Ruthenberg reviews an Empire in its ascendancy as he responds to then President Coolidge’s 1926 State of the Union address, in which the interests of the nation and of capitalists were presented as identical by the exponent of the brutal, state-backed economy of Laissez-faire which would soon lead directly to the disastrous policies as President of his Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.

‘The Program of American Capitalism’ by C.E. Ruthenberg from Workers Monthly. Vol. 5 No. 4. February, 1926.

In fulfilling his annual duty of reporting to Congress on the state of the union, President Coolidge outlined a program of the rulers of the United States—the capitalist class. This program presents in bold outline the measures which the capitalists consider necessary to strengthen and develop the existing system of exploitation and to weaken and fetter the class enemy of capitalism—the working class.

Role of American Capital in Partial Stabilization of Capitalism.

The role which the American capitalists have played in the partial stabilization of European capitalism makes this program of great importance. European capitalism was, after the war, in the position of a man sinking into quicksand and engulfed up to his armpits. It was going down into oblivion. Help came from American capitalism. By this help European capitalism has been pulled up out of the quicksands which threatened its destruction and is held there by American capitalism. Its feet, however, are still held fast. The danger of its sinking again is still there. The task which American capitalism has set for itself is the attempt to free capitalism entirely from the destructive forces let loose by the war. The policy is to renew and revive international capitalism, the United States itself in the center, playing a dominating and directing role and reaping the enormous profits out of its achievement.

In order to fulfill this role, it must create the most favorable conditions for itself at home. It must be certain that it can mobilize the full political power of the United States government in support of its plans internationally. It must be in a position to exert pressure against those forces which create conflicts within the capitalist system. The program outlined by the American capitalists, with President Coolidge acting as their mouthpiece, is a program which will create the conditions for the achievement of this goal.

Strengthening American Capitalism Financially.

The program of the capitalists as outlined by President Coolidge opens with a defiant declaration in Support of the existing industrial system. The wealth of our country is not public wealth but private wealth,” declares the President in the name of the capitalist class, “It does not belong to the government, it belongs to the people.”

Of course it does not belong to “the people.” It belongs to the capitalist class. It belongs to individual persons who, to a large extent, are the capitalists.

The maintenance of this system of private ownership of the wealth of the country is the central theme of the president’s message.

“Liberty Under Capitalism.”

Oddly enough, mixed with this defense of the capitalist system there is injected the statement that there can be no liberty under the capitalist system. The president argues against the right of the government to take wealth except for public purposes and in-this argument declares, “The power over the purse is the power over liberty.”

If the power over the purse is the power over liberty, then certainly the great organizations for wealth production which control the purse of the people of this country thru their control over their opportunity to earn a living and over what they shall receive for their work, also control the liberty of this eighty per cent of the nation. This obvious application of the president’s statement, however, does not trouble him. What he is concerned with is the taxes levied upon the capitalist class of this country.

Taxation Policy of American Capitalism.

American capitalism can only take advantage of its opportunity to become the dominant capitalist power of the world if it has surplus capital with which to bolster up the waning capitalist system in Europe and to gain control of raw materials in undeveloped countries of the world. Under the existing tax law, which levies 40 per cent surtaxes upon the big incomes and the profits of the great corporations of this country, the accumulation of new capital has been interfered with by the government taking the profits which should have become new capital. In cutting these taxes in half, as provided for in the capitalist program and in the act about to become a law, American capitalism provides the means for securing additional new capital for the development of its imperialist domination.

The proposals of the president’s program for the quick liquidation of the national debt resulting from the world war is in line with the same policy. The twenty billions which are now tied up in government bonds paid off thru levying taxes thus meaning a lower standard of life for the workers and farmers of the country are to become available as capital for new investments and thus further American financial domination of the world.

The efforts to negotiate agreements for payment of debts to the United States resulting from the war, are part of the program for the extension of the influence of American capitalism. So long as huge unsecured debts are owing to the United States without any agreement as to payment, the situation in relation to further American investment in the countries owing these debts are not favorable. The funding of the debts and a definite agreement as to payment also gives a new club to the American capitalists over the governments involved. Hence, the continuous efforts to secure agreement for the payment of the debts as outlined by President Coolidge in his message.

Government Support.

With the program providing for the extension of American financial domination of the world, there is presented the program creating the means of defending the investments of the American bankers. The imperialist world is threatened by the many contradictions in the interests of the various capitalist countries out of which may, at any moment, come an explosion which will seriously affect the investments of the American capitalists. The pressure of the American government alone is not sufficient to prevent such explosions. Hence, the desire of the dominant American capitalists to create an international machinery thru which control can be exercised over the dangerous spots and the explosion prevented.

The League of Nations and the World Court.

The League of Nations and the World Court constitute such machinery. At the time of the organization of the League of Nations, the great American banking houses, which are engaged in the international loan business, favored the entry of the United States into the League of Nations. Since their defeat in the 1920 elections on this issue, they have continued persistent work to bring the United States government into the League of Nations. The creation of the World Court, an appendage of the League of Nations, has created a favorable opportunity for them to make a move forward without having to face directly the adverse vote against the League of Nations in the 1920 elections.

The advocacy of the entry of the United States into the World Court in the president’s message makes evident that the great international banking houses have become the dominant power of American capitalism, and that the interests of this group are the foremost concern of the Coolidge administration.

The American Military Establishment.

While working for the participation of the United States in these institutions for international domination of capitalism, the capitalists do not overlook the needs, other than financial, to insure the position of the American capitalists. The president declares in his message that the military establishment of the country is of a greater strength than ever before in time of peace. This establishment, the president says, is an instrument “to promote good will and support stability among all peoples.”

The last words of this quotation are significant of the purpose of American capitalism. The aim is “to support stability among all peoples.” That is the condition of profitable investment. If it cannot secure stability thru the World Court and the League of Nations, then it will promote this condition thru the greatest army and navy that the United States has maintained in peace times at any period of its history.

The Program Against Labor.

At the same time that American capitalism strengthens itself for the role which it is essaying, of becoming the savior of world capitalism, its program includes the necessary measures for action against the workers whose struggles may seriously disturb the success of its international program.

Attack on the Foreign-Born Workers.

The proposal to register, finger-print and photograph the foreign-born workers, heretofore presented in proposed statutes introduced by congressmen independently, is now put forward officially by the secretary of labor and is given tentative endorsement by the president himself in his program.

When it is realized that the foreign-born workers are largely in the basic industries, it will be readily understood that there is something more behind this proposal than merely the control of immigration. Registered, finger-printed and photographed workers are likely to be meek and submissive workers.

With the fear of deportation constantly hanging over their heads, the workers in the basic industries will have to be careful how militant they become in the struggles to improve their condition. To register, finger-print and photograph eight million foreign-born workers will create a weapon with which to hold in submission the entire American working class. For the enslaved foreign-born workers can then be used to drive down the standard of living of the entire working class.

Attack on the Right to Strike.

With this attack upon the foreign-born workers come proposals in the capitalists program for weakening the fighting powers of all the workers in the basic industries, those of coal and transportation.

The president’s capitalist program asks for power to limit the right to strike of the workers in the mining and transportation industries. What Mussolini has enforced against the workers of Italy the American capitalists wish to enforce against the workers of this country, government action to deprive the workers of the right to strike, or if they do strike, to compel them to strike against the government and thus open the way for the use of the whole governmental power against them in their struggles.

The program of the American capitalists to achieve this end is not yet as open as Mussolini’s, put it is to be found behind the fine-sounding phrases of the president’s message to congress.

The Farmer.

For the farmer, the capitalist program contains one proposal—that is, that he shall continue to submit to the unbearable conditions which have existed in the agricultural field for some years back. The president’s message indicates that the capitalists are aware of the danger for them which exists in the agricultural situation of this country, but are unwilling to make any sacrifices to meet it. “Agriculture is a very complex industry,” boasts the president in the message, but all that the president has to offer to solve the complex problems of this industry are fair words.

The fundamental problems of agriculture, that is the backwardness, mechanically and technically, of the agricultural production as compared with the highly developed machine production in other fields does not come within the scope of the capitalists’ program fer the Nor does the program even go so far as willingness to make some sacrifices in the exploitation of the farmer thru the banks, railroads, grain elevators, and implement production corporations.

The capitalist program for the farmer is to continue to take from him for the benefit of the capitalists all that he will give up without actually revolting.

This analysis of the capitalist program as presented by President Coolidge shows how completely the American government is the agency for the capitalist class of the United States. It is the best evidence that government under the capitalist system exists in order to exert the state power in support of the ruling economic class and that “government for the people” is an illusion fostered by American capitalism to hide the real rule of the capitalists.

What the president has presented to congress is a program for the strengthening of the American capitalist class in the struggle against other national groups of capitalists and also for the strengthening of the American capitalist class in the struggle against the workers and farmers whom this class exploits.