Show TODAY TOMORROW V By Frank Parker Stockbridge SOCIALISM 1 State Stale owned Stripped of all of its sophomoric ric entanglements the essence of Socialism is not the abolition of capital but the o ownership 0 of all capital by the the State The tendency in that direction has b been en growing glowing stronger for more than a hundred years Private I capital used to build and operate operate operate oper oper- ate highways and bridges charging toll for every traveller or vehicle that used them Long ago those enterprises became investments investments investments in in- vestments of public capital Agriculture fishing mining anc an manufacturing are still in inthe inthe inthe the hands of private privat capital The complete Socialist program wo would ld make all of those functions functions functions of the State REGULATION U. U S. S aim aint What we seem to be heading for in America is a compromise between uncontrolled private Capitalism and complete Social Social- ism The compromise se is the continuance continuance con con- of private Capitalism infer State regul regulation tion We Ve have had that in the case case of railroads for fifty YC years It seems to b be e close at hand in the matt matter r of telegraph telephone and radio communications At the same same time there is is an increasing tendency to apply State capital to long term enterprises enterprises enterprises en en- which do not promise a direct return in dividends but which are presumably justified by their social value This in- in includes such things as parks many classes of highways high public public public pub pub- lic buildings and similar enter enter- Private Capital is not interested in these non prod nonproductive c- c tive ventures TAXATION it is distributed Since capital is merely th the surplus product of labor above what labor received the question ques ques- question tion whether that surplus belongs belongs belongs be be- longs to the employer or to the labor which produced it is a vexed vexed vexed vex vex- ed question that in its turn is I the subject of continuous compromises compromises compromises com com- promises out of each of which labor gets a proportionately larger share Since public capital is exactly I like private capital that capital that is the surplus of wealth above what is consumed in the course of its production production-it it follows vs that the larger tn the share of accruing accruing accruing ac ac- to labor the larger the share of taxation must be borne by labor There is no such thing as taxing capital out of exist exist- ence Individual capitalists may be taxed into poverty but that thatis is merely the conversion of private va vate capital into public capital |