and privation.* Next, the workers must be deprived of their economic, social and political rights; that is, to disrupt their unions, to prevent assemblage and to coerce them into submission. To accomplish this the courts of the land were appealed to, and they were not slow in obeying the orders of their masters.† But this is not all. Strict ukases were sent out from "headquarters" to the "heads" of the military and police forces of the industrial centers, to spare no means in crushing or subduing any and all attempts at demonstrations on the part of the unemployed and starving workers, and in case of resistance, to Russianize America.‡

Thus open warfare was declared by organized capitalism against the working class of this country and the gauntlet thrown in their faces. Will they take it up?

In order that this question may be answered aright, the subject under discussion-the class struggle of to-day, must be traced to its inception. And as it is as old and changeable as the race itself, and as variable as the conditions under which it lives, a short sketch of its evolution would not be out of place before we proceed.

"To-day the factories and workshops are closed, or operated with reduced labor forces. It is estimated that nearly two million men and women are at present out of work. Men... are compelled to beg, to eat at charity soup-houses, and to sleep on the cement floors of our police stations. Others lose all hope, and in their despair give up their life by self-destruction."-The Socialist party of St. Louis, Missouri, March, 1908, in a call to organized labor to invade the political field and check capitalist

rapacity.

In less than six months, from August, 1907, to January, 1908, a dozen injunctions and otherwise adverse decisions were issued by the courts against various labor organizations throughout the country, forbidding them to demand concessions, to declare strikes against or put on the "unfair list" certain business concerns that were most unfair to them, etc., thus practically nullifying the rights and privileges they have hitherto attained. See "AntiLabor Decisions of the Last Six Months," in The Worker, New York, February, 1908.

The action of the police against the demonstrations and protest meetings of the unemployed in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and numerous other places, strikes the point home clearly enough.

van

A long, thickly-interwoven chain of strife and struggle marks man's progress on earth. In the infancy of the race savage fought savage, and the victor unceremoniously devoured the body of his fallen opponent. However, with the advance of man to a higher plane of culture, this form of combat changed; the stronger, instead of devouring his opponent, subjected him to servitude and eagerly absorbed the fruits of his toil. Slavery then began its existence. Later, organized bands of marauders quished, ruled and plundered vast multitudes of men, women and children and made playthings of them for themselves and their kindred. In modern times classes predominate over each other, and the cunning exploit the less ingenious ones. And as various as were these conflicts in the different stages of man's social evolution, so also was the velocity of their character of procedure. At times few only fell the victims of savage brutality and passion; at other times vast multitudes succumbed to the harshness of battle; and on many occasions whole nations were exterminated on the altar of greed and ambition. Of course, there were at times cessations of hostilities; but these were only sham armisticescalms before the storm, at the culmination of which the contending forces rushed again upon each other with greater force and destructiveness. And for ages these conflicts of man against man tore asunder human society. They not only subdued, demolished and destroyed individuals, classes and nations, but brought their interests as well under the yoke of the victors of "right and might," ignorance and superstition. And it was this submerging of the interests of the individual, or group of individuals, by another individual or group of individuals, that caused the struggle for supremacy among them. To possess, to hold this possession, and to strive for more was the overruling incentive at all times. It is the same to-day with the classes possessing wealth that others have produced. Hence

the struggle of classes, and the misery, privation and degradation it brings about. "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles."* Therefore, the class struggle of to-day is but another link in the long chain of war between the interests of the classes-the capitalist class and the working class.

The harsh methods therefore of late employed by the former against the latter are no longer surprising. Greed and selfishness were always the motive power of heartless men. And although so many years have elapsed since the primitive days of our race, precisely the same selfish spirit that followed it throughout the ages is permeating it to-day. All the suffering of the victims that fell before us in this strife for the necessities of life; all the sacrifices of mankind's best sons and daughters on the altar of social progress, and all the teaching of the learned and wise, the manly and humane, were of no avail. And to-day, as of yore, humanity entangled and suffering in the web of human spiders, is standing aghast before the impending social storm, helpless to avoid or check its velocity. Evidently the same underlying causes are bound to-day, as in the past, to force the clash of arms of the contending forces, and the battle will have to be fought out once more, this time on a much larger scale and with more appalling ferocity.

Already the vanguard of the approaching conflict is upon us. It expresses itself in the restless, feverish activities that to-day permeate all classes of constituted society. The rich in their luxurious mansions, as well as the poor in their pestilental hovels, seem to be in constant expectation that "something" may happen in the near future that will shatter the very foundation of our social system and its co-existing institutions. Moreover, the very atmosphere seems to be filled with the menacing sounds of discontent and the threatening upheaval of the oppressed masses. Already the sensi

*See Communist Manifesto-Karl Marx and Frederick Engels.

tive ear discerns the rumblings of the impending cataclysm, and the rising temperature of unrest in the social body bodes a calamity to vested interests of no slight importance. And all who read the signs of the times are either terrified into insensibility or are swiftly arraying themselves on one side or the other and earnestly preparing for emergencies.

Evidently conscious of the approaching clash, both contending forces are preparing for the fray all along the line of action.†

Thus once again the forces of human society stand in the social arena contending for the interests at issue. And how conscious they are of these interests of their respective classes can readily be seen from the earnestness of the utterances from either side.

"The rights and interests of the laboring man will be protected and cared for by the Christian men to whom God in His infinite wisdom has given control of the property interests of the country,” cries George M. Baer, the apostle of the capitalist side.

"To the worker belong the products of his toil, and he will take care of it himself," responds the class-conscious working class.

These are the slogans of both contending factions, and such is the situation in this struggle-infected arena of our social life.

And what is to be done to ameliorate these chaotic conditions?

This question must be answered thus: These things cannot go on forever. A change must be made, a change at the very foundation of our social order-the

"There is no denying the fact that we must look forward to a gigantic controversy between labor and capital."-William H. Taft, Secretary of War. not only my attention, but that of the politicians and "The financial condition in America is attracting financial specialists of the whole world. It is only the beginning of a new period in social life, and I the signal for their revolution of labor against capi feel safe to predict that it is for the American people tal."-Count Witte, ex-Premier of Russia.

"Iprophesy... that before another half-decade blood will flow in our streets, and the night-rider's torch will light the heavens with its appalling glare."-Chancellor Day of Syracuse University.

economic basis of society. And this change is imminent. All the forces of our social fabric are irresistibly working for it. Things are certainly moving fast in that direction, and there is no escape. We are on the verge of a social upheaval, on the threshold of a radical change the Social Revolution. How, then, shall it be accomplished-by force or by reason?

True to the traditions of their kindred of all ages, the rulers of to-day are responding with cunning, force and treason. Organized labor is being mercilessly persecuted by the judiciary, police and military forces. Their leaders and officials are thrust behind prison bars and are black-listed forever. Injunctions are issued. Unorganized labor fares no better. The general public is being frightened by "anarchists" and their (policemade) attacks on "the safety of society." the safety of society." The reactionary press is muzzled beyond recognition, and they are trying to do the same with the organs of the progressive forces of the nation.* The police force is on the increase; the militia reorganized;† the pay of soldiers is raised‡-evidently to induce the scum of the land to join the army. More warships are called for and built. Armories are constructed and equipped with weapons and ammunition. And the "triple alliance" of capitalism's physical forces-policemen, militiamen and soldiers-is ordered to "shoot to kill," in case of "insubordination" or resistance of the masses against its predominating power. "Rule or ruin" where deceit fails seems to be the general order from "above." And after political trickery and judicial persecution fail to accomplish the desired result, force is to be resorted to and capitalism must dominate at all hazards.

These are capitalist tactics, and what are the results?

*Senator Penrose's attempt to perfect this scheme has failed so far, but I prophesy that similar attempts will be made in the near future.

†See Dick Military Law.

Instead of subduing the aggressive spirit of the class-conscious proletariat, they simply make matters worse than ever. On the one hand the aggravation of the intelligent workers grows more intolerable as the days pass, and on the other, an epidemic of crime is sweeping like wild-fire over the land.

The so-called "legal" acts of the criminals at the top of the social ladder react upon the criminals of the lower steps thereof. Crime rampant at the top produces crime below, and anarchy reigns supreme. The number of legal anarchists at the top of the social structure breeds plenty of illegal ones beneath it. And the cry of "Catch thief!" that is sounded against the latter§ is but a feint to distract public attention from the real culprits.

But as alarming as conditions are, still a ray of hope permeates the nation. It comes not from the top of society's golden dome, but from the depths of the social abyss. It comes from that stratum of the social order known as the Working Class.

These proletarian masses that were hitherto purposely divided into small, helpless, submissive and, among themselves, wrangling factions, are to-day beginning to see from whence their hardship comes. They are no longer satisfied with the high-sounding, empty phrases of Carnegie, Belmont, Gompers and Company of Civic Federation fame. The "identity of interests of capital and labor" charms them no longer. Even such a conservative organization as the American Federation of Labor sees the futility of it. Moreover, the workers are beginning to realize that fighting for ther rights on the economic field alone is but a fruitless task. The battle begun on the economic field must be extended to the

On April 10, 1908, this dispatch from Washingtion was sent over the country: "Drastic action will be taken by Congress to suppress the anarchists in the United States"-on President Roosevelt's recommendation, of course, to "ap

direction.

political field also, there to be fought to a finish. The political weapon of the capitalist class must be taken possession of by the working class in order to dislodge the former from the entrenchments of their economic position.

The progressive workers of these United States, gathered under the Red Banner of the brotherhood of man, refuse to be deceived or coerced any longer. They are a class-conscious body, knowing the interests of their class and also knowing how to fight for them. They no longer believe in "passive resistance"; "political aggression" is their cry. And like their brother-workers of Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria and all other capitalist-ridden countries, they are steadily forming into line, and, under the leadership of the Socialist party, will strike for the emancipation of their class from the yoke of capitalism. And to all the cunning manipulations, to all the treacherous and brutal persecutions of them and theirs by the forces of modern plutocracy, they answer thus:

Just as economic evolution brought about industrial concentration, so will it inaugurate industrial coöperation; just as this economic evolution caused the appearance of classes in the human family, so will it cause the elimination of class distinction; and just as the antiquated form of individual ownership of the means of life caused, and is still causing, the struggle between these classes, so will it result in the social ownership of the same, as well as in the

The class struggle is on- -it must run its course. It will give us light-light and reason, necessary for the reconstruction and elevation of human society. Children are not born without pain; still less social transformations. A new social order is being born into our national life and nothing can hinder its advance. For the economic forces of the land are behind it, reason is behind it, justice is behind it-and they are forcing it to the front.

In order to maintain their position and safeguard the interests that benefit them only, the capitalist class relies on cunning, force and foul play; whereas the workers in their struggle for justice and equal rights for all depend solely on economic evolution, reason and peaceable means. This mode of warfare employed by the capitalist class will react upon them before another decade rolls by; whereas the tactics pursued by the workers will most assuredly carry the day.

Such are the attitudes of the contending forces in the class struggle of to-day. What form they will assume in the future, 'only the future can tell."

SAUL BEAUMONT.

Cambridge, Massachusetts.

R

ECENT reports indicate that very satisfactory progress is being made in the formation of garden villages. The Garden City Association has an exhibit at the Franco-British Exhibition in London that is attracting a great deal of attention from people in England and also from Continental foreigners.

At Rosyth on the Firth of Forth, not far from Edinburgh, the government is going to form a naval base. The Garden City Association has prepared a plan showing that the land at the disposal of the government is quite suitable for the purpose, and extensive enough to carry out the garden-city ideal of not more than ten workmen's dwellings to the acre. Much or all of the natural beauty of the Fife coast will be saved, and the workmen will live under far healthier conditions than in congested tenement dwellings, a fact which statistics amply substantiate.

At the Scottish National Exhibition now open at Edinburgh a model of Letchworth (first Garden City) is shown. The Scottish branch of the Garden City Association is to erect at Bannockburn a range of model cottages.

Sir Christopher Furness, M. P., has acquired a large estate at Ormesby for development on Garden City lines. Sir Christopher has taken much interest in housing matters and a capital of $2,000000 will be required in this undertaking. A scheme for a Garden City suburb is being considered for Edinburgh and another for Glasgow.

One of the most advanced schemes of development on Garden City lines is that at Hampstead, North London. The annual meeting of the Hampstead Suburb Trust showed the development had proceeded at a rapid rate. Sir Robert Hunter, who seconded the adoption of the

report, warmly commended the undertaking. Mr. Barnett is one of the most active workers on the board of directors. Several of the best architects in England are engaged in the work of designing and carrying out buildings in this suburb.

One of the very latest Garden City villages is situated at Hull, in Yorkshire. The capital of the company is $1,000,000 and the dividends are limited to three per cent. The scheme has been the work principally of Sir James Reckitt who holds two-thirds of the capital. At the opening Sir James said the only object in view was the betterment of their neighbors and to enable them to derive advantages from having fresh air, a better house and better surroundings. He spoke of the responsibilities of wealth and urged people of wealth and influence to make proper use of their property.

To a monthly magazine in England the Countess of Warwick contributes "A Talk About Garden Cities," in which she says: "I, therefore, believe that there is a great future before the Garden City. It is too early to look forward to the time when the sweltering masses of our overcrowded cities will be scattered in industrial communities on the land, which is now so rapidly going out of cultivation. But I am convinced that the Garden City is the first step forward to this great ideal; that it will be found to be the solvent for the great and increasing misery of the over-crowded cities. Every one who has the good or this country at heart, and who feels that the future of our Empire depends on providing conditions of employment for our people in which the mens sana in corpore sano may be preserved, in which healthy children may be brought up instead of stunted weaklings of the slums, then every one, I say,