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hours he is producing values for the capitalist that represent unpaid labor. The first two hours he is producing wages for the food, clothing and shelter he needs; the last six hours he is producing plunder that builds a palace on the boulevard and great incomes for the owners. The first two hours are necessary to you; the last six hours are necessary to the capitalist. If you quit after producing your wages at the end of two hours he would close up shop. He wants the last six hours and will not let you have the first two unless you work the last six also.
And you are helpless under capitalism, for he and his class own the opportunities of employment and you must come to his terms. If not, there is the great army of unemployed in the pit all around you, and there are many among them who are desperate eonugh to take your place. The capitalist knows it, the unemployed know it, and down in your heart you know it, too. Iron circumstances make it hard for the vender of labor power. He is robbed if he sells and starved if he don't.
The Tariff.
This is an "issue" that has served the two sets of political brokers for at least a century. It is so old that it has gathered moss, and yet many voters still yell themselves hoarse over it. It is said to represent "protection to American labor." The theory is that it will keep out foreign-made goods, give the home market to American capitalists, and these in turn will share the advantage with the workers in higher wages. The answer to this is that the common experience of the workers for the last five years is a decline in wages, while the cost of living has increased so much that some necessities now sell for more than they did during the high prices of the Civil War. There is no theory about this. It is a hard, grim fact.
Take the iron and steel industry again. After the workers had supported the steel barons in polities for years, the masters finally rewarded them in the Homestead strike by mounting Gatling guns on the banks of the river, guns which belched forth a hail of death. The masters then broke up the union and reduced wages and
