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People of Everett Vote
For Municipal Ownership
ALL THREE PROPOSITIONS CARRY
At. last the way is cleared for the
purchase of the present water plant of
Everett from the Stone-Webster octo-
I pus, and the securing of an adequate
! supply of pure muontaln water from
Sultan Basin for general use from
c Sultan Basin for general use and
the development of electrical power.
JL More than 1,000 of those registered
|| failed to visit the polls, about 5,390 of
'a the 6,758 eligible casting ballots. The
result was never In doubt from the
time the returns from the first pre
cinct counted were received. Of the
40 precincts in the city, only onethe
29th —returned a majority against all
three propositions.
Wheat, Wages — And You!
(By Carl Ulonska)
There is a lesson that is being ;
taught by every wheat field—every '
wheat harvester and binder lesson ;
that comes from all those sunlit fields :
of ripening grain, that lesson is being
taught to every working man and
woman, that lesson concerns and is
of vital importance to YOU!
That lesson which is being burned
upon the minds of every worker of
wheat is the power of the labor-saving
machine in production and distribu
tion, that wonderous geneii of making
things, which plays so important a
part in your every-day —that dom
inating ~ factor upon which depends
your job!
The power of the machine in pro
duction is being • illustrated so elo
quently in the wheat-raising sections
of Washington. In the' great yellow ■
grain fields of . Eastern Washington '
the harvesting is being done by means
of "combines" — that cut, |
thresh and tack the grain "on the fly." j
These i "combines" cut swaths varying
from 12 to 20 feet wide, sack the grain
and leave it in "windrows" on the i
ground. Today four men are required |
to operate a combine. These four
men thresh an equal amount of grain
that by older methods required from ;
five to ten times as many men. '
A Suspicious interest
In Socialism
I - (By Frank Mac Donald)
Ji Not long ago any news of the Euro- j
■• . pean Sociialiist movement went onto j
fl the floor of certain big newspapers i
El and not into its news columns. So
•* cialists might win victories. increase
in party membership, produce notable
books, and the fact was ignored with ,
constant regularity. It is changed
now in a certain measure, and some
news is joyfully and extensively pub
lished. For example, it is quite nat
ural that there should be differences I
of opinion in the German Social De- [
mocracy as to war policy. That as
the war drags along and suffering is
more acute it Is inevitable that these
differences should be sharper and
keener.
So it happens that the two parties
to the controversy, the majority and
the minority, the conservative and
radical wings, have come to be called
the "governmental" Socialists and the
("revolutionary" Socialists by the capi
talist press, and this press, for the
'time being, is iin favor of revolutiion.
In news stories and editorial articles
it has pictured a tremendous split in
I the German movement, with, what
.seems to be the minority led by Com
rades Leibknecht and Bernstein, stand
ing for Socialism and the majority
fighting for governmentallsm and war.
The capitalist press is indignant that
the majority has not gone with the
minority. It Is amazed that the Unit
pitated a revolution withiinliiiiiiiiiilliii
ed Social Democracy has not pre
cipitated a revolution within Germany
and thereby speedily brought the coun
try to terms and placed it at the mercy
of its opponents.
It would seem that for once the capi
talist press of America, through the
articles it receives by way of London,
Berne, Amsterdam, and elsewhere, was
firmly in favor of revolutionary So
cialism and deplored any tendency
that would tend to cause a split in the
forces working for Socialism. But 8
closer reading of the articles brings
Into sharp relief the fact that thes«
stories are part of the campaign i
NORTHWEST WORKER
This Is not, as reactionaries would
allege! "a socialistic experiment," nor
a triumph for the Socialists of Ever
ett. , It Is merely an Incident In the
evolutlon of capitalism, albeit a nec
essary transition step In the progress
of society from Individualism to col
lectivism. Municipal and state capi
talism must precede, apparently, So
cialism, or Industrial Democracy, —
ownership and actual control of the
machinery of wealth production and
social utilities by the working-class.
From this point of view, we may say
of Tuesday's election, "Amen."
What does this mean?
Simply that with the use of modern
machinery that wheat can be produced
with less than half as much human
labor, less than half the former cost —
and this results In less jobs for you
and more profits for the owners of
labor-saving machinery. Your job and
your wages are being lessened by im
proved harvesters, binders and feed
ers. Wheat and wages concern you
In a vital way.
Right now 200 men are seeking
! work in the harvest field at Colfax,
300 at Rltzvllle and a like number at
Walla Walla. It signifies that no
longer can we of the working class be
I told to go out West and grow up with
| the country— to the fertile wheat fields
and the fabled Arcadias of fruit. We
i have gone to the last great Westwe
have reached the last great frontier
( and the development of capitalism
has followed us.
There is no retreat, no escape, no
possible hope of evasion—we of the
working class are with our backs to
the wall.
What are we to do?
I We have got to organize, to think
and to fight for ourselves —to under
stand the forces of capitalism in pro
duction and distribution.
hatred against Germany and all things
German that has been waged here in
this country for some time. There is
no regard or solicitude for Socialism.
But there are always two objects: one
is \f> discredit in all possible ways the
German people, and the other is to
widen any breach in the Socialist
movement and thereby weaken or
destroy its powers.
We know full well that either in
victory or defeat, a united Socialist
party would have a strong voice in the
social readjustment that will take
place after the war. This Is as pres
ent and live a fear as German victory,
and it must be guarded against. We
in America have not made up our
! minds as to Germany's position by
careful analysis and reasoning, but
we have reached certain conclusions
and adopted a position largely because
we have had certain news placed be
fore us and because we have read the
opinions that have been prepared for
us by others. As a furnisher of pre-
digested convictions the capitalist
press is without an equal. We meet
it everywhere and we come across its
influence at every turn.
So systematic and careful has the
campaign been, and so thoroughly Is
it worked out that any expression of
difference with asserted opinions is
seized upon as being an evidence of
"pro-Germanism." It is almost in
creditable, but it is a fact, that even
some Socialists have accepted "pro-
German" as an epithet of ridicule and
degradation. If you speak for peace,
you are "pro-German." If you point
to Lloyd George's declaration that bat
tles are won not so much by the men
in the field and the trenches as by
the men in the workshops of the re
spective nations, and conclude there
from that, by shipment of arms and
ammunition from this country we
thereby enter into an active alliance,
you must be "pro-German."
But if we stop calmly to consider
this matter we will find that underly
ing it is something of vast significance
for us. Socialist support and good
will have suddenly acquired a value,
but they must be anti-German to be
the real thing. If you hate Germany,
you love humanity; if you do not hate
if (Continued on Page 4)
DEVOTED TO THE INDUSTRIAL, POLITICAL, AND EDUCATIONAL ADVANCEMENT 07 THE WORKING-CLASS
Proletaria Bill Gomes Back With Some
Socialist Fundamentals
Comrade Ole:
Glad to see you back. Glad even
if you did not meet the argument. As
It Is, Bill claims to be handling the
subject of Socialism from the Marxian
scientific standpoint brought up to
date as correctly as wo aro able to
trace It. We have hammered along
for more than a half-dozen years (driv
ing to make Socialists out of Socialist
Party members, and others. Have
found It unpopular always; yet we are
happy to say that these scientific
truths are gaining ground In the So
cialist movement. They are displac
ing the ear-tickling platitudes of law
yers, preachers and other professional
jawsmlths who are so apt In that line.
Bill was raised on a farm and in a
grocery. Has since been a farmer and
farm hand in different latitudes; also
a wage-slave in several of the'other
big industries. Practically all of Bill's
schooling was acquired in the indus
tries of the country and chasing the
job. He was not fitted for a capital
ist. Most of us are not; even though
the bug was planted In our noodles.
It was Bill's experience to partici
pate directly In every stage of the
productive process through which at
least two staple commodities (food
and a shelter) pass from seeding to
consumer and from stump to bunga
low; both Including transportation,
milling and wholesale and retail dis
tribution. Being of an enquiring dis
position and ambitious to become a
bookkeeper or something, Bill kept
both eyes open throughout his various
occupational experience. This is how
he learned of the bis steal that is in
herent in the present capitalist system
of economicsthe wages system. He
was never "converted" to Socialism
by any propagandist. He was advocat
ing his crude idea of Socialism to his
fellow-workers In a rice mill twenty
years ago, before he had ever heard
of Marx or such a thing as Socialism.
When the science of economics and
economic determinism with the expla
nation of the class struggle was first
brought to Bill's attention he was sim
ply delighted to know that his crude
ideas were not wholly a lonesome
dream. The science of Marx and En
gels made clear already acquired facts,
their relation and significance.
It did not take Bill long to dump
what rubbish he had acquired from
capitalist teachings. The rest was
easy. Too many are slow In ditching
the rubbish.
What I want to show is that there
are many, many Bills and Henrys who
are passing through these industrial
experiences in varying degrees. It is
this contact of the workers with the
latest evolved Industrial process and
equipment as a whole, the unstablllty
of employment and the resulting for
mation of Ideas in the workers' minds
which makes Socialism possible as a
social force. Henrys become Bills but
Bills do not become Henrys.
The above Is merely a primary
phase of economic determinism which
will effect the workers in their his
toric mission as a class.
1. Well, Ole, you fell in when you
retorted that "the wages system is
admittedly a failure, and unionism is
nearly as much of a failure, say you.
Correct."
Is that your line of argument? I
did not say that; could not and will
not. It is merely your Inference. The
wages system is a cuccess and union-
Ism will be more of a success when
It arrives at maturity.
The wages system has succeeded in
LARKIN TO SPEAK HERE TUESDAY!
James Larkin who is to speak in
the People's Theatre, Tuesday even
ing, Aug. 81, has been a red card men-,
ber of the Socialist Party for twenty
seven years. He has looked out over
the world and seen no lines between
him and his brother workers. Color
and race he does not recognize in tne
great class struggle—it is class and
class he sees opposed on the firing
line of life.
Jim Larkin speaks out from the
shoulder. He is an orator, not the
kind of orator that tries to cover up
the iniquities of the present system,
but whose blood boils when he speaks
of these things and the words come
out of his mouth red hot and sting
ing, for he sees the poverty and mis-
EVERETT, WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 1915.
fulfilling its historic mission aB a so-
clal-economlc system of society. If
unionism Is the strongest social-eco
nomic germ developing within the
present system, It will supplant the
wages system and become its succes
sor. If It Is not, then It will be com
pelled to germinate through another
phase of exploitation (perhaps gov
ernment ownership) before It becomes
triumphant in abolishing the steal of
the wages system and substituting in
dustrial democracy as an economic
system. Then unionism, growing Into
an advanced Industrial stage, will also
have become a success In fulfilling its
historic mission. But very, very far
more of a success Is its utility to the
human race. We cannot have class
unions free from the control of the
capitalist class until the working class
learns what It must learn and become
class-conscious.
Ole tells us that "unionism reached
its height of control In the first, sec-
ond and third centuries, A.D., and from |
then on labor has taken the losing
side of the class struggle."
Impossible! Unionism could not
have possibly reached its height of
control in the hand tool stage of in
dustrial development such as had then
been reached. What was there to
"control" at that time, anyway? A
primitive system of production where .
modern Socialism would be Impossi
ble. Chattel slavery and a commun
ism that could not withstand the alp .
of Ignorance and the development of
serfdom and the wages system.
I think that I have already made it
plain that when I write of unions of
productive workers and unionism I am
referring to an entity in its entirety
from the germ of its inception in so
ciety to the fulfillment of its historic
mission as a social-economic force, or
system. .
You appear to confine your thinking
and writing to one or two of the birth
days in the childhood of unionism:
for such only could the hand tool stage
calendar.
Again Ole tells us that "unionism
beats nothing and does not and can
not free the worker."
On the economic bedrock of indus
try it must either be union or disunion
for' the workers. Which are you ad
vocating, Ole?
On the political field the manifesta
tion MUST agree with the industrial
status that determines political action
and be either union or disunion, for
the working class. Where are you
at? ,What Is your conception of So
cialism or industrial democracy? Dis
union?
i
2. We are informed that land has
no exchange value, due to labor, as
do other commodities because bank
ers infest the country and because
land cannot be reproduced. Why do
you not claim that no commodity has
any exchange value, due to labor, be
cause the earth cannot be reproduced?
The raw material for ALL commodi
ties is the virgin earth and nobody
claims that the earth can be repro
duced by human labor.
It is the UTILITY of ANY object
for human needs that Is produced by
labor, even though we were savages
knowing no other value that use value
for the virgin earth on which we trod
while gathering wild fruit. The mere
picking of wild fruit is the labor ex
pended by which that particular raw
material is utilized and gets a value.
We only ask that you follow us from
the simple to the complex.
It is the utility of land, canals, dams
:ery on the one hand and the riches
and unearned ease on the other, He
is a revivalist, for he makes you want
to get up and do something to end
this damnable system that breeds
liars, thieves, prostitutes, lunacy, leg
alized murder, child slavery and hy
pocrisy. He is a revivalist, for he
wakes the sleeping brain of the Henry
Dubb and makes of him a fighting
unit of the greatest movement the
world has ever known. No man or
woman can listen to "Jim" without
coming to the conclusion that the new
system of society that is advocated by
the Socialists is workable and desir
able. No man or woman can hear
him without going away with the
words "Collective Ownership of the
THE
4. Ole says Bill missed the point
altogether on the taxation question.
IWe are sorry to disagree with you;
.somebody did miss it both coming and
going, but we plead not guilty.
When the other industries were un
developed the Republican party ap
plied one phase of your method and
envoked "protection" to help the half
starved (?) capitalist. We are fa
jmiliar with taxation; it is an old, old
procedure. They do the taxing who
i have the power. The workers are aft
er this power, but we have better use
for it because we can see farther than
the grand-dad who Invented taxation.
You would start with the farmer,
j would you, to arrive at industrial de
mocracy? Since the industry of agri
culture is In the rear of industrial de
velopment and centralization, it looks
like a poor place to start. The work
ers in other industries have already
started some time ago. Why not take
a cue from the start that has already
started?
The workers in the highly-developed
' industries will be able to hold the key
.and dykes that is produced by.labor,
directly and Indirectly, the same as
utility Is produced from all other raw
material by labor.
To deny that land has value due to
labor Is to deny a fact and attempt
to set up a theory In conflict with the
law of value. It must be remembered
that even though bankers may be
busy, and stock jobbers working for
i monopoly, the law of value is still
working. Monopoly has Its limitations
and recessions because of the law of
value. Land Ib no exception.
3. To claim that all are exploited
who are unable to obtain a full-fledged
llvllhood by their activity Is equiva
lent to your claim that the individual
productlng huxter is exploited. The
industry of agriculture Is the only big
Industry where there is yet an open
season for a myriad of tiny investors.
Most of them will fall, of course, just
like they did in other Industries in
times gone by.
Agriculture, while one of the great
est industries in Importance, is in the
rear. Other industries such as trans
portation, mining, . steel, etc., are far
ahead In development and the work
ers In these industries will therefore
set the pace becau.se they are wage
workers. We will Inform farmer Eddy
that he is not exploited. He is free
to become a wage worker If he does
not like his lot. Why should he kick
about something that is not understood
.when he enjoys the freedom of enter
ing the wage slave market, job or
I jobless?
to the situation by reason of the fact
that they are already organized in
production, thus enabling them to
function in the interest of the exploit
ed workers when they get wise. The
farmers will trail behind because un
organized in production. Yet it is'
possible for the farmer to be of great
assistance, politically, In the revolu
tion, if he understands. A good many
do understand. They know where
they are at. It Is our business to put
the farmer wise to revolutionary ac
tion instead of trying to cook up im
practical schemes to prolong his de
lusion.
The farmers will simply do as they
have always done. That is, they will
adjust themselves to the prevailing
economic system, be it the wages sys
tem or industrial democracy.
PROLETARIA BILL.
Patronize YOUR advertisers.
means of wealth production" imbed
ded in their brains unless they be im
beciles.
When Larkin had finished speaking
in the San Francisco Dreamland Rink
three weeks ago the audience arose
in mass and thanked him for his won
derfully Inspiring address. You must
hear Larkin yourself and you must get
others to hear him for knowledge is
power, and no opportunity should be
missed that will give us and others
the knowledge and fighting spirit to
get up and do things that will some
day place in our hands the keys to
the mills, mines and factories of the
world.
Tickets on sale at Headquarters or
Hill's Book Store.
Day Labor Plan Super
ior to Contract System
COMRADE SALTER'S REPORT
August 21, 1915.
Honorable City Council of Everett,
Gentlemen: please find re
port showing total cost of labor, ma
terial and incidental expense in con
structing the sewer in the alley be
tween Highland and State Street, from
the center line of 20th to center line
of 19th Street, or L.I.D. No. 308:
Labor „ $ 675.98
Team ....; 6.00
Pipe, fittings, sand, cement.. 123.05
Manhole ring and cover.. 10.00
Brick 8.00
1 case blasting powder 5.25
1 roll fuse .75
1 box caps 110
Lumber 5.40
Sharpening picks, 65 hrs. at *?
37% c . ............ 24.27
Rental, wear and tear on tools 5.00
Industrial insurance ■•■ 37.03
Interest on warrants..... 19.00
Fixed estimate 150.5$
Grand total $1,070.83
■ - .■-..-■
Included in this total is an amount
of $28.62 covering the cost of stand
pipes ordered by certain property own
ers; consequently the amount of the
final cost, for the matter of compari
son, with the estimated cost of $928,
is $1,070.83 less $28.62 or $1,042.21. In
other words the estimated cost per
lot was $29.00 and the actual cost per
lot is $32.57, the cost of stand-pipes
not being included in either case.
JOHN R. LAWSON
By Katherine Oummer, in The New York Call
Against the far horizon where the sky
Already shows a new day's dawning light,
There stands a man. Here in the glromy night
Of dark misunderstanding we descry " } - ; \A
A murder. But when the sun is high
Then shall we see a hero who dared *ight -
A tyrant power, who dared claim the right >
To life, and seeking It, yet dared to die.
The shameful glory that the world will, give
To murderers of war, not that we ask
He suffers living death that men may live,
He needs a higher honor. So our task
Must be to keep his faith and tribute pay
By willingness to give ourself today.
DEBS COLLEGE HEAD
Eugene V. Debs has been elected
president of the People's College at
Fort Scott, Kansas. The college is the
one organized effort of the working
class to control education through
correspondence departments.
SUCCESSFUL GIRL MAYOR.
An English suffrage paper men-1
tlons a small town in Southern France j
that has a woman mayor, 22 years of ;
age. She was a school teacher and |
also mayor's secretary, and when the
war broke out volunteered as a Red
Cross nurse. But the mayor was
called to the colors, whereupon the
city council, instead of electing one
of their members to serve in the
position, urged the young teacher to
act as chief executive. The girl
mayor is said to be handling the posi-'
tion with extraordinary skill and to.
the complete satisfaction of every
body in the town.
DEFENSE OF THE HOME.
In the House of Commons, on April
29, Mr. King said that a little girl,
Dolly Hammett, aged 9 years, has
been taken away from school, and
employed at shaving the soldiers at
Budbroke Barracks, Warwickshire.-—
Woman's Dreadnought.
I
OPPOSE LEASE SYSTEM.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—The Farm
ers' Educational Co-operative Union
of Alabama convention unanimously
adopted a resolution calling for the
abolishment of the convict lease sys
tem and the placing of these convicts
| upon the public roads. This question
Is now being considered by the state
legislature.
Although this Job cost $114.21 more
than the engineer's estimate, it still
furnishes striking proof of the super
iority of the day labor over the con
tract system of public work construc
tion. ,A 7 'a - \7Aj
In making comparison it must be
borne in mind that, when the job was
first submitted to bid, no bids were
forthcoming. The second time a reg
ular contractor, Mr. Synder, bid $1,
--365, or $437 more than the estimate.
Another bid of $940 was submitted by
a group of men who expected to do
the work in co-operation. ': |
This piece of work has been pro
nounced by some of the oldest sewer
men as one of the most difficult ever
constructed in Everett. The fact that
65 hours, or over 8% days, were re
quired to sharpen picks proves this
contention.
Had the job been awarded to Tom
Constantino and his associates, they
would have received $1.85 per day for
their work. v.-^i/,*. ,V.,.--,
Every man within the district who
applied for work was hired. ,1 That
with the fact that the city paid from
40c to 60c more per day than regular
contractors reflects to the credit ?of
the day labor plan. ?{£»l)_3S
The experience and data secured is
of great value to the public works de
partment in estimating on other work
that may be undertaken by the city
Respectfully,
J. M. SALTER, '
Commissioner of Public Works.
LECTURES HELD NEXT WEEK
Carrie W. Allen
Sun. 29, Aberdeen; Mon. 30, Ethel;
Tue. 31, Mossy Rock; Wed., Sept. 1,
Sandy Bend; Thu. 2, Kelso; Fri. 3,
Charter Oak; Sat. 4, Hazel Dell; Sun.
5, Portland. ~:<
Carl Ulonska
Sun. 29, Tacoma; Mon. 30, Richmond
Beach; Tue. 31, Pinehurst; Wed., Sep.
1, Granite Falls; Thu. 2, Edgecombe;
Fri. and Sat. 3 and 4, Mount Vernon.
This completes Carl Ulonska's tour.
Emil Herman
Mon. 30, Winlock; Tue. 31, Cowlitz
Bend; Wed., Sept. 1, Otter Creek; Thu.
2, Chehalis; Fri. 3, Littell; Sat, 4,
Centralia.
W. R. Snow
Thu., Fri., Sat., 26, 27, 28, Colville
(Stevens County Encampment); Sun.
29 .open; Mon. 30, Medical Lake; Tue.
31, Colockum; Wed., Sept. 1, Cash
mere; Thu. 2, South Lopez; Fri. 3,
open; Sat. 4, open; Sun. 5, Arlington
(2 p.m.); Sun. 5, Everett.
Bruce Rogers
Sun. 29, Spokane; Mon. 30, Prosser;
Tue. 31, North Yakima.
THE FIRING LINE
Get the habit. Following are the
names of the comrades who get on
the Firing Line every once in a while.
Following their name is the number
of subscribers they have put on our
list:
Carl Ulonska 7, Frans Bostrom 4,
Frank Cort 3, F. Craig 3, Mrs. Ander
son 3, Proletaria Bill 2, F. G. Crosby
2, Mike Kronholm 2, Adam Hill 2,
A. B. Caswell 1, E. H. Fellows 1, Chas.
Millward 1, K. H. Hodglns 1, H. Han
son 1, Joe Forsell 1, J. Hendrickson
1, A. Oberg 1.
j Maynard Shipley took 31 subs at
Arlington.
No. 242
