Newspaper Page Text
The Socialist Mt»«m»n»-Th» orfanliatJon of MM working else*), politically and Industrial It. ft «»« purp««* «f c«»turln« th» power* of gnrrnniNil and Instituting th« werklnf cUm as th« ruling ela**. Si p*r ««w «UM pm >— * Regular Socialist Party of Seattle Heeds Assistance of Membership AN APPEAL TO OUTSIDE COM RADES. Comrades: Seattle, the political arena of the Yellows ami the regular Socialist part}-. Is again overshadowed by an other political storm. \Vi\ the members, ol Socialist party, hop* tO establish our inprMDM] with out abuse or villification upon any imon or poUticaJ party Mrf without any ulterior motives whrusoe\ or. Tho actions of the Socialist party are guided by our national and state constitutions and our object in view is none other thau the enlightenment and education of tho masses in thin.es pertaining to our Social System and the method by which it is perpetuated and iwverned. The recast riots wherein the Social ists Of BoattUl ha.l their property, in cluding the total amount of literature destroyed, burn.-d as a sacrifice to cap italism, left us in a bad way finan ciall>. from which we have not been able to recuperate sufficiently to meet the expenses of a campaign such as is necessary at this time in Seattle. The members of the Socialist party of this city have made almost every effort with the logical exception of committing party treason, to unite the members of the opposing factions of this city, knowing that the rank and file of the opposing factions once united, will no more be lead apart through misunderstanding the princi ples of our movement. We of the So cialist party of Seattle have done our utmost in the way of joint meetings and of joint committee meetings, to unite the membership of both fac tions, but our every effort has been thwarted end the word "no quarter" has passed down the line. Using the words of one of the com mittee of the opposing faction to il lustrate the bitter feeling that is being engendered in this fight, at the last committee meeting when all prospects of uniting the opposition was appar ently gone, to express their determi nation to rule or ruin the member quoted, "Lay on, McDuff." Hence there is no other course but fight, so fight we must until the su premacy of the regular organization is for all time established and majority rule is complied with. We need and must have some funds and we depend upon you who are read ing this to do your share at this criti cal period. Our paper, the Socialist Voice, which is paid for out of the already well drained pockets of the local comrades and distributed free over the city by the comrades, will need financial aid .in order to get out sufficient copies. We need over $300 before Januar: 28, 1914, to file our candidates. Posters must be distributed. Many other things essential to this campaign must be attended to, and, again, I want to say the word from the yellow organization is fight. Our mission is to educate and organize the workers so as to build an organization that will be invincible, to settle for all time to come the question of suprem acy. Therefore, we appeal to all class- i conscious workers to do all in your I power to assist us both morally and financially in this fight as It is your i fight Send your contributions, no matter i how large or how small, to J. Tresslar, treasurer of Socialist campaign com mittee, lock box 158, Seattle, Wash. By order of Campaign Committee. THAT HARD TIMES BALL WILL BE A HUMMER. Don't you believe it? Well, we're willing to leave it to those who will be there, Wednesday evening, January 21. This will be the last notice you'll get! Why? Because — The next issue of the Common wealth goes to press the morning after the fun and frolic are things of the delightful past. We don't need to say "Be There!" All the dancers In Snohomish and King counties that know what good dance music is and a good floor to dance on will be there. And admission to this old-clothes dance, with all the fun incident to the ragaday rag-a-man costumes, and the rag aday rag-aday tunes, will i,,. but fifty cents for gentlemen and iho ladles — well, of course, we wouldn't charge THEM anything! \\Yri! oi:!y too glau to have them as jiueslr- of 'he evening. THE PLACE TO BEAT THE CAPITALISTS AT THEIR OWN GAME" IS THE BAL LOT BOX ILLS OF SOCIETY CANNOT BE CURED BY IMI TATING VIOLENCE OF CAP ITALISTS. JOE ETTOR SPURS ON STRIKERS IN TACOMA "We'll Take One of Their Men for One of Ours," He Tells Labor Meeting. Taooma, Jan. 11. i'lans for the prosecution of the strike at the Ta» coins smelter,' which has been waged tbf the past week and has resulted in the death of one striker, were dis ,l at a meeting held tonight under the auspices of the Central Labor Council, the Industrial Workers of the World and Socialists. Joseph .1. Ettor, who was on.- of the leading figures in the textile strike at Lawrence, Mass.. was one of the speakers and appealed to the strikers to "me«( the capitalists at their own gallic." "We'll take one of their good men for one of ours; one of their women when they take one of ours," he de clared. WARNING FROM DEBS. I yield to no one in my desire to see the party grow and the vote in crease, but in my zeal I do not lose sii^lit of the fact that healthy growth and a substantial vote depend upon efficient organization, the self-discip line of the membership, and that where these are lacking, an inflated vote secured by compromising meth ods, can only be hurtful to the move ment. To my mind the working class char-1 acter and the revolutionary integrity of the Socialist party are of first im portance. All the votes of the people would do us no good if our party ceased to be a revolutionary party, or only incidentally so, while yielding more and more to the pressure to modify the principles and program of the party for the sake of swelling the vote and hastening the day of its tri umph. The votes will come rapidly enough from now on without seeking them and we should make it clear that the Socialist party wants the votes only of those who want Socialism, and that, above all, as a revolutionary party of the working class, it dis countenances vote-seeking for the sake of office. These belong entirely to capitalist parties with their bosses and their boodle and have no place in a party whose sibboleth is emancipa tion. EIGHT-HOUR WORK DAY PE TITION WILL BE SUBMIT TED IMMEDIATELY. All Who Would Sign Petition Must Be Registered Before End of Month. COMRADES! The most important work of the Socialist party in the field of political action during the present year will be the securing of enough signatures to a petition to place the Kingery eight hour bill on the ballot at the coming general election. In order to sign this petition it is necessary that the petitioner be a reg istered voter. If you, reader, believe in political action, and an eight-hour work day, make it a special order of business not only to register yourself, but see to it that all your friends and | neighbors register before the end of January. No names placed on the register later than January will be eligible for] signatures to initiative petitions. Get busy! JUST THINK OF IT. Did it ever occur to you how easy it would be to get a new subscriber to the Commonwealth by Just remember ing to tell your acquaintance! that the one dollar paid for the paper also en titles the subscriber to free legal ad vice for a whole year? Are you reading our free legal ad vice column each week? It Is Inval uable. it would i. an excellent idea for our readers to make a scrap book of these questions aud answers, for future references. I wish men to be free, as much from mobs as kings,—from you r.s me. — lUron Largest Weekly Circulation In The County C!)e Commmttoealtf) LOGGED OFF LAND PEONAGE A New Wrinkle. (By John McSlnrrow.) That "there is nothing new under the sun" In a Baying so old, and bo common that few dare to dispute it, in conceded. Hut that mi old dodge can bo worked In such a way as to have iii,- Same effect m ■ perfectly new nr i ram .-in.■lit. la also true. i The latest plan of Hie lumber bur jons to offset the ever-growing power of unionism Is somewhat Of a novelty, to say tho least. Last Juno the timber workers, under Hi.' >xiiiti:tii< .- of the I. W. \\'.. went out on strike. Their demands were for shorter I hours, better pay, and moro sanitary conditions in the camps. The bosses would not grant any of these demands outright; and after about four weeks the I. W. W. called the strike off and the men returned to work. (That is, those who were not BLACKLISTED.) So the hoys put on their WOODEN SHOES and went back into the camps. AND THE BOSS CAME THROUGH. That Is, in nearly all of the camps the bunk houses have been renovated, and made comparatively respectable. Not what we asked for of course, but a whole lot better than we ever ex pected to got. Wages were not Increased; in some instance they were CUT a trifle; but the labor necessary to earn those wages was cut very considerably. Al most any kind of a tenderfoot can hold a Job now. Now, almost all of these lumber companies have immense tracts of "logged-off land." This land, as every one familiar with Washington land knows, is of indifferent productivity. But it is perhaps about as good as the average. I have no wish to criti cise the land, for all Western Wash ington land will produce quite as much as the land In any other part of' the Union, BUT this land is thickly stud ded with stumps, varying in size from four feet to nine feet in diameter, and to get this land ready for the plow re quires lots of work, and an expendi ture of from three hundred to a thou sand dollars per acre. The logging companies have adver tised throughout the East the fact that this land can be bought on easy pay ments, and that the purchaser can get work in the sawmills while paying for it. In the sawmills and logging camps they have posted notice to the effect that "preference will at all times be given to such employes as have pur chased land from the company." Every day I have statements to this effect coming from those who have lost their jobs because they refuse to buy a parcel of this STUMP WILDER NESS. Last Tuesday (Oct. 14) a fellow worker was fired from the Big Lake camp to make room for one of these STUMP SUCKERS. He was warned some time In ad vance that if he wished to hold his job he would have to buy some of this logged-off land; refusing to do so, he was fired PRONTO. Of course I can say nothing against those who do buy the land; they are just IGNORANT TENDERFEET, that is all; but we all know that there is no slave quite so submissive as the fellow that is trying to Improve a little home for himself, and does not dare call his soul his own, for fear that he may loose all that he has already ex pended. What I do want, is that every reader of this will write to his friends back East and ask them for God's sake please don't come to Washington for the purpose of buying any of this logged-off land, for if they do they will simply have bought a job without end and at very small wages. This BIG LAKE of which 1 speak is near Sedro-Woolley, in Skagit county, Washington, and Ii the place where a short time ago they had huge placards posted stating that the time had come when the employer and employe must get together to fight the common enemy, the I. W. W. NIK BED. The man who was fired from the Big Lake camp because he refused to buy any of their logged-off land is ' named C, Sickles. He Is a member of 1 318 of the I. W. W. Card numbered 51,154. He stated that he had worked | for the Big Lake company for several years, and he is a man in whom I have '. the utmost confidence. He says that his is not a peculiar case, but that this kind of business is going on at that camp all the time. I have similar ' statements from a great many others, ! but will not mention any names be cause I do not care to jeopardize any one's chance of Betting a job; and we r.ll have to have a Job if we wish to FOR SOCIALIST KX^m AMD PROPAGANDA LA'ttJUCrr. WASHINGTON. THURSDAY, JANUARI 15, L9H ANOTHER LAND FRAUD EX POSE. Murk.- Wii.. 1210, 1911 Editor <•oiiitmiii\vi>nitti I nee .1 flowing inlvirtiieinrnt in I In' Dally Star nf Hie >'.tti (if December for the purpose of Iniuolng p«ople with small ineann In Invent It in Qulney land, The whole thing in ■ I misrepresentation of th« kwd and ottl . M farmers, from beginning t<> end. Ah 1 live in the heart of the Qtlinc; valley, and have lived ii'Te almost ton jreara, i think tha( i am in a position where can tell my frii-ruin the truth about ililh neck of the i b in thfl Mr:.l place, this is im plMe tor a man with small meani I" invest Im money, If lie expects to live on the land or is banking on getting any returns from his Investment! In the, near Future through farming or welling at an ad vanced price. Parties looking for land Investments that don't expect any returns for a number of years will do well to Investigate their proposi tion, lint otherwise they had better look before they leap. As to the soil of the valley it in very productive under water (Irrigation). Hut there is a very small fraction Irrigated, aa Hie water has to he pumped from deep wells two to six hundred feet, which is very expensive; coating anywhere from three to seven thousand dollars to water forty acres. Which will con vince most any man that Is working for a small salary that it is no poor man's proposition, Five years ago| there was some one living on most every Quarter section of government land in this valley. Good school houses and farm buildings were built. Where today nine-tenths of them are going to rack and ruin. The people have to leave. They could not make a living on a quarter section of Uncle] Sam's fertile domain, and the more they farmed the worse off they were.' WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE \W print below the latest repor from the United States treasury. I shows that the per capHa money cir dilation in this country is now $35.11 This is greater than i" ifl", lr.it than in 1907, when the per capita cir dilation was $36.46. In 1593 the aver age was but $24.03. Are the workers any better off no\ than in 1893? No. Increase in quan tity of gold, due to decrease in cost o production, merely makes prices high er, without, usually, a corresponding increase in the average wages paid. $3,755,464,096 in Circulation in the United States. Washington, Jan. 11.—The genera stock of money in the United State on January 2, 1914, amounted to $3 775,464,096, which is about $8,000,00 more than the stock of the same arti cle on December 1, 1913, according to the treasury's monthly statement ou yesterday. Of this amount nearly $2,000,000 000 was in gold coin, including bullioi in the treasury; about $757,000,00 was in national bank notes and abou $565,000,000 in silver dollars. The treasury estimates the popula tion of the continental United State at 98,181,000 and says the circulation per capita was $35.11. The Commonwealth is being Intro duced to scores of new readers by mr.inF of the ten-cent trial subscrip tion offer. Get busy. DON'T FORGET THE Hard Times Ball WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21 AT LIBERTY HALL ADMISSION 50c (Ladles Complimentary) the work i REFLECTIONS ON THE AR LINGTON SCHOOL FIGHT. (My W. U LOOgBCka.) i have watched witti oonslderable patlenOl ami interest the develop ments of the Ktruircle in tln> Arlington ■Ohool tight, and I am wondering how ■000 Hie Socialist! nf Hie nation nnd of the world will heroine wide awake eiioiic.h to recognize an Opposing forc<; when it makes an appearance For ai;e: pat \ ;i (f , lenders of men "111. or the wilderness of Ignorance and [of oppression, into the haven of under standing and light) have been met with Hie very same forces of darkseM as tbott iii evidence in Arlington during Hie past, year. The OOC thing that surprises most people who understand and recognize a common loe, when they see one, is that Hie Socialist party, made up as it is, of men of Intelligence, and, as they should be, of a knowledge of the his tory of the past, would sit idly by and not retaliate in a fight such as that, by declaring absolutely their opposi tion to an institution so well known to he mii the continuation of the an cient organisation which dreamed of, and nearly realised, a World Empire. We continually hear some Socialists say: "Do not stir up religious strife; nothing can be gained by separating men on the question of economics by Infusing religious prejudice; the man who speaks of these things is an enemy of the working man and not his friend." To those who think that way It might be well to have experiences suf ficiently solid to cause them to be jarred out of their slumbers. If some of these who are so certain that all is well by playing into the hands of the foe, and who would sacrifice the part ies' future by securing a large mem bership now, regardless of the conse qeunces later, would look into the mechanism of that institution and the principal on which it is founded, and then compare that with the develop ments at the recent A. F. of L. conven tion at Seattle, some faint ray of light might enter their deluded brain. The Socialist party stands irrevoc ably opposed to all forms of oppres sion, and institutions which contend with Socialism for the continuation of the present system of spoils at the ex pense of labor, can certainly not be a force to close one's eyes to. Sooner or later the Socialist party, and the labor movement in particular, will find itself squarely facing the ques tion, for capitalism has chosen its final bulwark, behind which it will fight its last battle. The Socialists of Spokane have an excellent example of a former member who made things decidedly (un)pleas ant as long as he could, and when he saw that he could no longer serve his masters as he was to serve them he renounced Socialism and returned to the fold. Few of the members of the party here in Spokane are aware of the facts as I have stated them here, but that makes them none the less true. I only state this as an example of the ordinary run of people who, since their children have been taught to believe that just such acts as these are the passport they must carry with them when passing to that world be yond. However, all ministers of the gospel are not alike, and the Socialists should take new heart, for the Methodist min isters are seeing a new light, and are teaching their flock that the essential thing at present is "The Kingdom of Ciod" right here on earth. It has been my pleasure to listen to six lectures during the past two weeks dealing with this subject Let us hope more will take up the work, and lei us help them when the] do. Before the day ends fill out that ten-cent coupon and mail it. DO IT NOW! WILL YOU DO IT? We ask you, comrades, to study the Commonwealth .advertising columns. v the alert for new advertisers Introducing commodities not hith erto represented in our paper. Make i..ut ol the mirk a study. It does not cost you a cent, and it helps the 'ully by making our hb an ad uni There is no work for the cause more important than the support of our Socialist press. You cannot aHord to be without the Commonwealth. We are willing that It should stand upon Its merits. So send in a month's trial subscrip tion. It may make a permanent reader. LESSONS FROM THE RUSTON SMELTERMENS STRIKE. American Patriots (I) Scab on "Pauper Labor of Europe"—College Men Do the Work of Curs. OM of oar so-cal!fd "Radical" daily MMprrs that is alwayn telling what a Kraal "frtonfl" ft |g to the "poor down trodden working man," rf-crntly had a (trite-HP of the Taeoma smelter strike, under a four-column head. It will pay every worker to read that article. Rend it and ponder. Read it, ;itid then try to understand just how much that p&per, and the class which that paper represents, really knows, or cm res about the welfare of the work ing-class. Listen to this: "First to take advantage of the | present labor situation were the Gug- Kf-nhfims. They cut wages and in- i creased the workday from nine to ten hours in their big smelter. Only un skilled labor is affected so far, but the company officials say if the pres ent situation continues it will affect the w&ges of the skilled workers as well." "Following this lead, sawmill own ers have made a general cut in wages. One mill cut the pay of its sawyers f 25 a month. In another, the wages for common laborers have been re duced to $1.50 a day. * * * They expect to lower wages still more when the Panama canal is open and they can import labor direct from Europe. * • • For three days the five hun dred strikers kept the SKILLED ME CHANICS from going to work. Then the company smuggled them in by boats. * * » To be ready in case of trouble, the COMPANY EM PLOYED 200 deputy sheriffs to guard the smelter." With considerable apparent satisfac tion, this paper goes on to relate that the deputies employed "are not TOUGHS, or LOW BROWS, but SPLENDID FELLOWS. * * * Most of them are clerks and mechanics; many of them are COLLEGE STU-' DENTS. They know the situation ex actly. Said one, a young colleg% man, wearing glasses, with a deputy sher iff's badge pinned on his coat: 'Really, they have no CAUSE for complaint. Most of them are Austrlans, brought here by the company. * * * Now, when, the company makes a cut in wages they walk out, and their places are taken by Americans. * • ♦ Peaceful picketing won't get them any where, and if they get rough, there will be a continuous funeral out of here until every one of them is bur ied.' A street car, bearing the strike breakers arrived, and the guards clubbed an opening through the line of pickets. One (picket) with a gash in his head, and blood streaming down his face, became enraged and drew a gun. He was promptly clubbed into submission. The young COLLEGE GUARD helped load him into the pa trol wagon." There you have it! The workers "have no cause for complaint," be cause "they are ignorant foreigners," and COLLEGE MEN (!) are going to "give them a continuous funeral until NOW IS THE TIME Now is the phychological moment! With millions of men and women unemployed and wand ering homeless and pennileM throughout "tin 1 land of oppor tunity," people are ready to listen to tin- BMMftga of Socialism. Boost the Commonwealth! Distribute the Commonwealth I Buy bundle orden weekly at $1.00 per hundred, and see to it that thej are placed where they'll do the most good The Commonwealth tells the reason way, and gir«i the one and only remedy. WOULD YOU GIVE TEN CENTS TO MAKE A SOCIALIST? Well, Here's a Plan That Promises Well. We want every person who reads this notice to send 10 cents to the Commonwealth by return mail, along with the name and address of some friend or neighbor. And we will send him or her a copy of the Commonwealth for one month, chock full of absolutely convincing Socialist propaganda. By the end of the month your friend or neigh bor will be interested sufficiently to pay for a year's subscription on his own account, which seals his doom as an old party voter ,and your Soeailist is made—all for ten cents! I it iv ri| Pub. < ■ 1 • Postoffie* .. .—. If th» Nwnt«r on Yeur Label la 158 Your \ | SufecerlpMon Expires thlt Week. Kindly J I Renew at One*. J KEEP YOUR EYE ON PASCO" Socialists In Control, of Prosser Ad ministration. Pasco, W:tsh. Thi' newly elected mayor ami four councllmen, all Social ists, took the oath of office last Thurs day night. Tho now mayor, Comrade A. 11. Johnson, was in trod need, and said his dastrt was to be guided by tin- will of th«; ; M 'npi<\ Hi' Msked that (the members of tho new council em jphasize their points of agreement rather than any differences that might exist. In appointing the committees jof the council the mayor placed the Socialists in full ohMlft of the city's 'affairs by naming a majority of the Socialist members on each committee. the last one of them is buried." So I that "AMERICANS" can scab on them J in safety. And, this paper pretends to be the friend of the working class! And thousands of working men will say hurrah! and fall over themselves to get the jobs made vacant, by the CLUBBING OF IONORANT FOR EIGNERS by our AMERICAN COL LEGE MEN! Notice another thing: "The strik ers kept the SKILLED MECHANICS from work for three days." The skilled mechanics, remember, are "un ion men." What I want to know, is just what kind of a MAN, union or non-union, is it that has to be kept away from a job by a display of force when a strike is on? No doubt they are GOOD AMERI CANS. If these SKILLED MECHANICS were real MEN they would be in the ranks of the strikers. If those college students had as much manhood in their makeup as an anthropoid ape they would not be wearing deputy sheriff's badges. Being born in this country, they doubtless have a right to be called AMERICANS. Being deputy sheriffs, THEY HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE CALLED MEN. And will not be so called by REAL MEN! Some apologists will doubtless claim that these GUARDS are compelled to do this dirty work through "economic determinism." Many alleged Social ists will spring this gag about their being compelled to act as scabs and scab herders. To all such we can an swer as did the people of France when some of the regiments retreated from the face of a withering fire from the Duke of Brunswick's cannon: "Mes seiures, it were certain death to re main longer. What can a man do?" To which the answer, "A MAN CAN ALWAYS DIE." To hell with the MAN (?) who will prolong his life by such methods. To hell with a philosophy that teaches that such action is EVER necessary, or desirable. A man, a REAL MAN, CAN AL WAYS DIE. JOHN McSLAHROW. Over 30,000,000 people have immi grated into the United States. No. 158.