COMMUNISM

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23691, 24 December 1938, Page 16

COMMUNISM

TO THE EDITOiI Sir, —It should not be necessary to remind "Avila," whose nom de plume suggests historical research, that the use of religion for political purposes is as old as civilisation itself. He must remember that in the fifteenth century Torquemada, the great Spanish inquisitor and torturer, specially trained the infanta Isabella in the political advantages of religion and of the Inquisition. It was in the interests of the Spanish Government that Torquemada, who lived at Avila, caused so many thousands of innocent people to be tortured and burnt as " heretics." And it is. obviously in the Interests of present-day capitalism that "Avila" professes such ardent and such unnecessary solicitude for his religion. By an ingenious system of unscrupulous misrepresentation he attemnts to make it appear that the end of the present system of exploitation would be the end of all virtue and civilisation. "Avila" is mistaken when he attributes to modern Socialists the desire to return to primitive Communism, which implied common ownership of the necessaries of life. In primitive times, when food was often scarce, this was a wise measure for the preservation of the community. But under Socialism with modern methods of production, where abundance rather than scarcity would be the rule, there would be no advantage in denying to the individual private ownership of all those forms of wealth which can be enjoyed privately. But Socialists envisage a time when all means of production, all land, factories, and workshops used in the production of the means of subsistence for the community, shall be the common property of the community to whose existence they are necessary. This change will be necessary to ensure that no individual, and no group of individuals, may have the power to deny to other people the right to work for their living and to reap the full advantage of their labour—l am, etc., H. Gow. Balclutha, December 23.