The workingman's advocate., 1876-07-15

rights Of acting a. an individual Tor his
own comfort and happiness, which are not
injurious to the rights Of Others Civil
rights are those which Appertain to man in |
the right Of his being member Of society.
Every civil right has for its foundation |
some natural right pre-existing in the in
dividual, but to which his individual DOW
or il not at all times sufficiently compe-
tent Of this kind are those which relate
to security and protection.
From this short review it will be easy to
distinguish between that class Of natural
rights, which man retains after entering
into society, and chose which he throws
into common stock M a member of society.
The natural rights which hs retains are
those in which the power to execute il, a.
perfect in the individual a. the right itself.
Among this class a. mentioned before are
all the intellectual rights on the rights Of
the mind" l may add also his muscular
rights, are the rights of the body, conse-
quently labor in one Of those rights.
"The natural rights which are not retained
are those in which though the right is perfect
in the individual, the power to execute them
is defective They answer not has purposes.
man by natural right has the right to Judge
in l.ls own cause, and 30 far as the right Of
the mind is concerned, he never surrenders
it but what availeth it him to Judge, ii he
have not the power to redress it He there
fore deposits this right in the common stock
OF society and takes the arm of society of
which he Is past, in preference and In addi-
ton to hls own. Society grants him nothing.
Every man Is proprietor in society, and
draws ON the capital as q matter Of right"
Based upon these premises the
above author draws the following concIus-
ions
LIST. That every civil right grows out of
natural right or, in other words is q
natural right exchanged.
I'd. The civil power properly considered
as such, is made up Of the aggregate Of that
class of natural rights of man, which be-
comes defective in the individual in point
OF power, and answers not his purpose,
but when collected to focus, becomeR
competent to the purposes Of every one.
Sd. That the power produced by the
aggregate of these forces 90
to form the natural rights Of man. and
hence when any man or set Of men through
any cunningly devised system Of fraud at
tempt to take away the fruits Of these
forces, from their legitimate owners, we
may seasonably infer that LIST, their natur-
al rights are being invaded. I'd, that it is
not only in perfect accordance with justice
but that the necessity Of the case demands
that the class Of persons, who are wronged
to unite for the purpose Of regaining poses
sion Of their natural rights which have
been wrested from them through fraud
Have any Of the natural rights Of that class
Of people called producers been fact, or
out Of society, from those which hey
have not but to place this in a much
clearer light than a single glance may af-
ford, it will be proper to take a review Of
the several sources from which govern
ments have arisen, and on which they have
been founded. They may be all compre-
hended under three heads
1st. Superstition I'd. Power; Sd. The
common interests Of society, and the COM
mon rights Of man.
The first was q government Of priest
craft, the second Of conquerors, and the
third of reason.
If the foregoing conclusions are correct,
(and l confess ! can see no reason to doubt
it) We might pertinently enquire as to what
kind Of government exists in America
Also whether the claims the industrial
classes are making at present, are incon.
slstent with the natural and civil rights Of
mani
In regard to the first question, it is evi
dent that this government is not founded
on superstitution, neither is it founded
upon conquest, and hence the inevitable
conclusion is drawn that it is founded up
on the common interests Of society, anc
upon the common rights Of man-it is 1
government founded on reason-of the
people, by the people, and for the people.
And now from the second question: La
boris fruits is the result Of intellectual and
muscular force, invaded Probably il
might have been better to have asked hav,
they any natural rights that have not beeI
invaded Let the l,OOO, 900 men who arr
out of employment answer Let the res
of the producers who are getting probably
one third work answer Let the Farmers
the Miners, the Mechanics. in word, ev,
cry form Of industry to the highest grade
Of finished workmanship, answer, At least
one half Of their fruits u toll is taken To
satisfy the greed of that insatiate monster
called \ EST Interest on what
on money. Money 10 q creature Of Law,
and hence belongs properly TO the people.
Thus you see these robbers have taken
away one right Of the people. or rather they
have never given them possession Of il,
and used that fraud As potent instrument
IN robbing them, still farther Of rights
VIZ the fruits Of their labor. Then the
question arises as to what course the peo-
pie should pursue to regain possession Of
their natural and civil rights The first
step should be TO gain possession u the
power Of controlling the money, and this,
although one their natural rights they
never possessed yet ; after this step il
taken it will be a comparatively easy tAAE
to Jet in their possession all Of their rights
When the producers control the national
finances, they can use this powerful agent
in developing the industrial and intellect.
ual capacity Of the people 70 their fullest