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THE SOCIALIST PRESS.
Published Weekly In The Interest Of The Working-Class.
NO. 7.
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA, AUg. 1, 1914.
Vol- 1
THE WAR IN EUROPE.
TTKe Working Class About To Be Set
Murdering Each other-For Their
Capitalist Masters.
Afte^years of waiting and watching, of diplomatic
Quibbling, moves and counter-moves among the nations
*of Europe, it seems as if the dogs of war are about to be
-turned^loose in a struggle which threatens to involve prac
tically every nation on that continent. After years of
preparation, yearsof invention and improvement-of -the
implements of destruction, and after nineteen centuries of
Christian civilization, the World seems on the eve of wit
nessing what will probably prove to be the moat destruc
•iivq.-the most terrible and sanguinary-conflict of all his
tory.
^The continent of Europe, alrea.
ddy a charnel-house filled will!
the^bones of unnumbered mil;
liions of human being9, racri4
Siced like sheep in order to ap
peafte'the wrath or gratify the
ambitions of opposing princes
and potentates, is about to again
run red 'with seas of fhurran
Wood. But at this late ’•’day th$
armed* hosts are not hurled on tc
•each otherin mortal combat to ill
'olulge the whims of sceoterec}
nmonafchs, but to accomplish th«
{purposes, to fructify the deep
laid Schemes of ruling classes^
To be Sure kings and princes ap
{pear on<the stage and mav seen
<to be the chief a tors in the dra*
ijna, »rd they, themselves may
■thirfir they are, but they are on
fly puppets, automata, doing thtj
'willfiif the International Oligar
chy of wealth, privilege
-find plunder; obthe invisible.gov.
• ernment behind the scenes. i
And what is it all abtffdt 'this
•turmoil that is now rocking Eu-t
trope. On the surface as the iin.
'mediate1 cause of rupture appears
-the madder ofcan Austrian prince
i»nd his wite'by Servians. Back
•of that are,old grudges, bounda
ry lines, etc. but the real, and far
more sinister cause lies much
■deeper than any of th«oe.
Back in thb eleventh centufy|be
<cause of the oppression tf the
feudal nobility the serfs-of Eu
rope were-becoming restless and
rebellious, and ever more difficult
ito control. To counteract this
state of affairs. Pope Urban II,.
who was then . the ecclesiastical
.as welhas the virtual political ru
*ler of Christendom, conceived
the idea of organizing a crusade
■to the Holy Land for the pur-,
pose of rescuing the Savior’i;i
-tomb from the sacriligious hand
•of the ^aracens. This woul _
sdraw off the most turbulent an i j
* i'J
r
daring of the ! hebeffious serfs,
and quiet matters at home; and
at the same t-ime- it-gave. premise
of adding to the -wealth of the
church, as the church proposed
to act as guardian and repository
for the property of those who mi
listed in the holy cause. - Accord
ingly emissaries were sent
throughout Europe to stir up and
arouse the religious fanaticism
of the people. The scheme work
ed well; it had the desired result.
1 he property- of the thousands
who never returned from Pales
tine was confiscated to -the
church, and-the ranks of the
serfs were sodepleted and their
fighting spirit so broken that the
perpetuation of feudalism was as
sured for hundreds of years.
Passing over similai instances,
brought about for similar purpds
es'that' afterward occurred as oc
casion demanded, -now in the
20th century A/D.1 the time seems
propitious for pulling1 off another
stunt of the same ki«d. The w®r-s
king-class is becoming again too
rebellious, and too insistent on
its rights, and is making too
many demands for the peace a^d
equanimity of the master ciass.
These sge the-wave of enlighten
ed discontent-polling higher-and
higher, bidding fair to sweep, pri
vilege of every description from
the earth. So something must be
done. kWhat better than war, The
-old game?what better than resort
to that old hoax, patriotism, and
through -It plunge millions pf
men who have no quaarel pf
their own, into a bloody conflictt
which can mean nothing «>ore to
them than misery and death,
and a perpetuation ‘of eip
lomic slavery. And it is being
•one. In the meaptirtte/'-The gun
aakers, powder makers, money
enders, and all those who profit
n the misery of the people, will
ax fatter, and intrench them
elves more flgmly in power.
±
High Prices In The Tanana,
People-Of Camp Staggering Under load They Are In No
Condition To Carry.
j That the people o’? this
! camp are in the grap of a
greedy transportation mono
ly-or some sort-of a price rai
sing combine, bent on taking
the hide ofthecamp, about
all that is left of it, is the
conclusion that is being forc
ed upon them more and more
every day. Prices have gone
up to such an extent during
the last few months that the
cost of living* is about what
it was four or-five years ago,
when the camp was in a com
paratively prosperous condi
tion. The result is-that a-real
hardship is being worked up
on a big majority of the peo
ple at a time when they are
in no position'to stand it. The
News-Miner may apologize
and make an effort to be
cloud the true sitnation by
trying to show that because
prices are no higher than
they were a few years ago,
matters are not in such a bad
•way after all, but the iactre
1 mains that prices have reach
-ed a point where they have
become an imposition.
kast Spring Vwhen 'the
-freight tariffsfor this season
'were announced it was found
that the rate had been in
creased about! fifty per cerft
over last year. Prices in Fair)
banks, especially in the'gro-J
eery line, at once jumped ten
per cent or more, but this
caused no complaint, the peo
pie feeling that the raise was
probably justified. Since
then, however, prices have
been going up and -up, until
the conclusion has been arriv
ed at that it is time to call a
halt; consequently a chorus
of protests is going up from
all over the camp.
Where the responsibility
for this condition ^of affairs
lies is;hard for an outsider to
determine. Merchants assert
that the raise in prices is jus
tified and necessary in order
to do business under the hea
vy increase in the freight
charges, andsome of them, at
least, feeling the weight of
public censure, and that they
are being made thegdat, are
up in arms because of the ex
orbitant rates‘they are forc
ed to pay; and it is said that
the rates are seemingly ever
on the increase, and because
of so much hocus ' pocus in
classifications, -differentials,
back changes, and other
things that nobody under
stands, it is diffieu1^ to figure
out much of a correspon
dence between the published
rates and the am >unt of the
freight bill. The White. Pass,
company saysr nothing and,
collects its bills, and it is prc
bable that when the truth of
the matter is known, it will
he found that the merchants'
side of the story :s in the
main correct. The White Pass
company came to jus vr h
the reputation of taking eve*
ry thing the1 traffic will bear,
and there is little doubt but
everything that Editor
Thompson said about the con
cern before President Dickin
son visited Fairbanks-5 last
snnimer was true. Anyway,
it seems a proper case for
the Interstate Commerce
Commission to look inth.
It is certain that the situa
tion as it stands is hurting
the camp. It is known that
■because of thehigh prices pre
vaifeg mining operations in
several instances have been
suspended, and ground that
would be otherwise worked
is lying-idle. Many .people
who work for wages-«re hav
ing a hard t ime of
employment, and the opera
tors who are sfei 11 at work are
finding it increasingly, diffi
cult to pay wages and meet
their obligations for grub
and other supplies; and the
result of the thing is liable
to be the wholesale shutting
uown of operations, and in
i st ccse air absolutely bust
ed camp.
f heCase Of Johnson Brothers And Johnson.
Johnson‘Brothers and John
son is or was the name of a linn
of seniQ'hiilf a dozen partners,
all answering to tho name ol
Johnson, who were oper iting
on some mining ground down
on lower-Golds!reaip, and who
.went'bopke, failing to pay wages
due m'>n who were working for
them, and sundry bills a
roundsFa'rban}t«,/It seems the
partnership had been doinj bus
jness f.rjsjine Ultlo ^ime, and
I ad taken cut gold to 'ho value
of about $ 1-1 ;0(jK<- In spite of the
famous WiekeMshtivm lien law
that i.i supposed to secure .to
working men-their wages, by
far tlie largest part of ti is mon
ey went to-Fairbanks «:oditovs,
Tt2,(X)0 they held out us “wages1'
for themseUes and a few dol
lars tluv paid to the men „«:r
wage,accounts. There is noth
ing startling about all this for
similar octnirrenccs have been
so common in this -camp ht hat
tlicv scarcely ra use conrtneijt,
luit the strange part off l is that
in some way the Fairbanks pa
l’ers brot hold of l history and
■or ^’’-ne unaccountable reason
flayed it u,,--for all it was worth,
seen',inp; loih to drop it. Out.of
tbe hundreds oflue cases, this
so far as known, is the only cue
'hat has seemed to them worth
.continued or ieMt p.ige.