y do they dig clay holes?'

"'It's their work. The boss pays them to do it.'

"'Oh! does he pay you, too, to make these bricks?'

"'Yes.'

"'But where does he get the money to pay you with?'

"'He sells bricks.'

"'And you made those bricks he sold?'

"'Yes.'

"'Don't you think you'd better come inside?...

"'But I say, how much will the boss sell those bricks for?'

"'Oh! about $500.'

"'How long will it take you to make them?'

"'About ten weeks.'

"'How much does the boss pay you for working so hard?'

"'Two dollars and fifty cents a day.'

"'That will be $150 in ten weeks. Ha! ha! ha! aha! he! he! he!'

"'I don't see (wiping the sweat from his brow) the joke, you
confounded ass.'

"'You must come inside. He! he! he!!!'"

American Socialists, therefore, as well as the early German
revolutionists, teach that to the laborer all wealth is due.

Though the low wages that many workingmen receive is a disgrace to our
civilization and an abuse that cries to heaven for vengeance, still it
is absurd to hold that wages should be so much increased as to leave
nothing for the capitalists. For, in the first place, if the workingmen
should enjoy the entire profits of their firms or industries all the
owners would soon become bankrupt and fail, and, in the upheavals due to
unemployment and the impossibility of supplying the necessaries of life,
the present system of our Government would certainly fall a prey to
revolution, the Socialists would come into power and then would follow
the terrible disturbances shown in Chapter XVII, "Socialism, a Peril to
Workingmen."

We have no defence whatsoever to offer for dishonest capitalists, but
maintain that honest capitalists are entitled to a reasonable share in
the profits arising from their investments. For, in the first place, if
it were not for the capital in the possession of honest capitalists,
millions of workingmen would be terribly handicapped in earning a
living. If this fact is not immediately evident to the reader it will
become so when he reflects that many farm, mill and factory workers, and
the employes of many big business houses would have to seek other
positions if the capital required for the industries was not supplied by
the owners. The buildings, machinery, raw materials, etc., in most
cases are not and cannot be supplied by the laborers and workingmen, bu