Page:Proletarian and Petit-Bourgeois (1912?).pdf/37

Rh , that ever was dreamed of for the human race, or we are a lot of lunatics. If it is what we believe it to be, then what shall we gain for it by compromise or coalition or turning for one moment from the ultimate goal? All the offices in the world—what are they worth compared with putting an end to wage slavery?

 

Those who own and those who work face each other. The worker demands a return for his work. The owner demands a return for his ownership. The rapid growth of property values during recent years has accentuated and emphasized the conflict between work and ownership. On the one hand, are the people who devote their time and energy to the production of wealth. On the other hand are the people who own income-yielding property. The workers receive a wage or a salary; the owners receive payments of rent, interest and dividends. Many of the workers are growing clamorous over "human rights." The property owners, persistent, and ever watchful, urge the "rights of property." The time has come when the claims of the contending interests must be analyzed and understood.

A clearer idea of the points at issue will be assured if the term "property income" is applied to the returns that accrue from ownership and the term "service income" is applied to the returns that accrue from the expenditure of time and energy in the rendering of service. All regular income ownsowes [sic] its origin to one of these two sources.

The owners of property bulwark themselves with certain prerogatives that have proved of the greatest 