the workingmen of Alaska after all
his promises have been fulfilled?
Especially those of Tanana valley.
Have they found any real improve
ment in their condition? Are their
lives any better protected while
working in the mines as a result of
James’ fulfilled promises? Are they
not as usual handed the worthless
time check often in payment of
their wages? Payable on the day
of general judgement. I have been
handed a few of them myself, and
1 have not confidence enough in
his work to go into court to collect
them under his famous, or better
named infamous Lien Law on the
“dump” that usually does not exist,
wonderful statesmanship! All in the
interest of the claim owner. Are we
not still paying the extortionate
freight rates charged by transporta
tion companies of Tanana? Some
thing that catches every man, Wo
man and child in the Tanana valley
from their bondage there is no es
cape! And if relief is not soon
forthcoming there will be few in
Fairbanks left to celebrate the Alas
ka Semi-Centennial. All of these ex
orbitant charges must in the end be
paid by the consumers. The Tanana
merchant can afford to pay them,
then add his own profits to the cost
of the article, then unload the whole
upon the consumers. The Tanana
merchant will therefore make little
protest, no matter how high the
freight rates are. but the consumer
must or be swallowed up by the
gang. Jimmie promises us a rail
road as a relief. All must agree
with him that a government owned
and operated railroad would be a
great benefit to the people of Alas
ka. But that railroad is not vet
built, or even started, and we have
no assurance that it will ever be
built. Does he mean to give the
transportation companies a lease to
continue their system of plunder
until the railroad reaches Fairbanks?
The people of Alaska need immedi
ate relief, they are sorely distressed.
But relief will never come through
conservatism. It will come through
Socialism. Conservatism says, “go
slow.” Socialism says, “move
quick.” Fusion says, “do nothing.”
And to the fusionist the X. C. says.
“Amen.” And it should not be a dif
ficult thing for the voters of Alaska
to determine to which party they be
long. The party that advocates im
mediate action, “the Socialist party."
The party that says we are afraid
to move least we offend, and the
party that says we will not move.
It is high time for the people of Alaska
to speak out fearlessly, and tell the
political jobbers that you have got
to move, we are sick and tired of
you. We want no more of the
farmers advice to the horse in the
fall of the year. “Live horse the
grass will grow next spring.” That
is about the dope that has been
handed out to the people of Alaska
by Windy Jim for the last four
years. He will undoubtedly now
act as the bellwether for the triple
alliance. In the frame-up his cohorts
are in the majority. Query: Who
engineered the job? Conservatism
says keep the king on the throne.
Socialism says, we will have no
kings. Conservatism says the upper
class, the monied interests shall rule
Socialism says the people, the wealth
producers must rule, or be ruined.
Socialism has already in'
civilized country in the world and in
every instance is confronted by the
same opposition, the wealthy, the
drones, and the parasites, but it is
making constant progress, and is
forcing hypocrites to take off the
mask, before many years it will be
quite respectable to belong to the
Socialist party, and a great benefit
to the disinherited and plunderea
workingmen and women of the world.
Workingmen and workingwomen will
become law makers instead of law
breakers. When they take a part
in the enactment of their laws they
will have less occasion to break
them. Unjust laws is the parent of
criminals. Nine-tenths of all crime
can be traced to injustice. And
crime is still on the increase. When
workingmen and workingwomen are
robbed out of 80 per cent, of the
product of their labor by their em
ployers. as proven by the United
States census, it is unreasonable to
expect honesty or good citizenship
from the plundered . Self-defense
will compel them to break the law.
The great English Cardinal Manning,
while addressing the London dock
strikers told his hearers that any
man was justified in stealing before
starving. He was not a man of
the Donnelly type. But under our
present industrial system the law
takes no cognizance of the misery
and poverty that produces crime, it
calls for honesty on the part of those
who toil, and are robbed every day
they work. But that is asking too
much, it cannot reasonably be
expected. Socialism saj's to th<
employer, you shall not rob the
laborer, the laborer must become his
own employer. And “he that will
not work, neither shall he eat.” If
any go hungry let it be the idler.
No wonder idlers protest, they have
long enjoyed special privileges. And
’he most important privilege was
the making of the law that enabled
them to rob the worker. Has it ever
occurred to the mind of the miners
to look around them and see how
many lawyer claim owners there are
in the Tanana valley. And each hav
ing a notice posted up very conspic
uously on the claim saying I am not
responsible for any debts contracted
by my layman for operating this
mine. They are always present
with their poke to take their royalty
at each cleanup. But God deliver
them from paving the laborers their
wages for taking it out of the
ground. That is some lawyer-made
law. Jimmie take notice. Lawyers
don’t mine themselves, they let leas
es. Under Socialism there would
be no leases, consequently no royal
! tv. and very few lawyers. The po
litical affairs of this territory have
been too long dominated over by law
yers. professional politicians, mercan
tile interests and defaulting bankers.
Now give the wealth-producer an in
ning. DANIEL McCABE.
Vault, Alaska.
INDUSTRIAL FREEDOM.
Fairbanks. Oct. 10. 1912.
I am following with interest the
proceedings and different ways and
means the politicians advocate to
better the condition of the working
class, but I fail to see in which way
the interest of the workers can be
upheld along that line. What the
working class needs is industrial
freedom, not political freedom or
even religious freedom. The work
ers would not be better off in their i
material affairs if every voter could
vote three times a day. Suppose
the workers had collective owner
ship run by Socialist politicians
like Berger. Seidel. Debs, or De
Lion, wherein would the worker be
benefitted? I see where Australia
and New Zealand are pretty well
advanced in government ownership,
but I notice that the workers in
those countries are just as badly off
as the workers in this country, and
get just as little to eat and as few
! clothes to wear. There are more
than three million Socialist votes
in Germany, and very few’ in the
state of Massachusetts but the bos
ses in Massachusetts are no more
I afraid of these workers than the
, bosses are afraid over the 3 million
votes in Germany. There is a reas
on. The textile manufacturers in
i Lawrence, are not worrying about
the next election or about the So
cialists or any other political or
j ganization or the civilized “plan"
of industrial warfare. No industrial
master ever worries about his
: slave’s vote, as long as his profit is
> coming in regularly and the wages
low. It seems to me that if the
; workers wanted more pay and short
i
er hours they would worry the mas
ter by doing less work and decreas
ing his profit, and get more of it
for themselves. The more profit the
master has. the less pay you get.
and the less profit the master has
the more pay you get. It is up to
the working class themselves to
act. No politician, no political par
ty! no church can solve the indus
trial problem as far as the working
class and bettering their condition
: is concerned. It is up to the work
| ingmen and to them alone. But
! the workers themselves cannot bet
ter their condition by voting or pe
titioning or praying, but only by
organization and education to take
and hold the industrial machinery of
production and distribution. Before
I close I would like to say a few
words about that grand old joke,
about the railroad which is supposed
to better the conditions of the
working class in this country, and
which mostly all politicians use for
one of their strongholds to get their
feet under the pie counter. They
seem to have forgotten what con
trols the wages under this wag''
system we are living under. Please
will some of those politicians ans
wer that question. What effect will
the reduction of freight rates have
on the wages in this country? Do
not all speak at once.
Yours for what’s ours.
(Signed) ROBERT SMITH.
THE GROWTToTSOCIALISM
IN THE UNITED STATES
The rapid growth of the Socialist
movement in the United States i:
the past decade, or in fact, since
its birth as an organization, in the
latter eighties, has been but little
short of phenomenal. No other pol
itical party in the history of our na
tion can boas't of such a record.
From a small bunch of men who had
the courage of their convictions, had
the courage to advocate the prin
ciples for which Socialism stands
even at the risk of jeopardizing
their jobs, their standing in so
ciety, their liberty and even then
lives, the movement has sprung by
enormous leaps and bounds to a
position today which is very alarm
ing to the old parties. The spectre
of Socialism has caused them in
many instances, to lay aside their
differences, bury their hatchets and
snuggle up to each other in affec
tionate embrace and tremble in
their boots.
In many instances Socialism has
frightened them into destroying
their real identities as political par
ties. combining and reappearing un
der the disguise of assumed or fic
titious names as a “non partisan"
or “woozy” party in order to de
feat the Socialist movement. But
•bp outlook for them is Povthir<?
but bright, and realizing this, in
stead of assuming and maintaining
an aggressive and threatening atti
tude as in former years, they are
beginning to cuddle up to the So
cialists. and make goo-goo eyes at
us. offer to compromise, offer to
fuse. But to all their pitiful over
tures we turn a deaf ear and say
unto them: “Get thee behind me
Satan. I know thee not.”
It is actually pathetic when we
realize the great numbers of people,
and working people too. who, if not
tually openly opposing the Socialist
movement, are still clinging to the
actually openly opposing the Socialist
old parties who offer absolutely noth
ment of the condition of the pro
ducing class. And there are also
ing in the way of relief or better
ness to take the trouble to read
and investigate and find out the
true meaning of Socialism, its aims,
objects and promises, denounce it as
a form of anarchy and suspect every
man who wears the red flag on the
lapel of his coat of having a bomb
in one. pocket and a fire brand in
the other. But this absurd idea that
is energetically promulgated by the
capitalists or ruling class is being
rapidly eradicated from the minds
of the people as soon as they be
gin to read, investigate and think
for themselves. And it is surprisine
to see the great number of men
from the ruling class who have cut
themselves adrift from the old par
ties and have joined hands with the
party which has the future of our
nation in its hands. The many fac
tions of the two old par
ties in Fairbanks as in many other
places, have been forced to combine
in order to defeat the Socialist move
ment in the present campaign. Bir
we believe the Socialist party and
its sympathizers are strong enough
to carry our banner to victory or.
November 5th.
N. R KING.
RANK SOCIALISM.
“Here's an incident that happened
in the shop where I was working ir
Pasadena.” said a certain city offi
cial recenrtlv. “It will be interesting
if you can tell it in such a way as
to make the moral apparent. It hap
pened about this way: Several of
us were working together at the
I same bench when for some reason or
other there came a temporary lull
in our talk. Everything was quiet
for a few minutes. Then one of the
men—a Socialist by the way—besar
to recite in a low' voice a section
from the Declaration of IndeperH
ence. something like this: “We
hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator
with certain inalienable rights, that
among these are life. liberty and
the pursuit of happiness. That to
secure these rights, governments are
instituted among men. deriving their
just powers from the consent of the
governed. That whenever any form
of government becomes destructive
of these ends. it. is the right of the
people to alter or to abolish it and
to institute new government, layinc
its foundations—’ ‘Aw. cut out that
Socialist stuff.’ interrupted one of
the men at the other end of the
bench, indignantly.”—Pasadena. Cal ,
Star.
Old party voters cast their ballots
for individuals and jobs; Socialists
cast their votes for lofty principles
and the overthrow of wage slavery.
iWmer’6 Home6#bLi
Everybody Welcome
■"THE Class Struggle is on. If you don’t
■1 believe it drop in at
“Bert’s Place”
and See