The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 26, 1918, Page 3

" gambling in the necessaries of life be In the interest of a square deal for the farmers VOL. 7, NO. 8 r Nonpartidin Teader Official Magazine of the National Nonpartisan' League ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA, AUGUST 26, 1918 Wanted—Leaders for Reconstruction Be Adjusted for the Common Welfare After the War— National Life Must A magazine - that dares to print the truth WHOLE NUMBER 153 - The Program of British Labor and American Farmers BY W. J. ROYLANCE N EVERY country that is now fighting the military autocracy of Germany there is manifested a constantly growing interest in the internal adjustment of the national life after the war has been won. And in every country there appear the same broad differences between those who are hoping and working for a thoroughgoing democratic readjustment and those who look to a © mere patching up of the old social and industrial systems, which have so lamentably failed to meet the needs of the war erisis. The capitalistic interests stand almost exclusive- ly for a return to the old industrial conditions, and . Some even advocate a considerable strengthening of the former monopolistic control of industry, while on the other hand the masses of the people undoubtedly favor a retention of much of the gov- ernment control of industry and finance that the war has made necessary and a further development along those lines, looking to the utilization of na- tional industries in the common interest, instead of in the interest of private monopolies. ; Foremost among the organizations demanding a democratic readjustment of both national and in- ternational affairs is the-English Labor party. American labor organizations .are in this respect far behind their English brethren. American Socialists stand more nearly on' the same plat- form with English labor, but they are discredited by their war record. THE GREAT PLACE OF THE FARMERS The strongest organization in this country standing for a thoroughly democratic program after the war is the National = Nonpartisan league, which demands an industrial read- justment that will free our resources and our markets from the control of monopolies, and will place interna- tional relations on a basis that will guard the world against future wars, The League has stated its principles as clearly as has the British Labor party, and in this particular these two democratic organizations stand out in strong contrast with all others in the allied ~countries. The following ex- tracts will show the extent to which . the principles of ithese' two widely separated organizations agree. In the “resolutions on the war” " adopted by the National Nonpartisan league June 7, 1917, the case for democracy is stated thus: . “The only justification for war is to establish and maintain human rights the world over. For this reason we are opposed to waging war for annex- -ation, either on our part or that of our allies, or demanding indemnities _as terms of peace. Bitter experience has proven that any exactions, whether of land or revenues, serve only to deepen resentment and hatreds which inevitably incite future wars.” .. “We demand that the guarantee of - human conservation be recognized, .- and the standard of living be ‘main- ~tained. To- this end we demand that made & felony, and that the federal ‘government - contr food supply Bk “If congress follows the the Nonpartisan: leagu “less” day. ' The com of the nation, and establish prices for the producer and consumer.” “At the close of the war sound international standards must be established on the basis of a true democracy. Our economic organizations must be completely purged of privilege. Private monopolies must be supplanted by public ad- ministration of credit, finance and natural re- sources. The rule of jobbers and speculators must be overthrown if we are to produce a real democracy; otherwise the war will have been fought in vain.” LABOR CALLS FOR GOVERNMENT CONTROL In its economic program, formulated and pub- lished before the war began, the League advocates the equalization of taxation and the control and operation by the state of those resources and in- dustrial and financial facilities the usurpation of which has been so ruinous in this and other coun- tries. It calls for the emancipation of production by the freeing of the markets and the operation of transportation systems in the interests of producers and consumers rather than of profiteering middle- men; and it would have all natural monopolies, such as waterpower, owned and operated by the state. The following extracts from the declaration of WHY NOT A PROFITLESS DAY? N y (710431 FTITILE uuulllllHmll,[““llll””l]" | ” ['I “’ —Drawn efiprésfily for the Leader by Congressman-John M. Baer. plan for. cutting war profits such as has been indorsed by e and urged by President Wilson, there will .be a new mon people have loyally gone “wheatless,” “beefless,” the profiteer a day to observe. “Now let’s give e . PAGE i I" o the conference of the British labor movement, 1917, show the position of English labor with regard to the same subjects: “The British labor movement declares against all the projects now being prepared by imperialists and capitalists, not in one country alone, but in most countries, for an economic war, after peace has been secured, either against one or other foreign nation or against all foreign nations, as such an economic war, if begun by any country, would inevitably lead to reprisals, to which each nation in turn might in self-defense be driven. It realizes that all such attempts at economic agres- sion, whether by protective tariffs or by capitalist trusts or monopolies, inevitably result in the spolia- tion of the working classes of the several countries for the profit of the capitalists; and the British workmen see in the alliance between the military imperialists and the fiscal protectionists in any country whatsoever not only a serious danger to the prosperity of the masses of the people, but also a grave menace to peace. “On the other hand, the right of each nation to the defense of its own economic interests, and, in face of the world shortage hereinafter mentioned, to the conservation for its own people of a suffi- ciency of its own supplies of foodstuffs and raw materials can not be denied.. The British labor movement accordingly urges upon the labor parties of all countries the im- portance of insisting in the attitude of the government towards commercial enterprise, along with the necessary control of supplies for its own people, * * * on there being no hostile dis- crimination against foreign countries. But it urges equally the importance not merely of conservation, but of the utmost possible development by ap- propriate government action of the resources of every country for the benefit not only of its own people, but also for the world. THE VISION OF SERVICE “To make the world safe for de- mocracy involves much more than the prevention of war, either military or economic. It will be a device of the capitalist interests that the treaty of peace need concern itself only with the cessation of the struggles of the armed forces and with any necessary territorial readjustments. The Brit- ish labor movement insists that * * * within each country the government must for some time maintain its con- trol of the most indispensable. com-- modities, in order to secure their ap- propriation, not in a competitive market mainly to the richer classes in proportion to their means, but, systematically, to meet the most ur- gent needs of the whole community, on the principle of ‘no cake for any one until all have bread.” ” “In a draft report on reconstruction,” submitted to the annual conference of the Labor party at Nottingham, England, we find: : “The Labor party insists on democ- racy in industry as well as in govern- ment. It demands the elimination from the control of the private capi- talist, individual or joint-stock,: and the setting free of all: who work, whether by hand or'by brain, for the rvice of the community’ and of the 7. " (Continued on page 14) P ‘ I |