, 1874-01-02
CAPITAL AND LABOR.
In Address Made by Swedish Work
jucman Twenty -four Years Ago.


den. They had assembled there for the same
cansa as the worlingmen OF Chicago meg to-
rether now they had No work and no money.
Five rentlemen,-a Norwegian. Dane, Ter
man and two Frouchmen,-all Of them members
of tho Commuuistic IeaSues formed IN Par
ia Darna. and elsewhere, and all OF them oar
nest advocates Of the Communistic pr1nclphs,-
taking advantage Of the occasion, constituted
t,,onosc]yey leaders for the dissatisfied worang-
mo, and preached for them war against Capital,
md acainss the ruling power-Law and OTies-
- eoe;ct7. A. the first two meetings thei: in
uar,matory speeches fred many heart and
-,;,d and firchraud Was In this WY actually
,browp oat in society; but, inasmuca as
tha suedes in general arc 3 thinking, sober,
ona 1ay-abidiug people, tho workinsnea soon
commenced to reflect for themselves; ard, at
t;c;r third mceting, aftor two OF the loades had
mad. souo very fierce and inoendiary remarks
and propositions to upset the order OF society,
l,hore. mounted tho tribune. in the midst OF
uild enthusiasm. aud spoke, rs far as l can no"
roco7Iect. iu the following words:
..Cr.r1rMES AND FELLow-LABonEns: You
-, lnow that am laborcr. having o common
interest with voa, ard suffering, for want OF
.o-k and money, as you do. The ideas aad
,.;ociples advocated here by certain gentlemen
,ra entirely new TO al Of us; We never heard OF
t,,e,n before,-aever thought Of thenl before.
feel aahancd OF myself to admit that. at hrst,
they msde deep impression on my mad, anu
r,n .vav with my reason. I thought they wore
,s correct and true as the Gospel; thought We,
t1e working e-cIass, were wronged, ,-oashved By
caoit.l and robbed Of our rights as citizens and
useful members OF society, and I fell. II that
vas 70, tia. had tho courage to tsht.-yes.
tb,t !. yas nv duty, if need be, to sacrifice my
Iifo 70 bring about a new order OF things. But,
IN thinLins The matter over Little, pon came
to ouitc different conclusions; aud an here to-
NIGHT lust for the sole purpose Of GiElnS you
nart Of the came. fully convinced that you, too,
iii accept what is wright and proper.
'1u the first place, ask you; what 1s CaPl-
ta,7 Allow me to tell you that C.rital is Lator,
or the p,oducta OF Labor. Everything you use,
food, clothing, furniture. house for shelter, or
whatever it may be, is Capital, or the products
Of Lator. 10 illustrate this, let NC suppose
that one Of you, with his wife aEd Children, WAS
coming tonight Into this city. Iou were hungry:
va needed shelter and many other things not
tcnlr at the particular moment but tomorrow
oad ercry following day. What would you do
about il: Would you propose forclbly to take
possession Of another mans home, because no
Ess wealthy, sud drive him aud lis family out
Lis pIen.y? Certainly not. Ill tell you what
YOU would do. You would negotiate with somo-
I6fT to get what you needed on promise OF
future payment; aud you would give, as secaf-
itr for what you received, yourcapadty Of Lab55'
and, beca1sc Labor produces money lCaplta!C
the scVlrlty you otter WOULD oo actepLea tae
same as money; a:d, just on accoant OF that,
you would receiyc what you wanted.
t.Adanl and lis wife, in Paradise had no prop
erty. no shoes. 10 clothing, no shelter,
no comfort wha.eyer. before he WORKED. 1nas
couple, ne ara informed slept on the green
sor,e shady trees, I supposc,.-aud dressed IN
Gsleayes. Well, that WAS well enough - com
Eeuce with; but, surely. it was NIT before Adam
and h,a wife commenced to work that they could
Lsve the luxury Of sleeping in slean and COM
Portable bed. living III comfortable hoase, aud
dressing like decent people. 4 Adam IN ana ~ Eso
ever did that. as I presume tEty did. they en-
joyei all those things, as I lave SAID, only
through Labor, because those things, OF neccs-
slt7, were the products of Lab0, and could not
otherwise be obtained; neither have they been
obtained in any honest way ever s1ncs that tlmo
but through the means of Labo'-
"Moncy. or Capital, is also the product Of
Labor: anl the same ia true ID to any other
Article. of use, be it whatever it may. Now,
Labor produces more or less according 10
change, circumstances, and the capacity Of the
laborer. One iaborer-every Han who pertor1n5
said, may grow rich; another remain poor. Il
l grow rich through the result of nlr labor,
hive An undspn:able ri5h: to enjoy my wealth
as legal property; and, Il ! give It a~av
to my children when I die. they. too,
lave Legal right to enjoy it ss their properly.
right to defend your life whenever it is assault
cd. you certainly think that you have the same
right to defend your propcrty; that is seif-
preservation ard. If you admit that. it will be
your duty to defend the property OF others, too
if ANYBODY. in your preseicc, should undertake
society conld exist, but viole1ce, robbery blood
shed, and anarchy; and the end OF all that
would be the determination It mankind.
"Now what is it that those mca propose we
should do? They say that Capital (the wealthy
n1en) IS the oppressor OF tho workinGnec. and,
o. Tie strength Of lint accu,ation, 1nsise that
we sbau .orclbly. Illegally, tividu their moncs
and other property that is, rob theE OF theiI
individual right; and. furthermore. when oil
that is squGudered, II assun you 1t would no'
take long time before it wuld be squandered
that the State should furnish work ane
money. But let mo ny q few word:
to Won OH this account: Tbs income
Of tho Stato is now, under:he existing order o.
things. and when every caauncl IL open tor 10
come and revenue, already too small to provide
for the necessary expenses Tor improvements
detouee. aud otler things for the promotion O
public wcIfale; but, wien all that income
ceases, which will be th' case when Rna1ch!
reigns. where shall tho tsase take The none,
from to provide Tor your vants aad paT Tor YOU
wo1k? Aud, il you propose to Ltart TIE new or
der Of th1ngs with ropbe-; if you don't respec
the night aud property 4 others, caa you rea
souably expect TINT otlers shall respect you
OWN : Il /, by force or ii other waye. tale ava.
from you your COW, your tools, youT clo1hos, O.
any oller property OF ycrs. VIII you cousenl II
that? Certainly not. Veil. tuea, do to otAers
what YOU wish that ctlen shall do to you!
'.Theso 1efor1ners ST, further. that th'
wealthy have cverythin, their own way; thu
they make tie laws to sut themselves; that the:
rule that thoj have nDpopo3as which mpoT
eria1 others aud .Aat. clE;."a.u .utly, tnel1 inter
ests are right opposite to tho laborln6 CLASSES
Well, III some rGPacts that i5 true
But, gentlemen, win is to blame,-ihe
Or you! l dou't hesirte to sag that you al
moro to blamc for itthau they: Never, move
5Aa!l we better our condition before We Law
learned to lelp ourselves, to depend upon gu
pwu capacity, aud to dsfanu our own Lawful III
terests by lawful ucaH. We have neglected t
educate ourselves fol the strife aud duties Q
life, above tho simple per formance Of mechanl
al labor. So long aswe ara contsatcd 10 Nv
Ile life OF the working Or, satisfied when :"
aaye plenty Of work. and grumbAn3 ana non
EluAscd when wo lur. not, our coDuuon WILL re
main the saule. Wh1 we need Il knowledge, II
teligencc, aud skill. SILL, without Lhe formel
makes us merely tOls in the hauas OF others