m the
beginning of the historical period, people in a fierce struggle for
existence, have been compelled by the competitive system, to wage a
brutal, relentless warfare with each other. Always the stronger,
against the weaker. In this wicked war, millions of human lives have
been sacrificed to the fiery moloch of selfish greed.

"The older the civilization the more fiercely has the war been waged;
until to-day, thousands among the lower classes everywhere, dwarfed and
embittered by a hopeless struggle to sustain life, in a ceaseless combat
with competing foes on every hand; spurred to a frenzy of fury, curse
the day which gave them birth. Why should they live only to suffer? With
moral natures starved and withered, they declare that all justice is a
mockery, all honesty, a myth! They have lost faith in God, and
confidence in man! They care not for the needs of posterity, or for the
nemesis of a future existence! In this desperate condition, they either
commit suicide, or become an easy prey to the temptation, to join the
outlaws in taking the world by the throat. From such material is formed
the dregs of society, that lower social strata of living dynamite, that
constant menace, which threatens in the near future, to destroy all
civilization which rests upon it. This is a typical piece of the
handiwork of the competitive system, a system in which the roots of
society to-day are grounded.

"Once seriously considered in this light, how can any sane person, who
believes in an All-Wise Creator, in justice and mercy, in a common
brotherhood for humanity, ever again defend the wickedness, of a society
based on the selfish cruelty of such a system? What treatment may
unorganized, unprotected labor, expect from this system?

"Hitherto, fortunately for the progress of the world, the laborers of
this Republic, have enjoyed more of the advantages of life, than those
of any other country. With better wages and shorter hours for work, they
have been able to educate themselves and their children, to a degree
that would fit them to become good citizens of the Republic. A republic
which for its continued existence, depends on the integrity, ability and
intelligence of its working units. As such, our laborers have proved
themselves the best in the world. Now, alas! The whole industrial
situation is changed by the swift dominancy of the competitive system,
with its ever increasing brood of trusts, which have swallowed up all
natural o