An early article from the future Communist leader during his historic 1912 run for Governor of Ohio. That election saw the Republican Party split, with Roosevelt’s Progressive’s making a strong run. Here, Ruthenberg differentiates the Socialist vision of emancipation with the Progressive’s vision of a ‘kinder’ capitalism. Ruthenberg got nearly 9% of the vote that year.

‘We Want to Be Free’ by Charles E. Ruthenberg from The Socialist (Columbus). Vol. 2 No. 88. August 24, 1912.

Socialist Candidate for Governor.

Newspapers of the reform type, which in the past have sometimes been Socialistic in their utterances, are hailing the National Progressive (Roosevelt) party as a movement toward human freedom, and its platform is called a statement of human rights as against property rights. According to these pseudo supporters of the workers, the latter are to be freed from the profit system through the reforms advocated in the platform of this new party.

Suppose we close our eyes for the moment to the character of the men who stand sponsor for this new party. Let us forget that it is Perkins and Gary, and perhaps Morgan who are financing this movement.

We will ignore the past record of its candidate for the presidency. We will wipe the slate clean of the Alton Steal, his attempt to arouse prejudice against workingmen in jeopardy of their lives, the insult to the working class in his misrepresentations of Socialism, and his failure while in office to apply this new progressive creed.

We will even attempt the impossible and try to credit the inner circle, the leaders of this movement with sincere desire to relieve the working class from the oppression of capitalism.

What then? Is there any more reason why any workingman or woman should support this party? What does its platform promise the working class? Abolition of child labor; a minimum wage law for women and children; eight hour day in industries operating twenty-four hours per day; a workingman’s compensation law; old age pensions; these, are some of its demands.

We want more than that: we want to cease to be industrial slaves: we want to be free.

Regulating our hours of labor, providing compensation when we are injured and returning to us in old age a trifling part of what we are robbed of during years of exploitation will not free us from industrial slavery. We want to be free from the blighting bords of capitalism. Capitalism keeps us in constant fear of unemployment. It makes our lives a struggle for mere existence. It gives to the irresponsible few the control over opportunities to use our brain and muscle in the production of those things we need in order to live. It is the cause of constant industrial warfare which condemns us when as a last resort against the oppression of the master class we are forced to go on strike to hunger and privations.

We of the working class produce the wealth of the world but the profit system takes from us all but enough. to keep us in condition to produce more profits. Our ingenuity has brought into existence the mighty machines which give us, the power to produce enough of all the things we need in order to live to supply the wants of all, but capitalism has given to the parasitic few the benefit of our work. These machines in place of lightening our burdens have been used to take from many of us the opportunity to work. In place of supplying our necessities they have been used to produce more profits for our masters,

Capitalism represents legalized robbery; it makes us slaves of the owners of industry.

The promise of reform–to smooth away some of the sharp corners of the profit system will not free us from the evils of capitalism. We will accept all the concessions made us. We know they are concessions to our growing power. Some of the concessions will strengthen us. We will accept them gladly. But before us lies our goal. We will not waver in our march toward it. We know that the profit system holds no promise for us. Therefore, we march onward to the day when through our power we will abolish the profit system and win for ourselves the right of a new life.

In the life we will organize our productive forces so that we can supply the needs of all. By providing for services and not for profits we will do away with waste and inefficiency. This will give us, after supplying our material needs, ample time for recreation. It will open up the avenues of education and culture. Literature, music and art will be ours to enjoy. We will delve deep in the history of the past and our research will wrench from nature her last secret.

This is the new life which is the goal of the militant workers. This new life will be ours, not through abolition of child labor, not through minimum wage laws, not through compensation for industrial efforts or old age pensions, but through revolution in our social system which will establish the collective ownership of the means of production and distribution. It is this social revolution for which the Socialist Party is fighting, which will bring industrial freedom to the workers and not the reform of the National Progressive Party.

With dozens of periodicals named ‘The Socialist’ in U.S. history, it can be hard to distinguish. This ‘The Socialist was the party press of the Columbus, Ohio local between 1910-1914. Those years saw the city have an important streetcar strike and Socialist victories in elections. While the Ohio State Party leaned left, Columbus was more in the tradition of Milwaukee and Chicago in embracing a ‘sewer socialism.’

PDF of full issue: https://archive.org