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their smallness and large numbers,
they were private at all points.
Having been private concerns then,
their modern mammoth, monopolistic
supplanters continue to be looked
upon as private. Due to this vis in-
ertiae of the mind, the pregnant fact
that mammoth concerns of today are
seen the sole purveyors of food,
transportation, light, heat, clothing,
etc., frequently even of enjoyments,
generally escapes due appreciation.
Old habits of thought, acquired under immature economic conditions,
blind the mind to an appreciation of
the pregnant fact that modern industries now work for the public,
that they employ the public, that the
public depends upon them; in short,
that the character of industry
stands transformed. Once a private
affair, it has developed into a public
ministry. That an industry which
supplies the community with ice is a
public ministry may escape the superficial observer. But it cannot escape even the sluggish eye of the
most superficial that the industry
which supplies the community with
information is radically different
from a private affair. The newspaper industry, accordingly, brings
out in clearest light the point of development reached. As with the industries that supply the community
with the material needs of life, those
that supply it with food for the
mind have reached that point where
virtual monopoly exists. The capital
needed to operate them is not within
reach of the masses. Their functions have become public and, therefore, sacred; yet the means to operate them remained private and,
therefore, left them subject to pri
vate whim, caprice and interests.
To overthrow the social system
in which so perverse and brutifying
a contradiction is possible, and to
establish that social system in which
the public ministry of production,
transportation and distribution shall
be placed in the hands of the public, the Socialist Labor Party raised
its standard in 1890, and has kept it
ever since in the front ranks, beating its way forward, undeterred by
difficulties or opposition. That same
undaunted spirit now sets up its
daily paper to hasten on the day
when the work, initiated by the Revolutionary Fathers, shall be completed, and economic dependence being abolished, freedom may reign in
the land.
The capitalist press, obedient to
the principle of its ownership, performs its ministry upon lines identical with all other capitalist enterprises—for private gains; "it is
there to sell." The Daily People
has a message to deliver to the
working class of America, upon
whose back a brigand class is riding
it to cooliedom.
The Daily People will deliver its
message undeterred by open foes,
undiscouraged by hidden ones, and
unaffected by any wiles of cajolery.
It will deliver its message, never
compromising with truth to make a
friend, nor ever withholding a blow
at error lest it make an enemy. Conscious of the arduous task before it,
and also conscious of the certain ascendency of its cause, the Daily People unsheathes its sword, gives the
scabbard to the enemy, and enters
the lists.
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