The Daily Worker Newspaper, August 2, 1924, Page 5

J ' “The idea becomes power when it pene- trates the masses.” Karl Marx. > By J. RAMIREZ (Gomez) There is a whole assortment of “experts” at Washington whose sole business is to plan the next war. They plot out field offensives on the Eur- opean continent, air raids against London, lightning invasions of Mex- ico, complex incidents of naval war- fare against Japan. Minutely and patiently they study the topography of France, making numerous little Iarkings on the map to indicate marches and counter marches, poison gas attacks, or other maneuvers. They take up one country after an- ‘ other and work out a complete, de- tailed plan of campaign against it. U. S. Policies Make Enemies. Our war experts have it all figured out as to who the future enemy is likely to be. If they prove to be wrong it doesn’t matter, because they have laid their plans on the as- sumption that every great Power in the world is at least a possible enemy —not to speak of a few dozen of the lesser Powers. This means that at bottom the national policies of the United States are war policies.... policies which, if pushed to their logical conclusion, inevitably lead to war. Wars arise out of clashes of policy. Where do the policies of the United States clash with those of other Powers? Where do they not clash? Anyone can think offhand of a hundred “sore spots”.... in China, Latin America, Europe. Chatauqua orators are still repeating two-year old speeches on “our untroubled poficy of isolation,” but actually American foreign policy today is as adventurous as anything the world has ever seen. It is riding rough shod over all oppo- sition, driving relentlessly on to new disasters. The legend of isolation is not believed by anyone who does not spend his time “reminiscing” instead of thinking. Lafayette, We Are Here Again. Europe occupies a more and more prominent part in our day’s news from day to day. Amer an capital is in Europe with both feet now, fighting aggressively for advantages, with the militant backing of the United States Governmen{t. The notorious Dawes Plan for the enslavement of Germany is the mark of the epoch. Comrade Varga, in his lucid analysis of the Dawes Plan, showed how it reflected the changed economic con- ditions in the United States. “Owing to the boom period prevailing in the United States,” he pointed out, “the bourgeoisie of that country had no inducement to involve themselves in European affairs. With the end of that boom, and the necessity for a world market, the interest of the American bourgeoisie in Europe in- creases and a share in the plunder- ing of Germany appears to them more _desirable.” There are more than 1,800,000 men out of work in this country today. Everywhere industry is continuing to slow down—especially the construc- tional industries, which play such an important part in American capital _ investment. On the other hand the bank vaults are bursting with gold; money is so plentiful (among -finan- ciers, stock gamblers, etc.) that it is being lent on call at less than 2 per cent interest. ' -blughes Backs Morgan Scheme. Finance capitalists must invest their surplus somewhere or they will get no returns from it. So they begin to look across’ the water, There! are plenty of chances to invest in Burope. Germany for instance has been in the market for a loan, these.many months, But the bankers must have guaran- tees. Germany, with the French oc- - eupation burdening the pfoductivity of itsgmost important industrial areas, enough security. Conse- W. Lamont, of J. P. “ SPECIAL MAGAZINE SUPPLEMENT THE DAILY WORKER. AUGUST 2, 1924 American Capitalism Prep aring Morgan & Co., informs Ramsay Mac-{hesitate to resort to any extremity if Donald and Premier Herriot in London that no money will be forth- coming under the Dawes Plan unless the French troops are withdrawn. Secretary of State Hughes happens at this time to be enjoying a vacation tour to London. He declares himself heartily in accord with the Dawes Plan, and tells the newspapers that he agrees with the Lamont _inter- pretation of it. Obviously Mr. Hughes would not talk like this un- less he were talking for the United States Government. How the Machinery Works. The mechanics in the development of American foreign policy are shown here so plainly that one can “see the his profits are at state. The last war was a Morgan War and the next war will be a Morgan War too. Germany Mortgaged. What is the Dawes Plan in essence? It is a scheme for giving the Allies (principally England and the United States) such control over the indus- trial processes of Germany that they could exploit her for their own benefit and at the same time forever hold her down as a rival. With heavy mort- gage on the railroads and industries of the country, and control of her central banking institutions, the Allied bankers will hare a strong hold over the entire economic life of Ger- many. How will you keep him from your door? - wheels go round.” Bankers, in pursuit of profit, lay down conditions for foreign governments to follow, and the State Department backs them up; in consequence,whereof, the Govern- ment embarks upon a certain line of policy; which may involve -it in all sorts of entanglements if it does not ruptly shift its position. The State partment is now backing up Mor- gan, A definite stand has already been taken toward Frante and England and there has been a direct clash with French policy in the Ruhr. More- over, it is not easy for the Govern- ment to retreat, Now that Morgan has gone ahead with his Dawes Plan adventure, on the basis of assured government support, he is in a posi- tion to demand that the support be not’ withdrawn, American foreign policy has thus become warp and woot of the policy of Morgan. And Morgan thinks only of his profits. He will intrigue to checkmate possible for- eign competitors... He will endeavor to use his present position for future economic advantage. He will not This is nice enough for the Amer- ican bankers—but gives them an imperialist stake in the unstable affairs of Europe, which the United States Government will be called upon to defend in every crisis. Eyentually this means war. It is-inconceivable that theré should be another big war in Europe, with- out the United States being involved. Morgan already has millions of dollars tied up in loans to Austria and Hungary, and practically controls the financial administration of the former nation, under the present receiver- ship which the bankers forced upon her. In addition, there are the as yet unpaid loans to the Entente Powers. Morgan dragged the United States into the World War to protect those loans, and he intends to protect them in the future, however compli- cated the circumstances may become. Other elements of danger are the heavy investments of American capi- talists in European industry, the nu- merous concessions in the Balkans, the oil interests in Roumania and A “ SECOND SECTION This magazine supple- ment will appear every Saturday in The Daily Worker. New Wars other countries, the Sinclair contract for monopoly rights in the exploita- tion of oil in southern Italy. Reviving the League of Nations. The United States has become a part of the whole European system. Comrade Varga cafles attention to the fact that the League of Nations is again becoming an issue in America. The tremendous drive to put over the Bok “Peace” Plam.... the 1924 plat- forms of both Republican and Demo- cratic parties.... the active part taken by U. S. Ambassador Kellogg in the present conference of premiers in London, all these things show which way the wind is blowing. And the outcome is war. But America is a peaceful nation! Did we not, shout the philistines, take the lead in the calling of the famous Disarmament Conference at Wash- given to the Conference should not blind us to its content. “It is pro- bable that the Washington Confer- ence will make not for peace but for war,” declared Thomas F. Millard, in @ confidential memorandum written for the State Department. A Coup d’Etat. The Washington Conference was a simple aggressive maneuver. Europe is a puny field for the exploits of our imperialists. For years now they have had a vision of empire, whose eastern outposts lay far across the broad Pacific. In the quaint, pittur- esque, and (ineidently) enormously wealthy land of Old Cathay, Wall Street and the United States Govern- ment have been pursuing a’ policy of late, calculated to fairly bewilder the average worker or farmer, toiling away in the seclusion of “isolated” America. “nina,” wrote Millar another of his confidential memoranda “is the central factor in American Foreign Policy.” China is also a factor in the policy of other national imperialisms. These policies clash one with another. War is the certain consequence. The Washington Con- ference was a masterly coup d'etat on the part of American capitalism in the struggle for strategic. advantage in the far East. The proposals regarding armaments were shoved into the background in the Washington Conference; the American representatives refused even to discuss them until “various Pacific Coast and Far East questions” were disposed of. Japan was put abruptly on the defensive. The in- violability of American interests in China was urged and insisted upon. Even the proposal for limitation of armament, apparently so innocent, were a part of the American offensive against Ja; All military experts concur tha especially considering the present industrial background of the two countries, the naval limitation agreements made by the conference, tend inevitably to the relative weakening of Japan and the relative strengthening of American Capital- ism. _ A Fight for Empire. The Japanese have been made to feel that the United ‘States govern- ment is determined to back up all the schemes of American Big Business in China, The fight for empire is de- clared. There is the threat of war and the danger of war in every line of the Washington agreements. China is the greatest market in the world for the absorption of surplus capital. She has coal, iron, antimony, lead, oil, cotton, rice.... and, above all, plenty. of cheap .human labor. What group of money-mad American financiers would hesitate to lead us into the most perilous adventures in the face of such a prospect! But American capitalism comes late to the Chinese treasure house. Much of the treasure has already been parceled out. The United States pre- (Continued on page 8.) ilfard, in