The Daily Worker Newspaper, June 21, 1924, Page 10

On Population and Birth Control (Continued from page 5.) so few men are able to maintain their families and that the mothers and children of ever so many workers’ families are compelled to go to work in order to supplement Dad's meagre pay envelope. But this is not all. We suspect that in computing the “just wage” Prof. East divided the total national in- come ($60,000,000,000) by the total number of people in the country (100,- 000). May we venture to assert that the income per capita would mate- rially rise if the Prof. were to deny a share in the national income to all non-producers: Bankers, speculators, bond and mortgage holders, etc.? But then we are reminded that these peo- ple constitute the best elements in our society. They live on interest, rent and profit, the three corner- stones of modern civilization. On the basis of his computation the Prof. must of necessity come to the con- clusion that “one simply must face the fact that the productive capacity of a goodly proportion of all people is too low to keep every one away from the Malthusian pressure, and that this proportion must rise in the future unless the population remains far below the economic unit.” (East, p. 251.) At this point some champion of the “submerged quarter” comes to the fore and points out to our Prof the folly of preaching birth-control to the masses when it is a known fact that the master class in each capitalist country, or the government which safeguards its interests, prohibits the dissemination of information on this _ topic. He points out that inthe United States we have a federal law, passed in 1873, which makes it a crime to advise limitation of fami- lies. He recalls to the Prof. the famous incident of Napoleon, who, when asked by Madame De Stael re- garding the greatest woman of all time, replied: “She, madame, who furnishes the most cannon food at her country’s disposal.” Our champion of the “sujmerged quarter” being some- what bold, goes a step further and re- minds the learned gentleman of the opinions held by Theodore Roosevelt on the subject of large families. Roosevelt, it will be recalled, had re- ceived a letter from some obscure woman in which she stated that she had given birth to some twelve chil- dren. She also stated that since her marriage she had had neither a new hat, nor a new coat, nor a pair of new shoes. In his reply Roosevelt com- mended the woman for her high serv- ices to the country, in recognition of which he sent her his photograph. But then our learned gentlemen are trying very hard to convince the rul- ing strata that it is to their benefit to reduce the population, just as so many of the same, or other, learned gentlemen are trying to convince the capitalists of the benefits of social re- forms on the basis that a contented worker is better than a discontented one, Well, we will leave to the Profs the ungrateful task of reforming the capitalists. For ourselves we are quite certain that the capitalists can no sooner change his nature than the leopard can dispose of his spotted skin. There is another aspect of the popu- lation problem which sadly worries the Profs. They see that the rate of reproduction among those in the “sub- merged quarter” is rather high while among the elite the birth rate tends to fall. (You see, the rich can afford to obtain the necessary information, laws are made for the underdogs.) In this tendency the Profs see the danger that the “submerged quarter” may ulti- mately displace the upper strata. Thus Prof. East says: “Society is like a candle which burns out at the top and replaces itself from the bottom.” . We should like to ask the Prof, how else society can replace itself since those at the top become cor- rupted and degenerated as a result of opulence and indolence. We wish to tell him that as long as society is di- vided into producers and non-prod- ucers, it will continue to replace it- self from the bottom; that only when capitalism will be replaced by a social organization in which all the members will be producers will society cease replacing itself from the bottom. But then we are treading on forbidden ground. We can almost feel the po- liceman’s grip on us. So let’s quit and return to the problem of population. Dr. East sees danger in the ex- haustion of the soil. Says he: “The matter of prime importance, however, is not the possibility of keeping up crop returns for an indefinite period when all known means are utilized. It is that continued cropping by the present system in depleting most soils rapidly and that millions of acres have already reached the point where their productiveness can only be kept up by increasing the amount of artificial fertilizers. Much of our natural agricultural wealth has thus been used with no charge made for it in the production costs. This is bad bookkeeping. No charge for deprecia- tion means bankruptcy in any busi- ness.” (P. 186.) For once we are in perfect agreement with the learned gentleman, What conclusion do we draw from it? That the need of prime importance lies in the elimination of the system responsible for this irra- tional use of our natural wealth. It is because we recognize the need of carrying on production with an eye to the future that we insist on the solu- tion of the economic problem prior to all other problems, including the prob- lem of population. Capitalism is essentially wasteful and irrational because under it production is carried on primarily for profit. The capitalist serves but one God, Mam- mon. He will never permit the wel- fare of the future generations to curb his greed for profits. After me the deluge, is his motto. He lives only in the present. Only under a system based on production for use can we eliminate waste and utilize the natur- al wealth in such a manner as not to jeopardize the welfare of the future generations. the next carnage. Recently, May 8th, some 300,000 miners in the Ruhr were locked out for refusing to work longer than 8 hours per day (7 hours underground), Produce! or you are traitors to your country. Produce! or civilization is in danger. Should you question the Prof as to why the workers should exert them- selves to increase production since with every increase in their produc- tive capacity they but forge heavier chains for themselves and bring greater misery on themselves and their families, the Doc will presumably fall back on the Bible and quote the famous passage, “The poor always ye have with ye.” You see, according to the Prof no system of production can do away with poverty; there always were and there always will be rich and poor. One wonders whether there is not a case in which the wish is father to the thought. For if you do away with poverty, who will do the dirty work for the elegant gentleman and the pink-finger ladies? As far back as 1728 another de- fender of rich against the “envious poor” said: “. .. it is manifest that, in a free nation, where slaves are not allowed, of the surest wealth consists in a multitude of laborous poor; for besides, that they are the never fail- ing nursery of fleets and armies, with- out them there could be no enjoyment, and no product of any county could be valuable. To make the society hap- py and people easier under the mean- est circumstances it is requisite that great numbers of them should be ig- But Dr. East will not subscribe "oat as well as poor; knowledge our conclusion. The conclusion he arrives at from the danger inherent in the exhaustion of the soil, is that we must work harder. “There is con- clusive evidence,” says Dr. East, “that the output per man is diminishing, | Boos,” despite the more general adoption of crop rotation and pest control meas- ures. This means that we must work harder for what we get.” Does not the Prof’s advice sound like an editorial sermon by the N. Y. Times? Produce! Produce! has been both enlarges and multiplies our de- sires, and the fewer things a man wishes for, the more easily his neces- sities may be supplied.” (Bernard De Maudeville: “The Fables and the 5th edition, London 1728, p. 328.) What Sir Maudeville stated in a blunt, simple manner, the modern Profs state in more subtle fashion. Like Sir Maudeville, the modern Docs believe in giving the laboring poor enough of the means of subsistence to the one cry in all capitalistic coun-| keep them from revolting and yet so tries since the war. Produce! Prod- little that they will continually spend uce! to make up for the vast destruc-|what they get and thus be driven by tion brought about by the war and |necessity to toil constantly for the to enable the rulers to prepare for jrich. An Incident in the Life of Leon Trotsky (Translated from the Spanish by Harrison George.) ‘WO inspectors of police were wait- ing me in my apartment. One of small stature, almost old, flat-nosed, the slave’ type, but a little finer; the other large, bald, of some forty-five years, and black as tar. On both their clothes hung badly, and when they spoke they gesftred in the fash- ion of a military salute. The old one had an ingratiating education. “You will help us in our task (in other words, you will make no re- sistance) and in exchange, at arrival at the Spanish frontier we will not deliver you to the Spanish police, but leave you free.” And turning to my wife: “Madame can present herself to- morrow before the prefect,” (to ob- tain authority to rejoin me). While I bade farewell to my wife and friends, the police discreetly kept behind the door. Downstairs, near the automobile waited two agents of the secret police. The inspectors had tak- en my bags and were carrying them. At departure the old one removed his hat several times: “Pardon me, madame!” The agent that had followed me tirelessly for two months, now, in a very friendly manner, arranged the robe about us. The door of the mo- tor closed and we departed. The express. A third-class car. We installed ourselves in a compartment and made the usual provisions. The old inspectof was a geographer. - Talked of Tomsk, of Irkutsk, of Ka- zan, of Novgorod, of the Fair there . .. Knew Spain and spoke Spanish. The other, the big negro, for a long time remained without saying a word, seated apart. But suddenly, he be- gan: “The Latin race tramps around on the same spot. The others progress,” he said, while cutting a slice of ham which he held in a hairy hand of doubtful cleanliness and adorned with heavy rings. ! “What have we in literature? De- sadence? Decadence in all things. In ull things.- In philosophy the same. since Descartes and Pascal there is aothing. The Latin race tramps around on the same spot!” Astonished, I waited the continua- tion, but he shut up and began chew- ing his ham sandwich. “You had a Tolstoi, but Ibsen is more comprehensible to us than Tol- stoi.” And he shut anew. The old one pricked by this allu- sion to science, began to explain to me the importance of the Trans-Si- berian Railroad. And then, complet- ing, and to soften pessimistic conclu- sions of his colleague, he added: “Indeed, we lack initiative. All wish to be functionaries. It is sad, but un- deniable.” I was listening without interest. It was now night and outside noth- ing could be seen. I was nervous and had not slept. The conversation renewed. It circled around my expul- sion and about the surveillance of which I had been the object in Paris. The two inspectors knew all the de- tails by being those who shadowed me, This theme excited them. “To shadow?” said the old one, “but that is impossible now. It is not efficacious except when the subject knows nothing of it. True? But with the communications of today it is really impossible. The Metropolitan (the Paris subway) kills vigilance. It should be prohibited to those under surveillance — they should not take the Metro. Only then would it be possible to shadow anyone.” The black grinned. The old one, calming himself, intervened. ‘Frequently we watch without, un- fortunately, knowing why.” “We, the police, are sceptics,” sud- denly declared the black. “You have your ideas; we must attend to that which exists. Let us take, for ex- ample, the great revolution. What a movemént of ideas! The encyclope- dists, Jean Jacques and Voltaire! And fourteen years after the revolution the people were more miserable than ever. We read Laine; Jaures re- proached Jules Ferry that his govern- ment was not advancing. Ferry an- swered: Governments are never the clarions of revolution. And it is cor- rect. We police are, by. our function, conservatives. Skepticism is the on- ly philosophy that fits well fo our profession. At final account, nobody freely picks his road. Free will does not exist. All is foreseen by the march of things.” And he began, skeptically, to drink red wine from the common bottle. And then, corking it: “Renan said that new ideas come always far too early. And it is true.” But at saying this, he gazed sus- piciously at my hand that I had put casually on the latch of the compart- ment door. To tranquilize him, I stuck my hand in my pocket. We reached Bordeaux, capital of Vin Rouge (red wine) and, yester- day, the provincial capital of France when the enemy neared Paris. The watchword of the French bourgeois: “The frontier on the Rhine or the cap- ital in Bordeau.” “I accompanied, by this same road, Senor Pablo Iglesias, chief of Spanish Socialists, when he was expelled from France,” said the old one. “We made a very pleasant trip and chatted agreeably. A charming man.” “To us, the police, as to the valets, there are no great men,” declared the black. “And at the same time, they always need us. The regimes change. We remain.” We reached the last French station, Hendais. “There lived Derrulede, our roman- tie citizen. For him it was sufficient to see the mountains of France. A real Don Quixote in his Spanish cor- ner.” The black smiled indulgently. “I could live here forever,” said the old one, “in a cottage, and never would tire of watching the sea all day.... Ah! pardon me, monsieu.. . Accompany me to the station commis- sioner.” In the station of Irun,.a French gendarme started to question me, but my companion gave him some sort of a masonic signal. “Understood, un- derstood,” answered the gendarme, and drew away to wash his hands at a spigot to show a complete indif- ference. But he could not contain himself; he looked me over anew and asked the skeptic: “And where is the other?”—“There, with the spe, cial commissioner,” replied the black. “He must Rnow everything,” he add- ed in a low voice, bending towards me. ‘ With rapid steps he conducted me toward the interminable corridors of the station. “It was done discreetly, is it not true?” he said. “With the tramway you are able to go to Irun and to San Sebastian. You must pass as a tour- ist and not awaken the suspicions the Spanish police, who are very dis- trustful. And now, already I True?”"— a = —— o— al