The Sledge Hammer. (Okemah, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 30, 1914 Page: 1 of 8
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THE SLEDGE HAMMER.
To Hammer the System Not the Individual
VOL. 3, NO. 14.
J. FLEMING JONES,
EDITOR.
OKEMAH, OKLAHOMA, AUGUST 6, 1914.
50 CENTS
A YEAR.
WHOLE NO. 118
VARIOUS KINDS OF SLAVERY
By WILLIAM HENRY CUNDIFF.
No matter what the form of
servitude is, the worker is rob-
bed of his labor, product—pays
tribute to his master.
The chattel slave owner took
all his chattel produced, but
enough for a bare living.
The feudal lord took all his
serf produced, but enough for a
bare living.
The capitalist master takes
all his wage slave produces, but
enough for a bare living:
Always the robber and ex-
ploiter of labor affects to believe
his peculiar institution of servi-
tude the best for the social and
industrial development of the
country. He also pretends to
think that slavery is right in
principle, correct in morals, and
good for the slave; and that it is
sanctioned by Divine command
and heavenly approbation.
The abolitionists and the so-
cialists, on the contrary, knew
that under chattel slavery and
serfdom the worker was enslav-
ed; and know today that the
worker under capitalism, is more
greatly enslaved than he ever
was under either chattel slavery
or feudalism. Hence socialists
(who are the modern abolition-
ists) denounce slavery in any of
its forms as an unmitigated
curse to both master and slave,
a dishonor to God and humanity,
a blight upon society and good
morals, and "a covenant with
death and an agreement witfi
hell."
The socialist party, being in
favor of industrial freedom and i
economic independence, is war-
ring, not against persons, par-
ties, creeds, colors or sexes, but
against capitalism, slavery and
robbery with earnestness, en-
thusiasm, fervor and devotion.
It therefore inveighs against
social and economic inequalities
superinduced by the profit sys-
tem, and denounces the poverty,
misery, violence, bloodshed, and
rapine which mark the course of
capitalism, and denote the av-
arice, the cruelty, the wicked-
ness and torment of capitalists.
The terrible energy, the
haughty crest, the horrible
atrocities, and the vile passions
of .the capitalist class, call for
not only the protests of social-
ists, but also for the condemna-
tion of all the friends of free-
dom and democracy.
Recent outrages instigated by
great capitalists, have fanned a
IS IT A "WHITE
MAN'S COUNTY?"
perfect flame of disaffection and
revolt among the workers, which
in the near future, is bound to
light the fires of revolution, and
to abolish the various forms of
slavery forever and ever!
The various forms of slavery
are strikingly apparent in the
fact of a double standard of re-
muneration, in which those who
do the most work receive the
least pay, and those who do the
least work receive the most pay.
In other words, the real workers
get a wage sufficient to keep up
their labor power; but the bosses
and masters get big salaries and
immense profits derived from
the exploitation of labor.
Thus capitalism robs labor of
its surplus value by the institu-
tion of wages based un the cost
of subsistence of the laborer,i.e.,
under capitalism the cost of liv-
ing governs wages and all values
produced by labor over and
above wages, go to capitalists
who thus rob the workers.
The capitalist class, by owning
and controlling the means where-
by the working class lives,which
means are land, tools, machin-
ery, etc., have absolute power, |
which is industrial and economic I
power, used despotically overj
the working class, the capitalist
class dictates that wages are J
based on the cost of subsistence, j
or in other words, that the cost I
of living governs wages.
There is but one way to abol-
ish the various forms of slavery,
and that is to accept and adopt
socialism, which is collectivism,
co-operation, industrial democ-
racy, economic freedom and self-
government.
CAUGHT IN OWN TRAP
Some of the defeated candi-
dates in the primary election are
the victims of their own politi-
cal crookedness. They have help-
ed build up a corrupt political
machine in the state and county,
they disfranchised republicans,
they have aided and abetted in
driving socialists out of the
county, and imported democrats
to take their place, until they
have a big, brutal democratic
majority. But not satisfied with
this they enacted an iniquitous
primary election law, which com-
pels all other parties to take
part in it, and all the taxpayers
to pay the expense, though all
the other political parties select
their own candidates in their
own way and at their own ex-
pense. As a result of all this po-
litical crookedness republicans
and, we are sorry to say, some
who are counted as socialists,
went into Tuesday's primary and
voted a democrat ballot. Some
of the candidates were defeated
by votes that do not belong in
the democrat party. These de-
feated candidates are caught in
the trap they set for their polit-
ical opponents.
Some of the democrat candi-
dates in making the campaign
for the nomination, boasted that
they had helped "to make Ok-
fuskee county a white man's
county." These gentlemen are
certainly mistaken. If you will
take a trip to Boley and inspect
that town,which enjoys the dis-
tinction of being the largest
exclusively ne^ro town in the
United States, with a more
numerons population than the
county seat, it will not appear to
you that these democrat candi-
dates have suceeded in making
this a- "white man's county" to
any alarming extent. If you will
go down the line to Weleetka,
stopping for a brief visit of
observation at Clearview, it will
not strike you that these pol-
iticans who voluntarily took up
the white man's burden, have
carried it to a successful issue.
If you will go out into the cotton
fields this fall, where busy
fingers are gathering the fleecy
staple preparing it for delivery
to the city grafter, and watch,
for a short time, the white girl
dragging a cotton sack by the
side of a negro man, you will
come to the conclusion that the
statement that Okfuskee coun-
ty has been made a white man's
county is a delusion and a snare.
You cannot make the tenant
farmer who has to compete with
the negro renter, and sees the
negro often given the prefer-
ence, believe that this is a white
man's county." He sees the negro
here, all around him, competing
with him for land to till and
bidding against him for a master.
Then, as the negro is here,
just as big and strong and numer-
ous as ever, what is it these
democrat politicians mean when
they boast of making this a
"white man's county?" Itsimply
means that they have helped to
rob the negro of his vote. He is i
still here in the ecomomic field,
but he has no ballot with which
to protect his economic interests. |
He has been robbed of his ballot;
in order that he may be more
easily robbed of the product of;
his labor.
The democrat politicians do I
not want to make this a white
man's county. They want the
negro here to produce wealth for
them, and they would be the
first to object to any plan which
would enable the black race to
form colonies of their own,
where they could govern them-
selves and enjoy the full product
of their labor. But they do not
want to give him an opportunity
to protect his interests with the
ballot.
The socialists believe in giving
the negro equal political and
economic opportunities with
every other human being. When
the negroes have equal political
and economic opportunities with
white men and access to the
means of life, without being
dependant upon the white
master, they will voluntarily
segregate themselves in colonies
and work out their own destiny.
Socialism will enable them to do
this. Consequently socialism is
the only possible solution of the
race problem. Socialism is the
only thing that can ever make
this county or any part of it, a
"white man's county," but at
the same time it will take noth-
ing form the negro, but will
guarantee to him every political
right and economic opportunity
that the white man enjoys.
Are not the men who are
brazenly boasting that they
have helped to make this "a
white man's county" glorying in
their shame? Can you trust a
man who admits that he has
robbed his fellow man of his
ballot? Would you trust a man
with your pocket book who had
robbed you of your vote?
The man who will steal your
vote will steal anything else that
he believes he can steal without
danger to himself.
NOT A QUESTION OF MEN
In the primary campaign just
closed, the democrat candidates
got hot under the, collar and said
some nasty things of each other.
But now, that the candidates
are nominated, all differences
will be forgotten, the defeated
candidates will jump right into
line at the crack of the party
whip, and will whoop'er up for
the men who, a short time ago,
they were abusing and charging
with crookedness and incompe-
tency. We do not believe these
candidates are as bad as they
have been represented by mem-
bers of their own party. If one-
half the charges brought against
them by their fellow democrats
are true, they are wholly unfit for
office. However, the Sledge Ham-
mer does not intend to use the
charges against these candidates
that their fellow democrats used
against them. We do not have
to resort to such tactics. We are
willing to concede that they are
good men. We do not oppose
them because they are not good
men, but because they stand for
a bad cause. If the voters are
looking for good men they can
find them on the socialist ticket,
and they will also find them
standing for the interests of the
entire working class.
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Jones, J. Fleming. The Sledge Hammer. (Okemah, Okla.), Vol. 3, No. 13, Ed. 1 Thursday, July 30, 1914, newspaper, July 30, 1914; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc149969/m1/1/: accessed June 5, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.