The Iron Heel

the dinner of the Machine Breakers. In point of fact, it was merely a dinner for business men-small business men, of course. I doubt if one of them was intere

e both partners of the big drug firm of Kowalt & Washburn, and Mr. Asmunsen, the owner of a large granite quarry in Contra Costa County. An

oppression originated in the trusts, and one and all told the same tale of woe. They advocated government ownership of such trusts as the railroads and telegraphs, and excessive income taxes, gra

his quarry, and this, in spite of the enormous volume of business that had been caused by the destruction of San Francisco by the big earthqua

contracts. For look you, when I place a big contract, the terms of which favor me a goodly profit, the freight rate from my quarry to market is promptly raised. No explanation is made. The railroad gets my profit. Under such circumstances I have never succeeded in getting the railroad t

ted to ask, "would roughly be the equivalent of your

r the past ten years. I discovered that for those ten years my gain was just equivalent to a

the railroad would have had to assume all the

Mr. Asmunsen

rnest began asking questions righ

store here in Berkeley

r. Owen

tle corner groceries have gone out of busin

complacent smile. "They h

y n

large business there is always l

f the three small ones. I see. But tell me, w

agon for us. I don't know wh

d abruptly o

t have become of the owners of the small

ing price to cost, a

e company could se

a small company, an

iness. A common de

has charge now of our prescript

the profits they

s what we are i

Asmunsen. "You are disgusted because

munsen

is to make pr

. Asmuns

of ot

was no

ers?" Ernes

its are made," Mr. As

ut of others, and to prevent others from mak

tion before Mr. Asmunsen gave

t object to the others making profits

t you do not object to making large

was one other man who was quizzed by Ernest at this junc

Trust," Ernest said to him; "and now you a

made during this p

ass into a politica

the trusts and cor

such attempts e

h. "I'm fighting the Trust on the only field where it is possible to fight-the polit

among yourselves?"

id try to organize, but independent dairymen al

capital from Standard

ful great trust-alm

e of t

id us . . . at first. Milk was raised a cent a quart. One-quarter of this cent came to us. Three-quarters of it went to the Trust. Then milk was raised another cent, only we didn't get any of that cent. Our complaints were useless. The

I should think you could have c

et more cheaply than we. It could sell still at a slight profit when we were selling at actual loss. I dropped

culiar institutio

d failed in compet

ebts. The effect wa

ns of the fang-and-

said, "and you've gone into politics in order to legisl

cisely what I say in my speeches to the fa

more cheaply than could the indep

id organization and new machinery

st answered. "It certainly sho

position of his views. He was warmly followed by a number

dertone. "They see clearly as far as they see,

, and in his characteristic way contr

and abiding belief that you were created for the sole purpose of making profits. Only there is a hitch. In the midst of your own profit-making along comes the trust and takes your pr

e the steam-engine and labor-saving machinery. A thousand looms assembled in a large factory, and driven by a central engine wove cloth vastly more cheaply than could the cottage weavers on their hand-looms. Here in the factory was combination, and before it competition faded away. The men and women who had worked the hand-looms for themselves now went into the factories and worked the mac

ines do the work more efficiently and more cheaply than you can. That is why you cannot compete with them. And yet you would break those machines

ecause you are not a trust. If you were a grocery trust for the whole United States, you would be singing another song. And the song would be, 'Blessed are the trusts.' And yet again, not only is your small combination not a trust, but you are aware yourself of its lack of strength. You are beginning to divine your own end. You feel yourself and your branch stores a pa

prise, and sent your wife to Europe on the profits you had gained by eating up the three small groceries. It is dog eat dog, and you ate them up. But, on the other hand, you are being eaten up in tu

ut of you. No, you are too cunning for that. You say something else. You make small-capitalist political speeches such as Mr. Calvin made. What did he say? Here are a few of his phrases I caught: 'Our original principles

eve them. You want opportunity to plunder your fellow-men in your own small way, but you hypnotize yourselves into thinking you want freedom. You are piggish and acquisitive, but the magic of your phrases leads you to believe that you are patriotic

e a little frightened at this smooth-faced young fellow, and the swing and smash of hi

mongst ourselves let us speak out. Let us throw off all disguise and accept the truth as Mr. Everhard has flatly stated it. It is true that we smaller capitalists are after profits, and that

at all. You are in the midst of a transition stage now in economic evolution, but you do not understand it, and that's what causes all the confusion. Why cannot you return? Because you can't. You can no more make water run up hill than can you cause the t

railroads-a time when a host of little capitalists warred with each other in economic anarchy, and when production was primitive, wasteful, unorganized, and costly. Believe me, Joshua's task was easier, and he had Jehovah to help him. But Go

his carnivorous enemies. They were competitive beasts. Primitive man was a combinative beast, and because of it he rose to primacy over all the animals. And man has been achieving greater and greate

s arose out of competitio

selves destroyed competition. That, by your own wo

t around the table, and even Mr. Calv

re cloth and weave more cheaply than a hand-loom?" He paused, but nobody spoke up. "Is it not then highly irrational to break the machine-loom and go back to the clumsy and more costly hand-loom method of weaving?" Heads nodded in acqu

r a long time. The

"To destroy the trusts is the only way

ire and alivenes

lves. Let us oust the present owners of the wonderful machines, and let us own the wonderful machines ourselves. That, gentlemen, is socialism, a greater combination than the trusts, a greater economic and social comb

re was a shaking of hea

perish. Have you ever asked what will happen to you when greater combinations than even the present trusts arise? Have you ever considered whe

y and irrelevantl

re in the hands of the trusts. The chief obstacle to your Grange propaganda is the trusts. Behind every obstacle you en

t in uncomfor

" Ernest e

creature of the trusts. We elected a governor of Colorado, and the legislature refused to permit him to take office. Twice we have passed a national income tax, and each tim

ll legislation, when the combination of the trusts

ies that arose. Everybody w

ded, "what will you do

!" Mr. Asmunsen cried, and ma

ivil war," Erne

ll the men at the table behind him. "We have not forgotten the deeds

st s

agreed that liberty in your case, gentlemen,

ng angry; but Ernest controlled

in the hands of the trusts. Therefore, against your strength the government will turn the regular army, the navy, the

and before they could rec

rmy was only fifty thousand? Year by year it has been

he s

ofits, and moralized about that favorite fetich of yours, called competition, even great

Kowalt. "With it we would repel

where else, to drown in blood your own comrades civil-warring for their liberties. While from Kansas, or Wisconsin, or any o

ked, and they sat wordles

litia. That would settle it.

aughed o

has been effected. You could not help your

hing as civil law,

nto the militia you would go, willy-nilly. Habeas corpus, I heard some one mutter just now. Instead of habeas corpus you would get post mortems. If y

dreamed all this. Why, you spoke of sending the militia to the Philippines. That is unconstitu

stitution, and the courts, as Mr. Asmunsen agreed, are the creatures of the trusts. Besides

Calvin asked incredulously. "That they can sh

answered, "p

this law?" my father asked, and I cou

. And secondly, the law was rushed through Congress and the Senate secretly, with practically no discussion. Of course, the ne

Mr. Calvin said stubbornly. "The co

or my dreaming-" he put his hand in his pocket and drew ou

it and beg

ist of every able-bodied male citizen of the respective states, territories, and Dis

isted man of the militia who shall refuse or neglect to present himself to such mustering officer upon being called forth

he trial of officers or men of the militia,

ervice of the United States, shall be subject to the same rules

that the bill 'provided for a reserve force to take the mob by the throat'-you're the mob, gentlemen-'and protect at all hazards life, liberty, and property.' And in the time to come, when you rise in your strength, remember that you will be rising against th

d. "There is no such law. It is a

roduced by Representative Dick of Ohio. It was rushed through. It was passed unanimously by the Senate

t in the essential

roduction of the bi

d on June 30, and

is here in Ardis, a

e bill on the follo

, and 17, 1902, an

e evidenced by the

unusual. Very few

law. E. Untermann,

ed a pamphlet at Gi

s pamphlet had a sm

ready had the segr

at the members of th

et at all, and so r

the