4
THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT,
This week we have on
sale several hundred
Men's Suits formerly sell
ing up to $15, at
$9.5 F0R CM1CE-
All colors and styles,
plain and fancy patterns.
Good, heavy winter suits
in this season's most pop
ular styles. Samples sent
free by mail. Also our
new winter catalog. If
you have clothing to buy
we can save you money.
M
ayer mos.
Lincoln,
Nebraska.
THE OELMABTIANS.
A MliBMotft MaaUha Don't Like Them
and Uu gm Peculiar Ideas of lilt Own.
Editor Independent: In the last is
sue The Independent comments on
Barnebey, asserts that "potatoes are
not value; starch is not value." They
are utilities, the jug handle to which
values atta:i themselves. Is there
any serious agreement to that asser
tion? The Independent adds that "Hu
man life is not value" and it is
"scarcity of potatoes makes them val
uable." If a plant, especially ' a vlgirous
growing tree, is ever to acquire its
full healthy growth its roots must be
imbedded in the solid earth of a planet.
If we are ever to have a solid founda
tion for an economic system, artificial
as it must be, it must also, just as nec
essarily as the tree, have its roots in
the facts of nature as they are in the
universe. We can build houses, con
trive manufacturing machinery, etc.,
all the artificial work of man, and
man can vary their form and uses,
but he cannot do any of these without
these two preliminary facts of nature,
the. material and the human being
himself. Stick a pin there. Let Del
Mar and his whole school try their nut
cracking abilities on these postulates.
Material, the planet, it is of the past
as to present use; its life as in the tree
cut down is destroyed wnen man pro
poses it for building purposes. The
animal life in use is life of the present,
but it is not human life. The brute is
not the designer of our economic sys
tems. He must not be brought into a
class with the class of life that is and
who design these systems for the ben
efit of equity among themselves. Hu
manity is the tree, its roots, economic
ally, are in the material of the planet,
and all this material that can enter in
to our consideration, unless it is some
thing to be got out of our way, a nuis
ance, possesses and must possess ma
terial utility. All utilities are not in
use at the same time. They are there
that they may be used. Humaa life is
of the present moment; not of the past
that is dead; not of the future, which
is not yet within our grasp; it is the
NOW another fact in nature. Will
Del Martians put a pin there for their
nut-crackers?
Don't do any dodging by telling us
It is only a point between the present
and the future and that it is relative.
It is, and it is extremely numerical.
Ir this giving way to Del Mar? Not
at all. It is demanded of him that he
acknowledge the whole truth. He can
not define the human being of the
NOW as only a numerical relation and
nothing more, without laying himself
open to the charge of constructing
covers for cannibalism to hide its
hideousness behind, such as natural
facts, postulates of political economy,
material, humanity and its energies.
"Now" is the point of time between
the past and future, a numerical rela
tion, and are utilities, not values, cap
able of existence where human life
does not exist? The business of Del
Martians, if they would retain our re
spect as honest men, must be to prove
these postulates a fallacy.
Now back to the editor's potatoes.
He says, "A scarcity of potatoes makes
them valuable." If he is correct, if af
ter the last human being had disap
peared on this planet the race had left
a number of jugs, but only here and
there one with a handle, the scarcity
of handles would make them valuable.
The editor would insert scarcity in lieu
of humanity in the above postulates.
If this is not seeking cover for canni
balism, can he explain? In his com
ments to my letter he says that "the
abolition of interest and rent will nev
er be accomplished until the socialists'
demand for the collective ownership
of all the means of production is in
operation." When that is accomplished
I say the bottom of hell has been
touched and we shall all settle down
right there in a comparatively short
time afterwards. We are right here
in the bloody gap that leads right
down to it, an immensely more dan
gerous gap to the race than the one at
Gettysburg. Nor can it be fought out
in a few hours. Compromises and ar
bitration are excellent under many
conditions, but under such it is trea
son to the race and leads to its death.
"Only a piece of property" is the
epitaph that must be written above the
tomb of humanity. And the Del Mar
tians are afraid that their epitaph, al
ready written in their scientific system
of economy, may be erased.
When Interest is collected from the
representative of the public credit, does
that credit represent humanity? Or
does it. represent scarcity? Or does it
represent a numerical relation only?
Or does it represent a ratio? Or does
It represent all of these, but humanity
left out? The yes or no to these ques
tions commits the man to cannibalism,
or it commits him to anti-cannibalism.
Del Martians are prepared to except
anything. They are much'given to say
ing it is nothing, only a this or a that.
Not human life, says the editor, as to
value. Well, value is human life, just
that, and it is as measurable as electric
energy. Value is its expression in
economics. That being true, despite
anything the editor or the other Del
Martians, not excepting the man of
Wall street, experienced Knickerbock
ers have so far been able to bring to
bear by way of showing it a fallacy.
Interest is human life, and interest is
that part of value for which not as
much as an excuse has ever been of
fered by economists. It Is not to cover
risks in return for the use of value.
That is accomplished by scarcity, and
is proper. No quibble is offered in op
position to proper security. It is only
another form of exchange with certain
specified contingencies. People do not
exchange at least they never should
and bear the reputation of honest men
with the expectancy of giving less in
value than the seller places upon it
Scarcity, the editor's value, plays its
part here, but not as creating value.
The buyer comes here with his wants
and the scarcity of the article with him
personally governs, but does not create
the expression of his bid; for the seller
of his surplus does the same. The gen
eral scarcity or surplussage will gov
ern both in their expressions which, if
.they measured values, not scarcities,
alike constitute price, and prices, not
values, go up and they go down. Val
ues are the same in quality if not on a
trifling and continual increase, as the
years pass by. This is speaking in
the Del Martian concrete manner, the
total amount in existence, but that
should not effect prices in the least
whether the total lessened or in
creased, for they are not nor never
should be allowed to be considered in
their totality of existence as a unit of
value, for nature has proclaimed the
unit in the expression "I am I and thou
shalt have no other god before me,"
which is the command of nature. Is
self-respect and self-preservation of
the unit of natures and it is his to
tality's lowering or rising in want
that effects prices. He is the concrete
as to want that effects prices. He is
the concrete as to himself. A measure
will apply to some definite amount of
his energy, and with the same accuracy
of any other human. Deny him a
measure and he is at the mercy of
any body of sharpers. Deny him the
truth and that he is value, you shut
him out as completely as you fence the
dumb brutes in or out. In interest
sou are abstracting his life as the
vampire, but is represented as sucking
the blood. The process may be a long
one, but a true case of murder Just
the same, and the editor says we shall
not be able to accomplish this unless
the collective ownership of all means
of production is in operation. Well,
what must happen then If all means of
production is in collective ownership,
is not the human being a means of
production and is he not owned and
that by an utterly irresponsible mas
ter? At that, he is worse a thousand
tiiiies than the slave owner of the
,south for he had an interest in the
negro as a unit at least of property.
Collectivism has destroyed the unit.
It is the collective ooze of cannibalism
brought into systematic order that sci
ence in some of its forms may have an
application just as it may in burg
lary or ether crimes, and they can all
shout and demonstrate it within their
narrow limits. Why is it scientific?
Will anyone deny that crime can be
made scientific? We are no more called
upon to condemn science for this than
we are 1o condemn the axe by which
one ret u has brained the other. But
how about the man that used the axe
for such a purpose? How about Del
Mar and all the other economists who
are determined to bar out the human
being as the living center of econ
omists, without which the circle could
not exist? Under present conditions
of cannibalism it is justifiable to brain
the cannibal whenever the cannibal
can be singled out as the collector of
interest can be or the court, which
never has been a court, that has al
lowed it, or the legislator that by his
vote has passed laws that allow it.
That is justifiable if the killing of rat
tle snakes in self-defense is justifiable.
But the fully justifiable is not always
the best thing to be done. If We can
prevent further cannibalism without
the killing, that is the best thing of
all. We cannot undo the past as a
memory, a terror through which we
have escaped. It may be of use as a
brake upon future attempts in that di
rection and those who hate borne a
hana in present conditions under other
ores are best fitted to hand down to
posterity the iniquity of the present
rrom experience.
No socialism of the collectivism or
der can for a moment stand the broad
daylight except as Talos. the monster.
The right of eminent domain is-not
collectivism, is not ownership. It is
control where ownership cannot exist
as with natural opportunities title to
which cannot exist, as no title-giving
creator has ever been known. It can
not have passed on as real. Law can
not make title or ownership. It can
only hunt it out where it exists, and
protect It It can protect possession
and give possession. Its limit is there
reached. Possession is not ownership
as anyone may find out by stealing
property when brought up before the
courts with the stolen property in pos
session. Acceptance of half loaves im
plies that there is some one to give
loaves. We deny there being any other
than stolen gift loaves and are not ac
cepting halves, but looking for the
thieves with blood hounds. Let us
have property held as property and
possessions only as possessions. Pay
the government in taxes for the protec
tion of possession. No rent there pos
sible. Protected in possession we shall
have enough to do to pay the courts
for protection to property. Where we
cannot otherwise protect it, seizure of
corporate property by government
need not mean permanent manage
ment by government. The best meth
od experience will discover. But a per
sonal manager must be held strictly
responsible for his acts. No privileges
of a special character granted him. No
corporation to dodge behind if he is
responsible for crimes. His neck
should stretch hemp, not some help
less" foreman, who is not blameable for
his part over which be has not the
control, being only a speaking tube.
Hell haj flamed long enough for or
dinary mortals; turn now on the delib
erate scoundrels of Wall street and
their politicians.
H. ELLINGSTON.
Minnehaha, Minn.
HORRORS OF PROSPERITY.
(Continued from Page 3.)
to the support of legitimate means of
alleviating distress, dares to leave to
the little child the solving of the
problem that it should take upon it
self, it is guilty of a very cowardly
thing. To throw the responsibility for
relief in such cases onto the shoulders
of childhood is to deliberately stand
by and permit the boys and girls to
hurl themselves into an abyss out of
which there is no escape.
The boys and girls of today, whe
ther they be of the factory or the man
sion, are the men and women of to
morrow. It is not an easy thing to
contemplate the future of the little
ones who are chained to the drudgery
of the workshop; it is not a nice thing
to look forward to the day when
women, dragged from their childhood
into the whirlpool of despair, lashed
hopelessly since their earliest years
to the foot power machine or the
sweatshop bench, shall in turn become
the mothers of the race, or to peer
further still into the future and con
jure up the mental, moral and physi
cal aspect of their offspring.
TRUCK FARMING
IX THE SOUTH.
Doei Track Farming in the Sonth pay 7 Writ
the nnderiigned for a free eopy of Illinois Cen
tral Circular No 3, and note wbat ia aaid con
cerning it.
J. F. Merry, Aas't Qenl Pasa'r kgent
Illinois Central Railroad, Dubuque, la.
It will pay you to read the advertlao
ments and take advantage oX the bar
gains offered. 1