CAPITALISM'S SOVIET
Capitalism's Soviet rf 1915 there appeared a email book of 160 paces, entitled "Your Congress," which has escaped the genera. 1 recognition which it deserves. Of all the works that have been-...
...Tbe work rounds oat our view of a vanished age,'a society that appears to moderns ancient and yet one' that is still within the memory of men still living...
...Professor Bassett is interested in presenting the problems of the plantation overseer In the* closing decade of the slave system and has chosen most ot the letters from correspondence that passed between James Knox Polk and his overseers before he became President and after...
...Mr...
...There are many other flowers like him in the Senate, but be towers above all others from his position ot Finance Minister...
...The two leading parties have legislated themselves into special legal positions in aS tbs States A party Is a private organisation of citizens...
...Many overseers were left for months and even years to their own resources by absentee owners...
...J The modern machine farmer of Can-' ada...
...Allegiance must be given to humanity as a continuing whole," Mr...
...He sheds fragrance all about him...
...5l Thus it is apparent that while -SK grower of wheat with antiquated nam ohtnery is starved off tbe term, 9)jgi grower who can (and does) use mod* ern machinery becomes wealthy...
...If two influential literary societies or benevolent associations wars to surround themselves with a mans of protective legislation which at tbs same time penalised all other organisations of this type, our "progressives" would be up In arms...
...Mellon isn't ths power behind the throne...
...overseer and tbe niche he occupied in this society...
...Salting" the Slave - Despite his handicap of illiteracy, ths...
...It is also a striking -coincidence that this work, like the...
...Symmes became ths resident-agent and waa also appointed one of the judges of the Northwest Territory m in 1788...
...la It possible to forssss tbe nature of this nsw common brain pattern in a happier future...
...The acceptation of these labels, Mr...
...Irritated by his irksome tasks and long hours, fearing bad Weather and...
...Northampton, Mass...
...aad he goes aa to say...
...The reader need not expect, however, to find this conception amplified or expanded br indeed treated at all In the book...
...Tbs antiquated machine farmer sad a* more compete with tbe modern ms>* chine farmer than can* tbe stage eoadaj and freight wagon with modem tranSf...
...This panegyric is no farther fetched than other idealizations with which we are familiar, and there would seem to be a certain truth In the assertion that in the quality of "persuasive humanness we find tbo essence of Chinese civilization...
...The hook Is opened .with an introduction by Van Loon in his usual smart, if uninspiring, vein...
...But here Is tbs astonishing spectacle of two powerful parties entrenching themselves behind a barrier of law and making it almost impossible for citizens In many states to present independent party nomination to the voters, and tbs usurpation Is ignored...
...permitting citizens of all parties to participate in any primary...
...It may be of advantage to you and myself to .have tbe necessary information on that subject...
...Consider this sweets mor> ssl from a letter...
...Bo U It Those who 'dome to recognise the fact can leave corrupt parties...
...that it would not answer to sell your lands for specie upon a credit, but that if you sell for specie you ought to insist upon the Cash being'paid at the time of contract, in order to its being immeditely Invested In Certificates...
...But love and I'had tbe Wit to win...
...The Department ot Agriculture Informs us- that during 1926 600,000 people migrated from tbe farms to the cities, and that tbe great majority of these were young nssn aad women from the farms of the Middle and Far West - • The reason, is* that the farm no longer affords them a decant living...
...Bv Arthur W. Calhoun IF one" does not know in advance what civilization is, he will not know after he reads the latest essay on the subject (What Is Civilization...
...Bennett finds ths cause in the character—and one may add the limitation, particularly—of mens brain patterns, from primitive tribal times down to and Including our own highly complicated modern life...
...On the whole, the book.is a fraud...
...Nsw OrleaL" K»w Tent s tbxwSSBb «KU br Sard kaolin...
...and that only by changing the brain pattern can the man...
...In use ta Ureasestion* of Canada, and with, is n a sent to harvest the crop to oorreapaafj sssdlag tbe crop in a single opasaabe...
...lies in its .initial strife which began all culture...
...Safl his Bte touches mrxor&bly the* of afi man est earth with htavjjfl •vary detail of his present lad iatsoca (comes from) tbs acoaami adintka of all man, of sSLji sjvsrj shore-" . sfiannfi "Does aaan ever betray jQj autre...
...To get such a Congress, he suggests certain legislation, to prevent "boss" nominations in conventions and primaries...
...from...
...The most that can be said is that one may while away time not unpleasantly by reading it and that a few ssrapg -:Pioneering for Plunder -:Another Chapter in the Story of the West By James Oneal MUCH has been written by Amer...
...are charting tha details of tbs alanmi inevitable next war, these —¦ miasm...
...If there is anything in the line of "business, trade or commerce" that he is not interested in, it is because of an oversight on his part...
...or more acres ta which he wds Interested and which Symmes, as agent and judge, watched over with Jealous care...
...It raises hopes and then scatters them...
...His account Is a good, sober, realistic one, in marked contrast to the marked coloration ot most of the articles...
...with the antiquated machinery tSMsV (necessarily so) by moot United BtaSBJ wheat- farmers...
...They will leave these parties an the' sooner If It is just as easy for them to function in other political organisations...
...Nothing like this party usurpation ex* iats in any other country, and so long aa political dissenters confine themselves to merely trying to popularise these state-protected political oligarchies we are Inclined to think that dead sea fruit will be their reward...
...What stands out in the second book is the overshadowing influence of the Secretary of the Treasury, Andrew W. Mellon...
...Other phases of the venture, including the hardships of the settlers on the lands, the menace of the Indians, difficulties of ! transport ' obtaining food and materials as welt as carpenters and tools needed in building, are all set forth In the correspondence, but its chief interest for- us -is tbe Insight it gives into the relation between politics and land-speculation...
...The Intimate connection between land speculation and the judiciary recalls the tatter era when railroad corporations advanced their lawyers to places on the bench and by their decisions wove ar legal web of protection about the noble forms of the railroad gamblers...
...Hamilton, tha Secretary of the Treasury, on the subject of the public debt eV of public credit...
...The exodus from the farm to tbw city will, therefore, continue, end*"* 46 as futile as It is ridiculous to rales tarn cry of "back to the land...
...Wa think that tbe object is Utopian...
...What excuse the publishers can have had for adding Elizabeth Robins PenneU's chapter On "America's Democracy of Bad Manners" is hard to conceive...
...profiting by our basest infillsllsBaJh*"" stlnats and passions aad nrseaashjjj any effective appeal to tbal:«aMtjt which makes us men...
...The record simply indicates that in this country wo are still in the Infant stage of political Intelligence, or the masses would not stand for this sort of thing...
...has had on the Industrial wwaaie be the subject of a future artless...
...Due to the- influence of their teaching, for more than two thousand years neither priest, nor noble, nor feudal system has played any part in Chinese history...
...Extortionate filing fees, requirement of a large number of signatures to nominate candidates, requiring a certain percentage of signatures in ail election districts of a ward, or city, or In all counties of a state...
...AU these matters Became the subject of interesting correspondence between Dayton - and Symmes' which is now placed before the reader...
...his outlook and-his actions, bo changed "Inexorably," the writer goes on, "there evolved the label maker...
...Ralph Adams Cram gives a new rendition, of the familiar Idealization of the Middle' Ages, with their alleged sense of balance in life and proportion., in values.' Paul Shorey provides an in toxica ted rhapsody on the Age of Pericles, the- fallacy of which is disclosed ha his talk about "intrinsic and timeless excellence...
...producing at a labor cost etTaf...
...overseer, managed to muddle through but rarely to tbe satisfaction of the owner...
...the vigorous and persistent attempts to engender sectionalisms and prejudices In this country, as' was mm hi Increase tbjasp.jBsnt already obtain, "The present asset a., be says, "bag seen the paanhojmt many label makers and tom-tom bssjara...
...What Is Civilization...
...DuBois paints a poem rather than offering rigorous science, but there is some significance in his conclusion that "the essence of African culture...
...Washington: The Searchlight Publishing Company...
...The modern machine wheat farmer, will continue to starve out tbe faruiea who (for any reason) uses anllqaatadf methods of production...
...Dr...
...This new brain pattern should force tbe individual to recognise himself as a mobile, intelligent cell In the evolving organism Of himto tttderstand that ever...
...Near-inevitabilities, seam' can be avoided if prompt srMsa 3$ taken when there is yet time...
...requiring that each voted shall atteat his signature before a notary public...
...The total effect is that of a rather random jumble, as might be expected of a work thrown together from magazine" articles planned more with a view to Impressing the emotions of thelr**readers than with reference to any balanced answer to the large question...
...The Real Task Ahead The big Job of thinking men and women today Is not to attempt to "liberalize" 'the machinery of ths old parties, but to break down the laws Which have made them privileged political corporation* .and which have made It almost impossible for any other parties to function In elections...
...Bennett continues, "for so long as that allegiance is given to any smaller group war and human disharmonies must continue...
...which presents another phase of the land history of the republic and alao through letters exchanged between certain parties...
...Is it possible," ha asks, "for map forever to remove afl marks of dSXereaUatloa and corns into- full unlabeled manhood...
...survey as a whole either orderly or Inclusive...
...The book is an interesting literary pot peurri, bnt only one or two of tbe authors participating In the symposium make any effort at scientific analysis...
...This second group is recalled by a recent book (The Correspondence of John Cloves Symmes, Founder of the Miami Purchase...
...It coots the Canadian farmer (of this type) but 30 cents to "grow a bushel of whejat.'"•>' - » » "in • othx^lt^b^lmr-^dmtm' m> chine farmer can grow four bushels ot wheat with the same labor that It takes, tbs United States wheat fanner ts grow one bushel...
...He is tbs throne...
...Lacking the refining Influence of culture...
...Thb reason is obvious to the student of economic development Due to the broken and rolling topography in most of the wheat-growing sections of the United States, ft ft^bjet" possible to use the modern auaasBlrV which can be used on the gTOB^aMBvptaina and plateaus of the Doinsni£*cf> Canada...
...To a people whose ship ot stab* M still feeling tha swell of fine great waft while its crew Is already dtsanaskej) ths possibilities, and its oomsasadka...
...Daytoa to of its probability by letter...
...One thing that impresses the reader is the large and important interests left in the bands of overseers who were almost illiterate and who were paid a salary that Was ridiculous considering the responsibility which such positions carried...
...Congress''Early Quardian - Back In Philadelphia, Jonathan Dayton, a man of parts and powerful in politics, took care of Congress...
...The best chapter of the book is H. J. Spinden's on "Ancient America," in which he sets forth the contribution of the aborigines to world civilisation through the domestication or utilisation of plants, such, as corn, cotton, rubber, quinine...
...Tbs master and servant relationsnip, tbs relatienebip of the Industrial exploiter and the wage Slavs, and (in the still wider field) that of tbs empire and ths vassal stats, bars 'bad their Inspiration and genesis in this realm of profit And what a train of -unrequited toil' and human misery— Injustice, oppression, -murder and war —have resulted from this manifestation of insatiable greed run riot throughout tbe whole fabric of human life...
...Since my last letter their rise has been great eV rapid, in so muchthst they were sold at 9/0 on the pound for...
...Today, be tells us/ tbs world of men is dominated and controlled by this limiting, circumscribing...
...Tbs Plantatisn Overseer w '**,y*P*^--l^^l^^^^^^ ^t^' ^^^^^^^^ -*^*^-jk ^&*r^&kt^Bw!X^mmm*?^* :^^mm>^mn7m^^^^mT^S&mtJj-^JE sett...
...cents per bushel, paid a duty of Sjd cents per bushel for entry Into tbjb United States, making a total of ft cents per bushel, leaving him a am profit of t cents per bushel, sr -Si cents profit on four'bushels, as agtwBt, tbe 46 cents par bushel loss ajLBm...
...We hardly think that the Daughters of...
...It would at least Include within any periphery ft bad, every tattijigeat every human thing that has been, as, or wiU be on earth...
...United States farmer...
...or of testa1 par bushel less than It costs ts prodass ft...
...hundred human beings fell into his hands...
...The Label Makers Some Warnings Concerning The Approaching War By Blanche Watson srv"" aoscrto* the* the feeling ac IdBship ¦lining snap can be very easily pro Stable to someone ts> disrupt it wherein, *t seems, ha haa sat forth a profound, albeit a Utile smderaHod, truth...
...Bennett may well be saamt and heeded...
...preceding one we have noticed, carries some evidence of the relation between politics snd' band speculation and, curiously enough, involving Polk when he was Speaker of the House...
...A Progressive Fallacy On t^he other hand, it is an amazing fact that the "progressives" who seek to popularize the machinery of political parties overlook a fundamental aspect of their history...
...waa 79 cents per bushels...
...lean historians on the epic period qf American history when adventurous men and their families penetrated the wilderness and served as an advance guard of civilization...
...They thump, thump, thump—breeding hysteria, passion, war...
...There are a few more distinctive contributions, such as W. E. B. Du Bols' essay' on "The Answer in Africa...
...As lens as any totem, any dogma survives, these bsxharoas types must also survive...
...porta tion methods...
...Jonathan Dayton, the correspondent of Symmes, waa also Speaker at one period during ths correspondence with tbs Miami land agent...
...the principal only...
...poor crops, largely isolated from his fellows, looking -after the sick, following fugitives, marketing the crops, settling quarrels and whipping the rebellious, it need not be surprising that the overseer often became calloused, sour and brutal...
...I am not Interested In Republican or Democratic conventions or primaries...
...Mellon, one of tbs wealthiest of our magnates, is no tender bud...
...they have since fallen again ts 7/6, but it is expected that they will soon get-up to 8/tO or 8s...
...He) develops with the evolving ot society...
...Today they cannot so function because the two leading parties have legislated themselves Into special positions of advantage in the state laws and have made lesser political groups almost outcasts...
...Maurice Maeterlinck renews our impressions of ancient Egypt as a land In which death was more esteemed than life...
...covering harrows...
...as soon as thsir spprsciation oommenced, I took care to write again and give you notice of the fact, in order that you might take immediate measures to vest in certificates ths specie you hsd received for lands, and to raise their pries, if you continued your sales in specie...
...It seems to him "that the highest civilization is that form of society which allows the greatest number of people to show the greatest amount of consideration for the physical happiness and spiritual comfort of the largest number of their neighbors...
...11.00), which offers a good picture of the mechanism and personnel of the upper chamber of the great American Diet...
...He flowered long before he was called to take care of the finances of the executive committee of his class...
...Dhan Gopal Mukerji reminds us that India contributes spirituality, incluslveness, repose—values now being undermined even in India by the drift of mechanism and pride In material science...
...Send both of them to Congress by . any sort of "non-partisan" scheme that may be devised, and the differing viewpoints would be expressed in that body just the same...
...Bennett sees, mors clearly than most of us...
...Having little education aad knowing nothing of human psychology, it la certalntathat this managing aspect of the softthern plantation, contributed much to the generaf* economic backwardness ot the South although slavery itself was archaic and under more intelligent managers the system would not have been as productive aa private capitalism served by wags laborers...
...Naturally, everything else follows— tbe Mellon tax ^legislation, the tariff to nurse sick "ififants," the Newberry Mellon Stands Out As Ruler Of the Financial Diet episode, the petroleum jobs, the Denny odor, "Sugar Charley" Warren and ths Senate machine at work...
...A program, that promises something worth while must first start with a recognition of the economic organization of society, instead of ignoring it...
...After nearly fifty years of exploring-the economic phase of history by students all over the world, it appears to us absurd to think that a "non-partisan" legislative body can be1 obtained In this or any other, country...
...Polk received a letter from his relative in which tbe latter observed that "There are a syeat many persons among tbe Indians buying their reserves" and floats...
...Always the same method is followed, the writer adds, "whether It be the stirring of tbe tribe to the war dance by the beating of the actual tom-toms or the stirring of a hemisphere to passion, by stressing of minor racial differences or religious beliefs...
...These pioneers deserve the credit which has been awarded then), but the epic itself has too often served as a screen to conceal another class of adventurers most of whom were not quite as heroic...
...he asks, "than when jE salts himself...
...Tbs "progressives" accept the usurpation and confine their efforts to-an attempt to 'liberalise" It...
...Ths author of that book, Lynn Haines, has added another small volume (Your Servants in the Senate...
...Mellon holds his .job...
...Coolidge keeping cool with Mellon...
...add tbe rise sf, many new label makers and tom-toss beaters...
...With the methods of padxsw'* tion applicable to the soil of tad aaA' jority of wheat farmers, it cost BJCBal" 91 .36 to grow a bushel of wheat' Briar the gang plows cutting from sit by sixteen furrows, drawn by great xfa9>| tor engines, followed, by the dbjca Bs>> smoothing harrows, tbs seeder sad Bar...
...Those who are members of those parties are...
...The certificates bad become, almost worthless, but when It became known that Hamilton proposed to redeem them at par they were purchased at the price of old rags...
...Mellon stands In the background, but the brand of big finance Is impressed upon tbe whole scene...
...You - ought not now, considering the present pricwof the pubfie debt to think of asking lees thsn 3/8 per - sere in Cash, A, If you give a term of credit not much, if any, lees than d/O...
...Chi-Fung Liu idealizes Chinese culture, yet .there is a certain force in his contention that the Chinese philosophers created "democracy, cosmopolitanism, pacifism, a fair distribution of wealth, and, above all, freedom...
...and that meant tbe presence outside the circle ot other men who were "different"—Individuals who were, at the best strangers snd at the worst enemies to be hated and destroyed...
...Now which of the persons will get the land...
...Excerpts from these letters are presented under topical chapters and linked together by the author lit a narrative of explanation and Interpretation which reconstructs In large part the economics of fwe plantation...
...One instinctively revolts at the cruelty Involved in ths practice of "salting" the stubborn slave, a process of cutting the bare baok into bleeding welts with a whip and washing tbs back dowri with strong brine...
...Bennett declares, is possible only because of the brain pattern—the periphery of which Is kept from expansion on every hand, by totem and tabu, creeds and dogmas, customs and conventions...
...from Mr...
...Beverly W. Bond, Jr., New York: Macmillan, $2.50) of documents consisting chiefly of correspondence that passed between John Cleves Symmes and Jonathan Dayton in relation to a notable piece of land, speculation in the West following the Revolution...
...Let them as private citizens regulate their parties aa the* sss fit-without these regulations becoming state', law...
...Much of the substance of the book is what one might expect in advance...
...That "pattern" he seas ess a circle of which a man, a group, br a congeries of groups waa the center...
...and finally in its art...
...Bennett) is largely the tragic record of the doings of the label-makers and the tom-tom beaters, "from the earnest chief and medicine man in the earnest tribe to the latest nationalistic philosopher, jingo journalist or- dogmatic sectarian of the year 1923...
...in its development of the village unit in religion, Industry and government...
...Mellon Is one -of those "beauty roses" which John D., Jr- told us some year's ago is an alluring product of tbe capitalistic garden...
...Mr...
...Edited by...
...The publishers evidently lugged in Van Loon for advertising effect rather than by way of rounding out or underpinning the volume...
...Of all the works that have been- writton on politic* and government in this country, this little book presented the best close-up view of the Congressional machine at work that has been-written...
...nor any hopeful outlook for the future...
...over tbe ground and harvesting eat sacking the wheat by another 'shaft* operation...
...Rufus Putnam, one of the most influential men in another land company, was also appointed a Judge for this region two years later, so that two leading land speculators were appointed to positions where they exercised final Jurisdiction- in land cases that came before them...
...The slightest difference of place, color, belief or custom serves the label maker...
...It may be said that tha parties, left to themselves, will become corrupt...
...Polk's brother-in-law desired Inside information from tbs former regarding certain lands belonging to the Indians...
...ths Revolution will give much publicity to these lettars by some conspicuous "fathers...
...To some extent Ramsay Traquair's chapter .'on "Women and Modern Civilisation"' can also be regarded as a contribution...
...Mellon the Ruler Back In the days of Washington, Hamilton and Jefferson, the First Congress passed a law which prohibited any person "concerned or Interested In carrying on the business of trade or commerce" 'from serving at the head of the Treasury Department That act has never been repealed...
...It is the only society which is truly democratic...
...affidavits, red tape, complicated rules, regulations and expensive routine, have In this country produced two party corporations who say to all other prospective political organisations: "We will permit you -to nominate oandidatea providing that you will surmount all the harriers that ws place in your way by law...
...It waa tested in 1847 and in 1869, and buttressed by a decision of the Supreme Court In 1893—but Mr...
...Edwin Markhaan has voiced, poetically, thhj same thought in the ofj quoted quartrara: "He drew a circle that shut me put, Heretic, rebel, a thing to Bout...
...Neither is"the...
...I don't care' about tbe information until yen return...
...Haines suggests a program to deal with tbe situation, his idea being to obtain a "non-partisan" Congress qf "statesmen" rather than "politicians...
...Judicial decisions and congressional influence...
...What the "outcome of this suggestion eras ws do" not know but at least two ot PoIk'S friends obtained a contract for carrying the malls through tbe effort of Polk and it is probable that the speculation in Indian lands may have matured for tats relative...
...And why all this...
...The hardest hit among ths burners are the wheat growers...
...to be J(B SS part of something ssnaU ra4bstj) as a conscious part of aQ jhajSjj vsraeT* • .5*rjH "Label makers, tom-tom seaAosn^l existing brain patterns: - in MB) . "Do not tbs first dlvlds apy-fl ant the second drum oa to tbs jE struction of our fellows and SBsgdspjE Do sot the third permit oa ta BfeSnjfi| the Ignoble puppets of eantoSjsa...
...The treatment is stimulating if somewhat superficial...
...it is the only one in which the administrative power haa never been entrusted to rank, birth or favor, but always to merit alone by a system of purely literary examination...
...We drew a circle that took him in...
...Inelastic pattern...
...Mellon and President Green of the A. F. of L., for example, do not disagree on practically all legislation because one Is more enlightened, or stupid, or good, or bad, than tbe other, but because each speaks for fundamentally differing economic classes...
...New York, Duffleld ds Co., 1926...
...It Isn't a case of keeping cool with Coolidge, but of...
...The fol lowing extract from a letter seve nonths later is delicious: . "You will be astonished when I tell you that Certificates have risen to 12/9 en the pound, eY you will now.believe (I fear too much to your less) what I have been re-, seating in my letters from time to time, vis...
...Hs moat be up la the morning before obey every aspect of managing an estate with fifty or several...
...g Neither of the- proposals for M relief now before Congress wfil aabfj tbe problem of the wheat arewtSj^ Nationalization, as propo'ssd by* -Mfiy* Socialist Party, Is the only "•^J'Jf What effect the migration af 'sr minion farmers to tbe cltlmrlleri "•JV...
...He alleges that men star In abstract pursuits and women in social relations, and thafour civilization, because of its being dominated through ¦ tbe schools by women scorns the* philosophical and worships the popular and "practical...
...Moreover, he worked longer hour* than tbe slaves did...
...One Indian wiU sell his reserve perhaps to S or 10 persons...
...I "Whatever the geometrical, structure of this nsw pattern (be answers) it would at least be elastic expanding...
...He does, however achieve a certain distinction In his .definition...
...The average of overseers,, as the author points eut, "rarely had the learning acquired by their descendants in the second grade of the modern southern schools," yet "to them were entrusted the care of property worth from'360,080 to, % 100.900...
...Becoming Speaker, he obtained a command'ing influence in legislation that was essential to <tbe mUiion...
...Anyone could easily imagine enough on that subject...
...To ignore, this phase of the development of party legislation hi to completely miss a fundamental issue...
...Brother Jonathan frequently return to this interesting subject...
...There have'been numerous studies of -the economic "and social life of the old slave regime but wo do not recall anything that has been written that Is so informing about the...
...Much will dopend upon the decisions of Congress upon ths rsport of Coto...
...Meantime, the certificates of the revolutionary debt also played an Important part in that interesting coalition of land, politics...
...The Farmers Move By Emil Herman SENATOR WALSH of Montana is authority for the statement that during the years 1923 and 1934, 1,000 banks wsnt into bankrutpcy west of the Mississippi River, and of these failures, 400 were ip the State of Montana...
...An Introductory chapter on "The Overseer and His Work" and the two last chapters, "The Planter and His Commission Merchant" and "The Lesson .of the Letters," complete one of the most informative books on the social order served by slave labor which has been written...
...fIn 1323 tbs average pries paid fbfe producer of whsa^b) the Halted Steam...
...It Ignores the fundamental economic groups and' classes in society...
...History (says Mr...
...Then came the tom-tom beaters...
Vol. 3 • June 1926 • No. 24
