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Show o I Marxian Club Socialists I m . - . . . EDITORIAL COIYIMITEE: Quostlona concerning Socialism! Kate S. Hllllard, amwrrod. AddroBB all conunUnlca-J o Eugonc A. Battell, tlons to Howard Han, 273 PaclticV Howard HalJ. avenue jf , ' ; ;..i..i i i-ri ELIHU ROOT'S CORRECT IN3TINCT. Among the debates, recently held In the fodoral senate, that cvorj militant In tho inoeiucnl should road. as tho debato on the proposed amendment to tho constitution whoreby tho election elec-tion of senators Bhnll be bj direct b a gencml voto In each Btato Val-tiablo Val-tiablo as historic flashlights though most of tho spcechos wcro, the speoch of the New York senator, Ellhu Root, cpsIIj ranks hlghoHt. Senator Root opposed tho amendment amend-ment Long was his speech and yet short. Its lengthy part was 'fillings"; 'fill-ings"; Its short portion "was of the essence It consisted In a short "toxt" of not more than twenty words, prominently plnceJ, and tersely terse-ly supported Tho toxt was: "It Js not wlso that tho peoplo of tho United Unit-ed Stntos should contract tho habit of umondlng the constitution." Whether Senator Root did so consciously con-sciously or not, ho drew tho aap for his tot from a philosophy that both ancient wisdom and modern wit have Illumined. Tacitus, a profound Roman historian, histor-ian, condonBos In a short observation tho significance of tho oloctlon to tho Caoaarshlp of Galba, then nt tho head of an army In Spain, whoroaq thitherto tho election of tho Caesar had been attended to by the army or armies which happened to be bivouacked bivou-acked In Rome Tacitus observes "tho secret bolng out" that the Caesar Cae-sar could be elected outuldo of Rome, as well as Inside, every army, wher-ovcr wher-ovcr located, thenceforth assumed the privilege thitherto supposed to be vested In the armies at Rome only Artemus Ward, tho glory of American Ameri-can humor, tells tho talo of a man who was flftocn years In prison, when ono day a bright thought struck him, ho opened tho door and walked out. Tho point mado by the two writers Is the same; and Senator Root either "took the hint," or his own instinct supplied It Suporstltlous rooronco Is tho cor-noratono cor-noratono of dospotlsm, on tho one hand, and of Its supplemont, slavery, on tho othor. Tho superstition that presenco In Roroo Invested nn army With ft political privilege not shared by other palsied, bo long as the aupor-stltlon aupor-stltlon prevailed, the political power of tho other armies; tho superstitious notion that the unlocked door of his cell was locked unbraincd, so long ,hh tho. notion held sway, tho prisoner of ArtCfnus Ward. Tho Instant tho superstition regarding tho speclnl political privilege of tbo armies In Rome dropped, tho equal political power of all the other armies leaped Into oxlstenco; the Instant the suporstltlous supor-stltlous notion concerning tho state of the door of his coll camo to an end, the Imprisonment of tho fifteen years prisoner camo to an end with It In tho ono instance and tho other "the secret was out." Correctly do tho - Interests, whose apprehensions Sonator Root voiced, deslro to keep from getting out the secrot that tho Constitution can bo amendod. Sacred things are of all time and for all time. They are not tinkered with; they may not bo tinkered with. Tor tho purposes of despotism It Is all ono whether a thing is sacred, or whether It Is held sacred. Tho policy, pol-icy, accordingly, Is to promote the superstitious, In belialf of a principle prin-ciple useful to usurpation, that It Is sacred. No better meanB to that end than tho one. outlined by Senator Root to avuld allowing tho pooplo to "contract tho habit'1 of tinkering with tho principle. Thq constitution of tho United States amplo for Its purposes at tho time of Its enactment, and expectod to guarantee tho pcoplo's aspirations aspira-tions to life," jlborty and tho pursuit of happiness Is, due to the 1vq ecpjvojiilc revolution that has since taken place, proving Itself more and "more Inadequate to Its original purpose. To Bpeak, not lrrevorcntly of a grfeat vlocument, but with historic a,ccuraoy, the constitution of tho Unlt- ed States his become a misfit, Tho body. social has outgrown iu ,Yot( , Pitch Is the exceptional merit ofvthiiti document, that, first of its kind, it proclaimed the mutaDllIty or social conditions and foromoBt of all of lis kind, It incorporated In ltsolf tho pooplo's right and duty to chanco ft, and adapt It to tho aliorod conditions, according as to them m.iy scorn flL Tho nmondment clauso In tho constitution consti-tution la the legalizing of revolution. Nothing more alarmful to the top capitalist cap-italist than Juct that The amendment amend-ment clause In the constitution makes powerfully against all attempt n turlng the constitution Into a thing sacrosanct. It has been tinkered -with 1 1 the pnst; nlack the day! All tho more strenuous the offort to prevent all modern tinkering. What Is lono once mav bo donu again Tho habit once contracted, thero Is no tolling where tho' thing may end. It matters not that Senator Root'3 Instinct is nt fault In bellc!ng that by prevqnting an amendment to the constitution ho Is "taking n stitch Tn tlrao" Mb warning to his follows that "it Is not wise that tho peoplo of tho Unltod States should contract tho habit of amending the constitution" constitu-tion" that bespeaks an alert Instinct, In-stinct, hacked by a full grasp of thj fact thai the eloment, whom the Interests In-terests ho represents are at war with, in nouo other than "tho poplo of tho United States." Tho Peoplo OWN THE TOOLS OF PRODUCTION The sum of $20,000 per year having been domnnded by her mothor as "absolutely "ab-solutely nessary for her proper maintenance," main-tenance," Marie Louise Elkins, a 19-yoar-old Philadelphia traction heiress, has beon awarded that amount bj the court. As Mario Louise Elkins In of no bot-lor bot-lor clay, and cortalnly no more useful, than any of her -i.833.C30 working sisters sis-ters In the Jand, what Is "absolutely necessar" for her proper malntonanco Is by the same token absolutely necessary neces-sary for theirs also She having been granted $20,000 a year, that figure may bo taken as at least th minimum ever)' ev-er)' working girl ought to have How near do they come to getting It? According to tho Items presonlcd to the Philadelphia court In the Elkins caHo. the oung lady requires for rooms at hotel, a month, $G40. The average working girl huddles with her family Inr3 or 4 rooms at a rental of $14 a month, of which she probably contributes $2 or $3. The sum Mlsa Elkins contemplates running through in one bare month, on this Item nlonc, I tho working girl must stretch out over a period, hut llttlo short of IS years Motor, chauffeur and horses, "$3,000 por ear, come next, on Miss Elkins' schedule. Allowing tho working girl live cents car faro each way every day she goes to work, and een adding the extravagant assumption that she Squanders an equal sum riding to tome point of recreation daily or on Sun-da) Sun-da) s and holidays, her outlay for "mo-, tor, chau'ffour and horses" per year would bo $00 In other words Miss Elkins' allowance for ono yoar tho working girl must pinch along on for a full 50 years, probably longer than her whole natural life. Clothing tho working girl needs no loss than Miss Elkins But while the traction heiress's requisition calls" for $5,000 a joar for dresses alono, her proletarian sister must provldo "hat, dress, ribbons, Bhocs. stockings, umbrella, um-brella, cloak for wlntor, and cvory-thlng" cvory-thlng" on a sum no greater than $50 'tis all slip can spare from her wages" for this purpose. 'It would tako a full century of such expondlturo for her to reach the sura appropriated each twelvemonth to tho wardrobe of Miss Idleness. Balls, dinners, etc , are down on Miss Elkins' list for from $3,000 to $5,-000 $5,-000 yearly. Taking $2 weekly as tho. average per capita cost of food In the proletarian's family, and raising It to $3 for tho sake of bounteousness, ono year of Miss Elkln's balls and dinners would suffice to keep a workingman's whole family of six In, copious proyl-T bIoiib for eleven jears And as If this were not enough, MIsb Elkins' mother demands for her $10,-000 $10,-000 a ) oar for travel .ind vacatloiib vacations aro needed, apparently, even from motors, dresses nnd balls and dinners. In this ltom comparison with a proletarian budget Is absolutely Impossible, Im-possible, for tho proloUrlan able to Indulge at all In vacations and travel Is a negligible quantity. Thus stands tho balance- tho daueh-I daueh-I tor of idlonoss rioting In luxury, the daughter of toll skimping along ou thwarted aspirations Why? Because tho daughtor of Idleness has tho tools of production in her possession. Exchange. |