New-York daily tribune., 1851-08-28


the social progress ani general welfare CT The ahor
| ing classes
In the same TriJ1r, we find that the planters and
merchants OF Jamaica N distress The agony Is,
tLat land Is plenty. ard poop are scarce a4d llde-
| pendent The words are =" the population - scLaty
ard independent l. Bar1sicCs. happily, th-re i
| nothing of this evil OF Dentv OF land and liepen-
dence OF The people. is population IS re .ul anI
every acre OF Land IS applied 10 pTOIia!e cIl-.'a-
ton population pTtssts on ths means y sISs-st n -
/ and the - ope are industrious from necessity q
| course Barbadces increases her procrc,iOrs. aaf
lat s the best Of all. the sugar u al profit !o
TIE rum crop pays the expenses Of The year Al
| Why not Population prsSsss upon The mean,
(meeuinr tbev own Trecus) OF subsistence an1 they
work cheap for they woTk from nf-ssSitv. with all
the meaning pressed into the word That i l. loaOe
Of
The reasoning Of this writer is based on
the doctrines of Ricardo and Mllthus,
which have been TOO hastily adopted by most
Socialists. Hence he regards Civilization
as / coulse of warfare between Capital
and Labor, in which the rich must grow
richer and the poor poorer. Those doctrines
being false, the structure buiitupcn them is
untenable.
Ricardo teaches that in the beginning Of
Society, men take possession Of the richest
soils. Consequently those who succeed
them have poorer chance; they must take
less fertile soils and their successors others
still less fertile. Thus the growth of man
kind is fundamentally series Of deteriora-
tions. for the earth becomes less and less
| fruitful as her sons become more numerous.
Like partial and heartless mother, she is
liberal to the frst-born, but nGgard and
hateful to her Younger children.
Nautilus teaches that, since the best lands
are first occupied, and since the earth Is
thus less and less productive, while men
are more and more prolific, there is there
fore constant tendency in population to
become too many for the earth to feed.
Hence pauperism and famine and hence
wars are useful in that they serve to keep
population within bounds; hence prostltu-
ton and vice are useful, for the same
reason and hence the poor ought not to
marry. but should make it their duty to
smother the sweetest and most human aiiec-
tions of the heart.
The Socialists admit the truth of Rear
dos doctrine, but say that a juster social
organization will elude its effect, by remov
inc the primitive monopoly Of the best soils
and giving every man an equal chance with
the others. But they contend that, till that
is done, Society moves in vicious circle.
that one serytude will take the place of
another, and new and even worse modes of
plunder be substituted for the old. This
cannot be otherwise, if it be true that the
best soils are first occupied. Nay, if it be
so, the only path to justice and freedom Is
revolution, for it is not to be expected that
those who enjoy 50 eminent monopoly
should resign it except by force.
But if it be not so, if men begin with
poor soils, and gradually take possession of
those which are better, why then the career
of Society must be genuinely and steadily
progressive from the beginning, save where
it is violently disturbed. Food, instead of
increasing less rapidly than population,
must increase moro rapidly. And wher-
ever there is industry, and the workers are
not compelled to exhaust the land by eXor-
bitant rents as in Ireland and India, and are
not plundered by Governments for the sup
port Of war and warlike establishments,
their condition must steadily improve,
whether they are slaves, serfs, free cultl-
waters, or toilers IN mines or mills. " her
ever, in shot, more lrcGlh IS produced than
IS consumed, there the tendency to social
equality, equality of rights, privileges and
possessions is not only constant hut irre-
sistble. Of course, as this tendency acts
upon whole community or nation, Its man
Hesitation is very gradual, aud consider
able period Of time must be taken in order
to see it clearly.
--Hence, the true way of emancipatlng
the laborlng classes is not by revolution,
but by industry and the increase OF wealth
And thus there Is a true and essential har-
mopv between the interests of Labor and
those of Capital; and any injury done to
one by the other is gross mistake in the
party committing it, and an injury to the
whole body of society,"
We shall be told, very probably that IN
England wealth has increased enormously,
while the condition OF the laborerS has
grown worse. As for the latter part of the
proposition, we deny it the condition OF
the British laborers has, on the whole I'M
proved. and we are ready to show It.
though we cannot prolong these remarks
by going at length into that subject. But It