one or two amusing statements appear which we cannot allow to pass. For instance, that \ \ the war was MADE by that section of German society which keeps Prus- -sia itself under a tyrannous Bureaucratic rule with its three-class franchise, and succeeded in depriving Saxony of universal suffrage" is a tit-bit, to any one acquainted with the.Marxian philosophy, of a rarity that defies comparison. The I. L. P. position is also stated which to us is just as nauseous and anti-proletarian as that of the present B. S. P., or the new foundling adopted by the bewhiskered patriarch of Social-De mocracy, aided and abetted by his sturdy lieutenants, Thorne, Bax, Hunter Watts, et. al. But what stamps this article as particularly infamous at this stage of events *is the sublime subterfuge of carefully ignoring the position of the SOCIALIST PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN adopted before the war and maintained, in spite of apparently overwhelming obstacles since the outbreak of Europe's holocaust. THE WESTERN OLARION is not here concerned with the position of the new party against the old B. S. P. or the I. L. P. They look similar to us. What we should like to know is why "The National Socialist Parity" should remain |90 -eloquently silent respecting that party which alone has presented the Marxian stand. Is it because discretion is the better part of valor? W. A. P. The Kaiser has again visited the Champagne Front:—-"Vancouver Province" Headline. We don't doubt it. !iffif;ffW^Mfi§Mf!P^^^^^ *SEJISBT»»?iKS THE WESTERN CLARION INTERNATIONAL NOTES- By Moses Baritz. The referendum bill to be voted upon in Australia is a clever piece of legal manipulation. No naturalised person of foreign enemy birth is permitted to vote, and all articles written in the newspapers on this subject must be signed by the writers. The soldiers in training will be granted leave to go and vote, but they will change to civilian dress in order to exercise the franchise. The Labor Party in Queensland is opposing the bill tooth and nail. The question put before the electorate is as follows:— "Are you in favor of the government having in this grave emergency the same compulsory powers over citizens in regard to requiring their military service for the term of the war outside the Commonwealth as it now has in regard to military service within the Commonwealth'?" # # * While "Vorwaerts" has again been suppressed for "slighting the dear old German Chancellor," it is interesting to know that a new paper has appeared which is already causing the authorities in Germany some anxious, moments. If the choice of the name is unfortunate, it nevertheless permits of rebellious aroma. It is called "Spartacus." The editor's name has not yet been made public, but it is published by the supporters of Dr. Liebknecht. It is the outcome of a series of anonymous letters which liave been widely circulated in Germany for the past few months. The first issue contained an article on Liebknecht, and also his petitions to' the Court. # # * Another paper to be suppressed in Germany is the "Leipziger Volkszeitung," the official statement accompanying the act was to the effect that they had printed an article attacking the National Council of the French Socialists, which contained the following words. "The guilt of the French Socialist party now almost equals that of the German (Social-Democrat majority.) 'ALMOST!' That was the cause of the suppression. If the Italian Socialist Party pap- per "Avanti" does not take care, it too will be put out of existence. Lately many of its articles have been censored. Since the begining of war, they have attacked the several governments. Lately they have seen fit to be exceedingly sarcastic about the visit of one of his majesty's ministers. Mr. Runciman went to Rome to arrange about coal and grain. He said that war between Germany and Italy *was a mere formality, and then the Italian government declared war, without a meeting of the Cabinet. I must relate that the article appearing in the paper was censored "beyond recognition. Another point in the situation in Italy, is that the women are swiftly being brought into industry in the interest of the munition ' 1 makers, jj' w W *3P Thousands of Chinese workmen are being imported into France to work in the munition factories. One of the newspapers in dealing with the arrival of about 1,000 said their arrival aroused sympathetic curiosity. M__iy of them have been sent to Havre. It is not SO far from that port to Southampton. And there has really been such great losses on the Somme! And they are now going to use the "man-power" in the munition factories. Yes, and in the time of a "crisis" like this we really ought to have assistance from somewhere. They had Chinese in South Africa. Why not Southampton? One never knows. Eh? * * # To show the solidarity of the working class, and also to show how the Allies are "united" the British government—the GOVERNMENT mind you!—DO READ <THAT ?—THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT OBTAINED THE SERVICES OF TWO MEMBERS QF THE SOCIALIST PARTY OF FRANCE TO GO OVER TO THE BRITISH ISLES AND GIVE LECTURES !!! Poor Marx. Does'nt that show we are likely to get some "advanced" reforms after the war? I want to say that as the speakers were a Lieutenant and a private, the rleal comradely spirit was shown. Finally, I hear on good authority that they did not address the E. C. of the Socialist Party of Great Britain. To compensate for that disappointment, they were given into the charge of A. S. Headingley. That was bad enough! OUR POSITION, A Reply to A. Percy Chew in the "Winnipeg Voice." By J. Harrington. (Continued from last issue). PART 2. THE PROLETARIAN METHOD. Continuing, Chew says:— "Joseph Dietzgen, the philosopher of the Socialist movement, declared that the inductive method was pre- eniinentily ftBe proletarian method, and on his authority Socialists repudiate the notion that men can arrive at the truth by reasoning from premises that have not been established by evidence. But it is one thing to perceive a source of error and another to avoid it as the case of Reid showed. There are no more inveterate deductionists anywhere than the Canadian Socialists, of which more in a moment." Let us now proceed to review the "Proletarian method" Among the first to advocate the so-called "inductive method" was.that comprehensive and versatile genius of Mediaeval Italy, Leonarda da Vinci; about fifty years later Francais Bacon urged |tbe necessity of (reorganizing science. Before his time philosophers had spun science from their brains as they supposed quite mistakenly, because the unsubstantial substance thus fabricated, notwithstanding its unearthly build remained essentially earthly. The streets of the ethereal realms were paved with gold. Embodying the gross desires of earth with heavenly bliss, philosophers transported the stupid fiction to the Eternal city, surrounded the absurd compound with a mist of mystic phraseology and called it philosophy. Bacon by making experience the test of truth banished from his system all those grotesque forms of mediaeval imagination which then passed as science HI I m I .t and philosophy. He called this observation and verification of actual facts "tfce process of induction." But he did not consider it as proceeding from the particular to the general. How could he, when those general laws which had already made-their appearance in the intellectual life of Eurdpe were treated by him with unreserved contempt. He repudiated the Copernican system, ridiculed Gilbert's discoveries concerning the magnet and called the doctrine of final causes "barren like a virgin consecrated to God that can bear no fruit." He also believed in witch-craft. Europe in Bacon's time was all aglow with the new science, the long reign of superstition and speculation was over. Copernicus and Galileo were silenced it is true; Bruno and Servitus were burned and Ramus slaughtered, but Halley, Harvey, Bacon, Bratoe, Kepler, Newton and (many others were gradually bringing the then known sciences within the domain of law. Man no longer used the stars to forecast his fate; his newly acquired knowledge of these distant worlds furnished him with a map to travel his own. It will therefore be apparent that prior to this any attempt to reason deductively must end in error, the basis of deduction being entirely lacking i.e. experimentally verified and correctly formulated general laws. In turn by Descartes, Hobbs, Locke, Hume, Kant, Hegel and Feu- erbach philosophy was conducted through dualism, wrestling mightily with the problem of thinking and being until Marx furnished the knife and Dietzgen used it to cut the metaphysical knot. Thinking and being were one; Dualism passed to Monism. John Stuart Mill undertook to systematize the general results arising from the labors of these thinkers prior to Marx as he states in the preface to the first edition of "A System of Logic":— "To embody and systematise the best ideas'which have been either pro_ mulgated on its subject by speculative writers or conformed to by accurate thinkers in their scientific enquiries." Here we find that in those sciences which have passed the experimental stage the deductive method gain's force in accordance with the validity of general laws. It requires no I deep reflection to conclude, that a method which proceeds from the general to the particular, can only operate fully when the general is best known. Mill in fact points to the then experimental science of chemistry and states that as it comes within the domain of general law deduction will more and more dominate that field of research. And he goes even further, declaring that the. "Deductive Method in the present state of knowledge is des-. tined henceforth irrevocably to predominate in the course of scientific investigation.'' Much more could be said of Mill's opinion on this matter. For the present, however I shall deem it sufficient to call attention to Mendelief's "Periodic Law, "from which he not only' deduced the existence of three elements then unknown to science but described their atomic weight, chemical affinity and general characteristic, and had the satisfaction of living to see their discovery in the precise form described by him. Claiming as we do, to adhere as closely as possible to modern scientific methods we must plead guilty to being deductionists. This may be rank heresy when considered in relation to several phrases in "Philosophical Essays" taken apart from their real meaning, which is the method of "learned ignorance." We perf er,however, to discover the meaning of the entire text, not to read into it, meanings which suit our convenience. Wherever Eugene or Joseph Dietzgien mention the deductiv1e> method they consider it as synonymous with the Baconian conception,the method of the intuitional school of "Fanciful imagination" and always qualify it as "purely" deductive. Dietzgen places the matter clearly on page 83 "Philosophical Essays." "As far back as 1620, Francis Bacon declared in his Novenu Or- ganon the inductive method as the savior for unfruitful scholasticism and as the rock on which modern science was to be built." Then he goes on to state that deduction was "philosophic speculation" and that induction was no more than "deduc tion done consciously." He does not use the terms in the sense of the definition given by Chew. He dos not use them in their strict modern meaning. The Proletarian Method of Reasoning includes, in accordance with modern logic, the deductive and inductive methods. mm But there fare two antithentical schools of thought of which one is essentially proletarian, because all its conclusions are vitally in the interest of our class. This is the dialectical school, which views all phenomena in its movement; "Nothing is, everything is becoming." Every advance of science is a victory for this method of thought and a step nearer its complete victory, to which end the slave class must bend all its energy. For before its relentless logic, age hoary shams and ethics, shibboleths and ideals, vanish. Its world is not a picture drawn with faultless hands, and marred by malicious ones; but a marvelous piece of mechanism showing evolving forms controlled by inflexible laws. "It maketh and unmaketh, mending all; What it hath wrought is better than hath been. Slow grows the splendid pattern that it weaves, Its wistful hands between." *4S| Marx quotes with approval in his 2nd preface to "Capital" (Kerr led. page 23) a Russian critic of his, Prof. Seiber. The one thing which is of moment to Marx is to find the law of the phenomena with whose investigation he is concerned; and not only is that law of moment to him, which governs these phenomena, in so far as they have a definite form, and mutual connection within a given, historical period, of still greater moment to him is the law of their variation, of their development, i.e., of their transition from one form into another, from one series of connections into a different one. The law once discovered he investigates in detail the effects in which it manifests itself in social life, consequently, Marx only troubles himself about one thing; to show, by rapid scientific investigation the necessity of successive determinate orders of social conditions, and to establish as impartially as possible, the facts that serve him for fundamental starting points. But the reader must consult 'Capital' for the Ml "---St-- &$1 ^jjyW^^-w^lMi^yBBj^iiWtTwrev^1^^ »H1B»V*»nW*VH ^*wagjK» ^«H-^Ki.. swrv_«W»WS SwnfnHup.m, 4 THE WESTERN CLARION rest; however of this quotation Marx says :*—"whilst the writer thus pictures what he takes to be my actual method, in this striking and (as far as concerns my own application of it) generous way, what else Is he picturing but the dialectic method." And this is the PROLETARIAN METHOD- To find the laws, and then to study their operation, and to attempt to move in harmony with them. As man is the creature of these laws, not their creator, they are to be sought not in man's brain but in the physical condition of his existence. The metaphysical school on the other hand views all phenomena as static, and man as-the controlling factor, with instructions from an infinite being, as to how to run the business, believing that things as they now exist have been so with no radical change since time was, and will be to the end of time. As this is'fine for the slave owner naturally he is biased in its favor, and while perhaps doubting its validity, he certainly desires his slaves to believe in and have everlasting life, because he loves them so. The discovery that man's concious- ness was determined by his social life, that is, that all his conceptions of right and justice, of good and honesty and their opposites arise out of his social relations with his kind and that these social relations are the result of the means whereby he procures his livehood, solved the problem of cognition. Proceeding from this point Dietzgen proves that "the thing in itself" cannot exist apart frbm '"the thing." Existence and thought being identical, metaphysical ideatiW is displaced by dialectical materialism. Thinking cannot be resolved into being: it is being. Now to return to Chew. He states that socialists repudiate on Dietzgen's authority "the notion that men can arrive at truth by reasoning from premises that have not been established by evidence." Such Socialists (like Chew) have not read their alines correctly. The same error is apparent. They have not realized that the object of Dietzgen's withering scorn is not the legitimate assumptions of positive science, but the ridiculous assertions of speculative philosophy; One example will explode this soap bubble; The entire science of physics rests upon a postulate, that is a premise "not established by experience." Let me recommend "The Grammar of Science" by Karl Pearson, to those Socialists and others who "repudiate the notion" mentioned by Chew. From it I select this quotation page 115:— "Physicists reduce the groups of sense impressions which are termed material substances to the elements molecule and atom, and discuss the motion of these elements which have never been, and never can become, direct sense impressions from a • certain standpoint, therefore, these conceptions of the physicist are super-sensuous, that is, they do not represent direct sense impressions; but the reader must be careful not to confuse this kind of super-sensuous- ness with that of the metaphysician. \' Let us see what Dietzgen has to say of this same subject p. 232 "Philosophical Essays" Quoting Lange:— "We are unable to conceive the atoms, And we cannot explain out of the atoms and their movement the slightest phenomena of consciousness." "As against this we say, -that which allows of being practically conceived is not inconceivable. Who ever wants \ to conceive the inconceivable cannot be taken seriously. Just as with my eye I can only perceive the visible... .so with my faculty of conception, I can only conceive the conceivable. And when the Social-Democratic philosophy teaches that every thing which exists can be perfectly conceived, it does not deny the inconceivable in a natural sense. We admit the same as the natuial invisible to our eyes;, we only object to that double dealing, shufflingf, philosophical sense which makes the inconceivable again conceivable on a higher plane." (Emphasis mine). The similarity of reasoning in these two quotations can be duplicated many times from these two books, Dietzgen may pe obscure at times but he never muddles _is scienee, and this Chew and his mythical Canadian Socialists cannot help doing. However, I do not intend to take up all the absurd assertions of Chew; they are too numerous and. too utterly utter. Let us get to the cause of his windy generalities,, scientific inaccuracies, and baseless sneers. Claiming, that the Canadian Socialist Party "prides itself on being extremely inductive" he says:—"Let us see how inductive they are. The Winnipeg members delight in affirm ing that the workers have no country and no interests to protect. From this "principle" they argue that the workers should never resist invasion and that political and constitutional change arranged by the masters does not concern the masses." Then stating that such is only an assumption, "approximate truth," that it does not meet the test oij war, that while "working people possess little tangible wealth they have certain comforts and pleasures as long as the industrial machine keeps moving; their livelihood, and therefore, their lives depend on the normal working of the machine. Here, then, is an interest of paramount importance which they have in their country, an interest which instinct bids them defend if necessary with their lives. One could hardly find a worker whose condition was so miserable that it could not be made worse, by a siege of his city or a blockade of his countries ports. "When the Socialist noisily declaims that the workers have no country, he is not announcing a principle proved by induction, but only an assumption." These sare wild and whirling words For my part, after having read Chew's article, I can recommend him as being unable or unwilling to set down anyone's position . correctly, not excepting his own. I am ready to believe the "Winnipeg members" deny the j \' Principle " of a wage slave having a country to protect. That they include in their denial "no interests to protect" I don't believe. I can believe that they argue that workers should not resist invasion, but that they include all constitutional and political changes arranged by their masters as being no concern of the worker I don't believe. Chew is merely a trickster. To couple up what every Marxist holds with what no Marxist could logically assert is quite common ordinary trickery, and mighty poor at that. Is it necessary to point out that no country could be subjected to the horrors of seige or blockade if the (slaves of that country refused to fight ? And the inference that slaves will instinctively fight and die to keep the machine normally at work, is some joke for even Such an un- ^W^^^^l^,^l^^^f3^^^^^^^^ ^-^g^a^^ THE WESTERN OLARION conscious humorist as Chew. Chew further states "that when the Socialist noisily declaims that the workers have no country he is not announcing a principle proved by induction but only an assumption." Now you do not prove anything by induction, you arrive at a conclusion or assumption. You prove this conclusion by experiment and as the experiments verify your conclusion uniformly, your conclusion becomes an accepted fact. However, we expect "learned ignorance" to talk foolishly even in scientific terms. That the working class has no country is a "principle" arrived at by induction, albeit not "patient." Chew may find this by consulting "Communist Manifesto" (pages 41 to 43). He may verify it by asking any stiff who has been driven from "his country." Perhaps instead of making sweeping assertions about induction, deduction, and the S. P. of C, Chew will establish by "induction" (which he evidently imagines is a magic formula for discovering truth) that the wage slave has a country, or that countries, as the abode of distinct and seperate nations exist. And he may take it from me that his advise to us to "drop vour deductive" method, will ever be proof, to anyone possessing a modicum of scientific knowledge, that his ineptitude is at once profound and distinguished. But a windy word-monger can always be depended on to supply his own conviction. Blocked off in black face for special emphasis on the front page of the same issue of "The Voice" which we are now discussing, Chew, in another article tells us that:— ^| "Capitalism has -brought the world to a condition of perpetual peril, and the masters have no means of rescuing it. How bankrupt in resources they are can be seen from the fact that the war suggests to them nothing more hopeful than a future exactly like the hateful past, in which preparation for war shall be the mainspring of every national policy. There must be a new international in which the workers will solemnly forgive one another the crimes of their masters. If a tendency to build up such an international does not arise, humanity is in for an epoch of blood and degeneration. This, I presume, is what we "in-' stinctively fight for. Well! Well! Who'd ha' thought it. ORGANISATION MANIFESTO OF THE SOCIALIST FART- OF THE UNITED STATES. The Socialist Party of the United States comes into existence for the purpose of carrying on the propaganda of Socialism, fearlessly and uncompromisingly. We of the Socialist Party of the United States hold: ^atl That by Socialism alone can the origin and development of Society be explained. That until the working class, in sufficient numbers, understands the present system of Society, thereby realizing its own class position and the reason for its own economic victimization, it will not develop the intelligence or power to bring about a system of society under which the interests of the workers will be conserved. That the function of a Socialist Party is the education of the members of the working class to their class interests and their consequent and conscious organization into a political party, with the abolition of the capitalist system as its singla aim. That all electoral activities must be entered into with the view of taking advantage of increased opportunity of propaganda, election of candidates to be re* garded as strictly secondary and incidental, That the interests of the workers of all countries are identical at all times, therefore no class-conscious worker can voluntarily support any section of the master class in time of war, or in preparation for war, by any action whatever. That the workers are exploited as producers and in no other way. That under the present system of soc_ iety as in all previous societies, those who own the means of wealth production necessarily control those who do not own, and have and use the power to take the wealth the dispossessed workers produce, there- forev the capitalists are masters and the workers slaves. That the capitalist class control the present system of Society, no reform or reconstruction of Capitalist Society can take place without their approval, and that, as their approval will never be given to any change that is not for their benefit, therefore the advocaqy of reforms is not the function of a Socialist party. That religion is not a private matter, but a subject for scientific explanation, that religion—originating in the mind of the primitive savage through his ignorance of the operation of natural law—has been adapted and adopted by a master class as a weapon to keep the working class servile in mind, and that religion ceases to exist in the minds of those to whom it ha^been explained. For the foregoing reasons we of. the Socialist Party of the United States center our attack on the capitalist ownership of the means of wealth production, our one end in view being the abolition of the Capitalist System and the establishment of the Cooperative Commonwealth. With this end in view ws will combat every phase of capitalist thought, whether expressed by those frankly capitalistic, by petty capitalist politicians posing as Socialists, or by honest, but ignorant, individuals fondly imagining themselves Socialists. We call on all workers who realize the futility of reforms, the soporific infiuence of religion, the uselessness of playing capitalist politics, and the prime necessity of sound Socialist education of the working class to join with us in the work of education which we have undertaken. Those who do not agree with us in all essentials we do not desire as members of our Party, as such would be a source of weakness rather than strength. Realizing the vital need of revolutionary political action—any action necessary to be taken to deprive the capitalist class of its property rights in the means of wealth production—in order to emancipate the working class from wage-slavery, we endorse no "economic" organization, either on Craft or Industrial lines, as such endorsement would be a stultification of our class position, and, in addition, would be of no value to the organization endorsed; on the other hand, we ask no endorsation of any other such organization, the only endorsement we value being membership of our Party. In this matter we differ from the "Socialist" Labor Party, as we do in its attitude on the question of religion. As to the "Socialist" Party of America, its position is even more hopeless than "that of the "Socialist" Labor Party, for many reasons, among which may be mentioned its propaganda of reforms, its position on religion, its harboring of sentimentalists, Christian "Socialists," capitalist politicians in the Socialist disguise, its toleration of the ignorance of most of its membership, and the fact that it is a party dominated by the bosses being interested in keeping the party members in ignorance. We know, and are glad to say, that in both the parties mentioned there are a number of real Socialists. who have been doing their best under the circumstances they find themselves in, and we point out to them that the Socialist Party of the United States affords them the opportunity of doing much better. In answer to probable criticism that our action is premature, we say that no action is premature that is correct and possible, and the fact that we have taken the action we have is proof that there is a realization that such action is timely; many have been saying that the action we have taken must be taken "sometime;" we have reached the point where we will wait no longer, for us the time is NOW, and we extend to all others who have reached that point a hearty and comradely welcome to our Party. We do not, and will not, invite any but Socialists to join the Socialist Party of the United States, realizing that a SOCIALIST Party must be composed of Soc_ ialists, but we invite the fraternal association of all workers at our Party meetings and rooms, in the hope that such association will result in such workers becoming Socialists and THEN joining the Party. We assert the Class War, we take the side of the working class in that war without reservation or qualification, we declare that war to be the only one in which the workers have any interests to assert or ends to achieve, we maintain that that war' takes the form of a struggle for the powers of the State, to wrest from the capitalist class their political supremacy, to replace cated from the working class, maintaining macy, to use the power thus gained to change the ownership of the means of life from the Capitalist to Collective ownership—in plain words to re-confiscate the wealth which the ruling class has confiscated from theh working class, maintaining additionally that in this struggle there can be no question of truce, compromise or compensation. "The first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of the ruling class, to win the battle' of democracy." "Proletarians of all countries, UNITE:" —Communist Manifesto. (Continued on page 9.) SJWFWS1 ">i iwi. ™>";-;W^'^>!'g^?^B^y»^^y^^??^?i?e pmrnm. ,tv?: —iJ.f.—>>'*■ BKrassWfew! ■^WW«?^3^1fp!!Sti?taS5S5J?'W«5W?W 1 6 THE WESTEEN CLARION The Western Clarion EDITORIAL PAGE <™.D;.ffi°3«5HSi> Published by the Socialist Party of Canada at the office of the Western Clarion, 169 Georgia St. E. Vancouver. B. C. Subscription Bates: Per 20 issues Per 10 issues 1.00 0.50 Bundle Bates:—3 cents per copy per issue. In making remittance by cheque, exchange must be added. Address all communication to W. A. Pritchard Managing-Editor, 169 _eorgia St. E. Vancouver, B. C. Readers advising us of change of address can only insure correct and prompt delivery by sending the old address along with the new. If yor. receive this paper it is paid for. OUR FUNC- ' TION IN THE LIGHT OF HISTORICAL MATERIALISM. . says Marx, in that brilliant and masterly criticism of French history of the middle of the last century. Man's history is the history of labor (in its various dispositions and multiform consequences) necessary to the. obtaining of his continued sustenance, together with the changing ideas, customs, and institutions resulting from the ever improving and constantly developing means of producing and circulating life's necessities. w e Whenever briefly aver that man is the creature of his environment we give utterance to one of those misleading and positively dangerous statements which, unqualified, contain merely a half truth. In proceeding to an explanation of those basic economic laws which form the. sub-structure of our social theory of evolution, and upon a clear understanding of which the practical activities of any working class party worthy of the name depend, we are compelled to point out that, in the main, the actions of mankind are determined by the economic conditions prevailing at any time. But does a knowledge' of this method of investigation (which is the only scientific method of interpreting historical processes) justify any student of social science adopting that painfully prevalent psuedo- philosophy which we might call, for want of a better term, 'economic fatalism? Does it even permit us to place all emphasis on the economic factor and ignore completely the rest? Are we correct in sitting back with folded arms and a socratic look on our faces, blindly trusting to the advance of overwhelming economic forces? Or do we recognise the power of the intellectual factor; the power of extending class education? "Man makes his own history, but he does not make it out of the whole cloth; he does not make it out of Conditions chosen by himself, but out of such as he finds close at hand,'' "Pre-social man is a historic unreality." Peering through the misty gloom of the backward reaches of human antiquity we fail to discover any epoch wherein man was not a social animal. Even his. ape-like forbears lived in groups or tribes. From the associations and relationships arising from social intercourse and the artificial groundwork which mankind in time created by the production of tools there develo/ped certain social instincts!, ethical ideas, and moral concepts. In primitive times the safety of the individual depended upon the proper working of such social machinery as existed for the defence and maintenance of the tribe. The notions of equality which held the barbaric mind as in a vise for countless centuries was only finally overcome by the irresistible onslaught of property ideas, consequent upon the advent of slavery. Methods of production continue to improve; the bow and arrow pass with the advance of time, and a complicated whole of universal economic forces appears. Corresponding to the successive changes in the economic base can be observed changes in the social structure. Political revolutions mark, in an unmistakable and sometimes violent manner, the passing of ruling classes, one after another. Morality, ethics, religion, all change as society's base ceaselessly movesl Shibboleths of age-long standing are, overnight, unceremoniously thrown into the oblivion of forgotten things; religion is revised and doctored as science advances and precludes the notion of the agency of the divine hand in social development; morality once throbbing with meaning in days long past, is twisted out of all semblance while new ideas anise, are fomented and seized with avidity, being impressed upon us by capitalist apologists, all in the interests of the changing needs of the masters of mankind's livelihood. The problem of the ages, the production of a sufficiency to maintain humankind; a problem which baffled for years the mind of our savage ancestors, at last is solved. Man's means of production have developed far beyond the stage of which the seer spoke and the prophet dreamed. Out of the seeming chaos of history, the long concatenations of senseless deeds of violence, appears the story of man's forward march along the path of progress. And man, by those very actions which became necessary for his continued existence, h{^ ceaselessly changed the face of the environment surrounding him; has "made his own history out of the conditions which he found close to hand." Human progress is at last intelligible and the point is reached where man becomes a conscious fac- 'tor in the changing of conditions. "Philosophers have interpreted the world differently, but the point is to change it." By explaining the laws that govern human society and regulate - the production and exchange of commodities today, we can consciously bring that day nearer when we shall be the architects of our own dwelling-place; the masters of our own destiny. No more fitting conclusion could be presented than the one given by Boelsche in his "Triumph of Life." "What are the stars? What is the whole? What is the nature god? When man so questioned then life played its last part. Surrounded by danger, between the dragon of the ice age and the typhoon of the desert god, there was born of its environment, a being that for the first I <M THE WESTERN OLARION time conquered cosmic adaptation. It .struggled on to higher ideas until it laid its hand upon this whole earth and solved,and triumphed over all those technical problems before which life had stood despairing through millions of years but which to it were only child's play. Man, the highest adjustment to the earth, master of his planet through his technique—and this man now wandering in thought through the whole star system. and formulating its laws—shall not life with this being yet triumph through countless eons over glowing deserts, and ice : ages, chilling suns, and dissolving planets if in the incomprehensible length of time, to thought and to desire is added the third thing, deed. To the education of the members of the. working cla,ss in Canada we have set ourselves, realising that no short cut route is possible to our .emancipation, that nothing less than CLASS CONSCIOUS KNOWLEDGE and CONSCIOUS CLASS EFFORT /will avail for the attainment of our object—the establishment of a system of society based upon the common ownership and control of society's means of production and distribution. Will you help us. W. A. P. THE HIGH That most aflic- COST OF LIV- ted of all creatur- ING. es, the human an imal, is in trouble again. After seven lean years, (very lean years), during which the elusive job was hunted with constantly diminishing hope and recompense, 1914 saw a new market for "man power" created. The withdrawal from -the productive ranks of society of the largest military force in the world's history did not immediately solve the problem of unemployment. But, gradually, as the war developed a market for munitions, jobs became plentiful and wage slaves few. As a natural consequence the recompense increased. But, (cursed spite!) when the monthly bills are paid the prosperous wage slave finds that those little comforts that he has been promising himself and family for so many years are quite as far off as ever. Having surveyed the situation after a few months of fear and wonder, he now finds that his ten per cent advance in wages is completely swamped by a fifteen per cent advance in the prices of commodities. There are some fortunate slaves who reaped a harvest beyond their most delicious pipe dreams. We hear of working class families who, having bought a piano, and finding a space in their parlor still unoccupied, have promptly secured another piano to fille the gap; and of un- grammatical females bandying course jokes with jpoljcemen on guard at munition plants, meanwhile wafting farewells with much bejewelled hands. It was the custom in those hungry days before a benign Providence stirred up this world's strife, for the cockney to take his country- cousin to Drury Lane Theatre or the Opera House and let him feast his eyes on the untold wealth which decorated the female occupants of "bald- head row" and the boxes. That cost the cockney, or his cousin, money. Now his country cousin is taken to the factory gate at quitting time to see Solomon in all his glory ieclipsed. We repeat—we hear of these things. We also hear of deputations of all classes waiting upon legislatures begging for relief from the high cost of living. Flour has reached a higher price than ha^i obtained ityi forty years here in this Canada of ours in spite of most abundant crops; and promises to go higher still. All other food stuffs have advanced considerably and clothes, especially woollens, are advancing in price with no apparent desire to loiter on the way. Reports from the war plagued zone tell us still more pronounced advances relative to former prices, then every body howls, and flies to their parliamentary representatives, demanding that this state of affairs cease. The representatives look wise, promise to investigate, curse God, and "the high cost of living," and let it go at that. So the era of unexampled pros perity does not appear to be appreciated by an overwhelming proportion of society. It Is remarkable, that people who have been able to obtain a higher price for their commodity, because of an increased demand, should demand an investigation into a general rise in prices; that is providing we concede man to be a reasoning animal, who never mixes the logic of his think tank, and always acts in perfect accordance to a well planned and logical purpose. But as a matter of fact mankind has nothing on those insects, whose stupid and useless labor form many a basis for similes upon the difference between instinct and reason. The Mason Bee may industrially and with "absurd perseverance" seal the cells from which provisions and eggs are removed; and the spider may weave the "eider-down quilting and the taffeta wrapper round a capsule that contains nothing" but even fable has never observed them wallowing in a profusion of food, laboring prodigiously to obtain it, and starving ingloriously in the effort. We have no means of knowing at least in the present state of knowledge, what faculties these spiders or bees possess which would enable them to detect the absence of the objects of their laborious solicitude. But we do know that mankind boasts of a god given reason, and too frequently supplies evidence which brands his reason as mythical as its reputed author. In the various problems which mankind has undertaken to solve he has drawn extensively upon the wisdom of the ancients. No proposition has been too absurd or too impossible for his credulity; and great and industrious scholars and thinkers have believed in, and perpetuated the most ridiculous nonsense conceivable. But in no sphere of mans' intellectual life has this accumulated nonsense been preserved with grater care than that which most concerns himself and his fellows. That he is relatively in the same social position as the chattel slave of two thousand years ago, notwithstanding the tremendous forces of production now in existence, is a fact whieh appeals to comparatively 8 THE WESTERN CLARION few modern wage workers. In fact the entire structure of society is enveloped in metaphysical language whicn leaves no semblance to the actual facts. If a man is permitted to call himself free and a few senti- mntal songs are sung commemorating this psuedo-freedom, he will willingly tolerate conditions, which no chat- ttl slave would willingly or passively consent to. The so-called freeman does this because hope shines ever in the future ; he does not realise his position; better times are always at hand. He believes this in spite of the age-long experience of his class. The chattel slave had no delusive hope. His position was fixed; he knew it. No delusive hope eased the burden of his daily load or soothed the pain of his frequent punishment. He realized that outside of the complete overthrow of his • master and all other masters within his ken, his position could never alter. He also realized that only with the assistance of his fellow slaves could this be accomplished. For the sake of accuracy I admit a few at different stages of mans' development were freed. Slave revolts were many and were often successful, but never permanently so. However, that does not concern us here. The modern slave with so many ..examples of gutter snipes sitting in high places of the world indulges in rainbow hopes that such is to be his fortune, and this way out of slavery occupies his attention to the exclusion of all else. His school books are full of examples of hard work and faithful service being requited with most magnificent rewards, from Dick Whittington to Schwab. \ The Socialist Party of Canada recognises that ignorance of history and of social evolution, or rather perverted views of history and social evolution, are the, chief obstacles to the final emancipation of slavery in all its forms. When the workers understand social evolution and the machinery of Capitalist production they will realize what the chattel slave knew—that, outside of the overthrow of the master class by class action on their part, their position is hopeless. They will realize that the high cost of living, and any other social evil which afflicts them, are parts of the social structure under which they live, and consequent upon it, they will also realize that a living wage is beyond the province of legislators, however honest or willing, but depends solely upon certain conditions within the social organ- ism. With such knowledge at their command they will then be able to advance beyond the instinctive folly of the insect which performs useless labor to protect its offspring when that offspring has dissappeared, just as they at present exhibit intellectual folly by performing useless labor for-the protection of their offspring which is here. Sound knowledge is the source of intelligence. Our mission is not to emancipate the workers but to educate them. A working class possessing working class knowledge will undoubtedly emancipate itself. J. H. OUR BOOKSHELF. A HISTORY OF ECONOMIC DOCTRINES, by Profs. Charles Gide and Charles Rist. Authorised translation from the second revised and agumented edition of 1913. Translated by R. Richards, B. A. D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, New York & Chicago, Price $3.00 Pp. 672. Reviewed by Moses Baritz. The illustrious gentlemen- responsible for this work are well known in Europe. It is to be hoped that their reputations will be enhanced by the time this is read. The book is badly named. It deserves some better title. I will suggest "Economic Doctrines, SOME History ! ! !" Maybe that is unacceptable, in which case there is an alternative that will suffice. It might be called "SOME of the History x>f Some economic Doctrines." To be a history, it would record in indisputable and incontestible language, PACTS, which it does not. To be the history of any doctrine it would present incontrovertible statements — which it also does not. It would be without error. It would have had verification of quotation. To be a history, it would state in clear and unequivocal phrases, the EXACT source and place of each quotation, in order that they could be verified. Surmise, in_ nuendo, insinuatory language would be avoided. That is if it WAS a history. But it is NOT. One might, due to the apparently malicious misrepresentation, say that the object of the authors, was to discredit, besmirch, and generally distort the—work of Karl Marx. There would be a slight disposition toward forgiveness were there a solitary lapse. But the senses are so outraged by the recurrent and avoidable mistakes that the provocation is too great to permit of passing it over. To misrepresent Marx is but a part of the whole scheme. The flat tery accorded the earlier "economists" borders on a farce. It is the call of the high priests of the capitalist faith to their god Mammon, to resurrect the diseased and time-worn theories of Adam Smith, Ricardo, Sismondi, Rodbertus, John Stuart Mill, and the theologian Malthus. An appeal to them is gratifyingly demonstrative of the brain, genius, capacity, and towering mentality of Marx. It is becoming the vogue these day to revive the Multhusian theory of poverty. This school is now having quite an innings The birth control bunk of Margaret Sanger, and her imitators has to some degree been responsible for the publicity given to Malthus. Next month there will be a long—and I hope—exhaustive, analysis of the Malthusian theory, making a comparison with Marxism. The former school has an idea, that poverty can be abolished by limiting the size of the family. But next issue will examine that idea in the light of modern capitalist development. The standing of the authors can be best guaged, by their references to Marx. If they maintain an atmosphere of cloudiness in their biography of Marx; if they are equipped to state the truth about him, what eerious objection can be raised to discount them completely. Were the objection a matter of opinion and NOT of fact, one could extend sympathy to them. But a statement which is the REVERSE of fact is something one cannot, nay, dare not, forgive. Comforted by the Latin proverb, "Veritas' est prevalibit" one can go on with the review without much worry. Let us see what there is in the 672 pages.. '^%m The translator Is from—to quote George Bernard Shaw—"some nonconformist hell in Wales." Generous to a degree he defiantly tells us in the note that he calls "prefatory" that the "Marxian doctrine is already antiquated in the opinion of certain members of that school." I would like to know if a man who repudiates a certain school of thought, really belongs to it. To show that the school is antiquated, the authors say this in their preface on page X. "But for the advent of machinery, with the subsequent increase of industrial activity and the parallel growth of a proletarian class, followed by the recurrence of economic crises, we may be certain that neither the doctrine of Sismondi nor that of Karl Marx would ever have seen the light of day." Tell me gentle professors, what is that but the Marxian method of interpreting society? Does not Marx claim that it is the process of production that gives rise to the intellectual history of an era? Why, if Marx is antiquated, do you use his method - of explaining the origin of his views on capitalist society? Marxism is so out of date that these authors are compelled to use'the Marxian method to show how it arose, and what is its origin. One wonders whether they expected Sophocles in "Edipus Tyrannus," or Shakespeare in his "As You Like It" to have laid down that theory. There are almost as many references to Marx as Adam Smith, yet the latter has 52 pages and Marx only 30. Now, hold your breath. Poundhon has 23 pages! The index shows Smith with 83 lines, Marx 57, and Proudhon 33. The number of references of Marx not recorded were too numerous for tabulation. Naturally, when dealing with Marx there must be some kind of falsification. It appears in the FIRST sentence of his "biography." Prof. Gide who writes the article on Marx says:— "Karl Marx, generally spoken of as a Jew, was born on May 5th, 1818, of Jewish parents who had been converted to Protestantism." ''% THE WESTERN CLARION It hardly need be pointed out, that the foregoing sentence is an absolute lie. The parents of Marx WERE Jews. They did not become Christians until Marx was 6 years old. It is as false to claim that he was not a Jew as it is to suggest, as the Society for the conversion of the Jews to Christianity does, that Marx was a Jewish CONVERT (! ! !) to Christianity, because his parents were converted before Marx had any chance of expressing an opinion on the matter. * * * In writing of "Capital" it is stated that "it is frequently quoted, but seldom read." There is a tinge of self analysis there, for one reading the book would not fail to discover that the authors stand convicted of that charge. We will leave it for a while. On page 449, appears this sentence on "Capital":— "This book has exercised a great influence on XIX century thought, and probably no work with the exception of the Bible and the Pandects has given rise to such a host of commentators and apologists." Of the "Communist Manifesto" it is said that:— |^§| "There is scarcely a single one of its phrases each of which stings like a dart, that has not been invoked a thousand times." In the examination of the theory of value, a fair explanation is given, but in dealing with necessary and surplus labor a complete fog appears. The example is made that while the worker is used by the cap. italist for 10 hours, he gets only pay for 5 hours. To show that is not quite Marxian, they refer us on page 453 to footnote 3, wherein the following astounding state, ment is made:— "Marx in one part of his thesis accepts the statement of English manufacturers who declared that it was the last hour that gave them their profits." While other quotations from Marx are paged this truly sensational sentence is not. Pretty wise guy that professor! Even if he had tried he would never have been . able to tell us where it is, for Marx never accepted, nor did he make a suggestion of accepting, any such position. What is the fact? Marx actually opposed that contention, and exposed the ridiculous exponent of that economic absurdity. Take up "Capital." Turn to Chapter IX. Read Section 3 on pages 207—213, and you will see how completely Marx annihilates Prof. Senior, who went to Manchester from Oxford University to take up the side of the manufacturers against the then impending factory legislation and the proposed Ten Hour Bill. Prof. Senior maintained that it was ONLY in the last hour, that proft was made, and if the hours were reduced, it would mean that the poor manufacturers would be ruined. The fact was, that profits increased enormously. One of the Government inspectors in a report made at the end of April 1855, stated that had Prof. Senior been correct, all factories would have been working at a loss for the previous 5 years. That section is one to be read, and will be keenly appreciated by any student of" Marxism. To attribute such a statements to Marx, as quoted above, is sufficient to exhibit the ignorance or criminality of the authors. They must be of those they refer to as not having read Marx carefully. * * * Not only in that regard do they misrepresent Marx. With a cool deliberation, they i*. 11 their readers that Marx contradicted himself in dealing with the average rate of profit. The attitude is as though Marx wrote his work oh the capitalist system of production, on a time table. That the first chapter was written first, and so on way down through the whole of his system. That what was set down in the first volume, was afterwards abandoned in the third volume. It would seem that it makes NO difference when or where the work was written, so long as the contradiction WAS made. But that is not the view taken. Actually the part of the third volume in which Marx is supposed to repudiate the theory of value, was written long before the publication of the FIRST volume. If there is the modification; if there is the abandonment, what does it matter when Marx DID write it? And was it some opponent of Marx who brought this matter to light? No it was Engels himself who in the preface to the Second volume replied^ to the attacks made upon Marx, because he had "borrowed" from Rodbertus. It was Engels who set the bourgeois political economists on the hunt to find the answer that Marx gave .in the third volume. All those that counted, and most that did not, racked their brains. The preface to Volume 3 shows what Engels thought about those who made "reply." But these dear kind professors go one more than most Marx critics. They say:— "It is PROBABLE, that Marx was not very well satisfied /with his explanation, which MAY ^account for his reluctance to publish it during his lifetime." - (Emphasis mine. M. B.) See that word PROBABLE! And that word MAY! Instead of,dealing with actual facts; these gentlemen, deal with -what Marx MAY have done. What can you expect, however, from writers, who on the same page make a quotation from Marx, and give it a page where it cannot be found at all. If there is that mendacity in quotation what can be said when, in the actual quotation which is on page 293, there are inverted commas LEFT OUT and a general emaciation of the paragraph, and the exclusion of the last sentence in, addition ! ! ! ! If there is not enough of that misrepresentation the calendar of falsities has to be added to by giving an example from page 427 of "Capital" ^rhich again is not to be seen. Can the reader but think that the phrase that "Capital" is frequently quoted "but seldom read" has an added emphasis, when applied to the authors. Every nonentity seems to break his neck in an endeavor to overthrow Marxism. Reactionaries of the stamp of Georges Sorel are quoted to "refute" Marx. The evident growth of Marxism must needs be stopped. Any method from perversion to falsi, fication; from lying to misquotation is good enough for them, but not for us. The wordy spasm under review only tends to fortify Marxism. It only demonstrates the impending and complete bankruptcy of the "intellects" who are out to Kain fame by an attack upon Marx. The apparent sincerity to appear "fair" makes the contempt for the authors more profound. The critics of Marx will ndt have to be hacks, servile time-servers, and & cohort of /perverted brains. These spurious chanters of a foul song, can not stand the light of criticism upon them. It wiil have to be men of a virile character^ and of sterling knowledge, of wonderful grasp, of great mental power, to be able to puncture the work of Marx. The satisfaction we can derive, is that more false prophets have gone into the corridors of time to be heard no more. And their tribe increases. May the next effort at least be honest. This book is of all mental rottenness, in a class by itself. OBGA&IZATION MANIFESTO, 6*2. Continued from page 5 ) A fuller statement of the position of the Socialist Party of the United States will be issued shortly. The above is inserted in order to allow any party member to criticize it, and also for purposes of information. We cannot judge to any extent on the mere wording of the "Organization Manifesto of the S. P. of U. S., but perhaps more information will be forthcoming later, when- we can state our views at length. ED. SECRETARIAL SCRAPS. Local Crawfoid Bay No. 7.2 ' F.C ;, informs us that R. McGregor, J. Olsen, A. Nelson, and C. McGregor have been expelled from that Local for giving support to the Liberals in the last election. This action was endorsed by the E. C. * * * A Winnipeg reader writes us as follows: I have returned from the "Resolution Factory" (T. and L. Congress) at Toronto. The Vancouver Congress (1915) was revolutionary compared with this. Good God! That's going some. SUBS. RECEIVED. A. F. Hawkins 6 W. K. Bryce 7 M. Baritz 5 H. W. Long 4 W. A. P 3 J. Jenkins 2 R. C. McCutchan 2 J. S. MacPhie 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 30 2 0 Singles—Dollar Subs.—W. A. Brown, Ada Berry, Geo. Brown, Geo. Rossiter, P. W. Bishop, R. Kneeshaw, E. R. Bobb. Fifty -cent.—J. Wood. Twenty-five cents.—H. Miller. Forty-one only this month. Let us get busy for the New Year. Now, all together! LOCALS AND PARTY MEMBERS ATTENTION! The editorial Board ©f THE | WESTERN CLARION has i been instructed to draw up' a list of suggested amendments to I the Party Constitution. We shall be pleased to re- . ceive suggestions from any ; Local or member in good standing in order that as good a draft constitution {as possible can be prepared before submitting it to referendum. The Dominion Executive Committee s-Lt>vtf*(S,-«S"r:; 10 THE WESTERN CLARION I THE EUROPEAN SITUATION. By Moses Baritz. No. VI.—Russia. The land of the knout, the home of the tyrant, the abode of superstition, the haven of perjury, the paradise of the pestilential police, the hell of the revolutionist, the dungeon of radicalism and the grave of freedom—Russia. The cauldron of malignity, the incubator of race hatred, the festhaus of torturers. The residence of autocratic rogues, and the habitation of corruption. The sediment of modern society; autocracy in excelsis—Russia. The "State" conception of military service is preferable to the vengeance wreaking hideous monstrosity known as Russian Czar" ism. No crime so awful and fiendish but can be paralleled in Russia during days of PEACE. No massacre so cold-blooded but has been equalled in Russia in normal times. No form of tyranny so degrading but Russia surpasses it. No persecution so persistent that the ruling class of Russia are not pastmasters of. No regime so overflowing with hate and degeneracy that has not its superior in Russia. The Radical members of the English Parliament, who with hate in their hearts, hisses from their throats, and cunsejs on their lips, vowed speedy destruction to the Czar some four or five years ago, now with the craven degeneracy that is so worthy of them, are falling on their knees in gross flattery of the country they had for years excoriated. That the class, which has for a century done all humanly possible to stop Russia getting an outlet on the Dardanelles to develop her internal resources; which fought one war, and opposed Russia in another, in order to restrict her commerce, has now had to sink its hatred and associate with the wholesale murderers of the working class to preserve its faulty hide. The Jewish capitalists with lies on their lips, and hypocrisy in their hearts, are doing all they can to have returned to Russia the men who in England have sought a resting place from the age-long persecution of the Russian autocracy.lt is clear to observe the CLASS nature of the Jew. Touch his dividends, and like the brute he is, he will spend every ounce OF SOMEBODY ELSE'S energy, to secure it. It is the banking houses of the Rothschild's who are principally concerned in the successful prosecution of this war. The workers in Russia will not benefit by it. The Jewish and other refugees in England are finding it hard to obtain immunity from the return to the land of their birth. In France after a commission was appointed to make inquiry into the question it was decided that it would be a violation of the laws holding peoples together, and an action condemning thousands to Siberia for life, and others to death, if they sent back the refugees to Russia. But in England, the Jewish capitalists are the. main screamers for the return of their compatriots. ItovT' -"IJw 'l'< :i THE WESTERN CLARION 11 * With all the English papers but the "Socialist Standard'' avoiding the situation in Russia, can it be wondered at that the ruling class in both England and Russia are working with might and main to "convert" the people to the fact that Russia is not so 'bad as it has been painted. The home of this attempt to twist the truth is Cambridge University. How Lord Acton, who was Regius Professor in History there, would •feel about it, one has but to read the volume dealing with Russia in the "Cambridge Modern History." There has been a special course in Cambridge this past summer, and a resume of the lectures will soon convince tbe reader that a gang of mental prostitutes have been holding sway. * * * The inaugural address was made by Lord Robert Cecil. He is the Under Minister for Foreign Affairs, and of course he KNOWS what conditions are^in Russia. As a descendant of a family of Tudor pirates, who stole thousands of acres of land, he is competent to judge of his Russian associates. True to his office, he lied about both Germany and Russia. He made a comparison of the countries in saying:— "Indeed it might be truly said that freedom was as much admired in Russia as in England. No doubt the Russian Government was autocratic. Its monarchy perhaps, was as absolute as that of Germany or more so, but APART FROM THAT, RUSSIA WAS. FREE, WHILE GERMANS WERE SLAVES." (Emphasis mine.—M. B.) # * # Certainly freedom is admired in Russia! It is everywhere! But the ruling class does not care' to exhibit any manifestations of it. But bunk like that coming from a man, who, like his brother, was privately tutored, and is accepted as an authority upon ECCLESIASTICAL LAW! Some logician to admit absolute Monarchy and to talk of freedom side by Bide! Can you imagine what the freedom is like, when the Socialist organizations have been suppressed? In •• Germany they are permitted some kind of criticism. Can you imagine freedom in Russia, where the reports of. the proceedings of the Duma were mutilated in order that the official account might conceal the fact that th)e representatives of Ithe jBocial- Democratic Labor Party voted AGAINST the granting of war credits. In Germany we are all aware of the constitutional activities of the minority. CAN YOU IMAGINE THE FREEDOM IN RUSSIA WHEN YOU READ THAT THE SOCIALISTS IN CARRYING OUT THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS IN VOTING AGAINST THE CREDITS WERE ARRESTED AND SENT TO SIBERIA WITHOUT CHARGE OR TRIAL. THAT IS THE FREEDOM LORD ROBERT CECIL SPOKE OF. Yet in Germany trials are always1 held, and appeals are allowed. Can you imagine the freedom in Russia, when, after soldiers are sent back to Moscow wounded or mutilated, no attention is paid to them. They suffer in agony and pain, and no alleviation is given. No medicine or drugs provided for them. The populace then appeals to the authorities and are told that it is none of their business. They then make a demonstration. They protest against the continued inhumanity. The soldiers are called out to attack the population. THEY REFUSED. It was the police and the low savage Cossacks who went to the assistance of the authorities, and a battle was fought. The casualties were equal on both sides. Can you imagine freedom when Jewish soldiers are beyond cure and are dying, being refused a permit to allow their relations to come and see them, before they die. THAT IS SOME FREE COUNTRY. • • • The Cambridge lectures were as finely spun yarns as the last. But it has a worse phase when we find that the lecturers are men who have fought the autocracy in Russia, or at least pretended to have done. Of all the lying and MIS-information that was given the prize is taken by Professor Milyoukof, the Constitutional Democrat." His first lecture was on the "Representative System of Russia." Some system of repre: sentation, eh? He is Master of History in the University of Moscow. He pointed out the social status in Russia, and it was similar to^tjhat in England and France prior to the bourgeois revolution. It was historically accurate so far as it dealt with the present method of election to the Duma. Telling the audience that the first Duma was dissolved after an existence of 73 days, he forgot to mention that what happened in Russia happened in England in the years of 1830-1832. That the franchise was gradually limited in order to benefit the bourgeoisie. Like the first Reform Bill in England, there was too much given to the workers. It was afterwards boiled down. So it Was in the other two acts passed. The same has happened in Russia. What was a large delegation in the first Duma was eliminated by a restricted franchise. The franchise today is on similar lines with that of Belgium and Prussia. There are three classes of voters. The feudal barons or nobility have the greatest strength. It is to this that the bourgeoisie objects. Tbe economic development of Russia is bound to bring with it a greater demand and extension of political function. It is the duty of the bourgeoisie to see that they get CONTROL of the political power. They are succeeding famously, for now there is a bill passing through the Duma for the purpose of granting civil and political rights to the peasants. The same thing applies to Russia today as to the action of the bourgeoisie in France and England. Wholesale charges of graft, corruption, etc., an unusual attitude of political rectitude; the same old game in the same old way. But while the professor stated SOME things he did not give the economic interpretation explained above. He pointed to the fact of the change in the political representation, but did not I I- give tbe CAUSE of the change. That is something that masters of "history" do not give if they want to keep their jobs. He stated that the political power was used to refuse credits. (This was before the war). It was used, he said, "as a means of political resistance." Not a word about the same thing in England in 1625 and in 1640, wherein the merchant class desired to have representation if they wefe to pay the taxes. Not a word about the growth of the States General in France. Nor a word about the demand and successful result of obtaining a parliamentary constitution for France with tbe abolition at the same time of the absolutism of Louis XVI. No, not a word. It is just what is happening in Russia. The feudal system and the absolutism of Czarism are doomed. The bourgeoisie are trying to get the workers to side with them in the fight for political liberty; for without the political dominance, the capitalist class cannot become leconom- ically free. The professor then went on to say that:— "Such was the state of the struggle when the present war broke out ALL INTERNAL CONFLICT WAS VOLUNTARILY POSTPONED IN ORDER THAT MEMBERS MIGHT DEVOTE THEMSELVES TO THE ONE TASK OF SECURING A DECISIVE VICTORY." (Emhasis mine.—M. B.) That is a falsehood that the processor MUST know is deliberate. There was NO voluntary postponement. The Social-Democrat Labor members voted AGAINST the credits. THEY HAD TO FLEE INTO HIDING. They were discovered and sent into exile, in Siberia. If that was the actual case, was there any English paper that exposed the tyrannical action? Not a solitary onie, save "The Socialist Standard." And in free England the headquarters of the Socialist Party of Great Britain have bden again raided and the men from Scotland Yard have taken the books of the party and refuse to return them. But that is what can be expected from a government whose representative says there is freedom in Russia. # * # Tbe changes in Russia are taking place fast. You can see the fine hand of the bourgeoisie in it all the tinm The most significant politico-econom ic factor is a bill before the Duma now to enfranchise the peasants; to educate them. They are to get civil rights. It will be a means' of destroying the all-powerful landlord, and will put the lid upon the coffin of feudalism. The author of the bill is under no delusion. In presenting ,it,. (he admitted (that "Russia was now in need of skilled artisans, and to get these the peasant class must bo educated." It is the economic factor that propels. It is NOT the good heart of the "Little Father." The economic change is clear in Russia. Industry will advance at a great rate. The bourgeoisie realise this and are using every method consistent with the changing conditions to have their side looked after. There is no doubt that with the advent of new tri&aties, and capital to develop the wonderful resources of Siberia, the working class will have as great a fight on their hands to beat the capitalist class, as though they were already in power. For that reason, those so-called "Socialists," with their minimum and maximum program, are playing the exact game the 'bourgeois want. The economic arrangements -entered into by the Japanse capitalists with thosie of Russia, ought to convince the most superficial student" of economic history, that the working class of both countrie/s have something to fight against. The adoption in Japan of the two party system wherein we find that the feudal element is meeting with keen opposition from the rising capitalist class, is a situation that demands careful examination by the Russian working men and womJen. To take sides in this game, is to assist the master class, even though it be the advocacy of the lex- tension of tbe franchise. It is NOTHING to the working class as to who dominates now. It is EVERYTHING to the workers to get control of the political; machinery. The bourgieois has always used the working class. May the Russian workers benefit by the history of the economic development of other countries, and avoid the pitfalls of compromise* that are so dangerous to our class. (Next month: Austria-Hungary.) ^wgaftfrigj 12 THE WESTERN OLARION MONEY: ITS ORIGIN AND FUNC- TION. AMONG the many problems that puzzle the worker who begins a study of the capitalist system of production, that of the function, of money holds a premier position. He sees that gold and silver are utilized in the realms of commerce to effect the exchange of commodities, but, as to the manner in which money originated, or as to whether or not such articles will continue to play a similar part when social ownership and control of the means of production shall replace the present system he cannot, understand. To solve the problem in the simp- Jest manner we must of necessity go back to the birth of production; to the first appearance of a division of labor. It was not due to the in- ate wisdom or ingenuity of man that the forces of labor were first divided and regulated into seperate channels. We find, on the contrary, as we search the records of the past, that it was owing to the human struggle for existence, the dire necessity of either discovering an improved method of securing a food supply, or succumbing to the conditions that surrounded them, that forced our early ancestors to adopt the division of labor plan. As the population increased in communistic society the spontaneous offerings of nature no longer sufficed as a means of subsistence. New tools and weapons were invented to fulfil the requirements cf a changing environment. The invention of the bow and arrow, and the consequent discovery that meat could be obtained as food, and later that animals could be captured alive and maintained in captivity, led to the first division of labor—the separation of the cattle raising tribes from the remainder of mankind. This division was soon followed by another with the introduction of agriculture as an additional means for supplying human kind with the needs of life. In these early departments of human activity the most important articles were always made use of to f aciliate the exchange of all things required by those who labored in the different departments. The first means of exehange-of which we have any authentic record was the skin of the cow or sheep, and still later the animal itself was utilized for this purpose. As the production of grains and grasses assumed a more important position than the raising of cattle we find that wheat, oats, barley, maize and other grains replaced the products of the herd as a go-between in the transfer of articles of dress and diet. As mining and manufacturing made their appearance on the stage of progress the more cumbersome products of the field and the herd gave way to those of the mine and long before gold and silver were considered fit and proper means to effect the exchange of other things, lead, iron, tin, copper and other minerals performed this function. The difference between the manner of producing and distributing Hhe requirements of life in primitive society and that of today mum, however, be noted. Production at first, was not carried on entirely with the object of sale, and the values produced were essentially use-values. Things were made because they were needed, not to sell but to use. When a surplus of any products existed after all wants were supplied in the ranks of those who produced them it was then that this surplus was offered in. exchange for articles emanating from other divisions of labor. This early practice was destined to increase, however, with the result that, as local markets and tribal boundaries expanded into a world encirclinig commerce, no longer was any thing manufactured for the well-being of those engaged in its production, but simply for sale wherever a sale could be effected. In such a social system as this, embracing the civilized world in its clutches, the heavy and'' bulky minerals above metioned were no longer capable of effectively measuring the worth of other commodities. One by one those enumerated dropped off being considered deficient in some quality or other until today in all highly developed capitalized countries the gold standard has been adopted. Silver in various countries and at different times, has been set aside to act in conjunction with gold as a measure of value and the ratio between the two established by law. Such procedure, however, was certain to prove ineffective as no legal enactment could possibly over-ride the action of economic laws. Different factors in tho production of those metals tend to change the ratio between them, such as the use of more improved machinery in the production of one, lessening the amount of necessary labor time required to produce it, would have the obvious effect of decreasing its value, and altering the ratio at which it would exchange for the other. Gold has been chosen in its dual capacity of measure of value, and standard of price, because of several characteristics it possesses peculiar to itself. No other commodity has been discovered adaptable to performing this function that possesses so great value in so small bulk. This attribute in primitive times, when barter was carried on in a crude manner between barbarian tribes, would be of no particular significance as exchange where carried on at all, was merely (a side issue and seldom engaged in. Today, we find that, with commercial intercourse scientifically established between all civilized sections of the globe, such an advantage is of paramount importance. Again, we find that while the value of gold fluctuates as the methods employed in its production change, still such fluctuation is not so marked as in the case of the majority of other commodities, e.g., wheat. Its immunity from the detrimental influences of certain acids gives gold a decided advantage over other metals such as silver and copper. Gold, then, as we observe, is at present recognized as an universal equivalent—a unit of value by which the values of other commodities are measured—because, in the performance of this function, it is more adaptable and better equipped for the purpose. As to what means may be considered preferable in future society when class ownership of the means of life is replaced by social ownership and control we cannot definitely state. Not being able to peer through the mists of the future we prefer to leave to the workers of that time tbe problem of arranging the details of their own affairs. If gold is thought SnSS_iil!»! THE WESTERN CLARION to possess in the greatest degree the characteristics desired, then, gold, in all probability will be used for the purpose. If not, then some other medium will likely be called into action. In our investigation we have seen enough to know that gold and silver have not always been the money form into which all other products have been ideally or really converted, their employment in this position being of comparatively recent date. Even since their recognition as suitable measures of values other articles, on many occasions and in different places, "have l occupied the same position. Among some of the early tribes in the New England States of America, tobacco was the recognized means of exchange. The Australian aborigines regarded the clay, out of which the grindstones, used for sharpening their weapons were produced, as the suitable medium for such transactions^ and even in periods of tribal strife the members of the contending forces who dealt in this clay were left unmolested. In parts of India at the present time pebbles of varying degrees of value, are found satisfactory, while among the Indian tribes of America, and the Esquimaux of the north who have belen unfortunate enough to have come within the pale of civilization such articles as beads, belts, and blankets, have won the distinction of being adopted as the active agent for effecting the exchange of life's necessities. J. A. McD. FREDERICK ENGELS. A TRIBUTE. By A. Kohn in the Socialist Standard In the next issue will appear financial reports of Election Campaigns in the four electoral districts: — COMOX FERNIE VANCOUVER YMIR THIS IS AN INVITATION TO SUBSCRIBE OR, IF YOU HAVE SUBSCRIBED, TO GET A NEW READER. THE Western Clarion IS YOUR PAPER. The early days of August are eventful ones for the international proletariat., This terrible war was' ushered in on the fateful 4th and it was on tbe 5th of August, 1895, that Marx's great co-worker passed away. Unfortunately no adequate biography of Engels has been written and the short sketch of his life by Karl Kautsky has long been out of print. A brief resume of his life story is therefore timely, especially when the socalled "leaders of Socialism" in England are busy reviling the memory of every Socialist of German birth. Marx and Engels paid the debt they owed to society with compound interest, and it is for us who still hold fast to the principles they laid down to make their writings known. Frederick Engels was born in Barmen on the 'Rhine on Nov. 28th, 1820. His home was in the most developed part of German capitalism with its accompanying militant burgher and rising working class. For twenty years the district had been French territory and when it passed into German hands in 1815 it inherited the traditions of the French Revolution. German philosophy was at its zenith and Heinrich Heine, Feuerbach and Hegel were active in the society in which Engels was born. Educated at the local school and afterwards at the "Gymnasium" at Elberfeldt, he grew to hate the official life and politics of the German bourgeois and left his studies to take up work in a merchant house at Bremen and later at Berlin. His father was part owner of a textile firm in Manchester known as "Ermen & Engels," and from 1842 to 1844 he was employed in the business. Those days of break-neck speed capitalism, with its fearful exploitation and murder of women and children in the mills, made a lasting impression on Engels, and he threw himself into the incipient working- class movement of that time. Those who are interested can consult in the British Museum the files of the Brentere O'Brien's Chartist "Northern Star" and in Robert Owen's "New Moral World" for many contributions from his busy pen. In 1844 he returned to Germany and thence to Paris, where he revived his friendship with Karl Marx which had begun two years before. Their common views led to their joint authorship of "The Holy Family" or a Review of the Critical Critique against Bruno Bauer and his followers. Published in Frankfort in 1845, this work dealt a mortal blow at the idealist philosophy of the Hegelian school and showed that changes in the "world of ideas" cannot be explained by themselves but only by the previous changes in the material world. Soon afterwards he published the result of his investigations into proletarian life, entitled "Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844," a work which is widely quoted to-day and shows that even in 1844 Engels studied material conditions in order to found a social science. Here he traced the effects of the industrial changes on the social [life of Jthe workers /and showed that the reformism of Chartism and tse idealism of Owenism could not be the basis of a Socialist movement. He wrote for the "German French Year Book" in 1844, "Outlines of a Critique of Political Economy," which was the first attempt to found Socialism upon Political Economy. Upon his return to Barmen to complete the '' Condition of the Working Class" he grew disgusted with the piety of the town and left his orthodox and conservative family to go to Brussels. He gave up mercantile life and joined Marx here after the latter had been expelled from France through the "kind" offices of the Prussian Government. They cut them selves off from the Bourgeois philosophers of Germany and the young Hegelians, and promoted an international workers' movement—Tvhe Communist League. Engels went to Paris and by means of educational work laid the basis for a democratic organization to replace the secret 1 _W£_2jt': ;*jB*ffiur:L' w'^rlfc ! Ti _T"T.Fji I 14 THE WESTERN CLARION societies that had formerly existed. Marx and Engels became so well known and relied upon that after two Congresses of the League they were instructd to prepare a manifest to of its aims. Back in Germany at Cologne they took control of the daily "Neue Rheinische Zeitung." Its work was difficult as it stood alone in its clear conception of the necessities of the time. The '48 revolution showed that the politically and economically unripe Germany was full of illusions as to the meaning of the struggle and mistook the struggle of the small property-owners against the government for a social revolution. The labourers were betrayed by the small bourgeoise after they had helped the latter and the "Neue Rheinische Zeitung" was suppressed. Engels was persecuted and fled to Switzerland. Marx went jto Paris, where a new revolt was seething, and after the bloody June days in Paris was ordered to leave. He went to London and was followed by En- gels,who escaped the French authorities by travelling by ship from Genoa. In 1850 in Hamburg they re-established the "Zeitung," and Engels wrote for it his series of articles on "Then Ten Hours Bill" and also his criticism of the German bourgeois revolt in "The German Imperial Plan of Campaign." Here he also published the articles forming his book on "The German Peasant's War," and through dispelling the fond illusions of the small property owners the circulation of the paper fell. Many of the Communist leaders were thrown into prison and Marx's defense may be found in his "Communist Trial." All literary expression was afterwards denied to them in Germany, being banned by Democrats and Government alike. Publishers and papers closed their doors to them. Marx returned to tbe Reading Room of the British Museum and planned his magnum opu)&—"Capital." ;Engels joined his father's woollen business and afterwards became a partner, but finally severed bis connection with it in 1869. Whilst Marx U chiefly known by the great works that bear bis name, Engels expressed himself chiefly in the smaller books be wrote from time to time and in the large number of articles he published in many journals, now obscure. His popular style of exposition made bis application of the Socialist philosophy to specific questions and problems a fruitful field of propaganda. An example of this may be found in his lucid introduction to Marx's "Wage Labour and Capital." He wrote much on militarism, science and philosophy between the busy hours of his business life. "The Po and the Rhine," published during the Italian War of '59, where he dissected the methods of the Prussian Liberals, and after the war he wrote "Savoy, Nice, and tbe Rhine." During the Prussian struggle of 1845 he. penned "The Prussian Military Question and the German Labour Party"—a further message to the proletarians of Germany. His profound military knowledge served him well when be wrote the military articles for the jj' Pall Mall Gazette" (London) during the Franco-German War, and also for the "Manchester Guardian." "Tbe Prussian 'Schnaps' in the German Reichstag" is still worthy of application today though written in '76. His masterpiece, "Anti Duhring" was written in 1877 and represents for us the classic of Socialist philosophy. The three chapters from it known as "Socialism, Utopian and Scientific" is still (next "to his Manifesto) the most widely read of Socialist literature and deservedly so. It is a thorough exposition of the scientific character of Socialism, and an example of that Materialist Conception of History which be jointly discovered with Marx.''The Housing Question" was written as a reply to the Proudhonists and "Social Conditions in Russia" against the wild theories of the Bakunists. Here he applied social science to Russian conditions and examined the Mir in tbe light of modern Socialism. The clear grasp of the class struggle made itself manifest in the formation of the International—ruined though it was by the reformers and Nationalists who disrupted it within whilst the agents of capitalism attacked it without. Th6 second so-cal led International has again been killed in 1914 by the jingoes who have given the lie to every principle International solidarity stands for. J||| On the General Council of the International Engels had to fight the efforts of English Labour Leaders on the one hand and Continental Physical Force theorists on the other. Amidst all his writings Engels bad to assist the many ^comrades from all parts of Europe who flocked to him and Marx for advice and to correspond with the many friends of the movement everywhere. The editing of Marx's works also occupied him largely. In 1883 he brought out tbe 3rd. edition of vol. 1 of "Capital," enlarged and revised according to the wishes of Marx and provided with notes. In 1884 be published the 2nd volume dealing with Circulation, after much energy spent in finishing the preparation of the material left hy Marx. SllS Lewis Henry Morgan's classic work on Ancient Society appeared in 1877 and Marx and Engels were practically alone in their recognition of its value. As the Professor.of Finance at Columbia University (New York), Prof. E. R. A. Selig- man, says,* Engels advanced Morgan's discovery one step further 'by his "Origin of the Family." Seligman further admits that the great founders of modern Socialism were, the first to get the real significance of Morgan's work recognised. Engels showed that gentile society was transformed owing to the first fundamental division of labor—the separation of the pastoral tribes from the rest of society with tbe consequent intertribal exchange and rise of private property—the coming of slavery and the decline of the matri- archate. The death of Marx in 1883 left Engels with two men's work. He revised the English translation of tbe 1st volume of "Capital" made by Dr. Aveling and Justice Moore, and worked steadily at tbe great task of preparing the material Marx left for the 3rd volume of "Capital." The tremendous difficulties Engels had in this may be read in his preface to that volume. His growing eye 'The Economic Interpretation of History." im I THE WESTERN CLARION 15 weakness made work by gas imp0sj sible and yet be lived to accomplish this task. It stands today as much Engels' work as Marx's, and is Engels' undying tribute to his comrade of 40 years. "Capital" lives when thousands of critics are forgotten, and is read more today than ever. Even here in America, where superficial reading is the order of the day, "Capital" is being studied as never before. In 1888 he wrote his "Feuer- bach." The last debt Engels repaid to Marx was to edit and put in book form the articles Marx wrote for the . "Rheinische Zeitung" in 1850 under the title '' Class Struggle in France, 1848—1849." In the preface Engels showed how the change in economic development had made former methods of warfare useless. It is a complete answer to the "direct action" element and its truth may be seen from the terrible defeat of the Irish insurgents under Connolly, and- the massacre of the striking workers here in America recently at Pittsburg. The quick-firing gun says Engels, has destroyed the hope of the barricade but the suffrage has given the proletariat a more powerful weapon, agairfyst which the ruling class are helpless. Whilst working on Marx's " Literary First Fruits" Engels was taken ill and be returned from Eastbourne to London, and after two month's suffering with cancer of the throat he passed away in the presence of his old friend, Edward Bernstein. By request he was cremated and the ashes scattered to the winds from Beachy Head. Thus died a man who laboured restlessly all his life for the emancipation of the working class. He bequeathed his money to Marx's children and thus brightened their closing years. $m The three volumes of correspondence between Marx and Engels published by Franz Mehring, as the "Manchester Guardian" well says, are, a beautiful and rare example of lasting friendship of two gifted men whose work was indissolubly inter- Woven. What they owed to each other and what we owe to both may be glimpsed from their almost daily correspondence. Socialist Party Directory DOMINION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Socialist Party of Canada meets every Thursday 8 p.m., 169 Georgia St., _., Vancouver, B. C.—W. A. Pritchard, Secretary, jijjpfe: BRITISH COLUMBIA FBOVINCIAL Executive Committee, Socialist Party of Canada, meets same as above. ALBERTA AND SASKATCHEWAN FBOVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Secretary, Mrs. S. I. Jonson Knight, Box 785, Edmonton. Phone 4803. NEW BBUNSWICK FBOVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.—A. Taylor Secretary, East St. John, N. B. For Party literature and information on organisation matters, etc., write to above address. LOCAL ALHAMBBA, No. 74 (Alta,), S. F. of C.—P. O. Peterson, Secretary, Horse- guards, Alta. LOCAL CLAYTON, No. 83 (B. C), S. P. of C.—John T. Dempster, Secretary, Clay- ton, B. C. " LOCAL CRAWFORD BAT, No. 72 (B. C), S. P. of C.—J. E. McGregor, Secreatry, Crawford Bay, B. C. LOCAL CUMBEBLAND, B. C, No. 70.— Business meetings every first and third Sunday in the month, at 10:o» a.m.pji.'economic classes every Monday and Friday, at 7 p.m., in the Socialist Hall opposite P. O. Regular Propaganda meetings at every opportunity. J. McMillan, Box 312, corresponding and financial secretary; Wm. J. McMillan, rec. secretary; Richard Coe, jr., treasurer; James Smith, Librarian. LOCAL ECKVILLE, No. 58 (Alta.), S. F. of C—-J. E. Lundberg, Secretary, Eck- ville, Alta. LOCAL ENDERBY No. 65, S. P. of C, Business meetings first Sunday in. each .month at 2:30 p.m. Propaganda, third Sunday in each month at 2:30 p.m., in the Theatre, Main St. Everybody welcome. J. Pilkington, Secretary, R. R. No. 4, Armstrong, B. C. LOCAL EDMONTON No. 1. S. P. of C.— Free reading room and headquarters at 715 Second St. Propaganda meetings every Sunday in the Bijou Theatre, First St., at 8 p.m. Business meetings every Tuesday at 8 p.m. J. L. McKenzie, organizer. E. H. Flegg, secretary, P. ' O. Box 785. LOCAL ERSKINE, No. 32 (Alta), S. P. of C.—A. A. McNeill, Secretary, Erskine, Alta. LOCAL FEBNIE, S. P. of C, hold educational meetings in the Socialist Hall, every Sunday at 7:00. Business meetings third Sunday in each month, 7:30 p.m. Economic class every Sunday afternoon at 2:30. Oscar Erickson, Secretary, Box 505. LOCAL FLOWEBDALE, No. 71 (Alta.), S. P. of C—Mrs. J. R. Macdonald, Secre- tary, Richdale, Alta. LOCAL FERGUSON FEATS, No. 85 (Alta.), O. _. Fuller, Secretary, Ferguson Flats, Alta. LOCAL GIBSON'S LANDING, B. C. No. 49 S. P. C. Meets first and third Sundays of each month in Socialist Hall. S. Dib_ ley, Secretary, Gibson's Heights, Howe Sound. B. C. LOCAL KINDERSLEY, No. 10 (Sask.), S. P. of C.—W. K. Bryce, Secretary, Col- lins, Sask. LOCAL LETHBRIDGE, ALTA,, No. 13, S. P. of C.—Meets every Sunday at 3:30 p. m. in Miners' Hall. Secretary, W. Shaw 624-14th St. S. Wm. Devoy, Organizer. LOCAL MINTO, No. 84 (B. C), S. F. of~C. —Sam Williams, Secretary, Cumber- land, B. C. LOCAL MABKEBVILLE, No. 31 (Alta.), S. P. of C- S. E. Baldwin, Secretary, Markerville, Alta. LOCAL MONTR 3&.L N. 1. S. P. Of C— Headquarters, '98 City Councillor St., Open every evening. Business meetings, Wednesday at 8 p.m. P. O. Address, Box 148 Station B. LOCAL ROSSLAND, No. 25, S. P. of C, meets in Miners' Hall every change Sunday at 7.30 p.m Will Jones, Box _125, Secretary. LOCAL SUNDIAL, No, 70 (Alta.), S. P. of Mrs. A. Thorburn, Secretary, Sundial, Alta. ^>i^^^E^_^^p_^^^^^^K^i^ii P. of C.—Ed. Haugen, Secretary, Bar- aca, P. P., Alta. LOCAL ST. CATHERINES, No. 30 (Ont.), S. P. of C—D. Thomson, Secretary, 9 Mary Street. LOCAL ST. JOHN, N. B„ No 1, S. P. Of C. Visiting Comrades welcomed. Sec- retary. Stanford E. White, 24 Main St. LOCAL TRAIL, No. 37 (B. C), S. P. Of C.— D. Wilson, Secretary, Box 531. LOCAL TRAVERS, No. 55 (Alta.), S. P. of C.—W. A. Brown, Secretary, Travers, P. O., Alta. LOCAL TORONTO No. 1, S. P. of C— Propaganda meeting, Sunday 8 P.M.* in Forum Bldg. Yonge & Gerrard. All com munications to be sent to W. H. Can- fiels, corresponding and recording sec retary, 340 Victoria St. Geo Rossiter, fin. sect. 25 Tiverton Ave. LOCAL VANCOUVER No. 1, S. P. of G Business meeting every Tuesday evening Economic Class every Sunday at 3 p.m., Education Class every Wednesday at 8 p.m. Dialectics class every Friday at 8 p.m., at Headquarters, 169-Georgia St., E., C. Stein, Secretary. VANCOUVER LETTISH LOCAL No. 58, S. P. of C.—Business meeting every first Sunday of the month, and propaganda meeting every third Sunday at 2 p.m. Open to everybody at Finn Hall, 2215 Pender E. Secretary, R. Amat, Box 667. LOCAL VANCOUVER, B. C, No. 45, Finnish. Meets every second and fourth Wednesdays in the month at 2215 Pender St. East, Ovia Lind, Secretary. LOCAL VICTORIA, No. Z, S. P. of C, Headquarters and Reading Room 1424 Government St., Room 8 Business meetings every second and fourth Tuesday in the month. Secretary. Fred Harman. 1424 Government St. LOCAL WINNIPEG, No. 11., S. P. of C. Headquarters, Room 7—540 Main St. Secretary, J. S. MacPhie. LOCAL OTTAWA, No. 8 (Ont.) S. P. of C—- Secretary, A. G. McCallum, 276, Laurier Ave. The test of Engels' foresight may be seen today, 21 years after his death, in tbe action of the so-called leaders of Socialism in England and Germany. Engels never trusted H. M. Hyndman, and the latter retorted by calling him tbe '' Grand Llama of Regents Park Road." But if Engels could see Hyndman supporting the jingoes and bitterest enemies of our class as he is now doing, what a justification be would feel! For the Palmero W-eekly he wrote, whilst he was in the grip of his illness, an article, "The Awakening, '' which closed with words so appropriate in spirit for our time: "Above all let the oppressed close up their ranks and reach out to each other across the boundary lines of isvery nation. Let the International Proletariat develop and organise until the beginning of the; new century shall lead it on to victory." *p $m&£f&m#m& ;_3_?SS9S*^SU-rS WBl&»-^jyfe3qe«o^r^™_7*■**££&&*• ■$.■_>< 16 THE WESTERN CLARION 1 PLATFO R M Socialist Party of Canada We, the Socialist Party of Canada, affirm our allegiance to, and support of, the principles and program of the revolutionary working class. Labor, applied to natural resources, produces all wealth. The present economic system is based upon capitalist ownership of the^jneans of production, consequently, all the products of labor belong to the capitalist class. The capitalist is therefore master; the worker a slave. So long as the capitalist class remains in possession of the reins of government all the powers of the State will be used to protect and defend its property rights in the means of wealth production and? its control of the product of labor. The capitalist system give to the capitalist an ever-swelling stream of profits, and to the worker, an ever-increasing measure of misery and degradation. The interest of the working class lies in setting itself free from capitalist exploitation by the abolition of the_wage system, Under which this exploitation, at the point of production, is cloaked. To accomplish this necessitates the transformation of capitalist property in the means of wealth production into socially controlled economic forces. The irrepressible conflict of interest between the capitalist and the worker necessarily expresses itself as a struggle for political supremacy. This is the Class Struggle. Therefore, we call all workers to organize under the banner of the Socialist Party of Canada, with the object of conquering the political powers, for the purpose of setting up and enforcing the economic program 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 collective means of production. 2. The organization and management of industry by the working class. 3. The establishment, as speedily as possible, of production for use instead of production for profit. Socialist Party of Canada Manifesto With introduction written specially by the author of the original. Whole work revised and re-cast. NOW READY $6.00 per 100, expressage paid. PAMPHLETS Issued by the DOMINION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE (Prices include Express Charges) (3) WAGE-WORGER AND FARMER (Pilkington) Price—Per 100, $4.50; Per Dozen, 55 cents; per Copy, 10 cents (6) WHAT IS SOCIALISM?!! 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