The Nation
July
2,
19141
The Nation
5
~~~
his behalf he urged Carranza to reorganlz theNationalRailwaysinhispossession il T h e New York Herald’s revelations, b] the northern States, “as a separatesystem means of stolen letters, in regard to the ac apartanddistinctfromthelinesin thl tivitiesbehindthescenes of the MexicaI possession of theHuertaGovernment.” revolution of certainlargebusinessinter a placl Rapidly,Capt.Hopkinsroseto ests,hardly come as a surprise.Thattht inCarranza’s confidence, inwhichhe no large groups of foreign capitalists interestec only obtained the appointment of “his friend have been watchingevery move and havc of therailways tried to bring pressure to bear on onesidt Mr Pani,”totakecharge but became apparently an important advise] or theother,hasbeen as notorious as 11 t o theFirst Chief Unfortunately f o r thc wasnatural.Atbottom,therevoltwhict Plerce-Hopkins railway plans, Gen. Vi11; placed Madero in the Presidential chair wax refusedtopermit Mr. Pan1 to takehold a protest against the exploitation of the re. publicbycontendingcapitalisticforces and there are still other evidences that the fric Lion between the two leaders may have hac theabsorption of theland by a few m a g an origin in some such business transaction nates. The illiterate peon, who has been Meanwhile, Capt Hopkins was busy influenc foodforthecannonsincethe Weginning of mgtheAmericanpresstopointoutthal t h e Maderorevolution,hasnot, of course, the three Huerta delegates to the Mediatior been ableto define thefeeling of in~ustlce Conference were all agents of Lord Cowdray withinhimThosewhohave been in the one beingsaidto be hispersonalcounsel “States,” or had relatives here, have known When we add that during all this time Mr that there are peoplelivingundersuperior Piercewaspayingmoneyto atleast onc conditions,obtainingsimplelusticeinthe Zarranzarepresentative,and, if he is to bf courts,andhavingtheopportunityto ob. believed, Capt. Hopkins was having long So tainbetterchancesfortheirchildren. znd privateconversationswithJohnLind they and multitudes who know nothing about tt must be apparent that there was enough American conditions have risen blindly-too going on to satlsfy any conspirator and often to be only the hapless pawns of great wholly t o warrant various plamtive appeals torces of whichtheywerewhollyignorant €romCaptHopkins t o Mr. Pierce for more Something of themethods of certain of money Finally, it mustnot be overlooked theseforcesisrevealed by t h e Herald We :hat Charles R Flint was also on hand, an havethefamiliarWashingtonrepresentaIther gentleman with a rare talent f o r fish. tiveinCaptSherburneGHopkms,long Ing introubledforeignwaters a n adviser of revolutions in South and CenSo farasthey go, the HeraId’s revela tral America, and so popularwiththose ;ionsparallelwhathashappened in many financially interested in Mexico as t o be able jimilarcases. Pierceandthosebehind to boast of declining “offer after offer of relimhavedoubtlessfeltthat,asheavy intainers”inorder t o beloyaltohisemrestors in the Mexican Railways, they were ployer, Mr Henry Clay Pierce The lata t i t l e d t o dosomethingtopreservewhat ter’sadventureswiththecourts of several s left of theproperty. Nor has the Herald States, in connectlon with the Waters-Pierce 1s yet established the payment of any money O!l Company,canhardlyhave been forgoto Carranzahimself, or producedanyspeten.CaptHopkms’spatriotic soul-like his ,ific proof of itscontentionthatthewhole retainer-makeshimthechampion of the .evolution is merely a clash of oil interests American oil interests as against the British rhemostimportantmatter t h e Wilson headed by Lord Cowdray. To Capt Hopidministration is the picture of John Lind anythingconnectedwithCowdraywas n conference with Capt. Hopkins as late as anathema,after a visittoMadere(hisfee Lpril 30, thelatterquotingLind by wire f o r thiswas $2,000 in gold,paid by Mr o Carranza the next day as being “opposed Pierce) to induce the late President to expel o comprom1se”“thatis,being opposed to fromthedirectorate of theNationalRail>arranza’s Joining in the mediation proways of Mexico certain enemies of Mr. to eedingwith a view toputtinganend Pierce. Mr. Pierce’s motives were, of course, dexico’stroubles.Shouldthis be substanof thebest.Asexplamed by Capt. Hop~ a t e dit would expose Mr Lindtoacharge kins in a letter to Gen Carranza, if i t had 3f disloyaltytotheWilsonAdministration not been for Mr. Fierce, these enemies to say nothing of the embarrassment in “would haverobbedthelinesinthe most which it puts the latter. Capt Hopkins alsc outrageous manner.” To Carranza, be i t luoted Mr. Lind as assertingthat hlr. Wil noted.Capt.Hopkinsmade no concealment son “hesitated to raise the embargo [or that was in the pay of Mr. Pierce, and i n arms]atthistimewhilemediationnego INTRIUUERS
~.
-
tiationswerepending,”butthat he, Lmd, if arms were could glve assurances that takeninbyschoonersfromCuba,“no obstacle would be placed in the way by Washington” This alone would seemtowarrant Congressional inquiry, since it places the of WilsonAdministrationintheposition playing fast and loose in the matter of 1mportation of armsSerious, too, is the proof that Capt Hopkins, an American citizen. wasdailyurgingCarranzatokeepaway trom themediationproceedings It is altogether a sordid picture thus sented of what is going on behind the sceneB. At best it illustrates the extraordinary cultiesconfrontingthosewho would take sides in the Mexican controversy; they must always ask themselves whether they are not thereby supporting hidden forces of a more or lessmaligncharacter We haverevealed t o us anew how besetwithobstaclesisthe task of thePresident,howlongand difficult the way will be untll the peon of Mexico isassured of Just treatment. ” ”
THE
TRAGEDY.
Thereareundoubtedlyseriouspolitical implicationsintheassassmation of Francis Ferdinand,whichoccurredonSunday Inthecapital of Bosnia,butit is thepersonal aspect of the tragedy which first This new blow totheaged makesappeal. Emperor, whose life was thought few a weeksagoto be nearingitsend;evokes world-wideexpressions of sympathyfor a rulerwhoselongreignhasbroughthim almost unprecedented personal bereavements The murdered Crown Prmce had for some time past been active in the work of governmentHewasinthiswayvisibly In preparation for his accession to the throne;andalsohadthemotive of rellevmg Francis Joseph of some of the cares of state.Ferdinandwas of strongandener:etic nature,andAustriahad looked torward t oh i s becomingEmperor,confident thatthetransitionwouldbemadewithout shock, andthattheadministration of affairswouldbeinablehandsThatoutlook IS now changed.Thenewheirapparentis 5 young and untried archduke, Charles Francis,whoissaid,however,tobedemo:ratLC in bearing and popular. The old Em7eror will doubtless make an effort to keep the reins in his hands as long and as firmly as possible,butitisevidentthatAustria \1-111 have to face trials of a sort to test her strength and her international policy For thecauses of theassassins’ maddeterminationcanby no means be ignored.
6 They were not of the ordinary “crank” class, these boyish murderers, but felt themselves the instruments of their country’s ven geance. Whether Servlans or Bosnlans, they had been bred to thlnk of Austria as natlonalenemyandoppressor,Friction be tween the Austrian authorities and the Bosnlanshad been forsometimesevere. Only a little while ago the Government was a strlke of theSerb stuconfrontedwith dents at Mostar In Herzegovina. Their complaint was that a Government professor had made violent attacks upon the Servians Thesestudentswereexpelled;butthere upon their fellows throughout the two prov. inces struck in sympathy, and all the efforts of the Government had not, at last accounts,beenabletomakethemreturnto thelrschoolsFromthisclashalone,it is possible, theimpulsetoSunday’stragedy mayhave been derivedAllaccountsagree thattherelationshavebeenbadbetween theAustriansandtheinhabitants of the twoprovlnces of whichAustriaundertook the protectorate under the Treaty of Berlin, and which she later coolly annexed, despite warm protests from Great Britain It is now evldent that she annexed not only territory, but race hatred and a lurking spirit of assassination. This 111 will has obvlously been intensified by events connected with the latest Balkan war Throughout, Austria's motlves were violently suspected by the Servians, and the mobillzation of herarmyontheServian frontiergavegreat offence Inthe dlplo-
matic negotiations which followed the war, it was believed that Austrla had designs on Servian as well as Albanianterritory,and that she was determined to push on to the Eastateveryopportunity And thedisplay of her mihtary power in Bosnia seems not tohavehadthe effect of over-awing soI much as enraglng. It was to attend Austrian maneuvres on the Servlan frontier that FranclsFerdinandwas on his way The occasionwasplainlyseizedforelaborate first of which fail. plots agalnst his llfe, the ed, but the second was deadly. There is no, indicationthattheshotswerefiredatthe Archdukeas a rulerpersonallyoffensive, only, he typlfied the Government. Such efforts to temper tyranny by as. sassination-wenowspeak, of course,from the point of view of the perpetrators of the crime-are almostalwaysfutileThislies in the nature of the case Governments canno good not yield to terrorism. And there reason believingthatAustriawillbe deflected from the general line of policy and gf Imperial development which she has been
The Nation pursuing. The Austro-Hungarian Empirc has been for fifty years the subJect of more mistakenpropheciesthananycountry il! Europe. It h a s belonged to theclass what used to be called in Italy the attendz. bllz-the “watched-over.” Outsiders werz watchingAustriatoseewhentheinevita ble process of herbreaking-upwastobe gin Charles Sumner was positive, more than a generation ago, that the thing could not be long delayed He called Austria merely “a geographical expression ” But the Emplre still stayed on the map It even grewlargerandmorepowerfulandappar, entlymorestable.Atonetime it wassup, posed thatPan-Germanismwouldprove dissolventEarlyinKaiserWilliam’sreign therewasmuchtalk of thepredominantly German provinces of Austria gravitating t a Berlin. But all this has long since dropped below thehorizon.Wehearmuchmore at present of Pan-Slavism than we do of Pan ,GermanismAndtherealconcern of peanChancelleries, in thepresence of this Austrian tragedy, is more with personal and Idynastlc changes which may follow in Vienna,thanwithanypossibilitythatAustrla w l l be shaken out of her orbit; more, above all, wlththeracejealousiesandconflicts Ibeyond the Austrian frontier, and with the 1renewed tenslon betweenGreeceandTurIkey, than with any thought that Bosnia will nake serious a attempt to rise against Austrian rule.
[Vol. 99 NO. 2557 -~
It is not, however, the condition of Professor Nearing’smlndthatconcerns us What glves interest to hls talk that it is typical of agreatdealthatpassescurrentnowadays among persons of lntelligence and education Mr Nearinghimself,beinga professor of economics,isdoubtlessperfectly aware of the actual functlon of prlvate capital, of thenature of thepartthatithas played in the upbuildlng of industry, and is stlll playlng in Its maintenance It tobe presumedthathechoosesdeliberatelyto sweep all thls aside, and to talk as though it did not exist Probably he honestly believes that the time has come to kick down the ladder by which we have climbed, however useful it may have been in its day If he thinks that private capltal, or profitsuponprlvate capltal, ought to be abollshed, he has a n unquestionable right to t h a t opinion. It is not with his conclusion that we are quarrelling, howevererroneouswemayregardIt;it is with hls mlsleadlng presentatlonof the facts. That there should be no such thing as interestoncapital is a tenableproposition; but that the interest which capltal has actuallybeendrawinghasbeenmererobbery, mereexploitation of theworkers, is sheer nonsense It IS concelvable thattheworld might have devised better methods of bulldIngupandsustainingindustry,butas a matter of actualfact,certainlndlvlduals have been induced to do this by the prospect of a special reward. The reward may be too great, it is even pnssible t h a t by some kind of collectiveactiontheremlghthavebeen furnishedanequally effective provision of “At no time have the privileged few had the machinery of industry and of t h e w h e r e Such a n effectlveschemeforlivingonthe withal for Its prosecution during the period 1labor of themany,”saidProfScottNearIntervening betweenthebeginning of the 1ing, of the University of Pennsylvania, in his process and its consummatlon To compare 1kestimony before the Industrial Relatlons employCommissionafewdaysago.Hehad beer theseposslbilitiesisalegitimate ment of human reason. But to talk as glvingfiguresrelatingtothecottonindus in point of thoughthepersonswhohave, try in Massachusetts‘ fact, supplied to the world a n absolutely Thetotal Income derived fromthe cotton of itsproductivity. IndustryinMassachusettslastyear added lndispensableelement $81,000,000 in valueto raw cottonThe sala- were mere parasites llvlng on other people’s rles t o oficialstotalled $2,500,000. The saianot to use reason but to throw it to labor, n?s t o wage-earners amounted to $51,000,000 the winds The emolument that goes to There IS nearly $30,000,000 remaining. A small partgoes t o machinery and re- thosewhoaccumulatecapitalandappIyit pairs X largeparttorentalsand dlvidends. to the uses of industry determined by the the $Sl.O00,000 the people who dld the same kind of competltlve struggle-the same isork got only about five-elghths,and the other three-elghthswent someplaceelse kind of adJustment of supply to demandWhat the nature of t h a t “some place else” is, that determines the reward of organizing abilIn hls Judgment, Professor Nearlng indicat. ity, of professional sklll, of any of the acts ed wlthsufficientplainnessintheremarks of men that are required for the satisfaction abovequoted,andinotherexpressions of of theworld’sneeds If theservice of capisimilartenor,“thepeoplewhoholdmort. tal can be obtained cn better terms, and withgages and stock certificates and flaunt them outevilconsequenceswhichoutweighthe before the eyes of civilizatlon’’ a r e a n a b o m gam, well and good; but the world has not mation in his sight. asyetseenItswaytosuchacondition of
The Nation
7
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things.Anduntilthenit is not a matte]r emlssary of WallStreet;butthatan of opmion,but a bare matter of fact, tha t nent apostle of red revolution should audl private capital, whether from an Ideal stand bly be llcklnghischopsovermilllons o or toollttle 01 C gold dollars, of wealth polntrewardedtoomuch wrested from It lust enough, 1s not a worthless parasite, b ut rightfulowner,theMexicanpeon, by thm a n lndlspensable servant of the general good predatorymlnisters of internationalcap] In comparlson with this fundamental vlce tal, somewhatdisconcerting.Andagaln otherfeatures of thlskind of talkare I TheDutch,upabove PBnuco, have got a] hole, nothingto look at mlnor consequence. Yet it of a plece wltl 1 orneryeight-inch but it can throw 185,000 barrels a day when 1 thelooseness of thecentralideathat thc ain‘t plnched down. Figure it up Say 01 people who Indulge in these tirades alwayr3 a t 50 cents a barrel; that makes $90,000 golc a day, in ten days $900,000, In a hundred d a y talk of theowners of capital as a $9,000,000, In a year,allowing 65 days fo ileged few,” and convey the impression thai t delavsandaccidents. $27,000.000--and that’; the opportunity to own capital is a hmitec1 gold, UnitedStates gold coln, withthe eapll and the Indlan. affalr,openonlytomembers of someex clusive caste. That there ars billions of dol lars in savlngs banks, owned by mlllions 01 L small holders, and invested in the country’s enterprlses,thatthereareotherblllions held dlrectly by small stockholders, that in, surancecompanlesandbuildingandloan 1 another great mass assoclations account of small holdings; that there are hundreds of thousands of small business enterprisesmatter all this goes naught, though I t of commonknowledge. SOCIALISTS
REBELS.
The extremely readable letters from Mex. ico in Collier's arenotwrittenby“yours therevolutlon,JackLondon,”but by plain “Jack London.” The flaming chal. Ienge of thefirstsignaturewouldnotonly inappropriate in a magazine of general circulation, but would be quite out of tune wlththecontextwhichsavorsstrongly of the indivlduahstic, capitalistic, fiercely competitlvesplrlt of theworldthatknewnot t h e gospel of KarlMarx.TakeJackLondon’slatestinstalment.Theverytitleis a sneer at the mollycoddle and the sentimentallst’ “Our AdventurersinTampico.”The alluslonisunmistakablytoPresident w11son’s remarks about the nondescript type of cltizen who has tied us up wlth Mexican affairsThetextelaboratesonthe tltle. I begantogatherstatistics of theperniclous activities of our Amencan adventurers Onecompanyalonehad two roofed concrete tanks holding 1,250,000 barrels, along wlth 1 2 0 steeltanks holdlng 55,000 barrelseach Since a steel tank costs 30,000 nesos, the cost of 120 steeltanks would total 3,600,000 pesos At the rate of exchange prior to Mexlco’s present troublesthisinvestmentinmeresteel-tank equipment means 1,800,000 Amencan gold dollarsWhen it IS consldered thatthw 1s butpart of theoneitem of theoil-storage equlpment of one company,andthatthere manyotherequallyexpenslveItems of equlpment.thegrandtotal of theequipment Of the many companies is vaguelv adumbrated
Thus mlghtwrlteanagent of thewicked NationalManufacturers’Associatlon an
Thus Col Sellersmighthavegloated, bu Jack London’ Can it be that the unregener ate Adam of Klondlke adventure and ofthc splendld virtues of the prize-rlng is allve 1r thebestknown of our literaryrevolution Ists,readyto bob upwheneverthematte] directly in hand is not a treatise on the wal of the classes? Try as one may, it is imposslble to imag metheJackLondon of the primitive pas slons and virtues fitting into any neai scheme of economic determlnism whlch shal iron out the aspect of society Into that unl formityagainstwhichtheindividualtem perrebels.ItishardtofancyJack Lon donunder a rigorous StateSocialism ol thetypethatHerbertSpencerfeared then It must be recalled that the author oi “Before Adam” signs himself “yours for tht revolution,” and not for the coopera. tive commonwealth.” Revolution calls allthevirtues of stress and combat. A social upset holds out promise a beside whlch the perils of the icy trail and the call ,of theprize-ringpaleintoinsignificance It this double aspect of the Soclalist move. 1rnent thataccountsforthepresence In its 1ranks of the restless spirits sideby slde with 1thedoctrinaires of economlcdetermlnlsm There is time enough for worrymg over the 12onstructive problems of the Industrial Com1monwealth. For the moment, there 1s a Teat deal to be done in the way of clearing 1the ground. Whatevermay be thediffer. mces of bellef whfch the rebuilders of soci1?ty may have to contend with ultimately, at 1presentthere is a commonbasisinSocialIIsm forsocialrebels of everyshade,the IKarxist,theSyndicalist,theAnarchist,the 1lltra-feminist, and even the Futurlst Yet a socialandpoliticalmovementcanI:lot remain fast bound to origlnal prlnciples tndunaffected by thecharacter of Its vot arles. A creed is converted by Its converts. ro-day the Soclalist movement in this countr y plainly showing the influence of the
rebel element. whlch IS rather against thlngs as they are than any clear-cut scheme of soclalreconstructlonThe I movement,wlthItsblendlng of Socialism and Anarchism, represents most clearly thls factor of emphasisonrevolutionratherthan on reconstruction The lndlviduallsts of a r t , of literature, of sex-llbertyaredoing thelr share in givlng an impress to the popularconception of SociallsmNotthatthere reasontosupposeSoclahsttramppoets andSoclalistpractitloners of Cubism wlll prove any more lncongruous an element In the firmly organized Sociahst CommonwealththanPlatofearedtheywould be i n hlsIdealrepublicEvennowthe old-he Soclallsts find themselves badly embarrassed by thew ultra-lndivlduallst allles, and it may be that thls country wlll repeat the experlence of Europe,wheretheultra-revolutlonary type of Syndicallsm seems to be on the wane The struggle between the two elements in theSoclallstmovementisalreadyacute. -
T H ET H E A T R E
AMUSEMENT.
In one of those farewell addresses to their countrymen whlch play-brokers and playproducers areaccustomed to dellvertothe shipnewsreportersfromthedeck of the [mperator the Lusltania, it was announc ?dsomedaysagothattheoutlookforthe theatre of ideasfornextyearwaspoorer than ever. The reason was pictures. The canvas-sheet drama has done more than :ompete withthetheatre of threedimenu o n sI h t as imposeditsstandardsupon .he regular theatre The “movies” have swlft actlon,wlth a ?ducatedthepublicto ninlmum of text and no ideas to speak of [f the legltimate stage to survlve, it must mltatethemovies,sincetheonlyform of :ompetition that presents Itself to the comnerclal manager’s mlnd is Imitatlon. WhirlRind theadjectlve of thefuture-whlrlslnd farce, whirlwlnd melodrama, whirla whirlsmdsentiment,and,betterstlll, slndmixture of all three.Themanagers Ire at one with Faust in assertlng that in .hebeglnningwasnottheword or t h e hought, but the deed, as we spell it now, he“punch.” The meagre showlng of the past season in heway of seriousdramastlrs Mr. P. Eaton to solemn reflection In the lagazzne What has become, Eaton s k s , of thebuoyanthope of a n American r a m a of ideaswhichtheearly’nineties herished under the stimulus of a first conact with Ibsen7 Foreign students and prac-
The titioners
of the theatre
glorious
future
ties
of life
flattered
when
that
were
working
out on an unparalleled mocracy
should
The realities
problems have
tion,
but
they
of social
and
Eaton
utterly
the idea
The easiest the rule
and
that
for adventure,
may still have
forget
way
product The
will
not hold.
of the
last
season
were
be present.
It may
of the day.
Next
year
may very
a cessation
of labor
well
play chockful
and
the
of the successes not
whirlwind
in
while
Scotch often
cry up what appeals remarked of Burns
drinking,
made
world,
religioh,
a harsh,
and
sordid,
it was so familiar
and
that
the
moment
ual detachment
good times,
a general
feel-
well-being,
of ideas and social
and
a
Furthermore,
oughly
as instructive,
or
criticism.
elevating,
?
2,
19141
The Nation
5
~~~
his behalf he urged Carranza to reorganlz theNationalRailwaysinhispossession il T h e New York Herald’s revelations, b] the northern States, “as a separatesystem means of stolen letters, in regard to the ac apartanddistinctfromthelinesin thl tivitiesbehindthescenes of the MexicaI possession of theHuertaGovernment.” revolution of certainlargebusinessinter a placl Rapidly,Capt.Hopkinsroseto ests,hardly come as a surprise.Thattht inCarranza’s confidence, inwhichhe no large groups of foreign capitalists interestec only obtained the appointment of “his friend have been watchingevery move and havc of therailways tried to bring pressure to bear on onesidt Mr Pani,”totakecharge but became apparently an important advise] or theother,hasbeen as notorious as 11 t o theFirst Chief Unfortunately f o r thc wasnatural.Atbottom,therevoltwhict Plerce-Hopkins railway plans, Gen. Vi11; placed Madero in the Presidential chair wax refusedtopermit Mr. Pan1 to takehold a protest against the exploitation of the re. publicbycontendingcapitalisticforces and there are still other evidences that the fric Lion between the two leaders may have hac theabsorption of theland by a few m a g an origin in some such business transaction nates. The illiterate peon, who has been Meanwhile, Capt Hopkins was busy influenc foodforthecannonsincethe Weginning of mgtheAmericanpresstopointoutthal t h e Maderorevolution,hasnot, of course, the three Huerta delegates to the Mediatior been ableto define thefeeling of in~ustlce Conference were all agents of Lord Cowdray withinhimThosewhohave been in the one beingsaidto be hispersonalcounsel “States,” or had relatives here, have known When we add that during all this time Mr that there are peoplelivingundersuperior Piercewaspayingmoneyto atleast onc conditions,obtainingsimplelusticeinthe Zarranzarepresentative,and, if he is to bf courts,andhavingtheopportunityto ob. believed, Capt. Hopkins was having long So tainbetterchancesfortheirchildren. znd privateconversationswithJohnLind they and multitudes who know nothing about tt must be apparent that there was enough American conditions have risen blindly-too going on to satlsfy any conspirator and often to be only the hapless pawns of great wholly t o warrant various plamtive appeals torces of whichtheywerewhollyignorant €romCaptHopkins t o Mr. Pierce for more Something of themethods of certain of money Finally, it mustnot be overlooked theseforcesisrevealed by t h e Herald We :hat Charles R Flint was also on hand, an havethefamiliarWashingtonrepresentaIther gentleman with a rare talent f o r fish. tiveinCaptSherburneGHopkms,long Ing introubledforeignwaters a n adviser of revolutions in South and CenSo farasthey go, the HeraId’s revela tral America, and so popularwiththose ;ionsparallelwhathashappened in many financially interested in Mexico as t o be able jimilarcases. Pierceandthosebehind to boast of declining “offer after offer of relimhavedoubtlessfeltthat,asheavy intainers”inorder t o beloyaltohisemrestors in the Mexican Railways, they were ployer, Mr Henry Clay Pierce The lata t i t l e d t o dosomethingtopreservewhat ter’sadventureswiththecourts of several s left of theproperty. Nor has the Herald States, in connectlon with the Waters-Pierce 1s yet established the payment of any money O!l Company,canhardlyhave been forgoto Carranzahimself, or producedanyspeten.CaptHopkms’spatriotic soul-like his ,ific proof of itscontentionthatthewhole retainer-makeshimthechampion of the .evolution is merely a clash of oil interests American oil interests as against the British rhemostimportantmatter t h e Wilson headed by Lord Cowdray. To Capt Hopidministration is the picture of John Lind anythingconnectedwithCowdraywas n conference with Capt. Hopkins as late as anathema,after a visittoMadere(hisfee Lpril 30, thelatterquotingLind by wire f o r thiswas $2,000 in gold,paid by Mr o Carranza the next day as being “opposed Pierce) to induce the late President to expel o comprom1se”“thatis,being opposed to fromthedirectorate of theNationalRail>arranza’s Joining in the mediation proways of Mexico certain enemies of Mr. to eedingwith a view toputtinganend Pierce. Mr. Pierce’s motives were, of course, dexico’stroubles.Shouldthis be substanof thebest.Asexplamed by Capt. Hop~ a t e dit would expose Mr Lindtoacharge kins in a letter to Gen Carranza, if i t had 3f disloyaltytotheWilsonAdministration not been for Mr. Fierce, these enemies to say nothing of the embarrassment in “would haverobbedthelinesinthe most which it puts the latter. Capt Hopkins alsc outrageous manner.” To Carranza, be i t luoted Mr. Lind as assertingthat hlr. Wil noted.Capt.Hopkinsmade no concealment son “hesitated to raise the embargo [or that was in the pay of Mr. Pierce, and i n arms]atthistimewhilemediationnego INTRIUUERS
~.
-
tiationswerepending,”butthat he, Lmd, if arms were could glve assurances that takeninbyschoonersfromCuba,“no obstacle would be placed in the way by Washington” This alone would seemtowarrant Congressional inquiry, since it places the of WilsonAdministrationintheposition playing fast and loose in the matter of 1mportation of armsSerious, too, is the proof that Capt Hopkins, an American citizen. wasdailyurgingCarranzatokeepaway trom themediationproceedings It is altogether a sordid picture thus sented of what is going on behind the sceneB. At best it illustrates the extraordinary cultiesconfrontingthosewho would take sides in the Mexican controversy; they must always ask themselves whether they are not thereby supporting hidden forces of a more or lessmaligncharacter We haverevealed t o us anew how besetwithobstaclesisthe task of thePresident,howlongand difficult the way will be untll the peon of Mexico isassured of Just treatment. ” ”
THE
TRAGEDY.
Thereareundoubtedlyseriouspolitical implicationsintheassassmation of Francis Ferdinand,whichoccurredonSunday Inthecapital of Bosnia,butit is thepersonal aspect of the tragedy which first This new blow totheaged makesappeal. Emperor, whose life was thought few a weeksagoto be nearingitsend;evokes world-wideexpressions of sympathyfor a rulerwhoselongreignhasbroughthim almost unprecedented personal bereavements The murdered Crown Prmce had for some time past been active in the work of governmentHewasinthiswayvisibly In preparation for his accession to the throne;andalsohadthemotive of rellevmg Francis Joseph of some of the cares of state.Ferdinandwas of strongandener:etic nature,andAustriahad looked torward t oh i s becomingEmperor,confident thatthetransitionwouldbemadewithout shock, andthattheadministration of affairswouldbeinablehandsThatoutlook IS now changed.Thenewheirapparentis 5 young and untried archduke, Charles Francis,whoissaid,however,tobedemo:ratLC in bearing and popular. The old Em7eror will doubtless make an effort to keep the reins in his hands as long and as firmly as possible,butitisevidentthatAustria \1-111 have to face trials of a sort to test her strength and her international policy For thecauses of theassassins’ maddeterminationcanby no means be ignored.
6 They were not of the ordinary “crank” class, these boyish murderers, but felt themselves the instruments of their country’s ven geance. Whether Servlans or Bosnlans, they had been bred to thlnk of Austria as natlonalenemyandoppressor,Friction be tween the Austrian authorities and the Bosnlanshad been forsometimesevere. Only a little while ago the Government was a strlke of theSerb stuconfrontedwith dents at Mostar In Herzegovina. Their complaint was that a Government professor had made violent attacks upon the Servians Thesestudentswereexpelled;butthere upon their fellows throughout the two prov. inces struck in sympathy, and all the efforts of the Government had not, at last accounts,beenabletomakethemreturnto thelrschoolsFromthisclashalone,it is possible, theimpulsetoSunday’stragedy mayhave been derivedAllaccountsagree thattherelationshavebeenbadbetween theAustriansandtheinhabitants of the twoprovlnces of whichAustriaundertook the protectorate under the Treaty of Berlin, and which she later coolly annexed, despite warm protests from Great Britain It is now evldent that she annexed not only territory, but race hatred and a lurking spirit of assassination. This 111 will has obvlously been intensified by events connected with the latest Balkan war Throughout, Austria's motlves were violently suspected by the Servians, and the mobillzation of herarmyontheServian frontiergavegreat offence Inthe dlplo-
matic negotiations which followed the war, it was believed that Austrla had designs on Servian as well as Albanianterritory,and that she was determined to push on to the Eastateveryopportunity And thedisplay of her mihtary power in Bosnia seems not tohavehadthe effect of over-awing soI much as enraglng. It was to attend Austrian maneuvres on the Servlan frontier that FranclsFerdinandwas on his way The occasionwasplainlyseizedforelaborate first of which fail. plots agalnst his llfe, the ed, but the second was deadly. There is no, indicationthattheshotswerefiredatthe Archdukeas a rulerpersonallyoffensive, only, he typlfied the Government. Such efforts to temper tyranny by as. sassination-wenowspeak, of course,from the point of view of the perpetrators of the crime-are almostalwaysfutileThislies in the nature of the case Governments canno good not yield to terrorism. And there reason believingthatAustriawillbe deflected from the general line of policy and gf Imperial development which she has been
The Nation pursuing. The Austro-Hungarian Empirc has been for fifty years the subJect of more mistakenpropheciesthananycountry il! Europe. It h a s belonged to theclass what used to be called in Italy the attendz. bllz-the “watched-over.” Outsiders werz watchingAustriatoseewhentheinevita ble process of herbreaking-upwastobe gin Charles Sumner was positive, more than a generation ago, that the thing could not be long delayed He called Austria merely “a geographical expression ” But the Emplre still stayed on the map It even grewlargerandmorepowerfulandappar, entlymorestable.Atonetime it wassup, posed thatPan-Germanismwouldprove dissolventEarlyinKaiserWilliam’sreign therewasmuchtalk of thepredominantly German provinces of Austria gravitating t a Berlin. But all this has long since dropped below thehorizon.Wehearmuchmore at present of Pan-Slavism than we do of Pan ,GermanismAndtherealconcern of peanChancelleries, in thepresence of this Austrian tragedy, is more with personal and Idynastlc changes which may follow in Vienna,thanwithanypossibilitythatAustrla w l l be shaken out of her orbit; more, above all, wlththeracejealousiesandconflicts Ibeyond the Austrian frontier, and with the 1renewed tenslon betweenGreeceandTurIkey, than with any thought that Bosnia will nake serious a attempt to rise against Austrian rule.
[Vol. 99 NO. 2557 -~
It is not, however, the condition of Professor Nearing’smlndthatconcerns us What glves interest to hls talk that it is typical of agreatdealthatpassescurrentnowadays among persons of lntelligence and education Mr Nearinghimself,beinga professor of economics,isdoubtlessperfectly aware of the actual functlon of prlvate capital, of thenature of thepartthatithas played in the upbuildlng of industry, and is stlll playlng in Its maintenance It tobe presumedthathechoosesdeliberatelyto sweep all thls aside, and to talk as though it did not exist Probably he honestly believes that the time has come to kick down the ladder by which we have climbed, however useful it may have been in its day If he thinks that private capltal, or profitsuponprlvate capltal, ought to be abollshed, he has a n unquestionable right to t h a t opinion. It is not with his conclusion that we are quarrelling, howevererroneouswemayregardIt;it is with hls mlsleadlng presentatlonof the facts. That there should be no such thing as interestoncapital is a tenableproposition; but that the interest which capltal has actuallybeendrawinghasbeenmererobbery, mereexploitation of theworkers, is sheer nonsense It IS concelvable thattheworld might have devised better methods of bulldIngupandsustainingindustry,butas a matter of actualfact,certainlndlvlduals have been induced to do this by the prospect of a special reward. The reward may be too great, it is even pnssible t h a t by some kind of collectiveactiontheremlghthavebeen furnishedanequally effective provision of “At no time have the privileged few had the machinery of industry and of t h e w h e r e Such a n effectlveschemeforlivingonthe withal for Its prosecution during the period 1labor of themany,”saidProfScottNearIntervening betweenthebeginning of the 1ing, of the University of Pennsylvania, in his process and its consummatlon To compare 1kestimony before the Industrial Relatlons employCommissionafewdaysago.Hehad beer theseposslbilitiesisalegitimate ment of human reason. But to talk as glvingfiguresrelatingtothecottonindus in point of thoughthepersonswhohave, try in Massachusetts‘ fact, supplied to the world a n absolutely Thetotal Income derived fromthe cotton of itsproductivity. IndustryinMassachusettslastyear added lndispensableelement $81,000,000 in valueto raw cottonThe sala- were mere parasites llvlng on other people’s rles t o oficialstotalled $2,500,000. The saianot to use reason but to throw it to labor, n?s t o wage-earners amounted to $51,000,000 the winds The emolument that goes to There IS nearly $30,000,000 remaining. A small partgoes t o machinery and re- thosewhoaccumulatecapitalandappIyit pairs X largeparttorentalsand dlvidends. to the uses of industry determined by the the $Sl.O00,000 the people who dld the same kind of competltlve struggle-the same isork got only about five-elghths,and the other three-elghthswent someplaceelse kind of adJustment of supply to demandWhat the nature of t h a t “some place else” is, that determines the reward of organizing abilIn hls Judgment, Professor Nearlng indicat. ity, of professional sklll, of any of the acts ed wlthsufficientplainnessintheremarks of men that are required for the satisfaction abovequoted,andinotherexpressions of of theworld’sneeds If theservice of capisimilartenor,“thepeoplewhoholdmort. tal can be obtained cn better terms, and withgages and stock certificates and flaunt them outevilconsequenceswhichoutweighthe before the eyes of civilizatlon’’ a r e a n a b o m gam, well and good; but the world has not mation in his sight. asyetseenItswaytosuchacondition of
The Nation
7
-
things.Anduntilthenit is not a matte]r emlssary of WallStreet;butthatan of opmion,but a bare matter of fact, tha t nent apostle of red revolution should audl private capital, whether from an Ideal stand bly be llcklnghischopsovermilllons o or toollttle 01 C gold dollars, of wealth polntrewardedtoomuch wrested from It lust enough, 1s not a worthless parasite, b ut rightfulowner,theMexicanpeon, by thm a n lndlspensable servant of the general good predatorymlnisters of internationalcap] In comparlson with this fundamental vlce tal, somewhatdisconcerting.Andagaln otherfeatures of thlskind of talkare I TheDutch,upabove PBnuco, have got a] hole, nothingto look at mlnor consequence. Yet it of a plece wltl 1 orneryeight-inch but it can throw 185,000 barrels a day when 1 thelooseness of thecentralideathat thc ain‘t plnched down. Figure it up Say 01 people who Indulge in these tirades alwayr3 a t 50 cents a barrel; that makes $90,000 golc a day, in ten days $900,000, In a hundred d a y talk of theowners of capital as a $9,000,000, In a year,allowing 65 days fo ileged few,” and convey the impression thai t delavsandaccidents. $27,000.000--and that’; the opportunity to own capital is a hmitec1 gold, UnitedStates gold coln, withthe eapll and the Indlan. affalr,openonlytomembers of someex clusive caste. That there ars billions of dol lars in savlngs banks, owned by mlllions 01 L small holders, and invested in the country’s enterprlses,thatthereareotherblllions held dlrectly by small stockholders, that in, surancecompanlesandbuildingandloan 1 another great mass assoclations account of small holdings; that there are hundreds of thousands of small business enterprisesmatter all this goes naught, though I t of commonknowledge. SOCIALISTS
REBELS.
The extremely readable letters from Mex. ico in Collier's arenotwrittenby“yours therevolutlon,JackLondon,”but by plain “Jack London.” The flaming chal. Ienge of thefirstsignaturewouldnotonly inappropriate in a magazine of general circulation, but would be quite out of tune wlththecontextwhichsavorsstrongly of the indivlduahstic, capitalistic, fiercely competitlvesplrlt of theworldthatknewnot t h e gospel of KarlMarx.TakeJackLondon’slatestinstalment.Theverytitleis a sneer at the mollycoddle and the sentimentallst’ “Our AdventurersinTampico.”The alluslonisunmistakablytoPresident w11son’s remarks about the nondescript type of cltizen who has tied us up wlth Mexican affairsThetextelaboratesonthe tltle. I begantogatherstatistics of theperniclous activities of our Amencan adventurers Onecompanyalonehad two roofed concrete tanks holding 1,250,000 barrels, along wlth 1 2 0 steeltanks holdlng 55,000 barrelseach Since a steel tank costs 30,000 nesos, the cost of 120 steeltanks would total 3,600,000 pesos At the rate of exchange prior to Mexlco’s present troublesthisinvestmentinmeresteel-tank equipment means 1,800,000 Amencan gold dollarsWhen it IS consldered thatthw 1s butpart of theoneitem of theoil-storage equlpment of one company,andthatthere manyotherequallyexpenslveItems of equlpment.thegrandtotal of theequipment Of the many companies is vaguelv adumbrated
Thus mlghtwrlteanagent of thewicked NationalManufacturers’Associatlon an
Thus Col Sellersmighthavegloated, bu Jack London’ Can it be that the unregener ate Adam of Klondlke adventure and ofthc splendld virtues of the prize-rlng is allve 1r thebestknown of our literaryrevolution Ists,readyto bob upwheneverthematte] directly in hand is not a treatise on the wal of the classes? Try as one may, it is imposslble to imag metheJackLondon of the primitive pas slons and virtues fitting into any neai scheme of economic determlnism whlch shal iron out the aspect of society Into that unl formityagainstwhichtheindividualtem perrebels.ItishardtofancyJack Lon donunder a rigorous StateSocialism ol thetypethatHerbertSpencerfeared then It must be recalled that the author oi “Before Adam” signs himself “yours for tht revolution,” and not for the coopera. tive commonwealth.” Revolution calls allthevirtues of stress and combat. A social upset holds out promise a beside whlch the perils of the icy trail and the call ,of theprize-ringpaleintoinsignificance It this double aspect of the Soclalist move. 1rnent thataccountsforthepresence In its 1ranks of the restless spirits sideby slde with 1thedoctrinaires of economlcdetermlnlsm There is time enough for worrymg over the 12onstructive problems of the Industrial Com1monwealth. For the moment, there 1s a Teat deal to be done in the way of clearing 1the ground. Whatevermay be thediffer. mces of bellef whfch the rebuilders of soci1?ty may have to contend with ultimately, at 1presentthere is a commonbasisinSocialIIsm forsocialrebels of everyshade,the IKarxist,theSyndicalist,theAnarchist,the 1lltra-feminist, and even the Futurlst Yet a socialandpoliticalmovementcanI:lot remain fast bound to origlnal prlnciples tndunaffected by thecharacter of Its vot arles. A creed is converted by Its converts. ro-day the Soclalist movement in this countr y plainly showing the influence of the
rebel element. whlch IS rather against thlngs as they are than any clear-cut scheme of soclalreconstructlonThe I movement,wlthItsblendlng of Socialism and Anarchism, represents most clearly thls factor of emphasisonrevolutionratherthan on reconstruction The lndlviduallsts of a r t , of literature, of sex-llbertyaredoing thelr share in givlng an impress to the popularconception of SociallsmNotthatthere reasontosupposeSoclahsttramppoets andSoclalistpractitloners of Cubism wlll prove any more lncongruous an element In the firmly organized Sociahst CommonwealththanPlatofearedtheywould be i n hlsIdealrepublicEvennowthe old-he Soclallsts find themselves badly embarrassed by thew ultra-lndivlduallst allles, and it may be that thls country wlll repeat the experlence of Europe,wheretheultra-revolutlonary type of Syndicallsm seems to be on the wane The struggle between the two elements in theSoclallstmovementisalreadyacute. -
T H ET H E A T R E
AMUSEMENT.
In one of those farewell addresses to their countrymen whlch play-brokers and playproducers areaccustomed to dellvertothe shipnewsreportersfromthedeck of the [mperator the Lusltania, it was announc ?dsomedaysagothattheoutlookforthe theatre of ideasfornextyearwaspoorer than ever. The reason was pictures. The canvas-sheet drama has done more than :ompete withthetheatre of threedimenu o n sI h t as imposeditsstandardsupon .he regular theatre The “movies” have swlft actlon,wlth a ?ducatedthepublicto ninlmum of text and no ideas to speak of [f the legltimate stage to survlve, it must mltatethemovies,sincetheonlyform of :ompetition that presents Itself to the comnerclal manager’s mlnd is Imitatlon. WhirlRind theadjectlve of thefuture-whlrlslnd farce, whirlwlnd melodrama, whirla whirlsmdsentiment,and,betterstlll, slndmixture of all three.Themanagers Ire at one with Faust in assertlng that in .hebeglnningwasnottheword or t h e hought, but the deed, as we spell it now, he“punch.” The meagre showlng of the past season in heway of seriousdramastlrs Mr. P. Eaton to solemn reflection In the lagazzne What has become, Eaton s k s , of thebuoyanthope of a n American r a m a of ideaswhichtheearly’nineties herished under the stimulus of a first conact with Ibsen7 Foreign students and prac-
The titioners
of the theatre
glorious
future
ties
of life
flattered
when
that
were
working
out on an unparalleled mocracy
should
The realities
problems have
tion,
but
they
of social
and
Eaton
utterly
the idea
The easiest the rule
and
that
for adventure,
may still have
forget
way
product The
will
not hold.
of the
last
season
were
be present.
It may
of the day.
Next
year
may very
a cessation
of labor
well
play chockful
and
the
of the successes not
whirlwind
in
while
Scotch often
cry up what appeals remarked of Burns
drinking,
made
world,
religioh,
a harsh,
and
sordid,
it was so familiar
and
that
the
moment
ual detachment
good times,
a general
feel-
well-being,
of ideas and social
and
a
Furthermore,
oughly
as instructive,
or
criticism.
elevating,
?
