War—What For?

by George R. Kirkpatrick

Let that word sink deep into your mind.

Fasten your eye upon that surplus.

Now, notice carefully:

First—Part of this surplus the capitalists at present consume personally;

Second—Part of this surplus the capitalists invest profitably;

Third—For a part of this surplus a foreign market must be found. Even tho’ millions of honest workers whose labor produced this surplus, even tho’ these and millions of their wives and children starve and shiver for the use of this surplus—still part of this surplus must be shipped out of the country. For the part of the surplus which the capitalist class do not consume personally and cannot invest profitably—for that part of the surplus a foreign market must be had tho’ millions suffer and sicken for higher WAGES WITH WHICH TO BUY that surplus which is being shipped abroad. Because your wages will not permit you to buy and enjoy even that part of the surplus, a foreign market must be found and defended.

And now we come to the bayonet and the Gatling gun—what they are for.

Commit to memory and discuss with your fellow workers the following:

Capitalists want soldiers, marines, militia, cossacks, Pinkertons, “coal-and-iron police,” and so forth—chiefly for THREE general purposes:

First: To hold down the wage-earners and force them to consent to produce a surplus,—that is, more than their wages will buy;—or, in other words, to force them to consent to produce far more than they are permitted to consume. If the employer can’t get a palavering, lying prostitute to wheedle the workers to consent—well, there’s the bayonet. See that?