he job with one hand. With the
other he controls the product of industry. From the time the raw
material leaves the earth in the form of iron ore, crude petroleum,
logs, or coal, through all of the processes of production, it is owned
by the industrial master, not by the worker. Workers separate the
product from the earth, transport it, refine it, fabricate it. Always,
the product, like the machinery, is the possession of the owning class.

While industry was competitive, the pressure of competition kept prices
at a cost level, and the exploiting power of the owner was confined to
the job-holder. To-day, through combinations and consolidations,
industry has ceased to be competitive, and the exploiting power of the
job-owner is extended through his ownership of the product.

The modern town-dweller is almost wholly in the hands of the private
owners of the products upon which he depends. The ordinary city dweller
spends two-fifths of his income for food; one-fifth for rent, fuel and
light, and one-fifth for clothes. Food, houses, fuel (with the exception
of gas supply in some cities), and clothing are privately owned. The
public ownership of streets and water works, of some gas, electricity,
street cars, and public markets, is a negligible factor in the problem.
The private monopolist has the upper hand and he is able through the
control of transportation, storage, and merchandising facilities, to
make handsome profits for the "service" which he renders the consumer.

7. _The Control of the Surplus_

The wealth owners are doubly entrenched. They own the jobs upon which
most families depend for a living. They own the necessaries of life
which most families must purchase in order to live. Further, they
control the surplus wealth of the community.

There are three principal channels of surplus. First of all there is the
surplus laid aside by business concerns, reinvested in the business,
spent for new equipment and disposed of in other ways that add to the
value of the property. Second, there are the 19,103 people in the United
States with incomes of $50,000 or more per year; the 30,391 people with
incomes of $25,000 to $50,000 per year and the 12,502 people with
incomes of $10,000 to $25,000 per year. (Figures for 1917.) Many, if not
most of these rich people, carry heavy insurance, invest in securities,
or in some other way add to surplus. In the third place there are the
small investors, savings-bank depositors, in