Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-05-10
pnris versus CIyilizntiou.

The following comment on the present
condition of Paris, taken from one Ol
the journals of the day, is worthy Of
caTeful perusal
The socialist idea which underlies the
present government of Paris is that the
workmen are in some way to secure the
command of the capital of the country,
and to see that it is as nearly as possible
equally divided for the benefit of all.
The workmen consider that they have
been expending their labor for the good
of others, and have been receiving a mis-
cradle remuneration for their work II
is their time now to receive their full
share of the spoil, and to compel the
masters to similar labor with themselves.
The idea is ignorant and Utopian 1t is
ignorant because it ignores the great
truth that there are entirely different
kinds of work to be done in the world,
and that it is only by the harmony Of
the various parts that results can be OBJ
tanned. There is the labor of the
brain and the labor Of the hands;
the labor of organizing whole sys-
TEN of operations and organizing
the special sections of work, of pre-
pairing the requisite machinery, of using
the machinery when prepared. Thus
men have been created socially just as
the body has been created with its differ
ent members. The advantages which
civilization has gained over barbarism
and the wealth that has flowed into civ
ilized countries have been due to the
fact that the various parts of society have
worked in harmony in producing results.
Let this harmony be broken, and all ad-
vantages of civilization are gone. Wealth
must rapidly diminish, population de-
crease, and a country be reduced to a
state Of primitive barbarism, with few
inhabitants living on what undirected,
unskilled manual labor will produce.
To attempt, in these days Of machinery
to ignore the difference between the
work OF the brain and of the hands, and
to bring man to one level, is one Of the
madest ideas that could take possession
of the human mind. National success
will be produced by the proper arrange
ment of all the parts-each man doing
well his own work, from the great manu-
facturer who, by capital and brains, i'm
proves and develops his machinery; or
the great merchant who opens up new
branches of commerce to the most
humble laborer.
National ruin must follow the disorder
Of the parts of the most complicated
social machinery This would have
been the ease at any tine, but now,
more than ever, when such vast results
are produced by the power Of machinery,
which is being improved every day.
The socialists theory is founded upon
ignorance Of the laws Of nature, and is
mere madness as principle of action.
But its moral aspects are even worse
than its intellectual. II is rebellion
against order. From impatience Of
reasonable control they see nothing in
the dignity of labor, or in the adaptation
Of each part to promote the work Of the
whole, and they are chagrined with the
idea Of others possessing superior ad-
vantages to themselves. There cannot
be a more dangerous spirit than this. II
leads to the overthrow Of just and rea-
sonable superiority, and the establish
ment in its stead Of foul and brutal