The Daily Worker Newspaper, March 29, 1924, Page 7

= ECONOMIC FO By SCOTT NEARING (Federated Press Staff Writer) Economic forces are at work that are destined in the not distant future to dismember the British empire. Superficially these forces appear la the mad scramble for fucl vil; in the smothering burden of unemploy- ment; in the huge debt of seven bil- lion pounds sterling (one pouad is $4.22 present exchangv). curricd by the Mother Country; in the heavy taxes that must be paid in spite of the trade depression. But undarlyies these threats, and overtopping them in importance, is the economix deve opment that has taken place daring the past decade in Canada; Australia, India and South Africa. British imperial policy hes b-es built on the theory that raw materiale produced in the dominions and eel onies would go to the British isles duty free; would be fabricated British industrial establishments, and would then go back, in the form of finished goods to the colonies and dominions from which the raw ma terial had been secured. Thus the cotton of India, the wool of Austraiin and the hides of South Africa wovle travel half around the world te be manufactured and would thee find their way back half around the wo:ln again, in the form of calico, worsteds and shoes. Under this plan British ship ow ers would secure a profit both on ‘the outgoing and on the return voyage, British jobbers would take their tol on both the raw and the finished product; British manufacturers would add a “reasonable return” on caps tal; British insurance would “carry the risk,” and British bankers would “advance the credit.” This was all very well at the out- set, while the dominions were eco nomically under-developed. The rich- ness of the newly tapped resources, a little extra effort on the part of col- onial workers and the absence of ang large parasitic class in the now coun- tries made up the difference between the amounts received for raw me terial shipped to the Mother Country and the amount paid for the finishes products sent back in British ships. But the colonies and dominions gradually matured economically— that is, they developed facilities for converting raw materials into finished products right on the spot where the raw materials were produced. Thus they saved the cost of shipping them half way round the world anj baes again. Bankers Dig Own Grave. In this work they were greatly ae sisted by British bankers, who, all unwittingly, were busy cutting ther own throats. : British bankers took the money which British manufacturers and traders had made out of the manu- facture and transport of colonial raw materials and invested it in the col- onies—first in the production of raw materials (mining and lumbering); s _then in public utilities (railroads and electric light plants), and finally in mani ing establishments that competed directly with similar plants in Britain. When the war broke out almost half oy ae oe Ee vestments was Pp. - South Africa and australian "this policy of developing colonial industry was destined, in the long run, to destroy the colonial market for Bri- tish. goods and thus overthrow the For information economic system which was. making the investments. The war created such an immens home demand for steel, chemical, | textile, leather and other products that the British manufacturers were temporarily unable to supply the col- onial markets. Indeed, the demamd became so great that the colonics and dominions found a market in Great Britain for.the steel, chemical, textile, leather and other manufac- tured products which they were abte to produce. Thus overnizht, the tables were turned and colonial manufacturers market of the Mother Country aa well. The process is weil illustrated iu the experience of Canada, Example of Canada. The manufacturing industries of Canada were curried on in 21,306 es- tabiishments ia 1914 Two years hater, the number of establishment» hoe jumped to 34,392, and in 1919 it steod at 33,344, or nearly double the number for 1915. During these four years the amount of capital invested in manu- fuwturing increased from $1,994,- 090,000 to. $3,230,000,000 and the value of the product from $1,407,- 000,000 to $3,620,000,000. Those were called upon, not only to supply |i»creases are accounted for, in \part, the home market, but to supply the'wy the mcerease in prices, but the eared ae plead ciickeceiniols- Wai atch naiibalegapciebeicAetellaincieaisens tel cata Mk UIST CHI SCHOOLGIRL BOLSHEVIKS. By STELLA JACKSON (Age 12) “Oh, my,” said Pippin, for the fiftieth time that evening, “What a dense, stupid, thick-headed lot they are.” She was curled up on a sofa, gazing at a copy of THE YOUNG COMRADE, but thinking of her school mates. When she ar- rived -at school, the day before, she had_ been d quite enthusias- tically, but when Pamela Ford saw her read THE YOUNG COMRADE she had stood transfixed with amaze- ment, her eyes like saucers. The others gathered round to stare in their turn. Pippin looked up, stared also, saw that her eyes were fixed on the paper and said, “Want to read it, any of you?” “Are You a Bolshevik?” “Are—are you—a—a Bolshevik?” asked Trix, the monitor of the class, incredulously. “Yes, ra-ther!” replied Pippin, with a laugh. “Philippa Moore! Well!” ex- claimed the monitor and half the girls rushed outside to spread the news and talk it over in horrified whispers. The other half stayed and told Pippin what they thought of her- She was a silly dunce; she was mad; she couldn’t help it, it was her parents’ fault; she was a wick- ed person; she had bats im her bel- fry; these were some of the opin- ions. When they had been given the girls turned and marched away. Since then Pippin had practically been sent to a school for bad girls, by her teachers. girl whose room she had been sharing in the school had packed up and gone So there she was—on the Suddenly a timid sort of a knock came on the door; it opened, and a girl’s face peeped in. When she saw Pippin she’ gave a merry and came in, shutting the away. sofa, pag saat on os so ¢ you've come to school,” she said. “I’m a young Bolshevik, og “What!” gasped Pippin. don’t suppose this stuck-up lot of idiots will stand for more nm one.” “Won't they?” chuckled her visi- tor. “I’ve converted three already; and each of them has converted one “Well, I —that. makes seven—no, eight of | those agree’ with us us. How old are you? Have you|now, sign their names here?” a nickname? What shall we do , and next ” these who did not were lavghed A Is at. And that is how the little band “I'm thirteen. They call me Pip-jof schoolgirl bolsheviks grew to be in at home Shall we call a meet-|a Junior Group of the Young Work- 2 paste : ers , functioning right in the es, do lets—I know! One of 'school. ; UNCLE WIGGLY’S TRICKS — our band, Sylvia Green, shall make a speech protesting against the Meanness of sending ms Holshevik girls to the ‘Bad girl schools’ with- out any cause. Then you can an- swer questions at this raeeting. If you have some more copies of THE YOUNG COMRADE we can distrib- ute them.” “Yes, I’ve plenty.” “That’s good.” Next morning @ neatly written notice apeared on the school bul- letin board, reading: “A meeting will be held in the school play- ground immediately after lunch. You'll discover the subject when you get there-” “They say ‘curiosity led the eat,’ but this is a case of ‘curiosity will fill the playground with stu- dents’,”” laughed Yetta (Pippin’s vis- itor) as she and Sylvia watched them pouring in, Sylvia’s speech was very success- ful; she told the students that the reason why they wanted to send the girls away from the school was beequse they were fightirg for the workers. The capitalist newspapers, because they were afraid of the Bolsheviki, said that they were peetiboas. wicked, horrible peo- ple. Then Pippin, in answer to the question,, “What are the Bolshe- viki?” said: “Bolsheviki is the name given to the great party which now rules Russia. really means ‘majority.’ In order to free themselves trom the tyran- nical reign of the Czars, the Rus- sian workers and peasants rose in revolt and there was a revolution. Now, there are no rich, there is no tyranny: Furthermore, the chil- dren of Russia today do not ‘have to slave away in the mines, mills and factories like they do in this country in many cases. ‘The chil- dren of Russia have their own or- ganization called ‘The Young Pio- neers’ and they play, study and work for the good of the workers‘ government and the working class.” Pippin sat down amid a storm of cheers, The Group Functions. The word Bolsheviki RCES DISMEMBERING THE BRITISH EMPIRE number of workers engaged in the manufacturing industries rose, dur- ing the seme four years from 497,- i90 to 682,434. Here is evidently a gtowing volume of manufacturing, which may be disposed of thru home sales or thru exports. _ There are no figures available giv- ing the changes in home consumption, eut the export figures are contained in the Canadian Year Book. Two or three illustrations will serve to estab- jish their relation to British produc- tion, Canada experted 865,081 yards of cotton fabrics in 1914. In 1917 the sigure stood at 846,099 yards. The value .of woolen manufactures cx- ported in 1914 was $81,555, and in 1917 $725,148. In this connection It fy worth noting thet the exports of Canadian woolens to Great Britain fn 1914 was $26,542; in 1915, $113,- 629, and in 1917, $294,886, or nearly 12 times the value of 1914. The same thing helds true of the ron and steel industry. The value of exports in 1914 was $2,809,000, of which $441,000 went to Great Bri- tain. By 1917, Canada was export- ing $41,840,000 in steel and iron, of which $22,900,000 went to Great ritain, Here was en {mmense productive machine, built to supply war de- Teand, and producing those very tcx- tile and steel products which made up the bulk of the British manufae- turing enterprise. Australia, India, South Africa. The same thing that happened in Canada happened in Australia, and for the same reasons. Like Canada, Australia had a rich local market, largely supplied by British goods. en this supply was curtailed, the Australians began making their own textiles and shoes. The Australian Year Book re- ports 3,090 employes in woolen, cot- ton and tweed mills in 1913, turning out a product valued at 926,000 pounds. By 1919 the number of workers had increased to 4,087 with a product valued at 2,830,000 pounds. The number of boot and shoe work- ers was 13,436 in 1913 and 15,960 fn 1919. During the same years tho value of the product rose from 4,000,000 to 7,100,009 pounds. Similar facts might be cited fros Ind‘a and from South Africa. Beginning under the pre«ore of war necessity, these colgtiial and de minion industries taught the local populations: (a) That it “makeg work’ end “circulates money”. (b) That the cost of domestic wen- ufactures is equal to the cost of im- orted manufactures minus trans- portation, insurance, banking charges. (c) That domestic industry keo- manufacturing profits at home when they are reinvested. (d) That the local groups thus cre- ated have a vested interest in home industry which provides the Lasis for a local industrial society. This is the new-old lesson of aco- nomic independence—the lesson that Carthage learned from Tyre; that tne English colonies in America Jearnod from this same Great Britain «ri that the present British colonics anc dominions are now learning. When the lesson is thoroly assimilated, the British empire of 1924 will have lost ——~ of its most important ec:nomte anits, jobbing and JOIN THE JUNIOR SECTION For Information 1009 N. State St., Rm. 214 Ch ml.