THE DEVELOPMENT OF AMERICAN ECONOMIC IMPERIALISM
Barnes, Harry Elmer
The Development of American Economic Imperialism "We Have Always Been an Imperialistic Country," Says Barnes; The Corrective Influence of Socialism Considered by harry earner Barnes "\ sod* to...
...In ltU things shaped esjh...
...Man became aa imperialist aa aoon aa ha awValoped methods of transportation ta cover a sufficiently large area to build up ah empire...
...Certain ares* not looked on as important now will, be struggled for then...
...And if this is the ease, the struggle fer these areas win present novel complications...
...If we find in the future a certain kind of raw material which we must have ia industry, and the source ot the material la located in an area which haa long been occupied by a strong country, this will bring a greater challenge of law and conflict train where w* locate these areas in unoccupied areas...
...Imperialism should be used as a term descriptive of economic penetration for raw matsrlals...
...Wa cant separate them, for they ars ail Involved hi the scsssails complex of ? r- jeshtfrif...
...This is of special importance because th* geological deposits and various other phases .of the source e*,r*w material were all determined long before th* modern physical boundaries were laif out, and there Is no reason why wa shall not discover new sources of raw materials in areas already occupied by rather advanced countries...
...the sale of commoditiea...
...Mow long that will seed tor ashtsvimsat ia somsthing only to prophesy...
...Tbe bankers are Interested «*" financing the Struggle fer raw materials and they are interested in...
...Furthermore ths European Socialists ask not merety that tin League be mgde all-inclusive, but also that it be made more domoraetic...
...We .can't espume that soononMe intervention is always going to be followed bp pelitical- intervention aad control...
...smarts* as'the gsiaimaSBfi win aid them...
...Svpn ths British Tory government has recognised Russia, for example...
...Bat th* entry of our government Into the League will not make the League anj less-a League of Victors than it U at present It is seta to say that is urging the entry of all govornmenti into the League ot Nations, our European comrades arc far mora interested in the admission of Oerasany and Russia to the League than they are in tb* entrance- of the United State...
...We may Had that many of our dogmas are thoroughly discredited...
...When tt la going to benefit their cause, they are for tt...
...At tbe present time those Interested ln\he economic control Of Cuba would rather have our government keep out entirely la a political sense aacanaf ot the jealousy of th* Cuban* on political intervention...
...j Essentially, the facts seem b bl about the same la caberd u Amarias* ; Wnancial psnettotinb - everywhere.: thdugh it ta noticoabis that we vepy our rhetoric to direct fieri en to to* 1 Urnationai> court*ay„^jsra- taTa) v.n/br ' openly and frankly ahobt a wamt.***- j nomic empire bt tb* western wetbt...
...S> veiopment ot financial tavestmeat^asapi' ths securing *t raw matariala, ,; ,3 Tbo Intervention la Cuba wsdnete than any cataclysmic matter...
...attfj IsigiH.rW %. . fid to' the future of tasdera Oedi tt wtth a*P^de**it**ess or certainty...
...Our stand tor peace and the international brotherhood of man even during the war proved that...
...The so-called Progressives, particularly if the attitude of their representatives in Congress and ths Senate is an accurate gauge, are almost unanimously opposed to our entering the' League...
...because the actual nature and area *f imperialism wW as a**utwlucfl very-largely on a technological basis-of industry...
...It will only be fonnwsd when those ia control of span omit in tar eta really believe that is going to redound to their benefit...
...It has faBOi to grotost national minorities, failed to set rid df secret dlpbjsshCl...
...The League, of course, is primarily political, whereas we Socialists have always maintained that the causes of war were chiefly economic...
...about aad not to describe...
...VMa'Waa tn part da* to actual aeeee<s*tr aad part due t* the dogma that dhe frvsrses* markets war* better than .the domestic markets...
...n»w»iy, economic penetration...
...The Corrective Influence of Socialism Considered by harry earner Barnes "\ sod* to human history, la the «¦* farm of political rmpartaham it am bach to th* vary earliest day...
...What Is Imssrlallsmt The next point I want to deal wtth i»—what li Imperialism 7 Does It mean government as It once did ia ths old days, particularly in Oriental antiquity ? Imperialism meant distinctly imperial control -dftrough political agents—*o...
...Diabolism and Imperialism We find progressive merchant* borne to certain areas...
...We may ultimately emerge from a very careful study of facta with a much greater condemnation of Imperialism than Socialistic writers have offered...
...It seems very clear that the Socialist Party should not In any way favor the United States Government entering the League...
...Then with the World ]**> we developed our remarkable lnrsaP - ment in Allied Bonds, which S&K made us a very important aiainesfli European finance...
...tore of munttiehs of war far prrfsss prefit and failed to limit tb* rfrrdfddi far control ^^^^^J*^^ sbo) tbe^A^lerlrtelfy^^ lv •ally, the entry of th* Untold Stake* IPbverametit into tbe League At the present* time would shah* tt ssere dhpv seuit thdbewCr to fa^_ t»> »as*^b< I^gue^aaa^^^be Sr^tedj^ »^ aheuld have ¦ complete dissm«r- ~* ance <rf iwtpwrlaHam nim to — fallacious...
...A*d as...
...It is all right for Danish or Swedish or Belgian Socialists' to waist their governments to be in th* League...
...war is the struggle by industrially advanced nations to get control over backward lands and backward people to exploit as a field for profitable investment...
...Technology a Pastor Fifty year* ago tbe source ef raw rubber in tbe world and tbe /source of petroleum waa of almost no Significance...
...That is becauoi they have criticised the League on tb* ground that at present tt is hardly mere than a League of Victors, especially as regards tb* Council...
...of written history...
...Kenyaland, formerly German East Africa, has been treated as inn sand territory by Greet Britain...
...Now the struggle for raw rubber and for petroleum ia th* most important thing, probably, in th* struggle for raw material...
...Tint fundamental fact about America aad the league Is that the American people have declared overwhelmingly against our joining the League...
...il|*3 fng ameriasb history from the ssbask polat of develbpmeat of the fr*SBjgj| we brought the Indians oader e*utj£ and conquered this great - iiTTssST' Thia process ended In tfilt at ths vage...
...such a way that we took a prpsthsfc •tap...
...indicating dearly that the closed and not the open door was her policy ip that meads ted territory...
...And, an tbe ether hand, it produced the struggle fer markets, overitas markets...
...So the older type of political imperialism goes back as far as history...
...Many say we should not define Imperialism as such but keep it supply as » term which is descriptive of political eontroi and complete political administration...
...France would not bo pouring put . her blood and money fo retain tbe control of Syria against the manifest wishes of the inhabitants of that country...
...As to what would bo tbo fist*** ef Hnperislism under SoclsHsm, that again we ssnnot be earls in ef...
...But we I will toad ta reduce Bui aas to a sbnEJ of eeoaomle dependency- .The jsfijm clal penstratlon wOJ go en in exa*0f>| the same tsshton (Aa address bsttaff the League fng Industrial Democracy...
...It is true that the limitation ts not of much importance so long aa the race tor armaments continues on uind...
...I think on* of ths most important things to be brought out tn connection wtth tbe industrial and technological foundation ot imperialism is tbe vary signifiesnt relation ot technology to imperialistic expansion...
...But the-definite treaties resulting from the Washington Con...
...Still, if one nation sees people ot it* own nationality severely oppressed by another nation, tbe ill-will caused thereby is a fertile breeding ground tor war...
...And M wo earned to the Pacific, to ths firwaliaa Islands and the Pniliaj&p dad China...
...Further...
...Dee* it mean such today f Not necessarily...
...I think that it is necessary fo* •» *n>«at away from th* aid single track dogmas about imperialism, away from the spriori assumption and make aa actual study of facta and find out what modem imperialism Is...
...Today imperialism his come to be a matter ot eeWhomle penetration...
...But as a matter of fact, ths value of the ' League as an Instrument in removing tbe causes ef war is all...
...That is not necessarily the case...
...Thoa* control tbo foreign' policy of their respective countries and can appoint Socialists as their delegates to tbo League...
...the first fi£-r ports nt stage of development of 'mm-' esse capital...
...Is View By Alfred Baker Lewis THE last convention ef the Sociali 1st Party has decided to post - pone defining our attitude toward the League of Nations until tbe matter has been further discussed In the party press and by the party members...
...But Socialists are not afraid of unpopularity...
...way in which we roles capital, the way in which we spend tt...
...expend over Stop at th* exact moment when w* qh money to d* it and had ih contsii apolities] party that wag to a pecn^ep degree under the domination at sjsaaea...
...when It IS going to endanger their cause, they are against it, and we can't assume they are going to always demand it for they are sometimes against it...
...while bur government steadily refuses to do so...
...We may find that Imperialistic process Is mitigated by the facta But wo need the facta before wo can control tb* situation...
...This produced s far greater demand fer raw materials aa« also created a far greater volume Of finished products...
...It is even more important ia many ways than over-capitalism Itstlf...
...This brings us to the foundations of modern economic imperialism...
...even though it was unpopular...
...But it is said that oar Bwopeas comrades favor the League and wan) us to urge our government to ceaw to...
...But I fin not believe there wffl be any great transformation ta ImpsrhtBass until economic SCPasO) i* reorganised...
...Bt many instances there is a* political intervention whatever...
...The menu feature of, munitions Of war tor private profit Is an evil so obviously ^tending to produce war that no one can deny It Even the League of Nations Covenant "expressly admtta that It is an evlt Tat taw League of Nations haa done nothing whatever to limit the ¦eanufaettwe eft assnVtaans of ternationa] rivalry sad ill-will that lead to...
...they are followed by appeals 49 vartoue foreign offices aad that is followed by military Intervention and political administration...
...Economic Imperialism is something much more-recent It is only m modern times that we have accumulated enough capital and a high degree of economic penetration and control...
...It ia ooatiagswt, upon tan reorganisation of economic society...
...be faced for a long time with this'- problem of the contact of lower and higher cultures, of th* superior and Inferior economist...
...Then We have hers an influence not entirely ef&nomle, but a good deal of pol lticai Urtetventlon- Eeonomio pressure was exerted in different degrees At different time...
...We naturally turned first to Labs America, rhetorically for tbo purpose of advancing tbe cause of justice est practically very largely tor the pjwpose of territorial oxpsnsion and.aat* / mately with tbe growing eeonomic...
...fer marksts and fer financial investment...
...Thsss facts establish at the outset a strong presumption agtnst our favoring the entry of the United States into the League ot Nations...
...00 that it nay bee em* an instrument of progress and working-oiass emancipation instead bt an instrument ef reaction, which they adailf it Is la gray* dangsr of becomlBg...
...If the League had been an effective and vigorous Instrument for peace, it might have enforced a policy ot the open door in all mandated territory for investors of every nationality...
...t think what we seed to do is to sets* the emotional aasuarption of diabolism tn connectio* wtth bewjirlsllsm aad find out what are th* realities that bring it shoot, how these can be mitigated...
...If her ruling class did not intend to keep control of the country aa .an Investment prsparva *( their own...
...So the whole thing haa become so intertwined that it is a great economic complex and It is only for ped*goanbagl ¦ ¦vassil that w* ¦ i'laiisfial ^^^**^^ya|swswp umi wm wj»vv wavewwg thin sad banking tn fbia tanptry...
...Now, there cannot be thee-elightert doubt that th* entry ot the* Uhltefi States into the League will strengthen ths forces o( reaction and imperial lam in the League,' gad weaken correspondingly the forces making for progress and working-class emanylpation...
...he subject to the supervision of the League of Nations...
...So, if the League of Nations were-clearly -and unquestionably a good thing from the point ot view of international brotherhood, we Socialists should favor - It...
...failed to sash* the slightest move to and tb* anesufbfr...
...So that the ordinary ssaump:-: Socialists and the League of Nations :-: Entry of United States Would Aid Forces of Imperialism...
...the British Communist The influence In the League of such * reactionary government as burs would, therefore, certainly be tbe reverse Of good from the point ot view of International Socialism...
...Thia waa followed by Roman Imperialism...
...Consequently, anything that would tend to est up a barrier between us and them should be avoided, if it is in any way consistent with our principles...
...bp soawasno* warn ahsa ws nave to riBaauash th* old notion that eur see* who are bstssstod hi commerce, ana} iadsstrr'ead finance, are able to get eanwruy what they want from ths gov-' fer tt There U no d*ust they snort pressure ew<*0 government sad have no, aaaaasands abaut going and asking lbs sntaiaaieat as...
...6f course, the League did nothing of the kind...
...Tbe valuable fertiliser deposits ot the Island of Nauru were cooly divided between Australia and New Zealand, which had received the mandate...
...It would bo « problem for ¦•©eialtam to work out£ Now, finally, In conclusion of w)gj| I have to say in regard to ths fJateat States, its entry Into imperialism...
...But this prevision has remained a dead latter...
...This Is to be found primarily in tbe Industrial revolution which was built upon the oomm* ef machine technology and the factory system...
...Wtth tbe r*vel&, tton of the important petrohnus sssir . plies hi Persia we have entsrad tkeii and there i* apparently no Umb sb tb* nature, degree and extent at - American investment abroad...
...Capital Aeeumulatss Tbe* aocosspe spins thia development ef industry there earns th* accumulates* ot capital, aad this looked for fayrsatpnant overseas, pat merely in the bend* of our backward states, bet also in the securing of raw matsrlals and the selling of products and things of .that tips .., la order to secure these economic desires, varioug types ot economic penetration and economic control have been ^developed, the most extreme term being colonies, which involved not merely .economic penetration, but definite political government...
...And from Cub* we PAcanjJK bjrto other phases of tavestsaeat agjSS control ot Latin-America...
...Be that the whole future at the struggle tor raw materials and investments Is very mueh linked up with the progress of technology, which we capnot in any large degree foresee...
...We •hotrtaf iia^ga rather speady mitigation of im...
...Perhaps fifty years from now in-tbe development of technology some new materials will have taken th* place Of oil and rubber or superseded them in primary significance...
...It is true that the European Bo. clalista have urged that tbo League be made all-inclusive...
...But what w* need to do la to find the actual tacts about modern Imperial lam...
...secret diplomacy...
...While these Progressiva* ars muddy and uncertain in their thinking from our potat*f view, tt ts only reasonable 1 to' guppca* that we ars likely to gain more adherents from their ranks than from the ranks of the die-hard reactionaries...
...All tt haa dona Is to call a commission to consider calling a Disarmament Conference...
...under the sea and in th* air...
...Economic penetration, when followed by or accompanied by economic government introduces another element...
...dp aa Btueb to Omit armament ia waa d*S* without its ass...
...sometimes tt wttj mot...
...ferenc* have proved that the League is not necessary to fllsomaatent and is not even a help toward disarmament So far aa secret diplomacy is concerned, the back stairs bargains, which resulted in the failure to admit Oarmany to the League of Nations Council, have proved eeaeiu*tvety that the League ha* dona nothing to got rid of...
...followed the_naturej trend outsits at this country, - thoufh aomswhat a. bsaep ffjwv ejyu|^asjqlul *•*• obat cfnuh wrfl new sreaa and tbe eoWtigx^oa ds>a3| atwtocr ot totaaje^sihajs...
...It is oven all right for Oorman, French or British Socialists to favor their respective govern menu balsa to, tbo League, aa they may reasonably hope to control or very graaftly Influence their respective governments is the not far distant future, *&t for the vary reeaea that wa want to see the Influence -ef Socialism witbia the League increase, Asa*rtoaa Socialists should want to see the sajvepsssaaf stay but ef the League, rather than apt ••ta it " Our European comrade* cannot Bare it both ways, Tb*y cannot both septet to Save the United States government 1* tbo League, and at tab same tlsw .sop* ta prevent be League from becoming more reactionary aad imperialistic than it ts at present To sunt up: The steady bpposltibu to the League by the vnpt bulk of the** nearest to ia} #0UUcsJlyt establishes * presumption against tb* SoPlaHst Party favoring the entrance of the United Statac mto'tbe LeagU...
...tt would dspend upon the control of society, th* typo of Seeialiewi, the netuVe ef industry and manufacturing under the now or...
...That doesn't mean ws are coming out tn the end by approving it...
...German South West Africa haa been treated as annexed territory by the Union of South African Republics, which received the mandate...
...tuat empire...
...The Austrian minority In Southern Tyro] baa been flagrantly oppressed by ths Mussolini gang, yet the League haa dene nothing about it...
...f*U4d to...
...When the loot ot the last great' war was divided among the victors it was providsd that the vlctorp got this toot not as colonies to be annexed outright but as mandates, and the administration of the mandates was to...
...own state...
...This produced then ta turn ths struggle for raw materials, minerals, textiles, oa aad rubber and any number of things which ere hicossary la modern industry...
...parialism, but that we would have an elimination of It at ones - highly dubious...
...Further ws must tend to relinquish the subject of diabolism in connection With imperialism...
...Since the formation of the League, however, a conference on disarmament has been held, with which the League had nothing to do—the 'Washington Conference...
...yet the...
...80 if we are going to mitigate tbe imperial la tic situation tt has to be approached indirectly by changing the nature of the economic social organisation of human society...
...The Poles have been charged with oppressing the various non-Polish nationalities within their borders—Lithuanians, GaUctans, Germans, etc...
...Tbe Egyptians built up aa empire as soon as they sat something to Wiley up...
...In a series of treaties which ended the race for armaments so ftr a* capital ships— dreadaaugbta gad .super-dreadaaughts —jeere concerned...
...time we ware going through ta* jfiB bnportAnt stages ef indnstrial 111A * tton la this ceuhtry...
...On the other hand, if we do that, we shell leave out perhaps ths most important thing tn economic conflict...
...Scarcely any other government of the world, with tbe exception ot Hungary or Italy under their dictatorship*, would have refused to admit Karelyi as a dangerous red teal, 00 would ngve barred out Saketvaia...
...So it is dear thst ths Leo*i{* has failed to tab* even tb* first stop toward ending tfco struggle asanas industrially advanced countries for investment preserves in backward lands...
...The oil of Mesopotamia and Mosul haa boon awarded exclusively to a company in which Great Britain has the) controlling Interest Wb*n th* Standard Oil Company sent geologists to prospect tor oil to PsSeeane In isis, great Britain denied them permission to do so...
...Our country ts one of the.moat reactionary of them all tn its foreign relations, with the exception of Italy under Mussolini...
...Do we bar* t* consider tb* economic realities t Many mi these may be diaboUeai tn their aotlvity...
...Ths Conflict of Cglturee Further, wd ars likely tb...
...because we are faced with isltttab j weak and interior culture On tof : other band, wo say very Httl* ssbsp an economic empire In Europe 1% - cause it would not be IntsmitlssgjM courtesy to talk about ssasring BaH rope in an eeonomic seas...
...long aa the world Is organised aa it Is at present we will continue to have this matter of economic penetration and in many cases the matter of political intervention and control...
...In many eases tbe bankers do not want political Intervention, so what we need to do is to make an actual study of imperialism...
...tjabf ^^fmWttt^^m^LW^t^ltt^ttmtft vanfc* tasftast who fir* tanking far war**** .«,¦, seas, those who are looking fer rei vestment...
...Wa&p aided Cuba and thought about k veption for nearly a century bobagi If It...
...A few years ago it was eaay for our government to intervene, that Is the msa la control ef Industry and finance were highly flexible la their attitude toward 'political penetration...
...eer, the...
...There tbe security ot raw mJ^SSS^f^emi foreign areaav- W* Save a cantata amount of tovesxsxsnt capital ***** will seek sgpsbsisn **t ef eur...
...So we oasae to the tap* when we seeded to...
...gv .t*ng fav^at'awo- ?**>awnta" ^^*otttt*_ > * *C...
...League has done nothing about it On the question ot disarmament the League has accomplished exactly nothing...
...Wo have to lawk for many subtle and indirect Pfiothodc of pressure on government state and war departments to send Further./with the growing evolution of modern economic lite, it haa become Impassible to separate Imperialism into a struggle for raw materials, a struggle top nssrhpta and * struggle tar areas'of iavs**ment end finance overseas, boeauss all Of these thing* 6usuti tasertwiaod...
...The Persians added to the earlier methods of transportation, increased the loads they were able to carry and built up the greatest empire in western Asian antiquity...
...Therefore, the presumption -established by the overwhelming opposition to the League among the America* people, aad especially those nearest to us politically, still stands...
...That conference resulted...
...Tb overcoats that pMSisbtHtat tb* Lpagu* pas done nothing for the emus*, of inlernatioaai peace...
...The League has a pious pro-vigion to ths effect that national minorities should be given their rights...
...tntssesas t* aid them when a Miliary- But the process is by no means a* direct as we have ordinarily assumed...
Vol. 3 • July 1926 • No. 29
