American imperialism : the menace of the greatest capitalist world power

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM

The Menace of the Greatest
Capitalist World Power

by

JAY LOVESTONE

Author of

"The Government-Strikebreaker," "Blood and Steel,"
"What's "What About Coolidge," Etc.

PRICE 15c

Published by

Literature Department

Workers Party of America

1113 W. Washington Blvd. Cnicag0i

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Chapter I

THE GROWTH OF AMERICAN IMPERIALISM

yHE United States entered the arena of capitalism as a world
power after the Spanish-American War in 1898.
After having routed Spain the United States secured

undisputed control of the American Mediterranean— the Gulf

of Mexico and the Caribbean. Porto Rico was annexed A

protectorate was established over Cuba.

In Cuba there is invested about $1,000,000,000 of Ameri-
can capital in the sugar industry alone. This is 60 per cent of
the total capitalization of the sugar industry. Fully 85 per
cent of the capital invested in the Cuban railways is Ameri-
can. One-third of Cuba's imports is edible and more than
half of that third comes from the United States. According
to the last reports of the Department of Commerce, Cuba has
outstripped Japan as our second best customer in steel.

Turning to the Pacific, the Yankee imperialists annexed
m quick order the Philippines, Guam and Hawaii.

In the Philippines, the American imperialists have a terri-
tory the size of the Kingdom of Italy and with a population
greater than that of Canada or Hungary. Sixty-five per cent
of the foreign commerce of the Philippines is done with this
country. Close to $300,000,000 of American capital is invested
m these islands, which are teeming with natural resources
and are only three days away from China, the richest and
cheapest labor mine in the world. They are the gateway of
American capital to the prize market of the Far East where
800,000,000 people live.

Then followed the complete domination by the United
states thru the successful engineering of the revolt of Panama
against the Republic of Colombia. Having secured "general
supervision" of the new government and unrestricted control
of the Canal Zone, the American capitalists proceeded to
establish then- hegemony over Nicaragua and mastery of the
alternative canal route. Scarcely had the ink dried in Wilson's

3

democratic notes when American troops dissolved the Haitian
parliament. Today the United States is the political master
of over 150,000 square miles and almost 10,000,000 people in
Central America and the Caribbean, which has become an
American lake. In the Pacific, the United States has an island
empire of an area of more than 125,000 square miles and a
population of at least 13,000,000.

"Peaceful Penetration"

Our imperialists are also engaged in the "peaceful pene-
tration" of other countries. In recent years particular atten-
tion has been paid by our capitalists to Canada, Mexico,
Central and South America. Because of the collapse of the
European market American investors and merchants have
been making especially strong efforts to develop these
markets. In the Latin-American countries the United States
has today invested $610,000,000 in public securities and
$3,150,000,000 in industries.

1. In Canada

The last annual report of the Canadian Commissioner of
Trade shows the rapidity and extent of the hold the Yankee
exploiters have on Canadian resources. The total amount of
American capital invested in Canada is more than $2,500,-
000,000 and is today more than the entire British interest.
American investors now hold 18y 2 per cent or $701,000,000 of
Canadian government, provincial and municipal securities,
as against only 12.8 per cent or $511,000,000 held by British
investors. Almost 25 per cent (24.1) of the Canadian Pacific
Railway shares are in the hands of American capitalists.
American interests are rapidly assuming control of Canada's
mines, railways, motor car and accessories industries, meat
packing, rubber, paint, metals, pulp and paper, and refined
petroleum industries.

_ In the manufacturing and associated water power indus-
tries the American investments are now placed at well over
one billion doUars. British investments in similar enterprises
are only 350 million dollars. In Canadian public utilities,
forest, and mining industries American investments are esti-
mated as considerably in excess of British investments.

4

Sixty-one per cent of the capital invested in the motor
car industry was found to be American in 1919. More than
4U^per cent of the electrical apparatus, meat packing, rubber
paint varnish, brass, copper, condensed milk, and refined

?f. r n 0 nn U ^nf e , U ; ited StateS 0Wned - In 1920 approximately
$250,000,000 of the United States money was invested in the
Canadian pulp and paper industry. This was about 80 per
cent of the total capital invested in that industry. Approxi-
mately one-eighth of the total American trade with the world
is with Canada— $979,079,003.00.

Chapter II
LATIN-AMERICA AND THE FAR EAST

I I XT ^" MeX ' C0

y NDER the guise of protecting the weaker nations of South
nn^-f 1 raI America > thQ United States has assumed the
undisputed hegemony over this territory. The Pan-American

J; i °? f °7 mS ° Ut ° f the Monroe Doctrine is completely domi-
nated by American imperialists.

American bankers are the dominant figures in the Inter-
national Committee of bankers in Mexico. Thomas W La-
mont of J p. Morgan & Co., is chairman of this committee
Mortimer L. Scbiff is the vice-president of the American
section. Charles E. Mitchell, of the Illinois Merchants Trust
Co., Charles H. Sabin, of The Guaranty Trust Co • Albert H
Sf m ^ 0f ^ ChaSG Nation al Bank, and Robert Winsor of
BMder-Peabody & Co., Boston, are among the other leading
figures m this group of international exploiters. Foreign
investments in Mexico indicate that American capitalists lead
in oil and mmmg. United States investors have twice as much
capita ($130,000,000) invested in oil and five times as much
capital invested in mining ($250,000,000) as does Great
rT m , °T $150 > 000 > 000 <* American capital is invested £
railroads and more than $120,000,000 in agriculture. Ameri-

tll^ l f !?l h °l d m ° re than $25,000,000 of the Mexican
national debt bond issue. Wall Street is planning to spend
upward of $150,000,000 in new oil investments. Ihere fs a
tendency for a heavy flow of American capital southward
New York and Philadelphia bankeds have annouMed^e
floating of a new loan of $40,000,000 to the Mexican govern!

3. In South America

The nitrate beds of Chile; the oil, meat and wheat of
Peru; the coffee and rubber plantations of Brazil and the
packing industry of the Argentine Republic, are steadily fall
mg into American control. Speaking before the Investment
Bankers' Association, on October 20, 1923, Dr. L S W
Director General of the Pan-American Union, boasted that
American investment in Latin-America has passed from the
period of adventure to the period of helpful, pro ductC and
permanent investment. American companies are securing to
an mcreasmg extent, contracts for the construction of public
works in Latin-America. Port works, drainage works water
works and street railway systems constructed by Andean
companies are now in evidence in almost every country of
South and Central America. Since the close of tie Great War
he American people have loaned to Latin-America S pubhc
loans . Regarding the loans of all private enterprises, over a

Since SS? A ^ Pr6CiSe am ° Unt iS *529,58o!oOO "

feince 1921 American investors have purchased Chilean ex-

™;$5 S 000 000 eX T Ut ° f $62 '° 00 ' 000 and -ternarbonds
totalling $5,000,000. American investments in Chilean iron

and copper mines have materiaUy increased. Our Latin-
American trade has risen from $1,073,000,000 for the ten
^ dmg N ° Vember 1922 ' t0 ?1>440,000 ; 00() for Te

oi $182 55 f S"^T, an C ° Un ? ieS reaChed the ^antic figure
of $182,558,425 for the month of March, 1924, alone.

onn nnn r ^ Latin -American trade amounted to only $750 -

lllftr^ th f e 7, ea T 7 recedi ^ the war. In the calendar year of

to $1 743 e 67 °a St U ? ted Stat6S With Latin-America amounted

L filo! ' 7 n n mCreaSe of 121 P er ceQt over that of

S?2^w^ , 91 1 14 and ° f 26 per cent over tHat o
1922. Imports into the United States were greater bv 115

per cent and exports 130 per cent than hE The

Latin-American countries now take 45 per cent of thrtr t™

ports from the United States as against iss than 25 'peTceni

of theXn, T e ^ ThG ° fficial custom ^use P returns
$834 onn nnn 68 l 0rmmg the ^tin-American group show
$834,000,000 m merchandise imported from the United States

6

toe^e of a^V 319 ' 000 ' 000 bef0re the war - ™ s ^ «
increase or over 150 per cent.

1913^ a f48 S n ate ' f Ame ^ ca ' S Share of Mexican Sports in
1913 was 48 per cent; m 1921 it was 76 per cent Its share of

Cuban imports in 1913 was 53 per cent'in 1921 it was 75 per
Per cent In <St -f At ^^ sports in 1913 was only'S
K'i 121 ll ™ se t0 28 P« cent. "Our share of Brazil's
n 1913 Urn. °* 16 CGnt in 1913 t0 31 P er ce *t in 1921.
United Uay S 1 ™ P ° rtS Were 0nly 12 P er cen t from the

T^l\ l I' m 1921 * reached tne figure of 26 per cent
The outstanding feature of this tremendous increase in trade
m both exports and imports is that manufactured^Sc^s^

h ^ISSTT 1° P f CGnt ° f the t0taI P-~from
tne united States by South America.

The Sweep of Dominion

tral and T ^IfT^ &S ° ^ was tormed the Bank ot Cen-
mente The i™, '° SP<!Ciallze in Latin-American tavest-
™portance of this organization is clearlv seen

Bros 1 Co W pf, ^ * James Br °™> ° f B ">™
Walter E S en Conway, of the Guaranty Trust Co.;

of hi h ' • the Corn Exchange Bank ; G. w. MeGarrah
of the Mechanics and Metals National Bank Mauita A

ttafus 'o? t p M arine National EIecM< = c °- an« E R Stet
Accotdtaftotte 3 W^i^ 1 / tiEnteni,lg its » Brazil,
cable cXr' T' 8 - raUwayS ' ligation, packta Train ng
T ! 6a f , 6 r0le in the electr^cauon of South w

corpo M rat^rd-? m ^^^^^^

7

trolling the main industries of the Republic of Colombia. As
a reward for building a national railway this group has se-
cured the right to exploit for fifty years more than 200 acres
of proven petroleum lands for each mile of railway con-
structed. Our capitalists are planning to develop the iron,
coal, lumber, oil, chemical, limestone and packing house
industries.

The Standard Oil Co. is getting great concessions in
Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina. In Argentina Ameri-
can capital is coming into conflict with British capital. The
contract recently closed between Bolivia and the Standard Oil
gives the American corporation 8,500,000 acres of petroleum
land for 55 years and the right to build and run railways,
tramways, harbors, telephones and telegraphs and all other
public utilities.

The International Petroleum Company, 60 per cent of
whose stock is owned by the Imperial Oil Co. of Canada,
which is in turn 80 per cent controlled by the Standard Oil
Co. of New Jersey, owns the huge De Mares concession in
Colombia. The same corporation owns 400,000 acres in
Peru, which has the highest grade of oil known today.

American bankers have concluded successful loans to
Guatemala, Costa Rica, Salvador and Honduras. In Guate-
mala an American bank has recently been set up to draw all
paper money out of circulation. Haiti has borrowed
$7,500,000'; Chile, $44,000,000; Uruguay, $13,000,000; Brazil,
$55,000,000; and Argentina, $250,000,000, in recent months.

American banking interests and the United Fruit Com-
pany have bought the International Railways of Central
America, valued at $60,000,000. This is the largest American-
owned railroad outside the United States. It gives direct
access from the east coast to Fonseca Bay where the United
States has concessions for the construction of a naval base to
guard the Pacific end of the Panama Canal. It is a great step
towards the construction of the important transcontinental
railway from New York to Buenos Aires. Just as the German
imperialists had their slogan "Berlin to Bagdad" so our
Yankee imperialists have their cry, "New York to Buenos
Aires."

8

The significance of this sweep of American control can-
not be over-estimated. When Dr. Rowe pointed out that
American investment has passed from the "period of adven-
ture to the period of "productive and permanent investment-
he had unconsciously touched the pith of the whole imperialist
problem and its vital import to the working class. When
American capitalists invest their millions wrung from the
workers m such permanent fields as mines, railways and
public utilities, they secure complete control of the country
and shape the policies and politics of the governments of these
weaker nations. Out of this economic condition there grow
numerous alliances, ententes, and conflicts. No sooner had
the United States declared war against Germany than there
was an echo of American hostility in the Latin countries south
of the United States.

What is more, the balance of class power and class rela-
tionships m these backward countries is tremendously influ-
enced and colored by the fact that the basic industries are
dominated and owned by foreign investors having at their
beck and call the most powerful government in the world to
guarantee the safety of their investments and the stability of
their profits. In the words of General Leonard Wood, a stable
government is a "government under which foreign capital
invests at ordinary rates of profits."

4. Towards the East

It has oft been said that the Pacific will be the scene of
the next world war. The United States is fully aware of this
political truth and has taken financial, military and political
measures to prepare for such a war, should it occur Ameri-
can commerce with the Oriental countries is now three times
what it was ten years ago, and accounts for almost 25 per cent
of. our total trade. Within the last year alone American trade
with the Far East has increased 25 per cent. For the nine
month period ending March, 1924, American trade with the
Far East increased 38 per cent over the corresponding period
of last year. According to the Trade Record of the National
City Bank the total exports from the United States to the
Orient for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1924, will be 700
million dollars as against only 200 millions in 1914. Here, as
m the Latin-American countries, our exports are largely of
manufactured goods— at least 75 per cent.

9

In China, American shipping and railway interests are
extending their control. Wilson's withdrawal from the Six
Power group has not hindered the extension of American
interests. The Robert Dollar Co., the Pacific Mail Steamship
Co., the Admiral Oriental Line, and the Green Star Steamship
Corporation are among the leading shipping firms plying
between China and America. When the foreign governments
concentrated warships at Canton in order to prevent Dr. Sun
Yet Sen from seizing the customs funds, an American flotilla
of five destroyers participated and an American admiral was
put in charge of naval operations. The Department of Com-
merce is now proposing several amendments to the China
Trade Act of 1922 so as to remove the federal tax and other
"penalties" and thus aid American corporations in Chinese
business.

It has been estimated by the Union Trust Co, of Cleve-
land, that the recent Japanese earthquake has resulted in the
destruction of 2 per cent of the wealth of the entire empire
in an area covering one-seventh of the country. This has
enabled the American capitalists to extend their influence in
Japan. The United States is proving to be the leading banker
and manufacturer in supplying the funds for Japanese recon-
struction. About $300,000,000 will be needed to help Japan
restore its losses.

A group of American capitalists, amongst whom are
found such powerful concerns as J. P. Morgan & Co., Kuhn
Loeb & Co., the National City Co., the First National Bank
of New York, Brown Bros & Co., Philadelphia, Lee, Higginson
& Co., have just gotten together with about fifteen other bank-
ing firms and floated a loan of $150,000,000 to Japan. This
is the largest long term loan floated in the United States since
the armistice and marks a positive step in advance towards
American financial and commercial supremacy in the Far
East.

At the close of last year there was organized in Tokio the
Japanese-American Engineers' & Contracting Corporation
capitalized at $50,000,000, which is to be financed and con-
trolled jointly by American and Japanese interests. Through
tie organization of this company American capitalists have
assured themselves the role of the dominant group in the
reconstruction of Japan. The Tokio Electric Co., which has
recently absorbed nine competing companies, has formed a
combination with the Westinghouse Electric Company of
America. Likewise, the General Electric Company has con-

10

wJSt S 1 ° m t bma t lon Wlth the Shibaura Electric Works. The
Western Electric Company has formed a combination with the
Nippon Dento Electric Works. The hand of Americar TcapS
is also suspected in the recently announced Tnion of Aour
mill companies m Japan. Through this merger six of the
biggest companies with a combined daily prodScin^anacitv
of close to twenty thousand barrels united SSSrSS
is now planning to swallow up fifteen smallei • compSS ; a n?
organize itself into a national federation com P aru es and
In China our imperialists are on their guard At the con-
ference of the Associated American Chambers of Commerce Sf
China and Manila, recently held at Shanghai, our ?Sists
passed a resolution demanding that WasWngtoS taSSSSj
strengthen the American marine, naval and mUi^v control
m China to the fullest requirements It is 3th!7fv
: the most important meeting S&^S^^^
ization has ever held." The fact that JapauwSS
has not yet been able to collect dividends in £ S S fnd

t + i, \t *£ e Near East ' Eur °Pe, and Africa

itself U JSff aSt> A i? erican imperialism is also making
t t + 6 fam0US Cllester concessions, the drive for oi
n Mesopotamia, and the growing interest of American inves

wTnVsYerr 1116 ^ ^ indiCate tte ^CT^SZ

Won'S* Y f£ kee -^Perk-lists have their eyes on Europe also
Wall Street has done more than its share to turn Austria into
a coolie colony. An American corporation lawye? Jeremiah C
Smith, is today financial dictator of Hungary^ Our caSsS
are now landing heavily on Italian resourced 7anc Tbolsterfni U n
the Fascist tyranny of Mussolini. At the cIosp nf i o£ ?I P
was announced the organization of tteKalian PowerCo^
100 per cent American corporation organized to finlnce itht
anu power enterprises in Italy. Amonsr the diWtfttS **?

Bangui T^T^ ^*&£*££ the

involving abont halt a dozen ^^p<Sn o3SL ^T 6 ^'
States, that is, the Stone ft W.fflS^'J*;

11

ests, were represented by Father Denning, who was supposed
to be bringing the Light of Christianity and the Power of the
Saviour to the backward tribesmen.

Chapter III

THE AMERICAN COLONIAL EMPIRE

American Colonialism

IN more ways than one does the American imperial and
* colonial empire resemble the Roman empire of old. But
the most outstanding resemblance of the policy of the Roman
republic of yesterday to the modern American capitalist im-
perialistic republic of today, lies in the management of the
colonies and in the interference with domestic affairs in the
various spheres of influence. The American military governor
generals of the colonial possessions are the exact prototypes
of the procurators and pro-consuls governing the provinces of
the old Roman empire. In Rome men were given the office of
pro-consul or procurator in order to redeem either their
personal fortunes or those of their political friends and
masters. On exactly the same principle are our colonial mili-
tary governor generals chosen today.

General Leonard Wood was sent into the Philippines to
force upon the Filipinos an economic policy which would
enable him to repay in valuable concessions the powerful
bankers and manufacturers who financed his primary cam-
paign in 1920 to the cost of $2,000,000.

Likewise, we find Major Enoch H. Crowder, formerly chief
of the American military staff, serving as Ambassador to
Cuba.

An American commission is now in Bolivia watching the
collection of taxes in the interest of the Standard Oil Co.

In Nicaragua, the only solvent country in Central Amer-
ica, the United States administers the treasury and customs
of the country in the interest of the American bankers and
investors.

The decisive outcome of an election in Honduras depends
on the conduct of an American warship lying off its coast. L

The Argentine Republic cannot pass laws regulating its f
own industries without the sanction of the American packing
interests. South America is often in danger of war and strife
because of the machinations of American war contractors
fostering rivalry among the southern republics. The Bethle-
hem Steel Co. has recently become the official contractor for

12

the Argentine navy. The Secretary of State Hughes has be-
come the official spokesman for the American bankers in all
their deals as shown by the recent $6,000,000 loan to Salvador
in which the State Department "assisted" in the selection of
the collector of customs, who, according to the loan contract,
is to be appointed in case of default.

American capitalists have been quick to extend their
domination wherever catastrophe has aided them. The col-
lapse of thfc sugar market in Cuba during the latter part of
1920 is a typical case in which the industries of the weaker
country were salvaged in order to enable the American inter-
ests to secure over 50 per cent control. How serious the inter-
ference of American capitalists, aided and abetted by the
United States Govrenment, is in the internal affairs of these
weaker exploited nations is clearly seen from the present
situation in Brazil. An American naval mission of about 30
officers, with the approval of the United States Navy Depart-
ment, has for several months taken over control of the
Brazilian naval schools, shipyards, and fleet. They were paid
by, the Brazilian government. This has resulted in upsetting
the naval balance of power between the ABC powers and has
proven a source of serious trouble to the whole continent.

In the Philippines

American occupation and influence are characterized by
the same brutality and outrageous conduct coloring the
actions of the other imperialist powers. Since General Wood
has arrived in the Philippines he has pursued a policy of forc-
ing the natives to hand over valuable concessions to Ameri-
can capitalists. In this campaign General Wood has made the
attempts of the natives to nationalize their industries, the
target of his attacks. The obvious purpose of these attempts
at government ownership in these lesser developed countries
is to save the industries from falling into the hands of foreign
exploiters. The purpose of this agent of American imperialism
is to remove all hindrances and obstacles to the domination of
the weaker countries by American capital.

The Filipinos strongly resent this move of General Wood.
Their Senate and Legislature have gone on strike against this
high-handed policy of their American masters. The Filipinos
are bent on preventing the American capitalists from gobbling
up their country. There is talk of independence. The Ameri-
can auditor, Wright, has cut off the independence funds. So
serious a turn have recent events taken in the Philippines that

13

the imperialists of other countries are afraid that the con-
tagion of national independence will spead from these Islands

X? 3} &k % tr °^ le in the entire Far Bast Thus **e editor of
St Far Ef St ' ° ne of the leadin S Japanese imperialist jour-
nals in Tokio, recently declared that the Filipino crisis was
adding fresh fuel to the anti-foreign fires smouldering in
China to the anti-British blazes in India and to the general
unrest against control in many parts of Asia and in large sec
toons of Africa." This remark is especially significant since
normaUy Japan would like to see the United States get out of
the Philippines in double quick time. It is interesting to note
how the capitalist imperialists of all countries line up and
atTtakl 11 " dlfferences when their fundamental interests are

In Cuba

When the Cuban millionaire, Colonel Tarafa, proposed his
bin to consolidate the railways so as to eliminate 47 private
ports m Cuba, President Coolidge, at the behest of the Ameri-
can Sugar Refining Co., the American Metal Co., and more
than a score of other firms representing at least a half billion
dol ars, warned the Cuban government to drop considerat Z
fn St.?T American imperialist agents even resorted
to the tactics they employed in the Canal Zone by an attempt
to engineer a fake revolution in the country. Much resent-

Stem^nf^S f™* UP * ° Uba againSt ™* ^-Sd
gove^ent Amencan ca P lta **s to throttle their native

The Virgin Islands

In the other colonies and spheres of American influence
there is considerable trouble brewing. The Virgin Islands are
complaining bitterly, as can be seen from the folloV£?ap D S
"wt t edlt °^° f l l e " Ema * ci Pator," one of their naTive pap eS
We are serfs who work for wages ranging from ten cents
to a doUar a day. Politically we are pe?ns governed bv ?ht
United States Navy Federal United States laws Thave worked
havoc upon these islands. The people live in one-room houses
eat scanty meals, and are forced to move about inTS
unbecoming civilized people at this age." manner

In Porto Rico

Porto Rico has repeatedly demanded its independpnrp
from Amencan imperialism. What American exploSon S
Porto Rico means is seen from the f olio wing ; anneal of
Iglesias for independence: "There ar^S^^S^S

14

islands choicest land under the control of 447 American
Spanish and French corporations and individuals. wThave
all the evJs of absentee ownership and faulty systems of edu-
cation, industry, credit and sanitation." oi ecu

In Mexico

Even Mexico does not afford unbounded peace antf o nm
fort to American imperialists. ThougHbregon anf Can?s

ests and are dropping all pretense at friendship even with the
most conservative labor elements, there are disturbing factors
on the political horizon in Mexico. In spite of our cariSS
being sure that Calles, the most likely successor to oSSS?
will do their bidding, they are taking ^teps tc make sure fS
no losses are suffered by them in the change ofadmSstS

) co^nS ° f ^ la HUGrta agamst th * Obregon-CaHes

Haiti and Santo Domingo
Our marines hold Haiti, San Domingo and Nicaragua
Central America is under our financial thumb. L American
financial mission is instructing Colombia how to run fts
finances. Bolivian policy is dictated by American bankers
Peru is virtually in American hands. The present Fascist
Peruvian government is a puppet of big finLcial Inte? es 2
_with headquarters in Wall Street. interests

Dollar Diplomacy

policy* b'y^ecSLTv^ ° f *******

I I j Z. y secretary of State Hughes have been forcpfniiv
stated by Secretary of State Hu|hes before the AmeriSn
Bar Association a few months asm Tf mo ^ m erican
such vergiage of Hughes as the Monroe Dncfrinp 'M n L
infringe upon the independence and sovere gntv o a
American states and does not stand in the way of ^ Pan-Am^ri

nTJ°'TJ atl °y he wm find that American imperLl^n
no way differs from any other capitalist Imperialsm DeSiS

the recent Pan-American conference. aeiegates to

15

Chapter IV

THE MENACE OF MILITARISM

THE rule of dollar democracy by our financiers and indus-
trialists at home has been translated into a regime of
dollar diplomacy abroad and in our vast colonial possessions.
American democracy now truly rests upon a monarchy of
gold and an aristocracy of finance.

In order to maintain control of our growing imperialist
empire and spheres of influence and in order to serve Ameri-
can investors abroad, the American government has been
steadily developing and strengthening its military and naval
machines. We have invested over $4,000,000,000 in the navy
The aim of the American navalists is to secure a navy second
to none. The 1923 report of the former Secretary of the Navy
Denby demands a further increase in the American fighting
ships. Gunboats, submarines and fast cruisers are especially
recommended. From December 31, 1912, to December 31
1922, the value of the American Navy has increased from
$602,352,000 to $1,445,992,000, or an increase of 259 4 ner
cent. " v

Growth of Militarism

_ The extent to which the United States has been militar-
ized is clearly portrayed by the report of the Secretary of War
for 1923 m the following: "During the past ten years, while
the cost of national defense has been doubled, the regular
^oo7 aS 1 mcreased its ac tual total strength from 92,035 to
id^,«34, the national guard from 120,802 to 160 598 the
organized reserves from 0 to 78,338, and the total of the army
of the United States from 212,000 to 371,770. This increase
alone, considered in relations to the decrease in value of the
dollar and the change in character of the army (including
addition of such elements as motor transportation, tanks
aviation, and chemical warfare service), would apparently
justify a doubling of the total defense cost. In the same
period, moreover, the number of citizens under training not
as members of the army of the United States, has increased
?? n! i I n the citizen ' s military training camps from 0 to
S™.? ^ 1 6 reS6rve officers ' train *g corps (which corre-
sponds to the unorganized military schools of the pre-war
period) from 31,028 to 101,129. The total of individuals unX

training has thus increased from 243,865 to 504,010. From
April 15, 1910, to 'January 1, 1920, the persons in military and
naval service stations abroad rose from 55,608 to 117,238."

The national Defense Act of June 4, 1920, provides for
one huge army consisting of the regular army, the national
guard, and the organized reserve including the officer's reserve
corps. The country has been divided into nine territorial areas
to carry this scheme into effect. This policv strives for a
mark in militarism never before attempted, "it proposes to
organize an army of two million in time of peace, the creation
of a distinct and permanent military propagandist caste
throughout this country. The duty of this caste is to stimu-
late militarism. Under this policy the Regular Army is to be
used to garrison overseas possessions, the Coast Defenses,
and instruct the National Guard and Organized Reserves'
The organized reserves "will be available for emergencies
within the United States or elsewhere."

A Business Government

The Department of Commerce through its Bureau of
Foreign and Domestic Commerce and its Foreign Trade staff
abroad, and the Department of State, through its diplomatic
and consular staff abroad, vie with the Departments of War
and Navy in rendering services to our imperialist exploiters.
Congress has acted to help American capitalists find new
sources of raw material needed by them in their manufacture
and especially those sources of products now controlled by
foreign interests. Thus we find the Secretary of Commerce
say in his last, 1923, report: "There are a number of neces-
sary raw materials for the supply of which we are predomi-
nantly dependent on imports from foreign countries. Possibly
as a result of the war, but more particularly during the past
18 months, there has been a growing tendency for producers
of these commodities to combine in control of prices as
against the American market. This is particularly the case in
nitfStes, tanning extracts, quinine, rubber, sisal, tin, cork
mercury, tungsten and various minor minerals." Under au-
thority of Congress, the Secretary's report says, an exhaustive
examination of such combinations was undertaken by the
department before the close of the fiscal year to determine
first, the character and extent of the combinations them-
selves; second, whether alternative sources of these raw ma-
terials could be stimulated and their natural competition
induced; third, what relief could be obtained by stimulation of

17

synthetic or substitute materials within our own borders-
and fourth, what protective or retaliatory legislation could be
undertaken?"

Preparing For Action

Our employing class is preparing for a show down on all
fronts in its struggle for imperialist supremacy. First of all
the joint congressional reorganization committee is planning
to submit to Congress a program aiming at a complete reor-
ganization of the government machinery. The outstanding
features of this plan are an increase in the centralization of
power, particularly in the hands of the executive division of
the government. This obvious purpose of such proposals as
giving the president an official assistant and consolidating the
army and navy into one department of National Defense is to
enable the government to function more swiftly and surely in
case the working masses at home will display any restiveness
over our new imperialist aggrandizement.

Besides, the General Staff of the War Department has
prepared tentative plans to mobilize over four hundred thous-
and officers and men at their home stations some time after
the 1924 election. Army men are banking much on this
maneuver which is the first of a series to be put over under
the National Defense Act. This mobilization will be the first
grand show of military force in the country since the
armistice.

From reliable sources in Washington, I have received a
report which disclosed the plan of our big industrial and finan^
cial magnates to end the present chaos characterizing the
administration of our colonial affairs. The capitalists and
bankers are sick and tired of having the authority over our
msular possessions and customs collections in Central and
South America divided in the hands of the War Department
Navy and Interior; Haiti, the Philippines, Porto Rico and the
nfthf w eC n Ver 5 ip ° f San Domi *S° Zone are in the hands

are n^^^T'' I Me the Virgin Islands a » d Guam
are run by the Navy Department.

Hnnc^f Pe ° Ple 1 Cl ^ SeSt to the stock excll ange and the White

tion of J 01 ^ ° Ut 2 Plan Whereby the entire administra-
abr«?5 S f affairs and protection of all American interests
abroad will be centralized in the hands of one administrative

aSfSf ™ S « ^oldinf Sem!

18

and ^^t^ur 0 ^^"^^^ workers
flyer in imperialism. ^ttTw^^! 8 ? r6ady for a
are face to face with the situatLI wh&h n Amencan workers
rather than later, lead I thS coumrv i nt ^ mevitabl y> sooner
as England, France andXanmay b^eTenTL ^
ously expects them to allow America tr ' *l 0 ° ne sen ~

their own imperialist plans menca to nde roughshod over

Chapter V
THE UNITED STATES-THE WORLD'S BANKER
AND MANUFACTURER

Gigantic Industrial Development

^^^^^^^^ t0

ent, if not for our lSLTSl.Sf We arG already de P end "
world market Our wheat ™i 7° , ° Ur P ros Perity, on the
the price they iSTto recliS T^ 0 - 0 * t0Ward Liver Pool for
growers of the South as Ztu Z^T P 0 ,*" 5 * The cotto *
burgh, are closely haterwoTIn with tb. t T rkers , of ™s-
The war has increased tZ deveZ^tl Z^ et& of Euro P e -
the world for the disposal of ?£ ^surplus * StateS ° n

terprle! ST^^^ Atrial en-

figures. From 1914 to i Q^Q ?if f Gn from the following
our Industrie? loie ^iT^lf^lSolof* 1 ??^ *
fncrea^d 2^0.1^ VSSS^f^

$4,281,997,816 to [nf, l 4 % ^oT^^T *° m
eaped from $6,112,000,000 t $ 133 L 6 oS * ° f ? m Crops
$3,783,000,000 to $6 51 k fioo nnn ' * ' 00; anunaI Products,
to $17,697,000 000 • ^i^? 1 - faCtUre8 ' $9 ' 878 '346,000

300,000 to $5 607 000 000 ^ ^ in P reased from $2,118,-
$1,680,900,000 ' ' f ° reSt P roduc ^ $568,820,000 to

19

The national income of the United States has increased
from $33,200,000,000 to $52,457,000,000 in this period. From
1912 to 1922 the total national wealth of the countrv increased
from $186,299,664,000 to $320,803,862,000, or a gain of more
than 72 per cent.

Our merchant marine has grown from 5,427,536 tons in
1914 to 17,062,460 in 1922. Ships of American registry car-
ried 45.5 per cent of our foreign trade during the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1923. In 1913 ships of American registry
carried only 11 per cent of our imports and 9 per cent of our
exports.

Undisputed Financial Supremacy

America has become the banker of the world. The De-
partment of Commerce in its last annual report has stated
that the world required no less than $4,692,000,000 to pay
its current commercial obligation to the United States. Since
the armistice, November 11, 1918, European loans to the
extent of $1,186,750,000 have been floated in the United
States. In war debts alone the Allies owe America over
$11,000,000,000. America has more than half the world's
gold, $4,340,000,000, at this writing. In the last calendar
year alone the world has sent to the United States $332,-
715,812 in gold. How rapidly the world's gold has been drift-
ing into the United States can be seen from the latest figures
of the Department of Commerce showing that for the 11
months ending November, 1913, we imported $1,608,570,909
worth of gold. For the same period in 1923 we imported
$3,504,500,031. Since the war only four Scandinavian loans
have been placed in London at the total value of $37,000,000.
At the same time there were ten loans placed in dollars in New
York at the total value of $162,000,000.

America has been turned from a debtor nation into a
creditor nation. In 1915 the European capitalists held
$2,704,000,000 worth of United States railway stocks and se-
curities. Two years afterwards more than half of these hold-
ings were transferred to American hands. In 1914 more than
one-fourth of the stocks of the United States Steel Corpora-
tion were held in Europe. Today the proportion is less than
one-tenth. Because of the great need for credit for their
huge borrowings, France and England sent over the best of
their gilt-edge securities during the war. Through the invest-

20

ment of capital abroad the United States has become the silent
f ^ ^ the /ate of every established order in the world
In 1923 alone American capitalists bought foreign securities
to the value of $410,000,000. Our foreign traSe has increased
from $2,250,822,000 in 1913 to $7,508,424,000 in ^ nCreased

Master of World's Available Resources

In 1917 the United States exercised political or territorial
control over 67 per cent of the petroleum produced through-
out the world, and over 72 per cent of the petroleum produced
was m the financial grip of Wall Street. The 1923 oil re-
duction reports show that 72.5 per cent of the total world oil
supply estimated produced was in the United States. Adding
the quantity of crude oil imported, one finds that the United
States today controls at least 80 per cent of the world's
available oil supply. But nearly 50 per cent of our own petro-
leum resources in the United States have been exhausted
Thus about seven-eighths of the estimated world oil resources
now lie outside of the United States. This accounts for the
growing attention that the United States is paying to Mexico
the Caribbean republics, and the South American republics
which fall m the second greatest oil area in the world

Of the supply of corn estimated as having been raised in
the world in 1923, the United States produced a quantity more
than three times as great as that of all the other producing
countries combined. &

N^y three-fourths of the world ' s ^own coal reserves
are in North America. More than half of the world's suppdy is
m the United States. Out of the estimated supply of coal
produced in the world in 1923, 1,335,000,000 metric tons, 43 5
per cent were produced in the United States. A noted French
economist summed up the European view of the American
imperialist power in this fashion: "One fact dominates all
others: the rise of the United States to world hegemony.
Lord Robert Cecil has compared the position of the United
States after the great war with Great Britain after the Napo-
leonic wars. That comparison is not quite exact; because the
™ sh £% e ™*y was ev er essentially European while that
oi tne Lnited States today is universal, controlling an im-
mense reservoir of raw materials, of manufactured products
and of capital. The United States has become an economic
center m connection with which all the world must work and

21

Chapter VI

DOLLAR DIPLOMACY
Our Foreign Policy

THE Latin-American countries form the natural hinterland
for America's surplus capital and new sources of raw
material. Observers of recent developments in the field of
world politics have pointed out that there is a spirited compe-
tition for favor and trade of South American republics by the
leading imperialist powers. The following are new develop-
ments in this sphere of international competition. "Great
Britain has dispatched a financial commission from South-
ampton to South American countries to recommend loans.
Prance has a military commission in Argentina, and seeks to
extend her power and influence. Italy and Spain have entered
into an understanding whereby they will go after a share of
South American business, and will combat efforts of France
and possibly Great Britain. The United States has for some
time maintained a naval commission in Brazil and Peru and
late this month will send to Peru Lieutenant H. B. Grow
to build up an aviation unit."

Dollar diplomacy is no longer squirmed at or camou-
flaged by the spokesmen and diplomats of American imperial-
ism. Secretary of State Hughes recently lauded the Monroe
Doctrine, before the American Bar Association, as the great-
est safeguard to peace and security for the Latin-American
countries. But perhaps the most whole-hearted endorsement
of dollar diplomacy as a panacea was made by the millionaire
engineer and former chairman of the Federal Coal Commis-
sion, John Hays Hammond, before the American Management
Association on October 3, 1923. Tersely expressed Mr
Hammond's program might be summed up as follows' "A
few men from the United States with high commercial ability
and business acumen, scattered in the capitals throughout
the world, would be able to erect economic safeguards to
capital to which would send a stream of American money into
the far croners of the earth, developing unused resources
vastly increasing the total international productivity and rais-
ing the standard of living for civilized men." At this confer-
ence Mr. Hammond, whom we quoted, laid down the 14 points
of dollar diplomacy. •

22

i

■i

!
i

i

In the Pacific

But the United States is not satisfied with -r ia
afforded it by complete hegemony over the loutt a J ^
American countries. America has W» ? - entraI

the Far East Addressing The'lenatT of SSSj^,?
% ^£^£ I £?^ ^ -en Syes^f
penitent none feared tL ^luZToF7X S SV 1 *
But the Pacific had its menaces and *w Sff i confllct tllere -
Our termor

strange to us; its farther shores not unknown to oTr citYzens"'
There is no question that the French-Indn rni„.L ™
though of tremendous size, is at present not „ ™ m ^
American imperialists in this sphered, tafaence oXbU"

Ss hTre ^ Wh6n al " ed ^ a mMace to American tote?!

Treaty has at least formally replaced the Ar S„ Z**

ance. Of course tho tw/* c* * e V An S^o- Japanese alii-

mended by its General Naval S in Wis °£nd 1 So™™"
four-year naval holiday only rivesAn,»rit. = 5 Tte

the new developments In

Mg d h re™ infernaI ma< * toes ot d — ™ *i " tte
American imperialists are bent, under the enise of «r>w

mines in the world. ^ labor and raw material

arrtZ^SS^T&tT"* anti " SOViet in
present directly military JfeiSSi Opposition is at

imperialist capital ^^tI?K % ^7 ^
from Soviet Russia i<s *«n • ™, United States fears
Soviet Sa af^ Sni Rowing: The very existence of
powers is fn Lelff,^ ab J e ? e t0 aU the capitalist world

23

"Restoring" Europe

American European policy is only beginning to assume a
definite character. In the main our financiers and industrial-
ists have been pursuing a policy of watchful waiting to jump
in at the most appropriate moment when the best bargain
could be struck with a bankrupt Europe. American imperial-
ism wants its pound of flesh here and is only waiting for the
moment when it can get this with the least effort and at the
smallest price. A broken down, bankrupt Europe would
virtually be a coolie colony in the hands of American exploit-
ers. The fate that has befallen Austria is a fate that Wall
Street would have overwhelm the rest of Europe.

Our capitalists fear the influence of Soviet Russia on
European powers. They feel that the de jure recognition of
Russia in the fold of European political and commercial rela-
tions would interfere with this plan. Therefore, the Coolidge
administration is continuing the policy of attempting to isolate
Russia.

Through the acceptance of the Banker-Generals Charles
G. Dawes, Owen D. Young and Henry M. Robinson on the
Reparations Commission, the United States has taken the
first step towards the achievement of its European program.

That this has marked the first of a series of definite steps
towards the dominating American financial groups becoming
the receivers of bankrupt Europe is made plain by the swift-
ness with which subsequent developments in this direction
are now taking place. Before the Dawes report was made
public, J. P. Morgan & Co., whose spokesmen on the Repara-
tions Commission were Young and Robinson, made a loan of
$100,000,000 to save the tottering franc and the political head
of their lackey, Poincare.

The Dawes Report

No sooner had the Dawes report mortgaging the German
working class to the greedy and profit-hungry coterie of inter-
national capitalists been made public, than an open demand
was made for an American receivership for Europe. It is
significant to note that this has been the objective of the most
conscious of America's capitalists. As far back as October,
1919, the special correspondent of the Wall Street Journal
cabled from Germany to the effect that there was but one
solution of the European crisis and that was "a straightfor-
ward receivership for Germany!" The same journal of high

24

finance had also suggested then that Brigadier General
Charles G. Dawes be chosen to untangle the reparations knot

In the light of this trend of events, the proud boast of the
Wall Street Journal of April 11, 1924, is enlightening- "The
essence of the Dawes report, the one possible means by which
its suggestions can be carried out, is a receivership" Of
course, a receivership for Europe today means an American
receivership. The proposed $200,000,000 loan to Germany to
help the stabilization of its currency will prove the immediate
entering wedge for the receivership. About $100,000 000 of
this loan to the International Acceptance Bank about to be
organized m Berlin, will be taken up bv American bankers

President Coolidge hastened to assure our capitalists the
unlimited resources of the government in support of this new
imperialist plunge when he declared publicly: "I trust that
American capital will be willing to participate in advancing
this loan." Obviously the policy of Wall Street here will be
the same as the policy pursued in Hungary where a Boston
bankers' attorney, Mr. Jeremiah Smith, now reigns supreme
as financial dictator.

This continuous encroachment of American financial and
mdustrial interests on the natural resources and industries of
continental Europe will, in the long run, bring about serious
organized political and military opposition from the European
countries. Our capitalists are preparing for such event-
ualities.

25

Chapter VII

CAPITALIST IMPERIALISM AND THE ARISTOCRACY

OF LABOR

Role of Labor Aristocracy

THE labor aristocracy, the upper crust of the skilled section
* of the working class, has in America, as in other imperial-
ist countries, become an integral part of the entire machinery
of our ruling class. This small group of our working class is
developing more and more a tangible economic interest in the
maintenance and the perpetuation of American financial, com-
mercial and military supremacy in colonial countries, new
markets and new spheres of influence. The handful of highly
skilled workers is being welded to the high-handed imperialist
plans of looting the weaker countries. This layer of the
working class is permitted to share in the advantages reaped
by the monopolists at the expense of the rest of the workers
at home and the colonial and weaker peoples abroad.

Thus we find that the officialdom of the American Federa-
tion of Labor speaking primarily for the upper crust of our
working class, has turned a deaf ear to the cries of the nations
oppressed by the Wall Street government. Upon his return
from his latest visit to Panama in January, 1924, Mr. Samuel
Gompers was emphatic in his description of the conditions in
Haiti as satisfactory. Mr. Gompers handed out this endorse-
ment of American domination of Haiti despite the fact that
the behavior of the military and naval agents of Wall Street
in Haiti is notorious for its brutality even in the history of
American imperialism which is replete with practices of
cruelty and utter disregard for the wishes and aspirations of
the weaker peoples under its yoke.

After months of agitation by the Communists the Execu-
tive Council of the American Federation of Labor was com-
pelled to take notice of the serious crisis prevailing in the
Philippines because of the resistance of the native masses to
the domination of American capital. In taking notice of this
giant struggle against Yankee imperialism in the Far East,
the Executive Council was primarily concerned with the fact
that "many of the products of the Philippine Islands come into
the states, duty free, in direct competition with the higher
paid workingmen and women of the mainland, thus making

26

it practically impossible for employes and independent manu-
facturers to meet competition." In its half-hearted endorse-
ment of the Philippine independence movement, an endorse-
ment which was adopted at an executive session of the council
on February 15, 1924, the American Federation of Labor
bureaucracy took no steps to solidify the ranks of the Filipino
and American workers and to unite the workers of both
countries in a common struggle against their common enemy,
in the fight for complete freedom from economic exploitation
and political oppression.

When the reactionary German industrialist group, hiding
behind the cloak of the traitorous social democracy, was men-
aced by the hungry German masses the Executive Council of
the American Federation of Labor issued an appeal, osten-
sibly for the relief of the German working masses, but actually
for the salvaging of the capitalist dictatorship then threatened
with ruin. The Executive Council of the American Federation
of Labor has persistently fought all attempts at drawing the
American trade union movement into the fold of even the
faintest form of international working class action. The
yellow Amsterdam International has proved too red for
Gompers and his agents. However, the labor international of
the League of Nations and the International Chamber of Com-
merce at Rome have not been black enough for Mr. Gompers
who has formally co-operated with these capitalist institutions
in sundry ways.

Developing Vested Interests

Evidence that the highly skilled labor aristocracy is more
and more developing a vested interest in the imperialist capi-
talist system is multiplying. An examination of recent ten-
dencies in the trade union movement amongst skilled workers
towards labor banking affords painfully striking proof of this
truth. Without getting into a discussion at this, point about
the merits and demerits of labor banking for the working
class in its struggle with the capitalists, one need but cite the
following pertinent authoritative remark which characterizes
fundamentally the growing vested interest that the upper
crust of our working class is developing in the imperialist
order. We quote the following:

"When a wage earner invests some of his earnings in
the business enterprise in which he, himself, is employed,
he becomes a better workman, he takes a new interest in
the business; he feels that he has a stake in it which Is

27

more important than the weekly pay envelope. And when
a man gets this feeling, he settles down and becomes de-
pendable. For he comes to feel that he also has a part in
the prosperity and progress of the country which places
upon him the obligation of industry, of thrift, and of good
citizenship!" (Bold face ours.)

This eulogy of labor banking, unmasking the true char-
acter of labor banking and its dangers to the working class
movement in the imperialist stage of capitalism, is not taken
from such big business organs as the Wall Street
Journal, the Financial and Commercial Chronicle, the Nation's
Business, or American Industries. The quotation is taken
directly from a pamphlet published by the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers entitled "Making Millions Out of
Pennies."

Richard BoeckeL author of "Labor Banking," and one of
the most noted students of this phase of our trade union
movement, in an article captioned "Our Revolution at Home,"
in the April, 1924, issue of the Forum makes the following
significant statements:

"One of the first transactions of the Brotherhood In-
vestment Co. was the purchase for the Brotherhood of a
third interest in the Empire Trust Company of New York,
a $60,000,000 financial institution. At the same time the
purchase was made, the Brotherhood secured an option
on the remaining shares necessary to control the bank.
Two officials of the Brotherhood will complete purchases
under its option and assume full control of the bank in
June of this year. It is interesting to note that the Empire
Trust Company is given in a pamphlet, 'The Capitalist
Press — Who Owns it and Why,' recently issued by the
British Labor Party as the holder of '587 shares or more
than half of the total capital' of the Centra&'News Limited,
of London, one of the largest European news agencies."
(Bold face ours.)

It may seem strange to the reader at first sight to learn
that the Central News Agency was one of the most energetic
enemy of all working class movements in Europe.

The following two statements taken from authoritative
propagandists for the last World War and is today a bitter
spokesmen of the biggest capitalist groups in the country,
commenting on another financial venture of our trade union
bankers, are most instructive. We quote:

28

Financial & Commercial Chronicle, March 29, 1924;
"Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Co-operative
National Bank participates in offering of International
Great Northern Railroad Bonds. An offering vesterday
(March 28) of $3,500,000 6 per cent gold bonds of the
International Great Northern Railroad Company jointly
by the National City Company of New York and the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Co-operative Na-
tional Bank of Cleveland represents the first financing on
a large scale to be participated in by so-called capital and
labor banking institutions. The offering does not involve
any new financing by the railroad, or any increase in the
amount of bonds outstanding, the bonds having been
purchased from Speyer & Co. and J. & W. Seligman &
Company, and thus consist of a block of bonds owned by
the bankers. With respect to this week's joint offering
it is pointed out as a significant fact that the largest bank
in the country, representing the biggest aggregation of
commercial and financial interests in the United States,
is willing to hold out its hand and join forces with labor
in a constructive attempt to create more harmonious
relationships between the two elements." (Bold face
ours.)

New York Tribune, March 27, 1924. "This is the
first public appearance of the Brotherhood Bank in con-
nection with the floatation of securities by a Wall Street
investment house, although it has handled local issues in
Cleveland and has had a 'silent' participation in many of
the large issues recently. The fact that, in its bow to the
investment public, the Brotherhood Bank was associated
with the National City Company, the investment branch
of the largest financial institution in the United States,
was regarded as of particular significance. The offering
will be conducted by the Brotherhood Bank in precisely
the same way as that employed by the non-labor banking
firms and institutions, subscriptions being filled in the
order received, regardless of their source. The Bank will,
however, circularize the members of the Brotherhood in
an effort to dispose of the bonds, this being the first occa-
sion when it has ever offered railroad securities to its
members. The officials of the bank are opposed to part
payment plans on the theory that a man who cannot pay
in full for a $100 bond should keep his money in the sav-

29

ings bank, and no arrangement of this kind will be
adopted to facilitate subscriptions by members.

"In connection with the offering, it became known
yesterday that the Brotherhood Bank, the oldest and
strongest of the labor banks in this country, only recently
has turned its attention to railroad bonds. It has pre-
viously purchased these for investment purposes, but
today will mark initial recommendation for such securi-
ties of plans for expansion made some weeks ago by the
investment company through which the various Brother-
hood Banks are linked up. Wall Street bankers, while
frankly inclined to view the new alliance in the invest-
ment banking field with the Brotherhood institution
as in the nature of an experiment, were ready to
admit that, if successful, it would open up tremendous
possibilities for future development. The enterprise fs
regarded as demonstrating that the Brotherhood of Loco-
motive Engineers is in the banking business on substan-
tially the same basis as other financial interests, and that
it is seeking to branch out into all fields where sound
practice offers a profit.

_ "Aside from that aspect of the operation the new
activity of the Brotherhood is looked on as pointing to a
closer community of interest between its members and
the railroads, possibly capable of development at a later
date into a movement toward joint capital and labor
ownership." (Bold face ours.)

One of the ablest leaders of the employing class of the
United States, Mr. Eugene Meyer, Jr., managing director of
the War Fmance Corporation, has estimated the significance
of this tendency in the labor movement in the following clear
manner:

"The advent into the ranks of capitalists of labor
groups of great importance strengthens existing institu-
tions and makes for evolutionary as against revoiutionarv
change." 1

30

Chapter VIII

A PROGRAM OF ACTION

THE price of our imperialists for the development of the

^ f ? 16 i and , natUral resourc es of the colonial and
so-called backward countries, and the price of American
"humanitarian help" towards European reconstruction is
complete economic hegemony over all of these territories
The steps already taken by the United States government in
helping capitalists secure a firmer foothold in the Near East
Far East Latin-America and Europe, are only a prelude to
more entangling alliances which are bound, sooner rather
than later, to draw an army of millions of American workers
and farmers "over there" to fight for the safety and defense
of the foreign investments of our employing class. The tying
up of the interests of a small, skilled section of our working
class with the interests of the monopolistic group of the capi
talist class, is an added danger to the welfare and security of
the whole working class and the exploited poor farming

In the light of this ever increasing militarist and imperial-
ist menace to the peace and security of the American workers
and poor farmers the need for united action against Ameri-
can imperialism is more urgent than ever. Towards this end

P^ogr^m: 7 °' AmeriCa Pr ° P ° Ses the fo ^§

\ General propaganda to arouse the opposition of the
laboring and farming masses to imperialism and militarism
2. A united front of all workers' and farmers organiza-
tions against the maintenance and extension of American
imperialist plans. mentaD

3 Concerted action by the workers' and farmers' noliti-

le4 a iaLn C roSt° rga ?i Zati0I1S t0 COmpel Congress to enact
legislation prohibiting the expenditure of a man or a dollar

to guarantee the investments of American capitalists abroad

4 A vigorous campaign in all labor and farm organiza-

American republic. The immediate evacuation of an terrl-

31

tories now occupied by American military and naval forces
should be demanded.

6. A special organizational and prapaganda campaign
to help the Filipino people in their resistance to American
capitalist exploitation. Our workers and farmers should
render the greatest help possible to the Filipinos in their
struggle for complete national independence from United
States imperialist domination, and for the improvement of
their conditions at home.

7. Special publicity campaigns are to be organized
exposing American capitalist brutality in our possessions and
in territories occupied by the military and naval forces of the
United States. The interests dominating Mexico, Central
America, South America, and our island possessions must be
exposed in their true light as imperialist brigands before the
working class and poor farmers.

8. Struggle against the reactionary trade union leaders
of the United States and of the weaker exploited countries.
These leaders of the type of Gompers and the Mexican
Morones have become part and parcel of the imperialist
coterie oppressing the working masses.

9. Struggle against the attempt of the imperialist Cool-
idge administration to unite the countries of the world against
Soviet Russia and against the tacit support given to the mon-
archist movement in Germany by American reactionary
forces.

10. An intensive campaign against American participa-
tion in the League of Nations, the World Court, the Repara-
tions' Commissions, the Dawes Plan and all other imperialist
conferences, alliances and schemes.

11. The organization of an international united front
of the political and economic organizations of the workers and
poor farmers against international capitalist imperialism. The
workers of all the American countries must unite for a com-
mon struggle against American imperialism and the native
capitalist groups of all countries.

12. That copies of this resolution be forwarded to the
labor organizations of all the American possessions, Mexico,
Canada, the Central and South Amercian countries.

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