THE NEW LEADER FORUM
THE NEW LEADER FORUM WHAT IS CAPITAL? By William Edwards A and B have an argument (I will not call it discussion) on capital, wealth and labor. A contends that capital Is that part of wealth...
...It is our business both aa a matter of principle and of tactics to be sure of our facts and not to make unsupported arguments or iU-wipported arguments which look aa if they were inspired by blind opposition to everything the Soviet government does...
...For on the question of principle, as distinguished from motive, the City Affairs Committee is clearly In the wrong...
...A spade In the hands of a gardener Is "wealth use<r**ln the production of more wealth" but It is not capital nor Is the owner of the spade a capitalist...
...I hardly expect Socialist papers to be edited to fetch New England farmers, but I think with Comrade Erber that more frequent statements of the main principles of Socialism In condensed form and made catchy, If possible, would add much to their usefulness...
...There is nothing to get excited about In the manifesto of the Bureau...
...I have my opinion as to which one It Is, but I am asking you to act as the "umpire of fairness" and give your authority, non-socialist if possible, for your decision...
...Is peace even temporarily assured when we witness Japanese aggression maturing Into a puppet government...
...8. Wage workers must receive the smaller part of the production In wages...
...I know America and I know that the kind of thing Comrade Shub has done without more evidence Is hurtful to the party...
...All tbe more is t h e pity that such an opportunity should have been offered to him by tbe "semiSocialist" City Affairs Committee...
...Comrade Baron's criticism might just as well be directed against the Communist International because It has not sent a statement to Its sections all over tbe world embodying the fears expressed by him and taking it to task for the omission...
...But—why no mention of Russia...
...Shay, Okla...
...But, above all, what useful purpose would McQuade's removal serve...
...3. It must be used In order to function as capital...
...Russia has not worked out her economic problems yet and I doubt very much that she will until she recognizes some very obvious economic and psychological facts...
...In the ceremony of' burying the hatchet after the "debate" It was mutually agreed that if we oould separate capital from capitalists all would be O. K., but B. didn't think Socialists were capable of doing the Job...
...Brooklyn, N. Y. We are surprised at our correspondent's first question as to what the fanner sells for Immediately following the sentence he quotes we said: The farmer "sella the produce of the land in which his labor power Is Incorporated but this makes him no more independent than the wage worker...
...I just do not get that...
...The poverty of millions who own small patches and those who rent show that "It makes little difference" to the farmer...
...The question whether the Socialist platform waa inimical or friendly to the Constitution was generally considered irrelevant in the face of tbe ruthless attack against the very foundations of political democracy and representative government...
...Do the Socialists ignore all backs economic facts...
...I do not vote "Democrat or Republican, never did and never will...
...If aU grafting office holders mentioned in the Seabury investigation at one time or another were wholesalely ousted and replaced by another aet of old-party politicians, the city government would still remain corrupt, inefficient and irresponsive to the needs of the people so long as unholy alliance between private economic privilege and professional political graft endures...
...I repeat again that In a great many places In Russia, as In our own South, one may have an excess agricultural population without having unemployment in the sense In which unemployment is the tragedy ef tha hour in America...
...Playing With A Double-Edged Weapon City Affairs Committee Invokes an Undemocratic Power in Urging Governor to Remove Grafting Local Officials By Morris Hillquit THE City Affairs Committee through John Haynes Holmes, i t s chairman and Stephen S. Wise, Its vice-chairman, requested Governor Roosevelt to remove James A. McQuade from the office of sheriff of Kings County...
...Paris, Maine...
...Proceedings against individual officials do not even scratch the S u r face of tbe problem and are apt to create the totally misleading Impression that all would be well If we only turned a few grafters out of office...
...In Manchuria, thus providing a mainland base for further Japanese encroachments and "civilizing" expeditions...
...The "thirtythree McQuadea" became the subject of cynical political humor on a par with the "magic tin box" of "Sheriff Farley of New York County, who was removed from office by the Governor...
...Under a law passed in 1917 any public official may furthermore be removed from office for ' t h e utterance of any treasonable or seditious words" or the doing of any "treasonable or seditious act...
...A Dangerous Power There are few provisions in the Constitution of tbe State of New York as reactionary In character and dangerous in potential application as those that confer on the Governor the power of summary removal of elected public officials...
...2. It must be privately or corporation owned...
...Then we may assure him that should Japan make war on Russia Socialists of the world will be ranged In support of the Soviet Union as they were during the invasions thirteen years ago.—Editor...
...Party will not bar any person from joining It...
...The Governor's power to remov...
...We did not say that it makes "no difference whether a man owns a piece of land or rents it" but used the words "a small patch of land...
...They require the application of human labor power to transform them Into values...
...We can get more members that way...
...It is unlimited x and final...
...and as the political class struggle becomes more Intense and acute there may be a bitter antagonism between the governor and the elected local Socialist officials...
...McQuade Is one of the Democratic officials of New York whom the Seabury Investigation has made famous...
...Corruption and mismanagement in the city administration are deeply rooted in the existing economic and political conditions...
...A contends that capital Is that part of wealth produced by the application of labor power to natural resources, or wealth, used In the production of more wealth...
...Kindly explain what Is rent and what is capital under Socialist economy...
...It makes little difference whether he owns a small patch of land or rents It...
...Holmes and Rabbi Wise indicates, probably more clearly than lta author desired to show, that there Is no love in bis breast for tbe aforesaid gentlemen, and that he waa glad of the opening to administer a rebuke to them at the.same time placating the somewhat ruffled feelings of the Democratic machine...
...We are glad to Inform the writer of this letter that Inability to pay dues to the Hnpiaiisi...
...A few weeks later he was triumphantly elected to tbe latter office by the enlightened and aroused citizenry of Brooklyn Governor Roosevelt denied the request of tbe City Affairs Com mittee for the removal of McQuade from office...
...B raises another point in the statement that "natural products not made fit for human use are not wealth...
...and that wealth not so used la not capital...
...The, same general principle applies to tbe McQuade case...
...The same Is true of a sewing machine In the hands of a housewife...
...I have also observed, however, that most of our comrades who are so emphatic in showing up Russia are doing extraordinarily little effective work to build Socialism In America...
...And since when has it made no difference whether a man owns a piece of land or rents It...
...What does he sell...
...Members of the party, however, are required to cut all ties with capitalist parties and candidates and reform political movements and pledge their support to Socialist Party candidates...
...Can Russia be so unimportant a factor as to be unmentioned In the L. B. I. despatch...
...Can it be that the Socialist workers of the world are unperturbed and unconcerned about the possible eventuality of war between Russian and capitalism...
...A FEW QUESTIONS By L. B. Regne In your issue of March 12 In -your leading editorial: "Capitalism — the Robbery System," I came across the following, "Now consider the working fanner...
...This we cannot do — Editor...
...Recurring "Incidents" are fraught with devastating consequences for Russia—Japan's new neighbor...
...TO COMRADE SHIJB By Norman Thomas I should not bother to make any further comment on the controversy raised by Comrade Sbub's article on unemployment in Russia were it not that he Interprets me as saying what I did not say and do not think...
...public officials is not confined to grounds of dishonesty or corruption...
...These are "basic economic facts...
...Asked to account for the enormous slse of his bank deposits he offered the Illuminating explanation that his fat deposits repreaented borrowings which he had incurred periodically for the support of his numerous needy relatives...
...The Bureau of the L. S. I. is the spokesman for the Socialist movement of the world...
...Yet one must express amazement at the patent omission of this Important and Inescapable factor in the statement involved...
...He does not sell labor power...
...Please let us organize Into non-dues paying locals of the Socialist Party...
...He did so in emphatic language and with unconcealed glee...
...That Is precisely what Comrade Shub's article looked like, and his rejoinder does not at all meet my original criticism of It...
...A few requests of this kind have been received In recent months and we shall try to work out a aeries of short statements of the fundamentals of Socialism.—Editor...
...The tone of his letter to Mr...
...Should hostilities cease in Shanghai...
...I would very much like to know...
...CANNOT PAY I) I IKS By J, O. Jones We who live here cannot pay dues...
...He might have been elected governor...
...We would say that the following are essentials In a definition of capital: 1. It must be a means of production...
...It was, of course, quite manifest to all persons of sound mind that both McQuade and Farley were typical political grafters...
...Perhaps Comrade Baron has better sources of Information In West* Virginia than either the Socialists or Bolsheviks abroad and if he has he might well inform both of their neglect...
...THE I...
...Just how much of the fruits of.Russia's collective farms are taken by tbe railroads, army and government in general...
...They are a thoughtful and serious people, who would consider anything presented in a serious and simple vay, but would be disturbed and antagonized by anything novel forced upon them in a violent mood...
...A cry of indignation against t h e political outrage went up from all liberal elements of America...
...At the time of the Seabury disclosure McQuade was Register of Kings County and candidate for the office of Sheriff...
...Perhaps, though that la a strong statement...
...Moreover, capital creates certain social relations lrf Industry between owners and users of It, telatlons of antagonism between the two classes —Editor...
...When our correspondent asks us to consider farms, railroads, the army and "government in general" In Russia he asks us to undertake to write a pamphlet...
...S. I. MANIFESTO By Murray Baron The March 12th Issue of The New Leader contains the pronunclamento of tbe Bureau of the L. 8. I. concerning Japan's braaen, Imperialistic venture in China and Manchuria...
...The ownership of large estates by an Individual or a corporation Is a different matter...
...Any limitation of this right must inevitably lead to greater abuse and dangers than those that are undoubtedly inherent ta democracy...
...I want something worth while to vote for...
...I am strong for the Socialist party but please do not inflict more pain than necessary when venturing into pure economics...
...Another Sweet still may be elected...
...While It may be fruitless to try to define capital and wealth In the abstract, separate from their owners, there ought to be a solid foundation on which to base an Idea and one of the two definitions is pretty near right...
...It la not the business of Socialists to keep still about real conditions In Russia which are of great Importance to the working class...
...New York City...
...Sweet a t the time waa said to have gubernatorial aspirations...
...I n the hypothesis assumed by us, what will there be to prevent a reactionary capitalist governor from removing Socialist officials as fast as tbey are elected ? That is practically what happened in the New York Assembly in 1920, when Speaker Thaddeus C. Sweet, summarily suspended five Socialist members on the ground that they had been elected "upon a platform that Is inimical to the best Interests of the State of New York and of the United States", a suspension that was subsequently followed by definite expulsion...
...To the wtent that It indict* Japan and the League of Nations and sets forth the demands af tha Second International "It" is a vigorous and realistic document...
...Those who are unemployed and cannot pay are provided with exempt stamps which keep them In good standing...
...Instead cf invoking the governor's constitutional power of summary removal of elected public officials, we should demand the abolition of that dangerous power and the substitution for it of the right of voters to recall their elected representatives...
...As our struggles for political power develop we may well foresee a condition In which local governments will be in the hands of Socialist elected officials, while an old-party politician, subservient to capitalist Interests, will be in the governor's chair...
...The right of the people to freely choose their own representatives includes the right to vote for incompetents and grafters and to swallow a Tammany ticket blindly...
...Is or Is not Russia a motif in this latest capitalistic crime...
...That autocratic power should never be Invoked by believers In the principles of democracy and, least of all, by Socialists...
...4. The owners must, receive profits for permitting workers to use It...
...Or Is the Bureau so far removed from the rank and file that It fails to even mention the apprehension with which a large section of the working class views the growing animosity of capitalism to the Workers' State...
...Also what Is wages and Interest...
...For the Right t o Recall The only effective method of keeping the McQuades out Of public office is by political education of tha masses on t h a lines of tbe Socialist philosophy...
...They have grown poorer yearly due, as they have been told, to the high prices charged them owing to the unions that would not let their men work for less than 310 or 912 a day, which the farmers had to pay eventually for supplies...
...I am not herewith Interested In pursuing a Left policy solely for the sake of contrariness and Indiscriminate exercise of the privilege of free criticism...
...Let us have facts but let us be sure that facts are facts and let's try to Interpret them objectively...
...B contends that all accumulated wealth capable of being used in the production of more wealth Is capital whether so used or not...
...Hastings-on-Hudson, N. Y. Both A and B are wrong and the following Illustrations show that their deflnltlona are Insufficient...
...Capital and rent are both economic categories typical of the capitalist system and aa categories tbey will not exist under a Socialist regime although they may continue in a modified form In the transition from one system to the other...
...and that natural products not made fit for human use are not wealth...
...Correct...
...I would like to hear from you through the columns of The New Leader...
...Getting our thinking straight ought to be good for all of us...
...For further information, address the National Office of the Socialist Party, 549 Randolph street, Chicago, 111, NEW ENGLAND FARMERS By Perclval J. Par lis I am in a community of New England farmers chiefly, with iv few hundred factory hands in the villages recruited mostly from those same fanners' families...
...I hare observed Comrade Shub's statement to the effect that his opinion la alio the opinion of SoSocialist leaders in Europe, etc...
Vol. 13 • April 1932 • No. 15
