The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1871-07-08
THE COMMUNE AND THE INTER.
NATIONAL.

Auu Ihucn as we have desired to enter
our protest against such wholesale VII
llhcatlon, and to show the inconsist-
ency OF charging the excuses of a few
misguided men at the door Of the In
ternatiOnal, we preferred to wait until
the mist in which such transactions had
been for the time shrouded, had cleared
away, and also until the prejudice exist
ing In the public mind bsd become
quleted 10 degree, that reason and
common sense could have an opportu-
nifty to combat such prejudice.
That our readers may understand
the true objects of the International We
transfer the following from 3 card OF
membership:
1st. To unite in one body the pro-
ducers Of all countries. and TO secure "a
all workers the full results of their
toll.
I'd. To overthrow the present vicious
systems Of land, money and industrial
and civil economy, which create wars.
unjus:ly and unequalIy distribute
wealth, foster idleness and crime, per-
vert justice, and establish invidious
distinctions amongst mankind.
These, We say, in brief, are the OBJ
jects for which the International was
created and where is the toiler. ma
tive or foreign-born, who can not and
does not give them hearty endorse.
ment and God speed? Reader, com
pare these declarations with the ran
dom, reckless statements which have
flooded our press, and decide for your-
SELF Put yourself in the place of the
European slave-tf the ploughman who
was interviewed, last week, at Daven-
port, Iowa, who was asked why, at his
time of life, he had sought an asylum
In the land beyond the seas. "Why, y
he exclaimed, " simply because / knew
by a bitter experience of forty-four
years that my son ard my sons son
would have to do as | did-work for
$3.50 a month; because l knew he
would die plOughman if he remained
there, and | thought he could lie
something-could Oton a piece Of land on
this side Of the atlantic"
This is the International in a nut
shell. And if this is treason, make the
most OF it If this is treason, We fear
loyalty will soon be at a discount!
Now, the International don't mean
murder, arson or treason; but, to come
nearer home, it does mean that the
reign of our Tom Scots, with their
s400 100000 and their subsidized legis-
latures, shall lose their power-peacably
if they will; FoRcIBLY, IF TUcT nJsT +,
1t means that oUf Vanderb;'ts, Fisks.
Stewards, Taylors, and other highway
robbers, must rellnquish their ill., gotten
wealth, and be deprived Of the means
of amassing more through the robbery
of the masses, even though the process
should require little wholesome hang
ing. t means that the system which
called it into being shan't become a
permanent institution on American soil,
even though the disavowed acts Of the
commune should be re-enacted in New
York or Chicago. 1t means, in brief,
that the toiler shall receive the fruits OF
his industry, and that the titled or I'M
titled robber must show a deed from
some higher tribunal than a venal Judge
or legislature-to Justify his possession
Of the soil at the expense Of his fellow
creatures. -
TIE effort to criminate the Interna-
tional with the so-called-plots against
the perjurer's life-was ably answered
by that organization, in a manifesto,
published in the ADVOCATE several
months since, in which the charge was
repealed with the scorn and contempt il
deserved. Men who are ready and
willing to beard the lion in his den, are
not the men to encourage assassination
and riot. Their principles aid declara-
tons have been spread broadcast and
the public may form their own opinion
of their merits. Liebknecht, Tulain,
Jung, Eccarius, Applegarth, Stepney,
Lucraft, Lessner, and others, pillars of
the Observation-Disclosures acquaintance
we have the pleasure of enjoying, are
not the men who would sanction re-
sort to violence while the shadow of a
peaceable solution remained-and GER
tainly not then till a reasonable prospect
for success, by such means, was appar.
ent
\ One word in conclusion regarding
the Communists. As already stated
the ADVOCATE never has been, and we
trust never will be the defender or
apologist Of crime-neither has it, and
we hope it never will, admit that ''might
makes right" 1t believes in calling
things by their right names, aud it does
not and cannot forget the terrible pro
vocation to violence to which the work.
ingmen Of Paris have been subjected
for the past ten years. 1t cannot for
get that while the Commune DESTROYED
Property-the " government Of Law and
/