Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The independent. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907 | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1903)
iff Vol. XIV. LINCOLN, NEB. v MARCH 12,-1903. No. 42. A NEW ADAM SMITH r : latest "School" of Political Keoaemjr - Launched by National Economic League It begins to look as if the Austrian school of political, economy is to be supplanted by a new one, if the ef forts of the National Economic league succeed. Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Henry George, and. Eugen Bohm Bawerk will be relegated to obscur ity , and the new school founded by Judge Freeman Otis Willey will forge to the front that is, provided. ;u Karl Marx's 'surplus value" theory satisfies . the socialists as to what causes the great inequalities in the distribution of wealth. The laborers - are robbed by the capitalist, who owns the means of production the land; machines and raw material and buys labor-power at its cost, uses it up in connection with his machinery and raw material and sells the finished product at an advance over what it costs him. Henry George's philosophy 3s based on the equal right of all to use the land, and satisfies the single iaxers that the laborer is robbed only by the landlord. It is difficult to say that Bohm-Bawerk's "marginal" the ories . satisfy, any persons except col lege professors who delight in 'mysti fying phrases. Adam Smith, the father" of political economy, is the patron saint of those who revolted against the mercantilist .(now protec tive tariff) idea and demanded "lais sez f aire' '(or let it alone). The Willeyites will combine mer cantilism and "laissez. faire." They will have a protective tariff and other special privileges, and then say "let well " enough alone," which ' is only slightly different from "laissez faire." - - In i the last ' analysis of exchange lAdam Smith found it to be not an ex change of products, but an exchange of Services. This is precisely the posi tion of Freeman Otis Willey, but his statement' is so simple that it is re markable that none of the numerous . professors of political economy ever found it out.; -While they were puz zling over "surplus value," "economic rent," or "external non-transferable goods," Freeman , Otis Willey, discov ered the" eternal truth that "Nature has ordained that we shall buy and sell to others precisely as others buy of and sell to us; so that in the Jong run the benefits arising from. the exchange are shared by all." r'The Laborer , and the Capitalist,"- .p. 88, .Nat. "Economic League,, N. Y.) Of course, , in the last analysis, it is ali a matter of exchange of services, and "if $100,000,000 lodged in the hands of Vanderbilt another $100, 000,000 necessarily lodged in the hands of r the people as .a consequence" (p. 94) because J ; "When we consider the r difference that exists, in talent and industry, as well as locality, or luck, whichever rou please to call it, it is not hard to account for the difference in the wealth of individuals upon the basis of each giving value equal to what he receives.'' (Id, page 91.) Vanderbilt's hundred millions, ac cording to Judge Willey's eternal law of equivalents, could not possibly have been accumulated by him without his giving in return services worth a hundred millions. These the people received, but because of their vastly inferior capabilities to perform valu able service, each received only an in significant portion yet all he de- served!-. .'T! V-" " " : : : -': ? This is a comforting doctrine, in line with Pope's- "Whatever is is right'' Rockefeller has -earned his hundred millions, more or less, be cause he is a million times more ef ficient than the man who has $100 saved up.. His services are worth to humanity exactly what he charges humanity for them. Human laws have nothing to . do with the distribution of wealth, ac cording to Willeyism. "Nature has ordained" :. it because -, "Order is Heaven's first law and this confessed, . : Some are, and must be, wealthier . . than the rest." y This is quite in keeping with the God-ordained revenues of the single taxers; or the inevitability of the overthrow of capitalism, as preached by the , socialists. Man himself has nothing to', say about it He is a mere puppet in the hands of fate or luck. , Enacting a tariff law or grant ing a railroad franchise wouldn't al ter the " distribution of .wealth in the least because a million-dollar-a-year man is bound to get his million no matter what betides, and he can't help giving a million in return He sim ply converts his energy into a cash equivalent,, and those who give the cash get his valuable services in re turn. It's a comforting doctrine to board of trade gamblers, poker-players and men who run roulette wheels. Nature has ordained that they must buy as much as they sell and sell as much as they buy." Even the highwayman renders an equivalent-when he holds up a victim! " . . . Such in brief, is the central doctrine of "The Laborer and the Capitalist," a well-printed volume of 312 pages, neat ly bound in cloth, copyrighted in 1896 by Freeman Otis Willey, and now be ing published by the National Econ omic League, 13 Astor Place, New York city. The price is $1.25 per copy or 100 for $100, carriage free. Lyman J. Gage has given as his opinion that 1,500,000 copies of it should be distri buted, suggesting that a "donation from one-tenth of our well-to-do citi zens would distribute that number." And to show that this was not merely a "mild jolly," Lyman's name, like Abou Ben Adhem's, heads all the rest of the "contributors and indorsers," which includes Bishop Potter, Secre tary Long, Levi P. Morton, Henry Clews, Senator Dryden, William Con nell, John A. McCall and other gen tlemen who believe in having others "let well enough alone." Beneficiaries of tariff laws, and rail road and banking special privileges could well afford to give the league about two million dollars to distribute this book. It is cleverfy written; a skillful admixture of truth and error, good and evil, assuming an air of great frankness and fairness, but nev er losing sight of the objective point that if it were not because of the great benevolence of the capitalists in furnishing work, the laborers must all starve to death. It never seems to have occurred to Judge Willey that a man might labor for himself, or that by co-operation a great ' many labor ers, might ' themselves own the ma chines and raw material -and furnish themselves employment Neither can he see how the government could pos sibly exercise its powers to "coin money and . regulate the value there of" without the aid of private banks of issue; or establish postoffices and post roads anjl regulate interstate commerce without the aid of the ben evolent gentlemen who own the rail roads. What he does teach is that the present-system is "natural" and that the laborers are a misguided and an ungrateful lot that they canlt appre ciate the benevolence of the capi talists who furnish them jobs, with out which . they must of necessity starve. '. r CHARLES Q. DE FRANCE. . CAN'T FIND OUT A Car Famine all Over the Watt While tha , Boads Dare More Freight Cara Than They Can Handle s One of those things which no pop can find out is why the reform papers and especially the democratic dailies have had nothing to say about the car famine. The loss that has been caused by it to business men and farmers is incalculable and it is as severe, : as. ever. More than two months ago The Independent began to take notice of 'it and point ;out that there : was no; occasion for it except the inefficient management' ; of - the great trunk lines of railroad. Years ago when a car famine occurred the papers were filled with the discussion of it Now they are as silent as the tomb. The only reference which can be found in the dailies to it is in the weekly trade summaries. " In sum ming up the trade of Omaha for the last ; week the following occurs: "Omaha is experiencing, with ' the entire state, what a car famine means. Shipments from eastern factories are between three weeks and a month be hind. Orders placed with eastern manufacturers a long while ago are supposed to.be somewhere in transit between the Missouri river and place of shipment, but just where, 'tracers' from the railroads have thus far been unable; to determine, . "One prominent hat and cap jobber said: .'Business just now in our line is very good,', but . we are greatly hampered by what the' railroads are pleased to term a scarcity of cars.. We are supposed to have in transit several large consignments of spring stock which ought to be in the hands of the retailers at this moment The fac tories say the goods have been shipped, but they have not been sable to detennnie where they are now. What causes this scarcity of cars, no one knows except the railroad people themselves.. It cannot be really any shortage in cars. We are all well aware of that. There are more freight cars In the- country than the com panies can handle. That is patent to every jobber. That the railroads are causing this condition of things there is no question, but why it is done no body can ascertain. We are in a pret ty bad fix on account of the delay in goods consigned to us,, but we would have been in a much worse fix bad we not secured earlier shipments on these same kinds of goods. But neither we nor the other jobbers in our line have enough stock to satisfy the demand, and one stands to lose a whole lot of money.' - "A manager of a big Implement house said: 'We are in, no different position than every other jobbing house in Omaha, or, in fact, the en tire Missouri valley. There may be a shortage of care, but why it is no one seems to know. When we send out a carload lot of goods from here we have the hardest sort of work to get cars from the railroads. ; Customers coming in from the state say that al most every big elevator on the lines of . roads running through Nebraska has stopped receiving grain. They are all full and cannot get cars to send it east There is something radically wrong with the railroads this winter and unless an entirely new policy is adopted there will be. heavy losses all along the line.' '" In calling attention to this state of affairs The Independent, as usual, was a month or two ahead of the dailies as in everything that concerns the welfare of " the common people. . If we had a legislature, not owned body and soul by the railroads, a com mittee would long ago have been ap pointed " with power to administer oaths and send for persons and pa pers. That committee would have hauled up the railroad managers and asked them why. they did not furnish cars for farmers to ship, their, grain and merchants to bring, their spring goods. It is either Imbecile manage ment or the roads have gone into a combine to fleece the people. , People Eager to Learn Editor Independent: Enclosed please find my remittance for, the five cards you sent me. I carried the cards some time in my pocket omitting to offer them for sale; when I did so, I sold them all inside of ten minutes, show ing the people are eager to inform themselves upon economic questions, i. e.,, the science of government and economic laws. In 1896 it was almosf impossible to obtain a reliable paper unbiased by politics that ably dis cussed these . questions until the Na tional Watchman was issued from Washington, D. C. The people as a whole " are deplorably ignorant on these questions and it seems to be for the interest of the great daily and weekly newspapers owned by syndi cated capital to keep them so that the republican politicians can . get their vote by which they and organized cap ital can loot tn people. Allow me to compliment you on the excellence of your paper, and the abb? and ; instructive articles appearing therein from your contributors.; Ma7 your paper bring many of its readers to see the truth and where thi3 re public and Its people are drifting. W have an inheritance of freedom given us by the fathers of the revolution As custodians of this God-given right, through our carelessness and ignor ance, are we to pass the control of our government and birthrights over to the money kings, that they can make our posterity, industrial slaves? Tlu price of liberty is eternal vigilance. ' ; STILLMAN E. LEWIS. Olean, N. Y. (Dr. Lewis was the democratic can didate for congress in the 34th New York district in 1896 and 1900. Ed. ind.) Build on the solid rock. Read the best books on . political economy for the foundation. Road The Independent to keep up to date. Write a card to day if you are. interested in the Inde pendent School of Political Economy. THE FREE TRADE LEAGUE It Don't Like Some Remarks of Mr. Van VorbU Originally Published In Tha Independent I Some ..time since Mr. Van Vorhia had an article in this paper in which he made some remarks about, the free trade league. The Independently fully indorses what Mr. Van -Vorhis said. The two leagues, the one advocating free trade and the other protection, are both agents of the financial interests and never fight one another in a way to hurt When the Gorman high tar- ' iff bill was submitted for the Wilson . bill as it passed the house, the free , trade league was not on the ground to fight that piece of perfidy. It is al ways asleep whenever anything can be done to loosen the grasp of the tar iff grafters. The editor. of The Inde- . . pendent has watched Its ; maneuvers for a good many years and has no - more faith in it than It has In Dave Hill or Gorman. Mr. Van Vorhis' ar ticle was copied into other papers and the secretary of the league was great ly aroused over it The following cor respondence ensued: Flavius J. Van' Vorhis, Esq., Ind ianapolis, Ind. Dear Sir: I am as tonished at certain assertions made in. your article, "Principles, not. Policy," published in the American Standard, to-wit: "They (gold democrats, or partisans of the money power) . . , .. send the secretary of the Boston free trade league to Indianapolis to have another banquet at the Grand hotel, etc."' -. ';-; r . "The efforts of the American pro tective tariff association and the free trade league of Boston will not Suc ceed in obscuring it with the tariff question. There is not the slightest difference between the purposes of the two organizations, ; etc." , - And in your ' article in the New Haven Union of January 24, you say: "The fight between the protective tar iff! league of New York and the free , trade league of Z Boston, both . con trolled by the financial Interests, is a sham battle in effect, If not an actual humbug In intention." . -These asser tions bear not one word of truth as far as the American free trade league Is concerned, and only show how far bitter prejudice and fanatical sub servience to a single idea can sway one who I doubt not means to be fair. This; league stands on its own feet, and advocates the cause of free trade in its broadest sense, as expressed in its motto, "Equal rights to all, special privileges to , none," as a patriotic duty. On other subjects its members differ widely, comprising as they do democrats, republicans and indepen dents, gold standard men, single tax ers and others. It is not controlled or influenced by the "financial interests" orrby any other persons or organiza tions.. J ';.- Considering the character of the league's membership and how it Is shunned and decried by all the7 trust magnates, protectionists and money -getters generally, your slur as to its being controlled by "financial inter ests" is not only unfounded, but ab surd and ridiculous. ,, My visit to Indianapolis was sug gested by ..Mr. Lamb, president.' of the league, and myself, and no one else.. : Its sole object was to try'to increase the membership and influence of the league. The banquet in Indianapolis " you refer to was gotten up and man- . aged by gentlemen there, and I was simply a guest . ' ' -: - Your strictures on the action of Secretary Shaw and the financial pol icy . of the republican party are, it seems to me, justified and well put But you hurt yourself and your cause when you wantonly assail the motives and misrepresent the actions of oth ers whoso principles and records prove them to be patriotic , and, ' sincere American citizens. . Very truly yours, (Signed) HAZARD STEVENS, 4 ' Secretary. Boston, Mass. ' Mr. Hazard Stevens, Secretary . American Free Trade League, 602-603 Tremont Building, Boston, Mass. . Dear Sir: While nothing offensive to you personally was intended, I wrote the words to which you object delib erately and thoughtfully and there is no reason, that I can see, consistent with facts and legitimate inferences that would justify me . in changing ; them, or modifying by explanation the