Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

10 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

Outlines of Industrial History!

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

Outlines of Industrial History LCONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK;) I [CONTINTTBD FROM LAST WEEK.] I ti Tbe real factors in bringing about the transi- Itioll to Imperialir,m are: -(I) The.change in the 1 ure1 of the surplus product; (2) the investment capital abroad. Bothre intimately connected with each other or the oonks and the iron and steel industries hnd ill glove with each other; as the ex- Ported capital largely takes the form of iron and teei products. From these factors rise others OJnbl1í1.ing to produce dread effects: (1), Tke ihwi af raw material; (12) the rivalry of arraa- taelats and the machinations resulting in arma- .raelit scandals; (3) the vested interests which Sn round the jobs connected with the ruling of lenor peoples. iJ We can prove and understand the main ars)the others will not detain us long. To .trle8 in a lower stage of development, capi- tio ast sends commodities for consump- toll-this IS the peaceful period. Later, instead "of the commodities to be used in consumption hUlodities to be used in production, i.e., ma- II lU0ry, are sent. The less developed countries ow Produce textiles for themselves. And not ;:ly ? themselves; for example, Japan, a for- a Market for Lancashire textiles, is now com- -rIng with, and driving out the Lancashire pro- dp? 's from the Chinese market. In the higher ^veloped countries the iron and steel industries ?P?oe the textile industry from its place of ?P<M'ta.nce. The surplus product, therefore, is ?? locomotives, cars, rails, machinery, and such Ulstead of textiles. To diepo&e of the latter as crmparatively simple; to dispose of the ,'i Ormer it is necessary that large civilising pro- ifj,of building huge railways must be con- 1)eleQ. Then comes the question: How are these '-? ? to be paid for and the foreign investor -?guarded? The meth.d of payment adopted i t granting of a concession to the con- ?ssionaires which includes certain monopoly r¡,; ts of trade, possession of mineral bearing  or a direct money payment. "The flag is "? an asset." For the nation, with all its *111? f8rce amd its diplomate, stands behind its ""? Particular group of concession hunters. ?*niea are now extremely valuable to the 40ther country: Just ae in the first warlike kood of •apitalism no nation allowed another to 't el with its colonies, so now it would be Ult- tkilikable that Germany should be allowed to bllild a. railway in Egypt or India. Free Trade yoes not apply to inmand steel. To gain ^spheres of influence," to have the right of economic penetration in unexploited coun- es, tke rival national groups compete with h other, their respective navies and armies in the background being the final arbiters. The qernian capitalists with their Bagdad railway would have disposed of some of their sur- lus steel and iron goods and received a mort- age on the future of some of the ricksst lands t Modern times to pay for them. This project now to be cut in two by the Russian oceiipa- of Constantinople. When onoe this economic basis of Imperialism understood, the recent events of history and the happenings recorded in the daify newspapers rn be interpreted in a lucid fashion. The V^dership of Germany in the procession, accord- \Ir1g to Boudin, is that, owing to her late devel- &tyent, she skipped the middle pacific period of TfPitalism and leapt from the Nationalistic to b e Imperialistic stage: at once. In his book he 1i1 as an interesting table showing that, in 185. "gland produced nearly seven times more pig 051 than Germany; in -19N she had nearly ?pt up to England? total; in 1912, only 7:lplve y^s later, she had pa?ed and doubled .Other evidence is not lacking to explain the Hange from the outlook of the shopkeeper to that of the usurer. With the slum at home, apitalism needs a fleet of Dreadnoughts to pro- set its oversea investments and enforce its to new spheres of influence. Sir Robert -iffen estimated our profit on foreign and lonial investments in 1899 at between 90 and zoo millions sterling, amd the total is rising ra- MIy. Mr. Lloyd George estimated in 1915 that e total of our invested capital abroad amounted U £ 4,000,000,000. Particulars of the extortion- j.e rates changed upon the loans and of the con- ations under which capital, in the absence of actory Acts, is employed abroad make sorry fading. Downing Street and the City work in ^rinony • Inspired articles in the Press sway '.Pjublic opinion in the aixsenee of any other in- And contributions to the secret party also exercise a hidden influence which helps complete the unholy alliance between the concessionaires and the official head s of the ? ?te with the Army and the Fleet at their dis- p_ osal. The disposal of the surplus-product of ? medern industrial nations has ceased to be a ntter of armed force, actual or potential, used by la?g? groups, called Nations. Hence the P'henomen, n which we call Modern Imperialism."  As the old sapplies of mineral wealth are ex- » isted the rivalry among the nations to secure e fi Applies of newer lands is sharpened. Why ? 'se should .Morocco be desired by France and many? Other lands desired for their mineral \\rflealh will occur to the reader's mind upon re- action. Then again, turning to that section of the ?P?alista who directly profit by furnishing Im- ?aJism its weapons we find that: "If the ?-?sure of the armament firms can hmrdly drive nation into war, it may affect the scale of pre- ???tion? and set the fashion in costly methods ?engines of warfare." That this has been -? is common knowledge thanks to certain able ??8, who have, by searching official docu- ^sj laid bare the workings of huge interna- ti<? ? armament trusts and revealed the wires h"-], ??Q pulled to create scares. The Mulliner  of 1912 is a typical example. The third mentioned factor, too, plays a part the creation of an atmosphere favourable to tb- S?owth of Imperialism. When capitalism ?lw *n its pacific mood, one of its spokesmen, ?? ?t, declared his belief in what had been "riler voiced by James Mill that was that em- Ire wit its army and navy was a system of Q??aoor relief for the upper classes. The bear- rf!. of the White Man's burden is a not un- ?P]ro ble task. Brailsford tells us that: "The trib? drain of wealth from India, the indirect is i which it pays to the ruling class at home, ste l' ed to amount to about thirty millions sterT ? consisting of the interest on capital s?nk 1? India or lent to India, of pensions paid ?o e'"y '-?agio-Indians now resident in India." No ? ?I ?dian is allowed to rise above the rank of in the Army; the Egyptians are t'f?'d to make good clerks. 'IOWever after making these suggestions in ?""Ply to the question which faced us, and leaving  to be followed up and enlarged upon by the ?.? dent himself, we can pass on to another luest 'AT SHOULD THE ATT'TUDE OF THEI WORKER TO IMPERIALISM BE? 'h..  ??ysing capitalism to explain its latest *nood it seen that capitalism must of neces- witv ? a surplus-product. The cause of the '??s now creates a crisis of another sort—"Iron and steel mean war." Why there is capital to export abroad is because the working-class is di- vorced from the means of production and con- sequently do not own the finished product. If there was no surplus-value produced, there would be no problem arising from the disposal of the surplus-product. There is a wonderful depth of irony in the fact that, the workers are taxed and oonscripted because the profits, made out of the consumption of their labour-power, need the backing of force to make their way into new lands. We saw that in practice every worker is foread to face the friction which arises between the em- ployer and himself over the matter of the sur- plus product. Wages can only rise at the ex- pense of profits. But many workers have not as yet consciously thought out, recognised, and ac- cepted the theory of this friction or struggle as it arises between olass and class; they have not seen that this class struggle can only be ended by the change of the system and the triumph of their own class and the end of the capitalist class. If our former judgements were sound, capitalism in its warlike mood eaused Imperialism and the war now raging. Therefore, knowing the true cause, the true cure is to fight capitalism to the finish. The answer to our question then should be: His attitude should be one of resolute oppo- sition, because Imperialism is only a new phase of an old evil. Capitalism once promised to become interna- tioral; but new nationalism crops up again. Once it thought all men and races :fit for political liberty and self government; but now believes in superior and inferior races and nations. The Scientific Socialist knows, however, that the real difference between the backward and the forward races is only one of technique. In all our Indus- trial History lessons, we have seem that evolu- tion has occurred, not through the striving of "Chosen Peoples" to lead more unfortunate peoples, born to be ruled, towards the light, but through the struggle of classes with each other. To quote Boudin:—"The theory of the class struggle is in absolute and irreconcilable opposi- tion to the nationalistic theory of patriotism- while its practice makes the puactice of the pa- triotc virtues utterly impossible." Howbeit, the humanism, liberalism and ideas of political li- berty cherished by capitalism in its middle period wiN be preserved and carried forward by the workers though their former bearer has become reactionary. CSass-consciousnees, once developed, will deter- mine the work ess' attitude; will protect them from the ravages of war-fever; and save them from being prostituted by patriotism. As the forces of cohesion and repulsion can be seen in the mighty planet, as well as in the tiny indi- vidual speck of matter, so the force of atttraction to their own class and of repulsion to the ex- ploiting class wiH one-day be felt by the whole of the world of labour, as well as by the indi- vidual worker in his own particular plaee. The International will then be a reality. Taking the welfare of his class as a guide to his action as the mariner uses the Pole star, the worker will not be submerged in the troubled waves of Imperial- ism but will, when he has become conscious of his strength and the world is the workers', arrive art a just and lasting peace. The three following are the compleenent of each other:— BEADING: Boudin's "Socialism and War." Brailsford's War of Steel and Igold." Newbold's War Trust Exposed" and "How Britain Armed for War."

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