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