New-York daily tribune., 1849-04-25
Prsudses,. Political Economy

tive They brstIe with IDEAS and '0t5
Ike vbeat6ed with bearded heads es'N'N.'
~. logic all are there. and OCCASIONAL! ~ '-1-'
,...', o,,sli,. massive and glowing snrpri'e' you
81 .. d,s,.svs. ne appeals ior Tue most psf'
-, Of his resders aiming 10 convince
:, .-s.-.,.,sipg not 70 ina0eoce he iee.hg'
.'' .-,,' 80, more at heart the elevation Of the
linz classes TO tia; position o. dignity ana
l..ov which belongs . their ottce 10 the social
,o.cbssisnn none has keener sense OF the
,v,oog under which they have sodered IRON re
time tina. Labor wearing toe letters and receiving
the stripes oi slave first commenced the dreary
process Of sowing that others might be led build
ing that others n yht inhsbt, spinning and ~eav-
ing that others might be clothed. But lis DOoks
contain no a-rsrnsnts addressed % the benevo-
lence Of bis readers hardly sny aimed 81 'her
sense of iottcc r deals with principles ald
demonstrations, things Of the pare intelieo;- and
general y more BY negative than positive state
raen.s For me moment be divesis himself oi ah
faculties but the logical sll lets nothing pass be
cause it's good or bea1,o or universally reF cred
but stands before it npscsby demsndmE Can
this be proved When he become Jo1rnsii'i'
treating current political topics. be oi course
changed Tins method KS paper Is coa'e 11eni'y
more readable than bis booss.
Histree principal wor@l, "iose tiles aTs 'or
Creation Of Order .o H.msnity. property
and Econom ~. Contradictions. aspire = ne
rank of sclenoe passicnless aud .mperso1si. Iney
abound ia evidences Of the former phuo'oPnca.
s,pdies Of ,heir author, some of them brilliant IN
Their compact l9cdity nc, for instance tne ansiy
si. n the great German philosopher Vhch goes
before the essay on Property in the "Contrad'o-
tions. It would Be difficult % find more s'nA'
iop statement Of the kind it makes what - oO-
,o,1-e IN itself bo.l ia,ellgiblc and Interesting.
Bot whs. mos. arrests tie attention oi zoe Na''!
r. s.a, IS the hard always bod and oifen ir'e'''-
eat laid upon 7.lst is usually r. srded A. 'rt".'
.,acstion. PKorDHOS seems 20 times as H I'-'
sessed Ie tie spirit Of deoIei md contradictions
Ike special incarnation o. HeecI' lnmanen'
neqatiyit~." Hence tbc accusation ri atnei'A.
a charge which we could casly c.nhnn W me
quotation Of isolated passages orrc'a'e ~ Tie fi'
tatson Of others Betsuch passages belong ''se''-
cr with otlers cld neither those on one sioe Joy
tine other would if quoted alone, coavey Ils'
idea Of their author even e. q theological. iaAc-
ton which hc might have omitted sitemptne
without loss OF fame How he came - attempt It
IS no concern Of ours Iust this time. We lave
nothing now % b. with Mr PRoUDaoN trancea-
dental pecJ ations orr BUS ness is TO Try and gei
al his Political Economy
As we said he has not published any complete
system, but his views on important questions may
be CLEANED wll .ut much difficulty here and there
HIS fundamental principle Is the Eqnsity OF
Foncti,ns All branches Of Labor arc he main
taios, Of the same essential value. We qnote
from the C,eaf.on de TOr3re dons HumanTf
wbs, ia the comparative 'nes'ure Of values 10
other term. what r. for every producer the natural
price Of the thing be desires 10 cell relatively 70 that
he desires - buy
A Smith replies Tho pdce Of each thing Il The "a
bor rconislte for ia prediction Accordingly two Ia
boror. by reclproc4ily estimating their lsbor' m9y
slwAvs Ind The comparative Of their products
whatever the sauc of the articles which they propose
20 svchsIPc.
The error cf enata and those wao have have ioi-
lowed him s g. hiuk ths, economy becomes more and
more r. mote from It's abstract principles as civilization
a4vauces instead Of which Is the organic develop
cnt of soc~iy which renders the application Of these
y-incipes possible Yes, the price Of everything i' the
labor mary 10 yIoiuceit and since each labner
s Individually paid by hs own pro3ucl tie product Of +
ono ousst also 90 bc cole 10 pay the labor OF anoher
ne onl, cmsuty Is L. ind a comparative measure OF
values H,.iluot 90 10 ssy vita Smith This mes-
,ure inis, csi. u the savage state bu be found
no longer Rather let us ssy Labor can be % TIA +
big valued ne,acr ~ tho barbs-ous state curing
tho ascending Period Of civilization. while there
sxit, those whom pride makes 'szy men Incapable /
hrouph here ltsry vi,e Snsves from n;empcrsnce oi
any sort, troders 4 controlled by the community but
he time viii surely arrive.
Tnis does not mean that every aborer should .
share equally with al others. which IS The doc .
.rne Of n schooi ol Communists no man IS less .
lable t. the charge OF Communism than PROUD .
aos. He proposes no such arbitrary equality. BE +.
means that the labor Of a shoe maker, for exam
oe. is As valuable 10 itself as that of goldsmith,
,.erk, artist physician. lesislator, and that only .
the accidents Of a transitional state Of society ,
cause ones work to be valued twice cr ten times /
as high pc another S, suPPos.ng them e4uai IN
talent and Industry in their respective employ
ments. Il is assign oi great imPerlecton IN TIE I
social organization Mr. PRorpHoS would say
when CougressmGn gefs eight dollars day and .
= oarpcntcr, who may be vastly superior IN bis .
profession 20 toe Cop,rossman in his has bput uP .
with ten aud sixpenco. This priacipic, It should .
mo-, be- forgotten. does n,t P-ecladc the action Of
natural ineqra,.ea OF capacity and ess.duity, hnt
mcsoiy gives them p basis OF equality inequality .
being, as PEoupacS holds by the law OF Naiaie .
ala avs based on i,- opposite
Tbs equsaty--s means. not an end, mode /
not sabstsnce,-is an ideal toward which society I
moves but which It canrot al once attain. Bat /
what is the means OF reaching II Association
Here PRoUDsoS sgrecs with the Socialists gen +
orally But he differs from them IN the conditions
necessary q the establishment Of Association
and the principles on which i. mus. be iounded-
lie differs from them sli ia retaining the separate
household without which he says he cannot con-
ccive of woman rs occupying position worthy OF
society cr O.; herself, from some he differs IN pre-
serving The rShtoi ilhe7i;aoces r9mthe Commun-
ists in regard 70 ,her grand doctrine and from The
discp'-s OF roa-er by denying that capital i pro-
Auc,iyc or entitled to any interest whatever in-
tercst and Rent sr9 the illusions which he claims 10
have destroyed theoretically. lie claims also to